The Mandalorian Season 3 - Season Two Spoilers

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Vaughn said:

yeah, Armorer defeats Din, gets the Dark Saber then Bo defeats Armorer to get Dark Saber.

There's no way Filoni brings back the Dark Saber to not have it conclude in a positive way, although I suppose due to the time frame the First Order kills all the Mandos 15 years down the time line. I'm sure Phasma will be retconned into being a rogue Mando at some point.

Phasma’s armor is Beskar, isn’t it?

[Kalbear]

22 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Phasma’s armor is Beskar, isn’t it?

No. Its hull plating from a similar ship to Padmes ship in tpm.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

I keep getting something in my eye.

Edit: this is he actor that "stood in" for Hamill on set. He has more than a passing resemblance to a young Mark Hamill IMO.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1682827/

[TrueMetis]

4 hours ago, Vaughn said:

This is a larger SWU question but if Vader throws Shiv down the air shaft and dies and Luke is now a full power Jedi, where's the balance? Seems like either there's more bad stuff out there or it's way too light side biased.

The premise of the prophecy in the PT and how the Jedi thought is that the light side is the forces natural state, and the dark side is a corruption. So no darkside and only the light = force in balance.

Pretty sure some of the new material contradicts this, but Lucas had in the past explicitly stated that. (though of course Lucas also often contradicts himself)

Personally until it was shown otherwise I had assumed the prophecy was part of the Sith plot. The idea of a chosen one never seemed that Jedi, especially when the basis for who that chosen one was was power. Sith covet power, not Jedi. So I figured the prophecy was one of many avenues to start corrupting the Jedi by making them care more about raw power.

[SpaceChampion]

5 hours ago, DaveSumm said:

Perhaps to signal to Luke that Grogu existed at all; once he knows that, he can seek answers from the Force - “where is Grogu right now?”

The Force is made of Dust?

[DaveSumm]

15 minutes ago, TrueMetis said:

The premise of the prophecy in the PT and how the Jedi thought is that the light side is the forces natural state, and the dark side is a corruption. So no darkside and only the light = force in balance.

But all the Jedi seem to simultaneously believe that a prophecy exists about bringing balance, and that there are no Sith. So what balance needs to be brought to that situation?

[TrueMetis]

15 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

But all the Jedi seem to simultaneously believe that a prophecy exists about bringing balance, and that there are no Sith. So what balance needs to be brought to that situation?

Darkside and the Sith aren't the same thing. They thought the Sith were gone, but that doesn't mean the darkside is. Clone Wars gives us an example of non-sith darksiders like the Nightsisters. They're unlikely to be the only group, and the Jedi probably didn't deal with them cause the only way to really do so would be to wipe them out, and the Jedi aren't about to engage in genocide.

[Denvek]

5 hours ago, Caligula_K3 said:

What's the deal with the Darksaber? Is it the Elder Wand? All the rules about it seemed very silly 

 

The Darksaber is the blade of the first Mandalorian Jedi. After he died some Mandalorians stole it from the Jedi Temple and over the centuries since its become a symbol of power that basically means that whoever is wielding it is the best Mandalorian.

[Vaughn]

1 hour ago, DaveSumm said:

But all the Jedi seem to simultaneously believe that a prophecy exists about bringing balance, and that there are no Sith. So what balance needs to be brought to that situation?

TIL Thanos has a more consistent moral code than the Jedi.

[ithanos]

14 hours ago, RumHam said:

This could be great. 

Clone Wars Rebels spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

I'd love to see an episode depicting a world where Maul beat Obi-Wan the second time. He wonders why Obi-Wan was hiding but then figures it out and contacts Luke, 

Nice choice, would definitely dig that for a What If...? episode.

 

14 hours ago, DMC said:

One explanation I could kinda get behind is that Gideon defeated her to get the darksaber in the first place, so it's now incumbent upon her to reclaim it in battle. 

In that case, though, if I was Din I'd be like, "well, how bout I give it back to Gideon, you two can have your trial by combat, and oh here's this beskar spear to even the odds...And, btw Fring, you're still returning to your cell and harmonica even if you win."

True, that does sound interesting.  But also how will they feel when they find out he took off his helmet?

I'm sure he'll be forgiven. They can shape a story around it and the Darksaber to suit their needs. A few ways they could go with this... tensions abound.

My theory on The Book of Boba Fett. I think Fennec showed their hand when she freed the Twi'lek slave - which i enjoyed seeing. A benevolent crime syndicate making their way in the galaxy... perhaps even molded on the Hondo Ohnaka school of pirate morality. It may not last long but it could be a whole lotta fun for a season

It occurred to me that the writers definitely had to find a way to keep Fett out of the picture before introducing Luke. Imagine if Boba's on that bridge when Luke walks in.

 

 

[RumHam]

I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation of how Grogu ended up on that planet guarded by those Nikto guys and who sent IG-11 to kill him. 

[Gertrude]

22 hours ago, Vaughn said:

Anyone intrigued by the Book of Boba Fett as teased at the end?

One Christmas, my parents got me a tape recorder. They turned it on just before us kids were let loose on the tree. In our stockings, we got some Star Wars trading cards and my brother got one featuring Boba Fett. Whenever I see this character, I hear his little boy voice going high with excitement screaming "It's Boba Fett! Look, it's Boba Fett!

I have this weird mix of nostalgia and not being able to take him seriously as a character with that voice in my head. I mean I get why others like him and his inclusion was pretty cool, but still. 

(and yes, my mom collected all the cards we left laying around and kept them safe. They are still in a box somewhere in her house that I always forget to ask about. They are alongside our Charlie's Angel, Welcome Back Kotter, Three's Company (yes, seriously) and other various trading cards. The stickers are long gone, but the cards remain.)

[ithanos]

5 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I keep getting something in my eye.

Edit: this is he actor that "stood in" for Hamill on set. He has more than a passing resemblance to a young Mark Hamill IMO.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1682827/

OK I much prefer the force theme used here than what was in the actual episode.

 

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation of how Grogu ended up on that planet guarded by those Nikto guys and who sent IG-11 to kill him. 

Looks like they're in no rush to explain things, if ever.

Another unanswered question is how Grogu was being tracked at the start of all this - unless it has and I missed it. I'd like to think he had been tagged with some element or compound. Would be amusing if such a compound had a half-life of 400yrs or so - meaning, unless purged, Grogu will keep traces on him for the rest of his natural life. If it turns out its a tag on his small clothes, which Luke finds after insisting on a nappy change - I'd be pretty pissed.

 

[DMC]

14 minutes ago, ithanos said:

If it turns out its a tag on his small clothes, which Luke finds after insisting on a nappy change - I'd be pretty pissed.

You'd think after all the shit Yoda put Luke through on Dagobah, he'd pawn the childcare duties off on R2.

[Veltigar]

Just saw it. It was a pretty okay season finale, suffering from all the problems we have gone into before with this show, but saved because of that Luke appearance. The Darth Vader scene from Rogue One is still a lot better, but this was also handled pretty well. I was also not particularly put off by the de-aging CGI. It's still not entirely right, but I think they did a bang-up job rendering him all in all. 

My main complaint is still the lack of tension. It's daft that no one of the good guys bites it. Hard to care about stakes or feel excitement when the characters have more chances of dieing of eating a bad meat sandwich than ever risking to be killed in battle.

9 hours ago, Caligula_K3 said:

It was a fun end to the season. There were some nice action setpieces, and I teared up a little at the baby Yoda goodbye. I'm not a huge fan of the Luke ex Machina, and the uncanny valley was pretty rough for me, but whatever, it was fine.

I think I'll hold off on season 3 until I get a sense of whether the writers are committing to a real story, or whether it's going to be another spinoff creator like much of this season (why does Boba Fett go from super honourable to taking out Bib Fortuna?). There's a lot of potential in this show, especially if they start exploring the Mandalorian stuff more and allow for more conflict between the "good guys," but the season as a whole hasn't held together for me. And if they want me to return, Baby Yoda had better be back...

What's the deal with the Darksaber? Is it the Elder Wand? All the rules about it seemed very silly 

 

As to the bolded:

1) I wish I could show the same restraint. Overall, my feeling with this show is that they could so much more with it and I'd like to think I'd only return if I was certain that they were going to make a decent attempt, but I'm hooked enough by now that unless I'm really swamped I'll find time for it.

2) I hope @ithanos has been on the money with his prediction. If Boba were to use the crime syndicate for some Robin Hood actions's I could get behind it.

3) I still think the Darksaber is a dumb concept. Don't get why Filoni is so in love with it.

7 hours ago, Vaughn said:

yeah, Armorer defeats Din, gets the Dark Saber then Bo defeats Armorer to get Dark Saber.

There's no way Filoni brings back the Dark Saber to not have it conclude in a positive way, although I suppose due to the time frame the First Order kills all the Mandos 15 years down the time line. I'm sure Phasma will be retconned into being a rogue Mando at some point.

While my main hope is still that the ST will be written out of existence, I'd actually respect that change. It still doesn't mean much as the way that character was handled sucked, but it would give some extra depth to an otherwise forgettable bit character so I like it.

 

[Toth]

30 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

My main complaint is still the lack of tension. It's daft that no one of the good guys bites it. Hard to care about stakes or feel excitement when the characters have more chances of dieing of eating a bad meat sandwich than ever risking to be killed in battle.

Really, I don't think they need to kill any redshirts, in my opinion it would be enough to have actually competent villains. This whole stormtroopers are a joke concept has gone far enough and you can do this whole "good guy waltzes into a room guns blazing, effortlessly gunning everybody down" thing only so often until it runs stale. Those are simply not very good action scenes all things considered. And the show's problems with maintaining tension during combat scenes become dramatically clear when you have your group of six heroes discuss taking over a ship with a crew of at least a hundred as if that's no big deal whatsoever (and then it turns out it isn't). Kinda makes you wonder why they bothered infiltrating that Imperial base last episode, they could have just walked in and murdered everybody instead, given how worthless their enemies are.

When I look at this part of The Mandalorian, I keep thinking of the Astartes fanfilm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7hgjuFfn3A

Yes, it's Warhammer 40k, but the basic premise of the fight scene is fairly similar to how every single fight scene against Imperials in The Mandalorian is thought up. You have a bunch of invincible super soldiers boarding an enemy ship and killing everyone in there. It's to make them look badass, but it still is dramatic because the enemies are actually doing the best within their abilities to stop the space marines. They use snipers, heavy weapon emplacements, sneak attacks and psykers. The space marines power through similarly to how a Beskar clad Mandalorian does against stormtroopers, but there is still a dynamic that makes the enemy look clever, even if horrifically outgunned.

Similarly I think The Mandalorian would gain a lot if they approached fight scenes less like a power fantasy (and a boring chore, truth be told) and more like a puzzle. Case in point, the mountain defense during the episode before this one could have been so much better if they did that. What if the stormtroopers landed on both sides of the mountain? Mando, Boba and Fennec would have to split to defend as much of the mountain paths as possible while the stormtroopers had the option to pin their single opponents down, giving each other cover as they systematically advanced. I also previously said that I would have liked for them to have one of the Dark Troopers on the ground. That one would have kept Mando busy so that he can't just run around killing everybody while being impervious to their return fire. In the end it would have been the stormtroopers who secure the kid and make a run for it after having successfully divided everybody's attention. See? Would that have been so hard?

[Rhom]

I loved the episode.

One thing no one has mentioned that I really liked, the random shuttle pilot talking about “millions” dying on the Death Stars (probably not that many dude... but I get your point and I like it) and that Alderaan was a small price to pay to get rid of terrorists.

Theres nuance there that will never be explored, but that was a nice quick scene I thought.

[DMC]

15 minutes ago, Rhom said:

the random shuttle pilot talking about “millions” dying on the Death Stars (probably not that many dude... but I get your point and I like it)

Clearly he had just watched Clerks.

[Poobah]

26 minutes ago, Rhom said:

One thing no one has mentioned that I really liked, the random shuttle pilot talking about “millions” dying on the Death Stars (probably not that many dude... but I get your point and I like it) and that Alderaan was a small price to pay to get rid of terrorists.

Yeah it was a good line, and honestly I'm not sure if the number is actually that implausible given that the Death Star was supposed to be the size of a moon and all.

[Rhom]

11 minutes ago, Poobah said:

Yeah it was a good line, and honestly I'm not sure if the number is actually that implausible given that the Death Star was supposed to be the size of a moon and all.

Fair I suppose.