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The Lounge => Media and Inspiration => Topic started by: Lurkndog on October 31, 2020, 01:13:34 AM

Title: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on October 31, 2020, 01:13:34 AM
First episode is out, and it's a good one. After the events of Season 1, the underground groups of Mandalorians have been broken and scattered. The Mandalorian is scouring the galaxy for the survivors of his kind, hoping to uncover clues to the mystery of The Child.

This time around, his travels take him back to Tatooine, where a man in Mandalorian armor has been seen in a remote mining town.

Suffice it to say, the events are suitably epic.

This time around, I ponied up for Disney+ and so far I'm happy with that. $6.99 a month was not too much, they deserve to get paid, and there is other stuff on there that I will be watching.

There are other things to comment on, but they can wait until people have watched it unspoilered.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on October 31, 2020, 03:07:08 AM
There are other things to comment on, but they can wait until people have watched it unspoilered.

The Mandalorian continues to deliver. I was a little bit concerned that success would have made them soft or the show would have gone off the rails, like other series I could mention *cough*Stranger Things*cough* but so far so good. Very good.

No spoilers, but I really love that the show is willing to take it's time, go into side stories and build tension and atmosphere. It's something I've really missed in current films.*

*Yes, I want to compare the show to the sequels. I think The Mandalorian gets Star Wars, where the sequels don't.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on October 31, 2020, 12:48:44 PM
I dunno, while Stranger Things has gone off the rails at some points, they've always managed to reel me back in. Even the first season didn't really grab me until about halfway through.

Back on The Mandalorian, though, I agree that atmosphere is a strong point. Pretty amazing for a show that is largely filmed on virtual sets. They really brought a sense of place to Tatooine, making it feel both lived-in and powerfully alien at times.

The music was pretty great for this episode, that really helps to make it feel like a movie more than TV. I love Star Wars Rebels, but they really had to dial back the sound design and music on that show. Mandalorian is much more cinematic.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on October 31, 2020, 10:09:36 PM
Holy shit I need a smoke after that.

And I don’t smoke.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Hawkwing7423 on November 01, 2020, 12:03:54 AM
Really fun episode. I'm so happy with this series that I (mostly) don't regret my wife paying the Mouse. No doubt my world view is deplorable to Disney Execs but I can't fault their craft this time. It's excellent. It has not a bit of the horror show that was the 7-9 trilogy.

Jon Favreau really gets Star Wars. Excited to see what's next.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 02, 2020, 05:27:06 PM
When do we want to lift spoilers for a current episode?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 06, 2020, 04:33:53 PM
When do we want to lift spoilers for a current episode?

How about we hold off on spoilers until the Monday after an episode drops? That gives people time to watch it, but also gives us time to discuss it before the next episode.

If there is a forum-wide policy on spoilers, we should use that instead, I guess. I don't think we have spoiler tags available.

By the way, Episode 10 is not what I expected, but still pretty good. The production values on this one were very impressive. Genuinely movie quality. And I can't 100% tell what was practical and what was CGI. Looked like a mix of both.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 07, 2020, 08:59:16 PM
When do we want to lift spoilers for a current episode?

How about we hold off on spoilers until the Monday after an episode drops? That gives people time to watch it, but also gives us time to discuss it before the next episode.

Sounds good.

Quote
If there is a forum-wide policy on spoilers, we should use that instead, I guess. I don't think we have spoiler tags available.

By the way, Episode 10 is not what I expected, but still pretty good. The production values on this one were very impressive. Genuinely movie quality. And I can't 100% tell what was practical and what was CGI. Looked like a mix of both.

I thought so too. I haven't seen CGI this good since Jurassic Park.

I liked this episode, but it did feel like wheel spinning, and I've got a high tolerance for slow boils.

Man, I want to comment on one specific thing, but the spoiler tags don't seem to work.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 08, 2020, 10:30:28 AM
Man, I want to comment on one specific thing, but the spoiler tags don't seem to work.

I think I know exactly what you want to talk about. :)

Spoilers on Monday then.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on November 08, 2020, 01:01:34 PM
I think I’m on the “lighten up, Francis” side of the argument on this one.

(I'm talking Episode 2 here, Ep 1 was noncontroversial)
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Hawkwing7423 on November 08, 2020, 01:19:16 PM
I enjoyed the episode, and I'm fine with slow boil. My wife enjoyed it as well. Production quality was great.
I think if I rewatched the season later, I would not lose much by skipping this.

But yeah that little *thing* at the end...wow.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 09, 2020, 08:25:30 AM
SPOILER WARNING:

STARTING EACH MONDAY, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUS WEEK'S EPISODE OF THE MANDALORIAN.

THIS IS NOW A SPOILER THREAD.

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(SPOILER SPACE)
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Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 09, 2020, 08:33:31 AM
So, about them eggs. Holy shit, I did not expect them to go there. I was horrified, and then they kept doing it.

My guess is that they wanted to dispel the aura of kiddy-cuteness around The Child? Or make him more like Daigoro in Lone Wolf and Cub?

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 09, 2020, 08:57:59 AM
Also, from Episode 9, Boba Fett is canonically alive, though he is not using his Mandalorian armor any more. The jetpack missile is also canon. I'd say it is roughly equivalent to an RPG in damage and range. At close range, it could mess up a starship, but it isn't going to catch up to one that's running away.

We see that the New Republic has a fairly weak grasp on the Outer Rim. It seems like they only do occasional long range patrols consisting of two or more X-Wings. And those pilots are forced to be pragmatic about how they keep the peace. That seems like it is both in keeping with the sequel trilogy (for what it's worth), and gives plenty of room for adventurers and freelancers to operate.

It doesn't seem like Mando will be going into the heart of the New Republic any time soon. While this patrol let him off the hook, the New Republic authorities could arrest him at any time if they wanted to. Kind of a pity, I'd like to see more of the New Republic and the core worlds.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 09, 2020, 02:52:12 PM
Time for my nit!

This episode brought up again how these ships are capable of slower than light travel that doesn't make sense. Any journey between even close stars without hyperspace would take decades or centuries, at best.
I know Star Wars is soft sci-fi, but this is 1930's Flash Gordon soft, and just looks silly in 2020.

We see that the New Republic has a fairly weak grasp on the Outer Rim. It seems like they only do occasional long range patrols consisting of two or more X-Wings. And those pilots are forced to be pragmatic about how they keep the peace. That seems like it is both in keeping with the sequel trilogy (for what it's worth), and gives plenty of room for adventurers and freelancers to operate.

It doesn't seem like Mando will be going into the heart of the New Republic any time soon. While this patrol let him off the hook, the New Republic authorities could arrest him at any time if they wanted to. Kind of a pity, I'd like to see more of the New Republic and the core worlds.

I would too. Maybe Mando will have a reason to visit the Core Worlds and show the difference in law and order. The Outer Rim has always been a contrast, with Tatooine, for example, having slavery and being run by space gangsters.

I don't mind greying up the New Republic, but if we don't get any examples of how they're a positive force in the galaxy, then they're just Empire-Lite, and that's not Star Wars.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 09, 2020, 10:45:21 PM
Does Baby Yoda get one Dark Side point for each baby he eats?

Also, for purpose of discussion, are Baby Yoda's race called Dagobans?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Omega on November 10, 2020, 06:04:05 PM
Does Baby Yoda get one Dark Side point for each baby he eats?

Also, for purpose of discussion, are Baby Yoda's race called Dagobans?

Well we allways knew Yoda was not a nice person. The Jedi are not a "force of good in the galaxy" especially Yoda. This gets brought up in Clone Wars too.

As for their species. It is still unknown. They are apparently not native to Dagobah.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 10, 2020, 08:25:24 PM
Does Baby Yoda get one Dark Side point for each baby he eats?

Also, for purpose of discussion, are Baby Yoda's race called Dagobans?

Well we allways knew Yoda was not a nice person. The Jedi are not a "force of good in the galaxy" especially Yoda. This gets brought up in Clone Wars too.

As for their species. It is still unknown. They are apparently not native to Dagobah.

I think the Jedi were a force for good in the galaxy. I don't think their failures and foibles disqualifies them. It just means they were wrong sometimes.

As to Baby Yoda, he's a child who doesn't understand that the eggs were from an intelligent species. He was just hongry.

(Though him force-choking Cara Dune in the first season brings up the spectre of a child with force powers doing stuff out of anger or fear with no concept of adult behavior)
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Omega on November 10, 2020, 09:55:05 PM
I love how Wookipedia had some deep need to point out that the robot was "masculine programmed".
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 11, 2020, 09:06:15 AM
As to Baby Yoda, he's a child who doesn't understand that the eggs were from an intelligent species.

I... don't buy that. Especially not after repeated admonishments.

Honestly, I'm surprised he could eat that many.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 11, 2020, 09:32:17 AM
Well we allways knew Yoda was not a nice person. The Jedi are not a "force of good in the galaxy" especially Yoda. This gets brought up in Clone Wars too.
I would argue that in the prequel era Yoda was a good person who was not good at his job. He was clearly one of the greatest Jedi Knights, but as a master and teacher he relies on mysticism way too much, so his advice is not particularly good. He also repeatedly fails to see the problems that are brewing right in front of him. And he is not sympathetic to Anakin. Obi-Wan was ten times the mentor that Yoda was.

When he's training Luke on Dagobah, he seems to set Luke up to make as many mistakes as possible.

If he was really as wise as everyone said he was, he would have stepped down in favor of someone more suitable to lead.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 11, 2020, 10:27:53 AM
As to Baby Yoda, he's a child who doesn't understand that the eggs were from an intelligent species.

I... don't buy that. Especially not after repeated admonishments.

Honestly, I'm surprised he could eat that many.

I don't remember any point where Mando explained why not to eat the eggs. And we haven't seen any indication that the child would understand beyond Mando being upset.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 13, 2020, 10:48:39 AM
Episode 11 (Season 2 Episode 3) is out, this one is IMHO better than the last, and more central to the main storyline.

Please refrain from spoilers on this episode until Monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 13, 2020, 10:24:30 PM
Episode 11 (Season 2 Episode 3) is out, this one is IMHO better than the last, and more central to the main storyline.

Please refrain from spoilers on this episode until Monday.

Saw it. Liked it. Some good stuff for us to discuss on monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 13, 2020, 10:27:20 PM
You were right about The Child, Ratman_tf.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on November 14, 2020, 04:40:00 PM
Episode 3 was excellent, but if they keep this Incredible Shrinking Episode bullshit up the season finale will be Mando saying “this is the way” and that will be it.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on November 15, 2020, 09:54:21 AM
Episode 11 (Season 2 Episode 3) is out, this one is IMHO better than the last, and more central to the main storyline.

Hated Episode 3. They pretty much destroyed Mando's character. I can now see why Pedro Pascal quit the show.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Premier on November 15, 2020, 10:45:34 AM
I can now see why Pedro Pascal quit the show.

You do realise that's just a false rumour based on the fact that Pascal had scheduling problems during the filming of season 2, right? He didn't actually quit the show.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 15, 2020, 12:43:52 PM
I can now see why Pedro Pascal quit the show.

You do realise that's just a false rumour based on the fact that Pascal had scheduling problems during the filming of season 2, right? He didn't actually quit the show.
This is theRPGsite--baseless and unproven rumors are the norm here.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 15, 2020, 01:20:16 PM
Looks like our favorite sourpuss is at it again.

(Mild spoilers)

https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1327790541870796801
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 16, 2020, 02:00:30 PM
Let's roll.

So the big deal about this episode is that the Mando met  Bo-Katan Kryze, a character from the animated Clone Wars series. Notably, they make a point that these Manadlorians don't adhere to the ideals he was taught. They take off their helmets in front of others, and Bo-Katan is very loose with her agreements if they don't favor her.
Now, I don't mind this. The Mandalorian was either going to have to ignore all the stuff from Clone Wars, or integrate it into the show. So they integrated it. I don't mind that some Mandalorian like Bo-Katan are not as honorable as others. She's power hungry, and driven to accomplish her goal of becoming the ruler of the Manalore society.

I'm not very thrilled about how she and her crew treated Mando as some kind of religious nut. I think they could have simply said that he was some kind of traditionalist, and modern Mandalorians are much more slack about such things. But hey, it was from her perspective as well. It could be said that Mando's tribe keep the old traditions and the others are failing to respect their culture.

I do mind that it came as part of a ham-handed infodump. The Mandalorian has been better about that up until now. It wasn't really integrated into the story so much as a commentary so they could get to the pew-pew actions. Mando could have been more disdainful of Bo-Katan's crew, and judgemental over her lack of principles.

I'm also wondering why Mando doesn't paint over his damn armor so people aren't constantly attacking him over his Beskar steel. That's getting old.

If the series addresses these issues, I don't have a problem with it, and it was a good episode after all.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: BoxCrayonTales on November 16, 2020, 03:31:48 PM
Looks like our favorite sourpuss is at it again.

(Mild spoilers)

https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1327790541870796801

Okay, so in this particular instance she's wrong. For years feminists have been decrying "boobplate" as sexist and impractical, so artists have been giving us practical non-sexist armor that makes room for the boobs without emphasizing them like lingerie. So I don't understand why any feminist should be upset, as opposed to touting this as a good way to make female armor without being sexualized.

But on the other end of the spectrum... I see people coming out of the woodwork and defending actual "boobplate" (metal lingerie) as being totally necessary because it shows that the wearer is a woman and other silly excuses. All of which I think is completely false since Madalorian shows how to do that without making it sexy (I've heard some people claim they didn't immediately recognize the female armor as female until it was pointed out to them), and we all know the reason why "boobplate" exists is to be sexy.

The sexualization of women in media is one of the main reasons why so many women and girls are suddenly identifying as transmen or non-binary. They hate being sexualized and associated femaleness with sexualization, so they try to identify out of being sexualized. This doesn't fix anything and only exacerbates society's gender problems, because it implies that women's bodies are inherently sexual.

Anita is only contributing to this problem by implying that women's bodies are inherently sexual, so that any deviation from the "male norm" (which is a well-known sexist construct) is sexualization of women. Including a simple dent added so that your boobs aren't bound against your chest and cause you health problems. Newsflash: breast binding is dangerous!

To be entirely honest, I don't think many people would have a problem with boobplate if all the men wore equally ridiculous fetish wear.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 16, 2020, 04:54:03 PM
Looks like our favorite sourpuss is at it again.

(Mild spoilers)

https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1327790541870796801

Okay, so in this particular instance she's wrong. For years feminists have been decrying "boobplate" as sexist and impractical, so artists have been giving us practical non-sexist armor that makes room for the boobs without emphasizing them like lingerie. So I don't understand why any feminist should be upset, as opposed to touting this as a good way to make female armor without being sexualized.

But on the other end of the spectrum... I see people coming out of the woodwork and defending actual "boobplate" (metal lingerie) as being totally necessary because it shows that the wearer is a woman and other silly excuses. All of which I think is completely false since Madalorian shows how to do that without making it sexy (I've heard some people claim they didn't immediately recognize the female armor as female until it was pointed out to them), and we all know the reason why "boobplate" exists is to be sexy.

The sexualization of women in media is one of the main reasons why so many women and girls are suddenly identifying as transmen or non-binary. They hate being sexualized and associated femaleness with sexualization, so they try to identify out of being sexualized. This doesn't fix anything and only exacerbates society's gender problems, because it implies that women's bodies are inherently sexual.

Anita is only contributing to this problem by implying that women's bodies are inherently sexual, so that any deviation from the "male norm" (which is a well-known sexist construct) is sexualization of women. Including a simple dent added so that your boobs aren't bound against your chest and cause you health problems. Newsflash: breast binding is dangerous!

To be entirely honest, I don't think many people would have a problem with boobplate if all the men wore equally ridiculous fetish wear.

I disagree on a few points, but I"m putting a pin in that reply because I think it's the least interesting aspect of the episode, and I'd like to hear people talk about other stuff for a bit.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 16, 2020, 11:54:04 PM
Let's roll.

So the big deal about this episode is that the Mando met  Bo-Katan Kryze, a character from the animated Clone Wars series. Notably, they make a point that these Manadlorians don't adhere to the ideals he was taught. They take off their helmets in front of others, and Bo-Katan is very loose with her agreements if they don't favor her.
Now, I don't mind this. The Mandalorian was either going to have to ignore all the stuff from Clone Wars, or integrate it into the show. So they integrated it. I don't mind that some Mandalorian like Bo-Katan are not as honorable as others. She's power hungry, and driven to accomplish her goal of becoming the ruler of the Manalore society.

I'm not very thrilled about how she and her crew treated Mando as some kind of religious nut. I think they could have simply said that he was some kind of traditionalist, and modern Mandalorians are much more slack about such things. But hey, it was from her perspective as well. It could be said that Mando's tribe keep the old traditions and the others are failing to respect their culture.

I do mind that it came as part of a ham-handed infodump. The Mandalorian has been better about that up until now. It wasn't really integrated into the story so much as a commentary so they could get to the pew-pew actions. Mando could have been more disdainful of Bo-Katan's crew, and judgemental over her lack of principles.
I mean, they had just saved him and the Child, and in proper Mandalorian fashion, that probably earned them a bit of slack.

As for Bo-Katan treating Mando like a religious nut, I think it is more nuanced than that. Clearly, she has more knowledge of Mandalorian culture than he does. But at the same time, she knows he was raised by the remnants of Death Watch, and Bo-Katan was once a high-ranking member of Death Watch herself. I think she feels a certain guilt and/or responsibility for how he was raised.

At the same time, though, it is clear that her mission is to retake the Darksaber, which is basically Excalibur to the Mandalorians. She who pulls the Darksaber out of the back of some bastard who had it coming is the proper ruler of Mandalore. So that's Job One, helping out Mando a distant second.

I'm also wondering why Mando doesn't paint over his damn armor so people aren't constantly attacking him over his Beskar steel. That's getting old.
Because it's shiny, and a hard-won symbol of status among his people.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on November 17, 2020, 11:48:48 AM
I'm not very thrilled about how she and her crew treated Mando as some kind of religious nut. I think they could have simply said that he was some kind of traditionalist, and modern Mandalorians are much more slack about such things. But hey, it was from her perspective as well. It could be said that Mando's tribe keep the old traditions and the others are failing to respect their culture.

It didn't help the matter that the actress they picked to play the fake Mandalorean queen was terrible. I didn't buy her as an "Heiress" or a Mandalorian for one second. It also didn't help that the other two fake Mandaloreans were rolling their eyes at Mando through the entire episode.

The overall effects was not good for the character of Mando (who is supposedly the main character of the show). The fake queen lies to Mando, treats him like a child, goes back on her deal, and then reveals that her motivation is completely selfish. Yet, at the end, Mando gives her a "This is the Way" like he somehow approves. So incredibly sad.

Add this to the fact that Mando had to be rescued two episodes in a row.

This all ended up sacrificing the main character for some pointless Clone Wars fan service.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 17, 2020, 02:27:52 PM
This all ended up sacrificing the main character for some pointless Clone Wars fan service.

One of my big concerns for this season is that it's going to devolve into fan service at the expense of story. There's a place for references to previous material, but the best Star Wars (IMO) stands on it's own and creates more new lore than referencing old lore.

They can salvage this. This is the first time Mando has encountered non-Tribe Mandalorians. He has no context for Mandalorians who don't follow his creed. His "This is the way" reply, could be considered a politeness while he figures out where he stands on the subject. The show is setting up Bo-Katan as a character that Mando might have to deal with later.

Ah hell, random speculation, they set up Bo-Katan as a recurring character that Mando doesn't get along with, but is forced to work with, and at the end of the series, she gets the Darksaber, but Mando pulls a technicality on their deal, and gets the super sword and becomes leader of the Mandalorians. That would be fun if done right.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 17, 2020, 03:07:08 PM
I don't think Mando wants to be ruler of the Mandalorians. Maybe the top guy in his sect, whatever that is.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much he even knows about the greater Mandalorian culture.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ghostmaker on November 17, 2020, 03:57:20 PM
Looks like our favorite sourpuss is at it again.

(Mild spoilers)

https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1327790541870796801
Grifters gotta grift, y'know.

Though the funniest part was the people who'd actually worked with developing fem-friendly body armor jumping her case.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 18, 2020, 10:40:46 AM
One thing from Star Wars lore that might be relevant to the discussion: The Mandalorian culture was spread across an interstellar empire at its peak. It's not just the planet of Mandalore and its moon. I don't know how many systems it comprised. If a number was ever given, it would have been in The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, but I don't think there was ever any on-screen discussion. Wookieepedia talks about Mandalorian Space (http://"https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mandalore_sector") occupying thousands of systems, for what it's worth.

Given a large enough area of space, and a breakdown in communications following the Clone Wars and the conquest of Mandalore by the Galactic Empire, and the subsequent fall of the Empire, it's reasonable to think that Mando may have grown up either on the far fringes of Mandalorian culture, or entirely outside of it.

It seems clear that the "Tribe" he was adopted by were outcasts from Mandalorian society.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 21, 2020, 11:00:48 AM
Mando Episode 12 is out, and it was full of good stuff.

Please refrain from spoilers until Monday. Thank you.

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: jeff37923 on November 21, 2020, 11:55:49 AM
One thing from Star Wars lore that might be relevant to the discussion: The Mandalorian culture was spread across an interstellar empire at its peak. It's not just the planet of Mandalore and its moon. I don't know how many systems it comprised. If a number was ever given, it would have been in The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, but I don't think there was ever any on-screen discussion. Wookieepedia talks about Mandalorian Space (http://"https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mandalore_sector") occupying thousands of systems, for what it's worth.

Given a large enough area of space, and a breakdown in communications following the Clone Wars and the conquest of Mandalore by the Galactic Empire, and the subsequent fall of the Empire, it's reasonable to think that Mando may have grown up either on the far fringes of Mandalorian culture, or entirely outside of it.

It seems clear that the "Tribe" he was adopted by were outcasts from Mandalorian society.

Maybe, but the flashback scenes show Mandaloreans fighting Seperatist droids. Since Mandalore wished to remain neutral during the Clone Wars (even during Maul's criminal empire reign), I wonder if the sect that Din is part of started out as a splinter group of Mandaloreans during the Clone Wars who believed in fighting for the Republic, or at least opposing the Seperatists.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 22, 2020, 02:47:10 AM
Mando Episode 12 is out, and it was full of good stuff.

Please refrain from spoilers until Monday. Thank you.

I have many thoughts.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 22, 2020, 09:29:48 AM
Maybe, but the flashback scenes show Mandaloreans fighting Seperatist droids. Since Mandalore wished to remain neutral during the Clone Wars (even during Maul's criminal empire reign), I wonder if the sect that Din is part of started out as a splinter group of Mandaloreans during the Clone Wars who believed in fighting for the Republic, or at least opposing the Seperatists.
The "covert" he was adopted by may simply have been on a planet the Separatists invaded, and once invaded, they fought back.

Not sure if that planet is supposed to have been Navarro, they look similar but there are a lot of dirtball frontier planets in this show.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 23, 2020, 11:21:47 AM
Happy Monday, spoilers for Episode 12 to follow...
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Well, it seems that The Child can understand some speech.

If his race lives to be 800, that means that 8 human years equals one Yoda Year? If so, at age 50 he is.. six? I don't know, he seems younger than that. It is possible that his species' development doesn't line up with humans exactly. He seems far less verbal than a human child, but his Force abilities are pretty far along. And we haven't seen anyone changing his diapers, so hopefully he's able to use the fresher by himself.

There is speculation that the Walrus Men were hiding out in the room that used to be the Mandalorian armorer's forge.

According to the English subtitles, the armored transport speeder they commandeer from the Imperial Base is a "Trexler Marauder." Interestingly, the concept art at the end of the episode depicts it as a regular Imperial Troop Transport.

People have speculated that the thing in the laboratory on Navarro was Snoke, or a proto-Snoke, but I would be perfectly happy if The Mandalorian never acknowledges the existence of the sequel trilogy. I also hope the First Order is never mentioned.

It appears that the Imperial remnant's scheme was to harvest Baby Yoda's midichlorians and give them to an experimental subject, but the experiment failed and the subject died. Good. Can we forget about midichlorians now?

Nice to see an Imperial Light Cruiser make an appearance in live action. They made frequent appearances on Star Wars Rebels. Wookieepedia also lists this as an "Arquitens-class Command Cruiser" which seems appropriate for Moff Gideon's flagship. A full-fledged Star Destroyer would have been too much, particularly if Moff Gideon is flying under the radar of the New Republic.

I couldn't really make out what those sinister black things on Moff Gideon's ship were. They kind of looked like murdered-out Cylons. I've seen speculation that they are "Dark Troopers" as seen in the Star Wars: Dark Forces video game.

Can we call the dirty, half-starved stormtroopers from Season 1 "Stray Troopers?"

Also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 23, 2020, 03:34:11 PM
Happy Monday, spoilers for Episode 12 to follow...
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Well, it seems that The Child can understand some speech.

If his race lives to be 800, that means that 8 human years equals one Yoda Year? If so, at age 50 he is.. six? I don't know, he seems younger than that. It is possible that his species' development doesn't line up with humans exactly. He seems far less verbal than a human child, but his Force abilities are pretty far along. And we haven't seen anyone changing his diapers, so hopefully he's able to use the fresher by himself.

There is speculation that the Walrus Men were hiding out in the room that used to be the Mandalorian armorer's forge.

According to the English subtitles, the armored transport speeder they commandeer from the Imperial Base is a "Trexler Marauder." Interestingly, the concept art at the end of the episode depicts it as a regular Imperial Troop Transport.

People have speculated that the thing in the laboratory on Navarro was Snoke, or a proto-Snoke, but I would be perfectly happy if The Mandalorian never acknowledges the existence of the sequel trilogy. I also hope the First Order is never mentioned.

It appears that the Imperial remnant's scheme was to harvest Baby Yoda's midichlorians and give them to an experimental subject, but the experiment failed and the subject died. Good. Can we forget about midichlorians now?

Nice to see an Imperial Light Cruiser make an appearance in live action. They made frequent appearances on Star Wars Rebels. Wookieepedia also lists this as an "Arquitens-class Command Cruiser" which seems appropriate for Moff Gideon's flagship. A full-fledged Star Destroyer would have been too much, particularly if Moff Gideon is flying under the radar of the New Republic.

I couldn't really make out what those sinister black things on Moff Gideon's ship were. They kind of looked like murdered-out Cylons. I've seen speculation that they are "Dark Troopers" as seen in the Star Wars: Dark Forces video game.

Can we call the dirty, half-starved stormtroopers from Season 1 "Stray Troopers?"

Also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy thanksgiving week everyone!

At first, when I saw bodies in tubes, I thought they were trying (unsucessfully) to re-start cloning technology.

My second thought is "Oh no, not Midichlorians again!"

But bear with me here.

What if Gideon's plan is to infuse regular people with Force ability? But... in the thousands of years of the galaxy, why hasn't someone tried this before?
I speculate, that they have. That trying to "force" the Force onto a being via blood transfusion results in a corrupted being. That it's a "Jurassic Park" level idea, that gives you what seems to be a really powerful being, but they get all physically and mentally fucked up from the process. (Observe the beings in the tubes didn't appear alien. They appered to be malformed humans) And so it's a line of thought that the Jedi consider unnatural, and has backfired on the Sith or whoever tried it in the past.
The suits are some means to control the subjects of the experiment, but Gideon's Force Troopers are going to be funky mutants that turn on him in the end.

And that's my speculation.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 23, 2020, 04:07:07 PM
What if Gideon's plan is to infuse regular people with Force ability? But... in the thousands of years of the galaxy, why hasn't someone tried this before?
I speculate, that they have. That trying to "force" the Force onto a being via blood transfusion results in a corrupted being. That it's a "Jurassic Park" level idea, that gives you what seems to be a really powerful being, but they get all physically and mentally fucked up from the process. (Observe the beings in the tubes didn't appear alien. They appered to be malformed humans) And so it's a line of thought that the Jedi consider unnatural, and has backfired on the Sith or whoever tried it in the past.
My fun head-canon is that the Empire has been trying to do this by extracting the midichlorians from ten thousand stormtroopers instead of one powerful force user. This results in stormtroopers who can't shoot straight.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Armchair Gamer on November 24, 2020, 10:38:03 AM

What if Gideon's plan is to infuse regular people with Force ability? But... in the thousands of years of the galaxy, why hasn't someone tried this before?
I speculate, that they have. That trying to "force" the Force onto a being via blood transfusion results in a corrupted being. That it's a "Jurassic Park" level idea, that gives you what seems to be a really powerful being, but they get all physically and mentally fucked up from the process. (Observe the beings in the tubes didn't appear alien. They appered to be malformed humans) And so it's a line of thought that the Jedi consider unnatural, and has backfired on the Sith or whoever tried it in the past.
The suits are some means to control the subjects of the experiment, but Gideon's Force Troopers are going to be funky mutants that turn on him in the end.

And that's my speculation.

   This happened in the old Expanded Universe--in the backstory for Vjun, as explained in the novel Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (a speedily constructed schedule filler, but one that wound up being an underappreciated gem despite that). It didn't produce physical corruption, but the resultant surge in Force abilities led to madness and the planetary population largely wiping itself out through homicidal mania.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 25, 2020, 10:50:50 AM
The situation with midichlorians in Star Wars reminds me a lot of the use of the transporter in Star Trek. In both cases, they are a concept that was invented to do one simple thing, but the basic concept kind of mushroomed out of control.

The transporter in Star Trek was created so they didn't have to film endless spaceship landing scenes. Instead of having to do an elaborate, tricky and time-consuming model shot of the Enterprise landing, or a shuttle launching and landing, the transporter was a fairly simple fade from an empty set to the first frame of the actors on set, overlaid with some sparkly lights. An easy effect to pull off, and in seconds your characters are on the planet ready for an adventure. But then people asked them how it worked, and that opened a whole kettle of worms, and now the transporter can do anything from cloning people, to suspended animation, to making a cup of Earl Gray tea.

Midichlorians were invented so Qui-Gon could measure how strong the Force was in Anakin Skywalker. (George Lucas says otherwise. George Lucas says a lot of things.) Unlike the transporter, though, people hated the concept immediately. Instead of The Force being something mystical and transcendent, it's now just microbes. They could have distanced themselves from the concept by saying that midichlorians are a reaction to The Force, rather than its operating mechanism, but no. They seem determined to double down on it.

I suppose, at the very least, they have established that what Moff Gideon is doing is Wrong, and contrary to the laws of the universe.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 27, 2020, 10:36:18 AM
Episode 13 is out. It is a lucky number. I recommend watching this one without delay.

Let's talk about it on Monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 28, 2020, 07:51:59 AM
Episode 13 is out. It is a lucky number. I recommend watching this one without delay.

Let's talk about it on Monday.

I have fewer thoughts about this episode. It's good, but very straightforward.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 28, 2020, 04:53:38 PM
Not going to spoil this episode specifically, but is anyone else getting the feeling that Mando is getting pushed into the background more and more this season? With all of the secondary characters and guest characters popping out, he's really lacking in spotlight time. I guess there might be some reluctance to overdevelop the "laconic gunslinger" of our space western, but a little more time on him and a little less time on everybody else (including the child) for at least an episode or two would be welcome in my eyes.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 28, 2020, 09:03:54 PM
Not going to spoil this episode specifically, but is anyone else getting the feeling that Mando is getting pushed into the background more and more this season? With all of the secondary characters and guest characters popping out, he's really lacking in spotlight time. I guess there might be some reluctance to overdevelop the "laconic gunslinger" of our space western, but a little more time on him and a little less time on everybody else (including the child) for at least an episode or two would be welcome in my eyes.

That's one of my nitpicks I was going to save for monday, but I can do it without serious spoilers.

Too many cameos waters down the cameo characters, pushes the main characters into the background, and makes the setting more self-referential.

I loved that season one gave us some good, new character like Kara Dune, Greef Carga, Moff Gideon, Kuiil, IG-11, etc, etc. I want more of that and a few cameos sprinkled through the season are ok.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: jeff37923 on November 30, 2020, 05:54:27 AM
Not going to spoil this episode specifically, but is anyone else getting the feeling that Mando is getting pushed into the background more and more this season? With all of the secondary characters and guest characters popping out, he's really lacking in spotlight time. I guess there might be some reluctance to overdevelop the "laconic gunslinger" of our space western, but a little more time on him and a little less time on everybody else (including the child) for at least an episode or two would be welcome in my eyes.

That's one of my nitpicks I was going to save for monday, but I can do it without serious spoilers.

Too many cameos waters down the cameo characters, pushes the main characters into the background, and makes the setting more self-referential.

I loved that season one gave us some good, new character like Kara Dune, Greef Carga, Moff Gideon, Kuiil, IG-11, etc, etc. I want more of that and a few cameos sprinkled through the season are ok.

I agree, because that is one of my nitpicks as well. I think that this might be Disney's attempt at damage control for the sequel trilogy - showing the fans that their favorite characters are still alive in the franchise.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 30, 2020, 06:45:56 AM
Not going to spoil this episode specifically, but is anyone else getting the feeling that Mando is getting pushed into the background more and more this season? With all of the secondary characters and guest characters popping out, he's really lacking in spotlight time. I guess there might be some reluctance to overdevelop the "laconic gunslinger" of our space western, but a little more time on him and a little less time on everybody else (including the child) for at least an episode or two would be welcome in my eyes.

That's one of my nitpicks I was going to save for monday, but I can do it without serious spoilers.

Too many cameos waters down the cameo characters, pushes the main characters into the background, and makes the setting more self-referential.

I loved that season one gave us some good, new character like Kara Dune, Greef Carga, Moff Gideon, Kuiil, IG-11, etc, etc. I want more of that and a few cameos sprinkled through the season are ok.

I agree, because that is one of my nitpicks as well. I think that this might be Disney's attempt at damage control for the sequel trilogy - showing the fans that their favorite characters are still alive in the franchise.
It's probably only a matter of time before we have a goofy episode featuring Mando interacting with Artoo and Threepio. We can be thankful that they don't seem to do CGI-only aliens, or we might get the return of Jar-Jar.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 30, 2020, 11:17:31 AM
It's probably only a matter of time before we have a goofy episode featuring Mando interacting with Artoo and Threepio. We can be thankful that they don't seem to do CGI-only aliens, or we might get the return of Jar-Jar.
They brought Jar-Jar back for a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars. Jar-Jar was teamed up with Mace Windu, and he was used as an everyman type character out of his depth, to provide exposition and make Mace Windu look awesome and badass by comparison. That actually worked.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 30, 2020, 11:48:20 AM
It's Monday, spoilers are legal.
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Wow, this one blew me away.

I really liked how they handled Ahsoka. She's badass, but centered. Rosario Dawson did well with the role, and even looks the part fairly well. The makeup works, and she is able to act in it effectively, and it fades into the background and lets her performance shine through. I also liked the fact that Ahsoka displayed mercy towards the goons when circumstances permitted. Really, she translated to live action just about perfectly.

Note the owl that appears in a tree immediately before the Mandalorian encounters Ahsoka in the woods. This is a long-running visual cue that Dave Filoni uses for Ahsoka. It's her spirit animal.

I suppose it wouldn't have been chivalrous for Ahsoka to simply block with one saber, and flick the other one down the length of the spear, severing her opponent's fingers. I'm surprised Morgan Elsbeth fought as close up as she did.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is out there. Is Moff Gideon working for him as well, or are they rivals?

The Child has a name, Grogu, and a troubled backstory. He's a survivor of the fall of the Jedi temple. But who saved him?

He can communicate telepathically, which I guess explains why he is so nonverbal.

Nice to see Michael Biehn again as Lang the gunman.

Morgan Elsbeth is one of Thrawn's lieutenants, and she was equipped to fight a Jedi. She's not an Inquisitor, though, or even a force user. Where did she come from? If this is what an Imperial Noblewoman looks like, she's pretty kick-ass.

Diana Lee Inosanto is the daughter of martial arts master Dan Inosanto, and the goddaughter of Bruce Lee.

Nice to see another Loth-Cat. They did a better job of making it not look like a cartoon animal this time.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 30, 2020, 01:20:06 PM
It's probably only a matter of time before we have a goofy episode featuring Mando interacting with Artoo and Threepio. We can be thankful that they don't seem to do CGI-only aliens, or we might get the return of Jar-Jar.
They brought Jar-Jar back for a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars. Jar-Jar was teamed up with Mace Windu, and he was used as an everyman type character out of his depth, to provide exposition and make Mace Windu look awesome and badass by comparison. That actually worked.
We already had the blue-skinned alien from two episodes back (and that was in the pilot episode) for that. He was way less annoying than Jar-Jar ever was.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 30, 2020, 02:46:10 PM
I can't argue with you there.

I do feel a little sorry for Ahmed Best, though, who gave us the best Jar-Jar he could, and probably gets a ton of crap about it.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 30, 2020, 04:03:13 PM
I can't argue with you there.

I do feel a little sorry for Ahmed Best, though, who gave us the best Jar-Jar he could, and probably gets a ton of crap about it.
I don't blame the actor for a bad character. For example, I wouldn't automatically assume that Daisy Ridley is going to be terrible in another part just because of Rey.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 30, 2020, 05:35:18 PM
Ok. I liked the episode, but as mentioned, I think the cameos threaten to drag down the series.

A new Jedi (ish, if you know Ahsoka's backstory) character would have worked just as well. There was nothing about this role specific to her character.

The idea of Thrawn really makes me wince. I don't like the character, and we already have an Imperial Remnant baddie with a master plan. Tossing Thrawn in there threatenes to water down the Moff Gideon character.

The Beskar steel being resistant, at this point it looks to be totally impervious, to blasters and lightsabers makes the Stormtrooper armor even more comical in comparison. I'd like to see Stormtrooper armor deflect or absorb a shot once in a while, and show that there's a reason to wear it, and Beskar not to be a complete counter to energy weapons. So far Beskar's only drawback is it's rarity.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on November 30, 2020, 06:55:02 PM
A new Jedi (ish, if you know Ahsoka's backstory) character would have worked just as well. There was nothing about this role specific to her character.
Maybe, but it wouldn't have made fans as happy. Also, since Ahsoka is not, technically, a Jedi, having her around does not conflict with Yoda's statement about there not being any more Jedi except Luke and Leia. Though Yoda was not all-knowing.

The idea of Thrawn really makes me wince. I don't like the character, and we already have an Imperial Remnant baddie with a master plan. Tossing Thrawn in there threatenes to water down the Moff Gideon character.
I like Thrawn, but it remains to be seen what role he will play. It is possible that Ahsoka wants to find Thrawn because Ezra Bridger went missing along with him. It is also possible that there will be a conflict between Thrawn and the New Republic that forms the backdrop to ongoing storylines. Mando trying to live on the edges of that conflict could be interesting.

The Beskar steel being resistant, at this point it looks to be totally impervious, to blasters and lightsabers makes the Stormtrooper armor even more comical in comparison. I'd like to see Stormtrooper armor deflect or absorb a shot once in a while, and show that there's a reason to wear it, and Beskar not to be a complete counter to energy weapons. So far Beskar's only drawback is it's rarity.
Mando's pure beskar armor will stop blaster fire, but he still gets beat to shit underneath it. He nearly died at the end of Season 1. And if that spear was lightsaber-proof, his armor should have been also.

As for Empire-era Stormtrooper armor, it is probably more riot control armor than anything else. Useful for stopping improvised weapons and instilling fear in civilians. It is inferior to Republic Commando armor.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on November 30, 2020, 09:01:21 PM
Was watching it with my youngest and she said, "that doesn't look anything like Ahsoka, except for the hat".  ;D She's not wrong.

If I could get rid of one thing from the Prequels, it's the dumb idea that fear leads to the dark side. I'll take 15 Midicholorean references instead.

Overall though, the episode had a bunch of structural problems, most significantly was the intro sequence. There's no reason for Ahsoka, who's been fighting armies since she was a teenager to be sneaking through the forest murdering four random mooks. It would have been better to start the episode with Mando landing and using the time to setup the situation more (like who was that random dude that become king at the end of the episode). Then Ahsoka's reveal could have been when she fights Mando. This would have also gotten rid of the silly "You have one day" ... One day to do what, exactly?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 30, 2020, 09:06:40 PM

If I could get rid of one thing from the Prequels, it's the dumb idea that fear leads to the dark side. I'll take 15 Midicholorean references instead.

That predates the Prequels. It was around at least as far back as ESB, and may have been mentioned in ANH (but I don't think it was).
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on November 30, 2020, 09:39:47 PM
That predates the Prequels. It was around at least as far back as ESB, and may have been mentioned in ANH (but I don't think it was).
The quote in ESB is about using the Force out of fear or anger, not that if you are afraid of something then you'll automatically join to the Dark side. Those are two entirely different things.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on November 30, 2020, 10:20:35 PM
That predates the Prequels. It was around at least as far back as ESB, and may have been mentioned in ANH (but I don't think it was).
The quote in ESB is about using the Force out of fear or anger, not that if you are afraid of something then you'll automatically join to the Dark side. Those are two entirely different things.

There's a part in the 1975 draft of the script that stuck with me.

Quote
As you know, the “FORCE OF OTHERS” has two halves: Ashla, the good, and Bogan, the paraforce or evil part. Fortunately, Skywalker came to know the good half and was able to resist the paraforce; but he realized that if he taught others the way of the Ashla, some, with less strength, might come to know Bogan, the dark side, and bring unthinkable suffering to the Universe.
https://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/adventures-of-the-starkiller-second-draft/
(For anyone confused. Lucas shuffled names and concepts around while writing the original drafts. You'll find names from the finished films assigned to different characters.)

The point that I think persisted through the OT and Prequel series is that a Jedi who falls into negative emotions has access to great power to act out of those negative emotions. The consequences of a regular person being obsessed or fearful or angry can be bad enough, but a person with Force powers doing so magnifies it. And the "Dark Side" is a reinforcement loop where the emotions fuel more power to do more things until the character is all glowing eyes and Force choking their wife.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on November 30, 2020, 10:23:14 PM
That predates the Prequels. It was around at least as far back as ESB, and may have been mentioned in ANH (but I don't think it was).
The quote in ESB is about using the Force out of fear or anger, not that if you are afraid of something then you'll automatically join to the Dark side. Those are two entirely different things.
Or they are entirely related things that just got more explicitly restated later. Which is the only possible true way...from a certain point of view.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on November 30, 2020, 11:39:04 PM
This one really seemed like a side pilot for The Ahsoka Show. Which is fine, I guess. Like the CSI episode that was a pretty damn obvious pilot for CSI: Miami.

Thrawn reference pushed every button in the best way. Not too proud to admit they are playing me like a damn fiddle this season.

Tim Olyphant? Boom.
Darktroopers? Boom.
Thrawn AND Hicks? Boooooom.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on December 01, 2020, 08:37:22 AM
This one really seemed like a side pilot for The Ahsoka Show. Which is fine, I guess. Like the CSI episode that was a pretty damn obvious pilot for CSI: Miami.

An Ahsoka show would be tough to do as you'd always need to keep coming up with reasons why she doesn't just join up with Luke Skywalker. IMO, they should have left her dead after her Vader fight. Dying while fighting Vader is a much better exit for the character than whatever they can come up with now.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 01, 2020, 04:48:44 PM
IMO, they should have left her dead after her Vader fight. Dying while fighting Vader is a much better exit for the character than whatever they can come up with now.

I wholeheartedly agree.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 02, 2020, 10:26:55 AM
If I could get rid of one thing from the Prequels, it's the dumb idea that fear leads to the dark side. I'll take 15 Midicholorean references instead.

Ha! It's not as dumb as Star Trek's "no money" idea, but yeah. Fear is natural, and good. It's how you react to it that defines you.

The alternative is being so detached that you're clueless, which was ultimately the downfall of the Jedi Order in the prequels.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 02, 2020, 10:36:45 AM
An Ahsoka show would be tough to do as you'd always need to keep coming up with reasons why she doesn't just join up with Luke Skywalker.

Or conversely, why she doesn't just go home to her family once the Empire has fallen.

Though, answering that question could make for good drama. Maybe her family is dead. Maybe they view her walking away from the Jedi Order as a failure or a disgrace. Maybe she hasn't seen them since she was five, because the Jedi were supposed to be her new family.

Maybe when she finally got home, it wasn't the same place she left.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 02, 2020, 10:40:46 AM
This one really seemed like a side pilot for The Ahsoka Show. Which is fine, I guess. Like the CSI episode that was a pretty damn obvious pilot for CSI: Miami.

It's not that different from how they introduced Cara Dune.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 04, 2020, 02:33:03 PM
Mandalorian 14, Stormtroopers 0. Spoilers on Monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 05, 2020, 02:45:24 PM
It's not that different from how they introduced Cara Dune.

I don’t remember if they had Cara Dune namedrop the Big Bad Bastard she was specifically chasing after.  “I’m chasing Thrawn” is a pretty meaty hook to throw out there.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 05, 2020, 03:30:15 PM
Mando again is playing backup in his own series. The GM running this sure loves showing off his NPCs.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 05, 2020, 06:52:31 PM

I don’t remember if they had Cara Dune namedrop the Big Bad Bastard she was specifically chasing after.  “I’m chasing Thrawn” is a pretty meaty hook to throw out there.

True, but it's not like Thrawn has even appeared, let alone become an ongoing storyline. So far it's just a tease.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 07, 2020, 07:44:39 AM
Wow. I nuked my post. That was clever.

For posterity, I commented on Boba's gut,

(https://external-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQCk8UZGLdV836IC&w=500&h=261&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.comicbook.com%2F2020%2F12%2Fthe-mandalorian-boba-fett-message-translated-1247746-1280x0.jpeg&cfs=1&ext=jpg&_nc_cb=1&_nc_hash=AQDsl2nvPBlQj2YV)

the child being captured again being a retread, dark troopers being meh, cyborg woman and how I think Mando going around with Boba and cyborg woman should make some interesting character interactions.

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 07, 2020, 09:04:09 AM
Apparently Boba ate well while surviving out in the wilds of Tatooine.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: VisionStorm on December 07, 2020, 09:22:41 AM
Apparently Boba ate well while surviving out in the wilds of Tatooine.

He survived on the Tusken Raiders he took his Gaff Stick from, right after he was done dining on their Banthas.  ;)
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 07, 2020, 09:32:04 AM
Apparently Boba ate well while surviving out in the wilds of Tatooine.

He survived on the Tusken Raiders he took his Gaff Stick from, right after he was done dining on their Banthas.  ;)
I have fond memories of using one of those sticks in the D6 SWRPG. It was awesome because the base difficulty of using it was so low that I could often hit with multiple attacks against mooks that couldn't defend worth a shit (like stormtroopers). Sure, newer SW games have minion rules, but in the old days, you had to really work (your dice pools) to take out a bunch of guys in one turn.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 07, 2020, 09:49:09 AM
On the plus side (the puns keep coming) Boba Fett cosplayers will have an attainable goal this year.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: VisionStorm on December 07, 2020, 11:21:29 AM
Apparently Boba ate well while surviving out in the wilds of Tatooine.

He survived on the Tusken Raiders he took his Gaff Stick from, right after he was done dining on their Banthas.  ;)
I have fond memories of using one of those sticks in the D6 SWRPG. It was awesome because the base difficulty of using it was so low that I could often hit with multiple attacks against mooks that couldn't defend worth a shit (like stormtroopers). Sure, newer SW games have minion rules, but in the old days, you had to really work (your dice pools) to take out a bunch of guys in one turn.

So basically what Boba Fett did, smashing trooper helms in, left and right, with impunity? That scene made me wanna get one of those sticks IRL, cuz the technique seems identical to staff fighting, but with a nifty hook at one end, to trip or disarm opponents with, and a pike at the other to run them through once they're on the ground. Overall more effective than I though they'd be when I first saw them when I was a kid.

On the plus side (the puns keep coming) Boba Fett cosplayers will have an attainable goal this year.

Finally, every out of shape middle-aged guy who grew up with Star Wars can be Boba Fett. #MuhRepresentation
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 07, 2020, 12:11:04 PM
I have one guy in my group that now refers to him exclusively as Boba Fatt.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 07, 2020, 04:20:33 PM
Apparently Boba ate well while surviving out in the wilds of Tatooine.

Now we know who ate the Sarlacc.

Loved getting to see all the weapons on his armor get used, though.

I was a bit disappointed by those Dark Troopers. They seemed like something from a video game, and not in a good way.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 08, 2020, 12:17:30 AM
Gotta say, Grogu on the "magic stone" brought a nice "sense of wonder" feel for me.

It sure seems like the rock did its job, but I'm not sure who it called. It's not Ahsoka, obviously, though I wouldn't be surprised if she felt it. Canonical Jedi at this point would be Luke, possibly Leia, and Ezra Bridger? Luke would be a bigger deal than Ezra, and there have been rumors about Sebastian Shaw playing Luke. But they could easily get Taylor Gray to play Ezra if they wanted, the character was clearly modeled after the voice actor.

I wonder if part of the reason Grogu works so well is that he doesn't talk out loud, so there is no fake puppet lip flap to give the effect away.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on December 08, 2020, 10:45:04 AM
GM: "Today we have two new players, Bob and Sarah. Bob is playing Boba Fett ...."

Mark: "What?! You told me that I couldn't play Boba Fett. That's why I'm a generic Mandalorian"

GM: "I changed my mind. And Sarah is playing a kick ass cyborg assassin."

Mark: "No way. Mando is a Lone Wolf. I'm leaving."

GM: "Ummm .... a turbo laser blast comes from the sky and the Razorcrest is destroyed."

Mark: "Seriously? What about my +2 spear? I just found that."

GM: "Ok. You find the spear in the rubble."

Bob: "Don't worry, we can take the Slave 1"

Mark: "The GM told me the Slave 1 was destroyed."

Bob: "Nope, it's right here on my character sheet. But you can still ride in it .... as a passenger."

Mark: "Oh man"
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 10, 2020, 07:49:32 PM
True, but it's not like Thrawn has even appeared, let alone become an ongoing storyline. So far it's just a tease.

The chances of Thrawn showing up have just increased siiiignificantly.

Probably not in the next two episodes, unless he makes a short cameo, but he’s coming.

Damn that’s a lot of new Star Wars on the way. Maybe more than is strictly necessary. The Mandalorian is enough to keep the appetite whetted, a little more is good. A lot more, maybe not. We’ll see.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 10, 2020, 09:16:32 PM
True, but it's not like Thrawn has even appeared, let alone become an ongoing storyline. So far it's just a tease.

The chances of Thrawn showing up have just increased siiiignificantly.

Probably not in the next two episodes, unless he makes a short cameo, but he’s coming.

Damn that’s a lot of new Star Wars on the way. Maybe more than is strictly necessary. The Mandalorian is enough to keep the appetite whetted, a little more is good. A lot more, maybe not. We’ll see.

I feel like Disney loaded a shotgun full of Star Wars and blasted me in the face with it.
Considering their track record, I'm expecting 90% meh to garbage, and maybe one winner.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 10, 2020, 09:17:10 PM
True, but it's not like Thrawn has even appeared, let alone become an ongoing storyline. So far it's just a tease.

The chances of Thrawn showing up have just increased siiiignificantly.

Probably not in the next two episodes, unless he makes a short cameo, but he’s coming.

Damn that’s a lot of new Star Wars on the way. Maybe more than is strictly necessary. The Mandalorian is enough to keep the appetite whetted, a little more is good. A lot more, maybe not. We’ll see.

OMG, you're not kidding. I posted a link to a Variety article in its own thread.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 11, 2020, 08:59:03 AM
Episode 15 is out, please hold off on spoilers until Monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 12, 2020, 02:55:08 AM
Episode 15 is out, please hold off on spoilers until Monday.

I got another nit to pick this week. I like picking nits.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 14, 2020, 07:04:45 PM
First to comment?

I think this is my favorite episode of the season so far.

Bill Burr was fun in Season 1, but goddamn, did he knock it out of the park in this episode!

Ratman's nits:

1. Why did Mando's face pass the facial scan? I suppose it's like a signature that they don't check unless there's something seriously wrong, but how hard would it have been to check his scan against a local database of the base's personnel? Like the tracking fobs of season one (which I don't miss one bit) it left me scratching my head.

2. Stormtrooper armor plates can be shattered by a wooden stick. The stuff is worthless.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 14, 2020, 07:12:52 PM
...

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 14, 2020, 07:16:06 PM

Bill Burr was fun in Season 1, but goddamn, did he knock it out of the park in this episode!

I actually disliked his character and the episode he was in during Season 1, but I really liked him in this one.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 15, 2020, 10:18:07 AM
This wasn't the episode I was hoping for. I was expecting the first half of a big two-parter to end the season, like they did with Season 1. Instead, we get essentially a side story with another bad guy from Season 1 returning and reforming into a good guy. It wasn't bad for what it was, but it seemed like an episode that should have occurred earlier in the season.

I didn't even recognize Boba Fett at first with his armor freshly repainted. The new paint job is a lot more brown than the gray-green look he had in ESB. Though the dent in his helmet is still there.

Actor Richard Brake, who played Imperial Officer Valin Hess, also played the evil gunfighter in Muse's Knights of Cydonia music video.
I thought I recognized him, but I may have been confusing him with Jackie Earle Haley, who played The Terror in the 2016 version of The Tick.

Mando's message to Moff Gideon clearly signals a big finale, but I'm hoping the season doesn't end on a cliffhanger. We'll see who comes back for the last episode. Will we get a surprise Jedi showing up?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 15, 2020, 10:42:38 PM
1. Why did Mando's face pass the facial scan? I suppose it's like a signature that they don't check unless there's something seriously wrong, but how hard would it have been to check his scan against a local database of the base's personnel? Like the tracking fobs of season one (which I don't miss one bit) it left me scratching my head.
I interpreted that as "the terminal logged his face." So that later on someone could check and see who had been using Data Encryption Key THX1138.

It doesn't make tons of sense, but neither does soldiers wearing helmets and armor indoors.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Premier on December 16, 2020, 03:03:00 PM
I interpreted that as "the terminal logged his face." So that later on someone could check and see who had been using Data Encryption Key THX1138.

It doesn't make tons of sense, but neither does soldiers wearing helmets and armor indoors.

It makes enough sense that ATM machines do the same thing in real life with hidden cameras.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 18, 2020, 09:27:13 AM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 18, 2020, 09:48:40 AM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

It is excellent and exceeds expectations. It's the usual run time, probably 50 minutes.

Please everyone, no spoilers until Monday.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 18, 2020, 12:09:15 PM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

Thank you for reminding me to get the hell off of social media until I watch the episode.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Premier on December 18, 2020, 03:09:08 PM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

I loved it. IIRC it's about 45-ish minutes. Make sure to check out the post-credits sequence.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 19, 2020, 02:32:36 AM
I have mixed feelings. Gonna have to wait until monday to go into it, of course.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 19, 2020, 01:24:05 PM
Holy fuck. Fuck YES.

Monday!
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: VisionStorm on December 20, 2020, 01:32:55 PM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

Thank you for reminding me to get the hell off of social media until I watch the episode.

The ending was inadvertently spoiled for me by half a dozen YouTube channels or more I'm subscribed to including bits of it right on their fucking thumbnail, so I had to FORCE myself to watch it ASAP so it wouldn't get spoiled more. The ending simply didn't have the impact it would have had on me if everyone wasn't desperate to saturate the internet with pics of it everywhere. By the time I got to the end I could already guess all that was coming.  >:(
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 20, 2020, 01:55:43 PM
I can't watch the season finale until tomorrow, but the unavoidable headlines on Yahoo are flipping the fuck out. 

If you've seen it, just answer this until Monday - was it good?

And how long is the episode?

Thank you for reminding me to get the hell off of social media until I watch the episode.

The ending was inadvertently spoiled for me by half a dozen YouTube channels or more I'm subscribed to including bits of it right on their fucking thumbnail, so I had to FORCE myself to watch it ASAP so it wouldn't get spoiled more. The ending simply didn't have the impact it would have had on me if everyone wasn't desperate to saturate the internet with pics of it everywhere. By the time I got to the end I could already guess all that was coming.  >:(

TBH the end played out as I envisioned it since episode 14. (The Tragedy)
But yeah, I wanted to see it ASAP as well, because I found myself loading up social media out of habit and clicking right out of it again a few times.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 20, 2020, 06:46:10 PM
With my work schedule, Thursdays and Fridays are my weekend, so I watch the new episode first thing Friday morning before I do anything else. In fact, I have to fight a tendency to wake up super early on Fridays.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 21, 2020, 04:24:17 AM
It's technically monday, and I'm up late so,

This episode was ok. And being ok for a storyline wrapup of two seasons isn't ok.

The setup and run on the light cruiser was good. Once they got on the cruiser, the teams quisinarted (this is a word now)
through the guards, until the Dark Troopers showed up. And then Luke showed up and quisinarted his way through the Dark Troopers.
A Luke Ex Machina to save their asses and show off how badass Luke is. I could hear the breath of the GM showing off his
favorite NPC to the party of characters.

Let's talk digital de-aging. Mark Hammil looked better than Peter Cushing but worse than Carrie Fisher in Rogue One.
His performance was wooden and lacking in character.
I think I would have prefered they cast a new actor, but I realize that would have dissapointed the fans.

I'm also dissapointed in how the plot thread of using the Child's blood was not resolved. Maybe they're saving it for
future episodes, but I think this is where it should have been resolved. Make a clean end and move on to a new storyline.

And now what will they do without The Child. I daresay, that character was a prime draw for the series, and now they'll have to
go on without. We'll see if they can accomplish that.

So I'm on the fence. Decent episode, dissapointing resolution of the two season build up. I will say the passing of the child to Luke and Mano letting go was handled well.

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: VisionStorm on December 21, 2020, 09:31:20 AM
I thought it was good, but agree that Luke was a total Deus Ex Machina and there were a lot of issues. They overplayed the indestructibility of the Dark Troopers and built them up WAAAAY too much--with Mando almost getting his ass kicked by just ONE of them and not being able to harm it with ANYTHING, except for finding a weak point in its throat he could tear with his own bullshit indestructible spear--only for Luke to then show up at the last minute and go through scores of them like papier mache in SECONDS. The only things that saved that scene were the Rule of Cool and the excitement of Luke finally showing up and being Luke for the first time in DECADES.

CGI Luke was also a little weird and creepy, in that they now can simply replace actors with CGI clones. But there was something about him that didn't fully feel "there".

I'm guessing Baby Yoda with show up again, and they'll show him in training or something, ripping off the Dagobah scenes from Empire, or something, with Luke training Baby Yoda now, instead of the other way around. Then come up with an excuse to reel him back in, in search for those Disney bux.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Thornhammer on December 21, 2020, 10:27:14 AM
Loved it. The slow ramp to Luke was perfect, giving more and more hints as he stomped mudholes in the Dark Troopers. I thought it might be a fakeout right up to the point where he puts the lightsaber away and you get a good look at the hilt.

Yes, the CGI was a little weird. Yes, the voice sounded unusual (almost like it was being done in mono instead of stereo, if that makes sense). But damn. We got to see Luke as a Jedi badass instead of as a grumpy mope. I squealed like a little girl seeing a pony.

And he rescued the princess. Again.

AND...we get a Boba Fett series, hopefully where he's a crime lord. I want "bad guy" here, not "scoundrel with a heart."
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 21, 2020, 10:53:44 AM
For me, I thought that getting Luke Skywalker on the show was an impossibility, so having him show up was amazing.

Getting to see Luke in his full power as a master jedi was especially awesome.

I was actually somewhat disappointed it wasn't Sebastian Stan when he pulled back the hood. That's not a knock against Mark Hamill, it's more that I was hoping to see the role handed over to a younger actor so that we could potentially see more of Luke in future episodes or possibly a post-Jedi Skywalker series.

However, getting Mark Hamill to play live action Luke again is unquestionably a triumph for the creators of The Mandalorian.

I noticed that Luke never actually introduces himself by name. You could argue that he didn't need to, I suppose. He is arguably the most famous hero in the galaxy.

The effect used to turn Hamill into Young Luke was not flawless. It looked good, but it looked like an effect. And it is no doubt an expensive effect, so we probably won't see a lot of him. Pity, because I kinda want to see what Luke is doing post-ROTJ now.

Question: if the Dark Troopers are droids, what did they need Grogu's blood for?  And why did Moff Gideon try to kill himself rather than be captured? There is more to this than has been revealed.

RIP Jeremy Bullock, the original Boba Fett.

If Bo-Katan has to beat the shit out of the person holding the Darksaber, can Mando just hand it back to Moff Gideon and let her go to town?

Mando is now both penniless and the rightful king of Mandalore. If only he could split the difference, he'd be in good shape.

And lastly, The Book of Boba Fett, coming December 2021. What's his goal now? Is he going to be the ruler of Tattooine, and if so, why? He's not from there, and there are nicer planets to inhabit.

In the end, I was very satisfied with this episode, and the season as a whole. They kept the quality high, told good stories, and had amazing guest stars. Can't wait to see what happens in Season 3!
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on December 21, 2020, 10:58:40 AM
I think I would have prefered they cast a new actor, but I realize that would have dissapointed the fans.
The fact that the didn't recast Luke Skywalker means they have no intention of using him in any shows or movies going forward. That, to me, was the most disappointing aspect of the episode.

I'm glad they got rid of baby Yoda. Because the character can't age, there isn't really much they can do with him other than make him cute or put him in peril. Other young characters: Luke, Ahsoka, Ezra, Annie, all got to grow up on screen in a series of movies or seasons.

I still hate the Mandalorian "princess". I hate the actress, the character, the plot, her sidekick, that stupid tiny backpack she wears. A serious downgrade from the Mandalorians from season 1. She's arrogant, elitist, and her entire motivation is selfish. I hope Mando is forced to kill her.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 21, 2020, 11:06:54 AM
I like that they didn't kill off Moff Gideon, or allow him to kill himself. He was a good character, and a formidable foe. There is a lot they can do with him in the future.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 21, 2020, 11:07:27 AM
I think I would have prefered they cast a new actor, but I realize that would have dissapointed the fans.
The fact that the didn't recast Luke Skywalker means they have no intention of using him in any shows or movies going forward. That, to me, was the most disappointing aspect of the episode.
Nonsense, this is Star Wars. There is no reason they can't later decide to use a different actor and then go back and put that different actor into this episode in place of de-aged Hamill. It's not like Mandalorian Special Edition would be beyond the pale for this franchise.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 21, 2020, 11:09:09 AM
Was it just me, or was the Beskar spear much shorter while on Mando's back only to somehow grow back to full size when he pulled it out? Perhaps it's a very direct phallic symbol...
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on December 21, 2020, 11:29:39 AM
Nonsense, this is Star Wars. There is no reason they can't later decide to use a different actor and then go back and put that different actor into this episode in place of de-aged Hamill. It's not like Mandalorian Special Edition would be beyond the pale for this franchise.

Sure anything could happen, but I'd rather not wait 10 to 20 years. If they had recast Luke, that would been a sign of an imminent movie or series with Luke (and possibly Han and Leia) in the works. Since they didn't do that, there's nothing coming in the near future.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 21, 2020, 11:47:34 AM
If Bo-Katan has to beat the shit out of the person holding the Darksaber, can Mando just hand it back to Moff Gideon and let her go to town?

Oh yea. I liked that he couldn't game the system and just 'yield' and give it away as a present.
I imagine it's still possible to have a mock battle, and go through the motions. I guess we'll have to see how it plays out.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 21, 2020, 12:00:29 PM
My guess is that the show is heading to Mandalore next season. That would explain why Mando a) has the Darksaber, and b) is slowly losing his inhibitions against showing his face.

Mandalore in the Clone Wars cartoon was largely depicted as an advanced world, with the capital being a super-city reminiscent of Coruscant. If that's been "glassed" I wonder what we'll see in The Mandalorian?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 21, 2020, 02:40:09 PM
....
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: hedgehobbit on December 22, 2020, 11:22:18 AM
Just found out that the Boba Fett show will take Mandalorean Season 3's place in the production line and Season 3 (which should probably be called Mandalorean Season 4) won't start production until afterwards. So, we can't expect Season 3 until 2022.

I know that Grace Randolph has taken flack for her rumors about Pedro Pascal, but it's looking like at least some of what she's been saying is true.

Source:
https://www.thewrap.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-book-of-boba-fett-filming-premiere-date/
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 22, 2020, 11:47:16 AM
Just found out that the Boba Fett show will take Mandalorean Season 3's place in the production line and Season 3 (which should probably be called Mandalorean Season 4) won't start production until afterwards. So, we can't expect Season 3 until 2022.

I know that Grace Randolph has taken flack for her rumors about Pedro Pascal, but it's looking like at least some of what she's been saying is true.

Source:
https://www.thewrap.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-book-of-boba-fett-filming-premiere-date/

Eh. Boba was fun as a cameo, but I'm not interested in a series around the character. Wake me up for Mando season 3.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 22, 2020, 02:33:03 PM
Just found out that the Boba Fett show will take Mandalorean Season 3's place in the production line and Season 3 (which should probably be called Mandalorean Season 4) won't start production until afterwards. So, we can't expect Season 3 until 2022.

I know that Grace Randolph has taken flack for her rumors about Pedro Pascal, but it's looking like at least some of what she's been saying is true.

Source:
https://www.thewrap.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-book-of-boba-fett-filming-premiere-date/

Eh. Boba was fun as a cameo, but I'm not interested in a series around the character. Wake me up for Mando season 3.
I was about to say that, while I generally agree, I could probably tolerate a short, limited series on Boba...then I realized that 8 episodes ranging from 30-55 minutes is still what I consider a short, limited series, so I guess I can deal with a single-season of Boba.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: ConflictGames on December 23, 2020, 05:28:37 AM
It's technically monday, and I'm up late so,

This episode was ok. And being ok for a storyline wrapup of two seasons isn't ok.

The setup and run on the light cruiser was good. Once they got on the cruiser, the teams quisinarted (this is a word now)
through the guards, until the Dark Troopers showed up. And then Luke showed up and quisinarted his way through the Dark Troopers.
A Luke Ex Machina to save their asses and show off how badass Luke is. I could hear the breath of the GM showing off his
favorite NPC to the party of characters.

Let's talk digital de-aging. Mark Hammil looked better than Peter Cushing but worse than Carrie Fisher in Rogue One.
His performance was wooden and lacking in character.
I think I would have prefered they cast a new actor, but I realize that would have dissapointed the fans.

I'm also dissapointed in how the plot thread of using the Child's blood was not resolved. Maybe they're saving it for
future episodes, but I think this is where it should have been resolved. Make a clean end and move on to a new storyline.

And now what will they do without The Child. I daresay, that character was a prime draw for the series, and now they'll have to
go on without. We'll see if they can accomplish that.

So I'm on the fence. Decent episode, dissapointing resolution of the two season build up. I will say the passing of the child to Luke and Mano letting go was handled well.



For me, I thought that getting Luke Skywalker on the show wasn't even possible, so having him show up was amazing.

also, I know its super obvious but can we get a spoiler alert in the title of this thread?
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on December 23, 2020, 07:43:36 AM
also, I know its super obvious but can we get a spoiler alert in the title of this thread?
I suppose this fits in with stuff like "Do not touch fire--Caution--May be hot!" (Real message on a sign for a fire pit at a time share in Florida).
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 23, 2020, 08:47:20 AM
It's technically monday, and I'm up late so,

This episode was ok. And being ok for a storyline wrapup of two seasons isn't ok.

The setup and run on the light cruiser was good. Once they got on the cruiser, the teams quisinarted (this is a word now)
through the guards, until the Dark Troopers showed up. And then Luke showed up and quisinarted his way through the Dark Troopers.
A Luke Ex Machina to save their asses and show off how badass Luke is. I could hear the breath of the GM showing off his
favorite NPC to the party of characters.

Let's talk digital de-aging. Mark Hammil looked better than Peter Cushing but worse than Carrie Fisher in Rogue One.
His performance was wooden and lacking in character.
I think I would have prefered they cast a new actor, but I realize that would have dissapointed the fans.

I'm also dissapointed in how the plot thread of using the Child's blood was not resolved. Maybe they're saving it for
future episodes, but I think this is where it should have been resolved. Make a clean end and move on to a new storyline.

And now what will they do without The Child. I daresay, that character was a prime draw for the series, and now they'll have to
go on without. We'll see if they can accomplish that.

So I'm on the fence. Decent episode, dissapointing resolution of the two season build up. I will say the passing of the child to Luke and Mano letting go was handled well.



For me, I thought that getting Luke Skywalker on the show wasn't even possible, so having him show up was amazing.

also, I know its super obvious but can we get a spoiler alert in the title of this thread?

After creating the thread, we decided to save spoilers until the monday after an episode airs. Lurkdog might be able to edit the title, as the creator of the thread.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 23, 2020, 09:46:52 AM
Just found out that the Boba Fett show will take Mandalorean Season 3's place in the production line and Season 3 (which should probably be called Mandalorean Season 4) won't start production until afterwards. So, we can't expect Season 3 until 2022.

I know that Grace Randolph has taken flack for her rumors about Pedro Pascal, but it's looking like at least some of what she's been saying is true.

Source:
https://www.thewrap.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-book-of-boba-fett-filming-premiere-date/

Your source says otherwise:

Quote
Both “The Book of Boba Fett” and “The Mandalorian” Season 3 are expected to premiere December 2021 on Disney+.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 23, 2020, 09:50:11 AM
After creating the thread, we decided to save spoilers until the monday after an episode airs. Lurkdog might be able to edit the title, as the creator of the thread.

I am in favor of adding the spoiler tag, but I don't see any way to do that. I can't even edit my earlier posts in the thread any more.

I've used the "report to moderators" function to ask them to add the spoiler tag to the thread title. 
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 24, 2020, 06:16:57 AM
I just read an interesting theory and re-watched the part in the finale where Din Jaren offers to yield the Darksaber to Bo Katan.
Gideon specifically says "In order to wield the Darksaber again..." Implying that Bo Katan disgraced herself by losing it to Gideon before.
So if this is true, a worthy warrior could accept a yielded Darksaber, but Bo Katan has to earn it back since it was taken from her.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on December 24, 2020, 05:50:19 PM
I don't know if Moff Gideon has to have beaten Bo-Katan in a fair fight.

Though, honestly, it would be interesting if he had. Semi-worthy villain versus flawed hero would be an interesting conflict. It could really go either way.

After finally resolving the situation with The Child, it would be just Mando's luck to have a bunch of ambitious Mandalorians chasing after him now wanting a crack at the Darksaber.

Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Ratman_tf on December 28, 2020, 04:00:28 PM
Twitter drama between a youtube fan and Pablo Hidalgo, an executive at Lucasfilm.



Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 04, 2021, 10:43:31 PM
Pablo Hidalgo says his response was taken out of context, and has apologized in any case.

He's not really an executive at LucasFilm. He's head of the Story Group, whose job is to maintain a record of official Star Wars continuity. This is not a proactive job, they have no veto authority, they are just tasked with keeping track of official and to some extent unofficial lore, as official content is released.

When Star Wars Rebels was coming out, he often appeared in the Rebels Recon segments that appeared on YouTube after the episodes, where he would explain some point of lore that was pertinent to that week's episode.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 06, 2021, 10:57:52 AM
I just read an interesting theory and re-watched the part in the finale where Din Jaren offers to yield the Darksaber to Bo Katan.
Gideon specifically says "In order to wield the Darksaber again..." Implying that Bo Katan disgraced herself by losing it to Gideon before.
So if this is true, a worthy warrior could accept a yielded Darksaber, but Bo Katan has to earn it back since it was taken from her.

So, the Darksaber shows up in Seasons 3 and 4 of Star Wars Rebels.

In S3E11, "Visions and Voices" Sabine Wren finds the Darksaber in Darth Maul's hideout on Dathomir. She doesn't fight Maul for it, it is being displayed as a trophy.

In S3E15, "Trials of the Darksaber" Sabine is trained to fight with the Darksaber by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger.

In S3E16, "Legacy of Mandalore" Sabine properly wins the Darksaber by defeating Gar Saxon in a duel. Gar Saxon is wielding the Darksaber, given to him by Sabine's mother Ursa Wren, and Sabine is wielding Ezra Bridger's Jedi lightsaber.

In S4E2, part two of "Heroes of Mandalore" Sabine Wren passes the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, no duel, in the presence of the clan leaders, anointing her as the proper ruler of Mandalore.

How does this impact The Mandalorian? My guess is that Mando can't give the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, because he's not a proper Mandalorian. If he was a full-fledged Mandalorian, having won it in combat from Moff Gideon, he would be able to pass it to Bo-Katan and make her the rightful ruler.

Note also that we do not know how Moff Gideon came into possession of the Darksaber, or how Bo-Katan lost it. It is possible that Bo-Katan lost the Darksaber on a technicality, because it was given to her and not won. That would explain why she insists that it must be won in combat now. (I find that unlikely: in the Star Wars Rebels episode, everyone present accepts Bo-Katan as the proper wielder immediately and without question.)

It is also possible that Bo-Katan feels she must once again prove herself worthy before she can accept the Darksaber.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Spike on January 07, 2021, 12:59:49 AM
Mebbee she needs to regain the ability to emote with her face?    ;D





I dunno. I just saw a youtube clip, and ol' Starbuck is entering the uncanny valley these days.  I'm about three seasons behind.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Omega on January 11, 2021, 10:09:18 PM
It doesn't make tons of sense, but neither does soldiers wearing helmets and armor indoors.

um... in Star Wars? Where every maniac and rebel is raiding your base and toting a blaster, blade, blasterblade, grenade, blasterbladegrenadesporkwookie?

Its more amazing people go anywhere not encased in several inches of plating. Or go anywhere at all.

I mean a guy cant even murder a kid in a cantina without some crazy old geezer wacking your limbs off.  8)
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: HappyDaze on January 12, 2021, 07:38:39 AM
It doesn't make tons of sense, but neither does soldiers wearing helmets and armor indoors.

um... in Star Wars? Where every maniac and rebel is raiding your base and toting a blaster, blade, blasterblade, grenade, blasterbladegrenadesporkwookie?

Its more amazing people go anywhere not encased in several inches of plating. Or go anywhere at all.

I mean a guy cant even murder a kid in a cantina without some crazy old geezer wacking your limbs off.  8)
Ah, a player in a FFG Star Wars game then? In that game there is rarely any downside to wearing the heaviest armor possible.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 12, 2021, 11:11:00 AM
I mean, can you even sit down wearing Stormtrooper armor?

I know that Anthony Daniels couldn't sit in the C3PO costume, so they made him an inclined board he could lean against just to take the weight off his feet.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Omega on January 13, 2021, 03:16:49 AM
Han could sit in one and since they can kneel and crouch I assume the suits are articulate enough to allow sitting. Possibly not very comfortable sitting depending on how that back piece is connected.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Spike on January 13, 2021, 02:47:21 PM
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn3.vox-cdn.com%2Fassets%2F4833494%2Fstormtrooper_dance.gif&f=1&nofb=1)
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 13, 2021, 04:41:57 PM
In terms of being real-world practical armor, soldiers would need to be able to sit in it, crawl, lie down and even sleep in it.

But a quick search turns up evidence that screen-accurate Trooper costumes are indeed difficult to sit down in:

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21629-sitting-down/

Note also that Scout Trooper armor omits the butt plate so they can sit on their bikes.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Omega on January 17, 2021, 07:19:10 AM
In terms of being real-world practical armor, soldiers would need to be able to sit in it, crawl, lie down and even sleep in it.

But a quick search turns up evidence that screen-accurate Trooper costumes are indeed difficult to sit down in:

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21629-sitting-down/

Note also that Scout Trooper armor omits the butt plate so they can sit on their bikes.

I think the bigger problem is the joints in the legs. Whomever made those pieces apparently did not think about the bend point so the upper and lower pieces pinch at the back the more you bend at the knee.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 17, 2021, 12:44:13 PM
I think the bigger problem is the joints in the legs. Whomever made those pieces apparently did not think about the bend point so the upper and lower pieces pinch at the back the more you bend at the knee.
There are also references to the armor pinching where the upper leg meets the buttplate and crotch. Yikes!

I've let my Disney + lapse now that Mando is over, gotta save up for a computer upgrade.
Title: Re: The Mandalorian Season 2
Post by: Lurkndog on January 31, 2021, 02:08:09 PM
In related news, ILM announces that they have three new StageCraft soundstages coming, in addition to the one in California that The Mandalorian was filmed on.

https://www.ilm.com/hatsrabbits/3-new-ilm-stagecraft-stages-coming-soon-global-trainee-program-announced/ (https://www.ilm.com/hatsrabbits/3-new-ilm-stagecraft-stages-coming-soon-global-trainee-program-announced/)

One will be at the same studio in California, one will be at Pinewood Studios in London, and one will be at Fox Studios in Australia, and will be used to film Thor: Love and Thunder.