Episode 2 is better than Episode 1, though it still ends somewhat abruptly.

Spoilers on Saturday.

As for Rangers of the New Republic, no idea if they will get Gina Carano back. Be a hell of a win if they did. It's possible that they would use Cobb Vanth instead.

It's between her and Disney, but if I were Carano, I'd demand a public apology from Disney before even considering going back.

WE ARE GO FOR SPOILERS ON SEASON 3 EPISODE 2 OF THE MANDALORIAN
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I am still collecting my thoughts on Episode 2, so please jump in.

What in the hell grabbed Mando and managed to drag him that far, that fast? Bo Peep jumped in after him immediately AND was using her go-go-Gadget Jetpack and Mando was still lying there on the bottom.

I suppose the answer is "the Mythosaur" but still.

Anyway. Not bad, decent fights, acceptably entertaining episode.

S03E02

Chapter 18: THE MINES OF MANDALORE

We open on Tatooine, as things are gearing up for the Boonta Eve celebration. 

Pelli Motto is scamming a wealthy Rodian out of his money when Mando flies in, looking for the memory unit he needs to resurrect IG-11.
The Jawas come up empty, though, so Pelli sells a reluctant Mando her battered R5 astromech instead. "He's built for adventure!"

I don't think Pelli Motto would ever betray Mando, but man, she pushes her luck pretty hard.

They fly to Mandalore, taking note of Concordia and Kalevala on the way in. I guess they're all in the same system, now. Before, there was talk of a sprawling Mandalorian interstellar culture/star empire, but it seems business has fallen off.

Mandalore is pretty, in a bombed-out sort of way.

So, Mandalorian helmets can be sealed and pressurized, that's good to know. 

Mando fights off a squad of Alamite primitives, retrieves R5, and they discover that the atmosphere of Mandalore is breathable.

Mando and Grogu explore deeper and deeper into the caverns below the ruined dome of the city center.

Pausing to examine a Mandalorian helmet buried in the dirt, Mando is ambushed by a cybernetic ghoul in a Fujikoma-like mech suit. He gets paralyzed by a stinger or maybe just a syringe, clamped in a cage, and taken to its lair. The ghoul's lair is littered with the armor of its Mandalorian victims.

Unable to free Mando from the cage, Grogu is told to go get Bo-Katan.

He makes his way back to the N1 and gets into the cockpit just in time. R5 actually comes through in the clutch, and flies him to Bo-Katan with no problems.

After learning that Mando is in danger, Bo-Katan's attitude changes dramatically, and she takes off back to Mandalore.

She begins speaking to Grogu in a - motherly? - tone.

After dispatching another crew of Alamites, she names them, and wonders what else may have survived.

Down in its den, the ghoul begins draining blood out of Mando, and possibly roasting him alive. 

Bo-Katan arrives and engages the ghoul, who proves a formidable fighter. Bo-Katan grabs the Darksaber, though, and that evens the ground tremendously. She is much better with it than Mando is.

She runs the ghoul through the chest with the Darksaber, and turns to see to Mando. Meanwhile, the ghouls's head awakens, and pulls a move out of John Carpenter's The Thing, growing little legs and scuttling off to the Fujikoma spider-mech.

Mando warns Bo-Katan as the mech tries to ambush her from behind, and a lively Round Two ensues, with Bo-Katan finally chopping the monster to death with the Darksaber.

Mando awakens to find Bo-Katan preparing a mug of pog soup for him. Apparently little mandalorians on the homeworld are raised on the stuff. (Note: it's not porg soup, I checked the subtitles.)

Bo-Katan promises to take Mando to the Living Waters below the Mines of Mandalore.

They reach the Living Waters soon after, after some nice dialog about Bo-Katan and her family history.

Mando divests himself of weapons and accoutrements, but keeping his armor on, and begins to wade into the waters while reciting a catechism of his people, but them suddenly drops out of sight below the surface.

Bo-Katan instantly dives after him, rocket pack blazing as she speeds into the depths like a torpedo. Finding Mando, she grabs him and heads for the surface, but not before getting a dramatic glance at a living mythosaur as she rockets past it to the surface.

She and Mando burst from the water and land on the steps, while Mando coughs to clear his lungs, and Bo-Katan stares back in apparent amazement in the direction of the mythical beast.

END EPISODE TWO

So, we see that Mando trusts Bo-Katan, and Bo-Katan goes well out of her way to save Mando. When he is in danger she reacts instantly, perhaps instinctively. I don't think she's going to be his enemy.

Some might complain that Mando had to be rescued too many times, but I'm okay with it. I view it as Bo-Katan demonstrating clearly where her allegiances lie.

He has the Darksaber, and a Mythosaur sighting. Does Mando also have Excalibur, Narsil and a batarang lying around in the trunk of the N1?

Join us next week for Mando Season Three, Episode 3:

One bit of fan theory I wanted to put forth about why Bo-Katan appears to be better with the Darksaber than Mando.

Bo-Katan originally received the Darksaber from the Mandalorian Sabine Wren. Sabine had been trained in the use of the Darksaber by two Jedi: Jedi Master Kanan Jarrus (formerly known as the Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume), and Jedi Ezra Bridger. Both Jedi were present in the room when Sabine presented the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. It is not unreasonable to suggest that they may have trained Bo-Katan in its use as well.

We do not, however, see the two Jedi actually training Bo-Katan on screen.

Also, Sabine's training was something of a crash course in saber duelling. I'm not saying that it was the equivalent of a Jedi Knight's training.

Episode 3 dropped this morning. It's not what I expected, but it is good.

It has that "series within a series" feel again.

More to discuss on Saturday, unless people want to just go full spoilers.

Quote from: Lurkndog on March 15, 2023, 10:49:07 AM
More to discuss on Saturday, unless people want to just go full spoilers.

I vote wait. I actually appreciate the "yes, talk about it spoiler-free for a couple of days, then go nuts" aspect.

But that IS a chunk of time to wait, and I can just avoid looking at the thread if anybody else really wants to discuss it earlier.

Quote from: Lurkndog on March 15, 2023, 10:49:07 AM
It has that "series within a series" feel again.

...I hope to hell this wasn't an episode of The Book of Boba Fett.

Neat trick the last time they pulled it, but Boba Fett needed the assist.

Quote from: Lurkndog on March 08, 2023, 12:37:00 PM
As for Rangers of the New Republic, no idea if they will get Gina Carano back. Be a hell of a win if they did. It's possible that they would use Cobb Vanth instead.

Cobb Vanth

Spoiler

is pretty dead though[end spoiler], no?[/s]
A minor problen in Star Wars universe, granted, but still...

edit: ah, scratch that. these aren't the spoilers you are looking for. i should have been more attentive. >_<
move along.

SPOILERS for Season 3, Episode 3
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Chapter 19: The Convert


We open right where the previous episode left off, with Mando and Bo-Katan on the steps of the Living Waters. Bo-Katan is staring fixedly into the depths of the waters, where she saw a living Mythosaur last episode.

Mando awakens, says that he is redeemed. Bo-Katan agrees. She asks if he saw anything down there, but all he remembered were the chasm walls rushing past him as he sank. Bo-Katan doesn't tell him about the Mythosaur.

Apparently that chasm wasn't there before the bombing.

Mando takes a sample of the Living Waters as proof, and they head back to Bo-Katan's ship. On the way back to Kalevala, they are attacked by a formation of Tie Intercepters. Arriving at Bo-Katan's castle, Mando dives out and retrieves his Naboo fighter, and together they finish off the Tie Interceptors.

Their victory is short-lived, though, as Tie Bombers destroy Bo-katan's castle, and a huge wave of interceptors forces them to flee. Mando sends Bo-Katan jump coordinates and they escape into hyperspace.

***

On Coruscant, Doctor Penn Pershing is giving a talk at the Opera House. He advocates the use of organ cloning technology for medical purposes. After his talk, he hob-nobs with the nobility, who are a pretty useless bunch, so out of touch that they don't see any difference between the Empire and the New Republic.

Doctor Pershing takes a droid cab back to his quarters in Amnesty Housing, where he has a drink with other former Imperials being re-integrated with society. They refer to each other by serial number. He meets G68, who had been an officer on Moff Gideon's flagship.

Moff Gideon is rumored to have escaped en route to the tribunal, though other rumors claim that's a cover story and the New Republic actually hooked him up to a mind flayer.

When asked what he misses about the Empire, Dr Pershing says he misses the yellow "travel biscuits" they used to get in their ration packs.

Later that night, Doctor Pershing is reading up on Coruscant. Coruscant is one of only a handful of city-planets, known as an "ecumenopolis" which translates as worldwide city.

A box of yellow travel biscuits shows up anonymously on his doorstep.

The next day, we see Pershing at his assigned job, processing data cards for the new republic.

Later on, he meets G68 to tour the tourist spots, and they get CGI popsicles. He bemoans the abandonment of his cloning research, and she encourages him to pursue it as a hobby.

Pershing meets with his droid parole officer. He is told that his line of research is prohibited by the Coruscant Accords.

That night, he meets with G68, who asks him what he would need to continue his research. Not much, he replies, just come supplies and a mobile lab station. G68 knows where to get one, but it would require them to go outside their "designated perimeter." Pershing doesn't go for it, but she asks him to sleep on it.

Next day at work, Pershing discovers that all the equipment he is entering off of data cards is scheduled for destruction. He protests that it still has value, but gets told to go along with it.

Meeting with his parole droid, Pershing asks if the most important thing is to help the Republic. "It is," replies the droid. Pershing is able to justify his planned actions. He meets with G68 and they make plans to get the mobile lab the next night.

Dressed in civilian clothes, Pershing and G68 sneak onto a train, then jump off to avoid a security droid. They are at a salvage yard, where a star destroyer is being parted out. Boarding the ship, they locate a laboratory with the equipment they need.  G68 also introduces herself as Elia Kane, Communications Officer.

Noises on board the ship spook them, and they make a hasty exit, but are stopped by security forces. Pershing is arrested, but G68 walks away clean, having apparently betrayed him.

Pershing wakes up strapped into a mind flayer device, which the Mon Calimari technician insists is a 602 Mitigator, and says that at low voltages it can be used to soothe select traumatic memories.

"You're gonna wipe my mind!" says a terrified Pershing.

"Absolutely not!" insists the tech. "This isn't the Empire, son! This device is used to heal. I've been through the treatment myself, in fact, and I found the experience quite refreshing."

Pershing looks over, sees G68 observing, and exclaims "You set me up!"

They begin the "treatment" and G68 asks to wait with Pershing. When the others leave, G68 turns the dial up to THERE GO THE PIANO LESSONS, and bites into a satisfying travel biscuit as a reward for a job well done.

***

Mando and Bo-Katan drop out of hyperspace and fly down to the "covert" hideout of the Children of the Watch. Mando advises her to keep her helmet on. The guards hail them as apostates, but Mando insists he has bathed in the Living Waters, and has proof. Inside, the Armorer verifies that Mando's water sample is indeed from the Living Waters, and they are both pronounced to be redeemed. Bo-Katan is offered membership in the covert for as long as she cares to stay, and they are accepted as friends by the other Mandalorians present.

***

This episode felt like there was an episode of Andor dropped in the middle of it. In a good way.

At last we see the New Republic, but it isn't what I was expecting. Though, the story of Imperials acclimating to the new reality was an interesting angle.

The big question, of course, is who is G68/Elia Kane really working for?

Is Moff Gideon at large, and did he send the Tie Interceptors after Mando and Bo-Katan? Or is it Admiral Thrawn?

The Living Waters are what the Armorer pours into her forge to begin the forging process. This may be purely ceremonial. On the other hand, it seems like the new sample allowed her to activate a new forge.

I believe the Mon Calamari gave Doctor Pershing a dirty, dirty look when he said "It's a TRAP!"

I liked that the New Republic uses the same reprehensible shit the Empire used, they're just trying to put a happy spin on it.

Hoping for Thrawn, just cuz. 

Quote from: Thornhammer on March 19, 2023, 10:08:35 PM
I believe the Mon Calamari gave Doctor Pershing a dirty, dirty look when he said "It's a TRAP!"

I liked that the New Republic uses the same reprehensible shit the Empire used, they're just trying to put a happy spin on it.

Is that how they're portraying it? Because that reeks of "Nothing matters, both sides suck, just eat some shit and die."

I don't know that they're going for any kind of moral equivalency here. The New Republic legitimately meant to rehabilitate Pershing. And, in their defense, his work is the equivalent of a WMD, and he's sneaking around refusing to let it go.

There may be an argument that if the New Republic was competent, there would be nothing for our heroes to do. I don't really go for that argument. I want to see a New Republic that is not just good, but great, one in which good people are doing the right thing, and the galaxy is prospering as a result.

If anything, I think the New Republic's problem should be that the Rebellion was a collection of amazing people, and they can't hold onto any of them. With the fighting over, most of the top people are leaving the service, going home and starting new lives.

I was not impressed by the Mon Calimari effects in this episode. Just looked fake. I think it was partly the textures being too smooth, and partly the proportions being off. The broadly comedic tone of the acting didn't help either.