The only thing that really grinded my gears this episode was that damned hyperspace jump.

Quote from: Thornhammer on March 30, 2023, 03:58:11 PM
The only thing that really grinded my gears this episode was that damned hyperspace jump.

I have a gripe I'm saving for Saturday. What issue did you have with the hyperspace jump?

Quote from: Thornhammer on March 30, 2023, 03:58:11 PM
The only thing that really grinded my gears this episode was that damned hyperspace jump.

Which one, the one where the N1 and Bo-Katan's ship were travelling through hyperspace together?

Spoilers for Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 05.
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Chapter 21: THE PIRATE



We open on Nevarro, where Greef Karga is busily planning the expansion of his city with a yes-droid and a pair of civil engineers. His reveries are interrupted by the arrival of Pirate King Gorian Shard, whose pirate corsair flagship casts a long shadow over the courtyard below. The pirates are back, and in full force.

Gorian Shard hails Greef Karga, whose attempts to bluff the pirates fall flat. Bringing up the New Republic's "Spinward Patrol" only elicits laughter from the pirate. "The New Republic can't  even protect the Mid Rim from the Pirate Nation!"

No idea what the Pirate Nation is. It might be nothing more than a grandiose figure of speech.

Gorian Shard snaps "Don't hail me again unless it's to surrender."

Karga passes a message to a droid as the pirates unlimber their gun turrets and open fire on the city. They seem to be firing some kind of missiles, not blaster bolts.

Grief evacuates the town and leads his citizens to safety in the lava flats outside the city.

***

After the opening credits, we see the New Republic's Adelphi Base, which has a definite Baa Baa Black Sheep air to it, quonset huts and all. A battered Y-Wing is landing. Other X-wings and Y-Wings dot the landing field, some in a state of apparent disrepair.

Inside, we cut to the officer's club, with some pool tables and a bar.

Dave Filoni is credited as playing Tracker Wolf, so apparently he's in there somewhere. I think he's the one at the bar wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

Captain Carson Teva is given a data card by the Snivvian Bartender, which he scans using the bar's portable holo terminal, revealing a plea from Greef Carga for aid from the New Republic.

A big alien commiserates. IT'S ZEB FROM STAR WARS REBELS!!!

Full name Garazeb Orrelios, a Lasat, former member of the Lasat Royal Guard, also formerly known as Rebel Agent Spectre-4, a crew member on the starship Ghost. He's voiced by Steve Blum, the original voice actor from Star Wars Rebels.

Man, he's big in live action. In Rebels, he was the largest member of the team, but still within the bounds of human scale. Here, he's gotta be 400 pounds of solid muscle.

Captain Teva decides to take the news from Nevarro directly to Coruscant to cut through red tape.

***

Captain Teva flies his X-Wing to Coruscant, and enters a large tower decorated with blue and gold New Republic banners.

Inside is a typical Coruscant cube farm. Officer G68, Elia Kane, is working in the office.

Teva marches in and asks to see Colonel Tuttle.

Colonel Tuttle, played by SNL alumnus Tim Meadows, is shuffling paperwork when Teva enters the office. His droid doesn't listen to him.

Teva passes the data card to Col. Tuttle, who plays just enough of the message to get the gist of it.

Officer G68 inserts herself into the conversation, earning a stink eye from Carson Teva. She points out that Nevarro is not a member of the New Republic.

Colonel Tuttle can't authorize action, he has a backlog of requests from member worlds already, and they have priority.

Teva warns Tuttle that something is stirring on the Outer Rim. There have been reports of Stormtroopers in the streets of Nevarro, and TIE fighters overhead. He brings up the rumor that Moff Gideon never made it to trial.

"This isn't a rebellion any more," replies Tuttle. "I work in Requisitions. Let's focus on what you require."

Captain Teva makes a formal request for authorization and backup to deal with the pirates on Nevarro.

G68 says that perhaps the leaders of Nevarro need to understand why becoming a Republic signatory is valuable.

Teva replies that that seems like an Imperial way of thinking. 

This earns him a mild rebuke from Tuttle.

Tuttle thanks Teva for bringing the situation to his attention. He'll try to allocate some additional assets. He hands Teva back the data card.   

Teva warns again that something is happening, and by the time it gets big enough for Tuttle to react, it'll be too late.

Teva leaves, and G68 stares at his back as he leaves.

***

On Nevarro, Greef Karga tries to placate the refugees as they make camp in the wastelands. "Help is on the way!"

***

Teva's X-Wing flies down to the Mandalorian covert.

He gets out and approaches the covert with his hands up. He has wisely left his sidearm, coat and carbine in the X-Wing.

He announces himself as Captain Carson Teva, Adelphi Rangers.

"How did you manage to find us?" asks Mando.

Teva replies that someone he served with in the Rebellion is amongst their ranks. R5 shuffles forward. "Thanks, R5" says Teva.

Teva tosses Mando a gizmo that apparently has Greef Kanga's message on it. He tells Mando that Karga is asking for help.

Mando speaks with Teva privately. "What's in it for you?" asks Mando.

"The New Republic has to know that the Empire is growing again," says Teva. "I just came to tell you your friend is in danger, and I thought you should know."

***

Mando holds a meeting with the other Mandalorians to ask them for their help fighting the pirates. He is holding the Armorer's hammer as a "speaking stick."

He says "Perhaps it is time for us to live in the light once again, on a planet where we are welcome, so our culture may flourish, and our children can feel what it is to play in the sunlight."

Paz Visla makes a response, and in a surprise move, backs Mando's play, and this carries the day.

***

The Mandalorians head for Nevarro.

Bo-Katan takes command of the war party.

While making plans en route, she mentions that Gideon Shard's ship is a Cumulus-Class Corsair with aerial bombardment capabilities. It is carrying a complement of snub fighters.

Mando goes in first and fast, attracting the attention of the corsair and its snub fighters and drawing them off, so that Bo-Katan can drop off two fire teams of Mandalorians into the city. She then begins making attack runs on the corsair.

On the ground, the Mandalorians engage the pirates and defeat them, with the help of Paz Visla and the Armorer. Some nice fight scenes here.

In the sky, Mando deals with the remaining snub fighters, save one piloted by Vane, which flees the fight.

Gorian Shard refuses to retreat, and goes down in a blaze of glory as his ship's engines are shot out from underneath him.

A grateful Greef Karga gives the Mandalorians a generous parcel of land. "You may no longer have a home planet, but you do now have a home. Welcome."

***

The Armorer summons Bo-Katan to the site of their old forge down in the sewers. They reminisce about the Great Forge on Mandalore. Then, the Armorer orders Bo-Katan to remove her helmet. Bo-Katan is startled, but complies.

The Armorer says that the sighting of the Mythosaur is the sign of a new age dawning, and all Mandalorians must come together. Bo-Katan walks in both worlds, and therefore she is the one that can unite all Mandalorians.

She presents Bo-Katan to the other Mandalorians, unhelmeted, and repeats that Bo-Katan walks in both worlds, and can bring all Mandalorians together.

It is time to retake Mandalore.

***

Carson Teva's X-Wing approaches a spooky wrecked shuttle floating in space.

He contacts a Lt. Reed, presumably back at Adelphia Base, and reports in.

Teva's R7 droid sends in a probe, which finds that the crew of the shuttle are dead.

Lt. Reed reports that there is a record of a missing shuttle in the region, but the details are classified.

Cross-referencing the shuttle's transponder ID with flight records at central command, they find out that the shuttle is a Republic prison transport, and its departure date matches the flight transporting Moff Gideon.

Moff Gideon's body is not on board.

Looking for evidence of the perpetrators, the probe finds a fragment of beskar embedded in a bulkhead.

"Are you saying that Moff Gideon was taken by Mandalorians?" asks Lt. Reed.

And on that note, the episode ends.

*****

Comments:

I didn't find the Pirate King Gorian Shard's lip flap to be convincing. He looked like a Muppet crossed with Swamp Thing. Still, points for trying to do it practically.

It was also odd that the pirate corsairs' gun ports that the ball turrets came out of were open to space.

The Snivvian Bartender at Adelphia Base was played by Misty Rosas, who played Quiil in Season 1, and the frog lady in Season 2. She also played the coxwain on board the pirate ship.

R5 is pushing his luck, even if he did save Mando's bacon on Mandalore.

I thought Carson Teva was going to get himself killed investigating the shuttle at the end of the episode. Shouldn't he be operating with a wingman?

Nice creepy feel to that scene. And it appears that Moff Gideon had Mandalorians breaking him out? Or perhaps it was meant to appear so. We know that some Mandalorians are working as freelancers and privateers, so anything is possible. It is even possible that the beskar trace came from Moff Gideon's armor.

Quote from: Lurkndog on April 01, 2023, 02:15:42 PM
I thought Carson Teva was going to get himself killed investigating the shuttle at the end of the episode. Shouldn't he be operating with a wingman?

I did too. I was hoping he'd survive. I like the character.

The Cumulus Corsair is a beautiful model? Practical or CGI, it's very good.

I was kind of miffed at Bo-Katan getting to be the special person who gets to unite all the Mandalorians. She seems to have an exception to not wearing the helmet, and still being a part of The Watch. I wonder if The Armorer is just playing politics. I wouldn't blame her. Some steps have to be taken to restore their people. The Way seems to have lots of exceptions and provisios. It feels a lot like they're making stuff up on the spot so they can excuse story twists.

I nitpick because I like the show, and this was, IMO, the best of Season 3 so far.



I'll be a happy camper if the commander of Adelphi Base is called "Pappy".

Quote from: Ratman_tf on April 01, 2023, 02:37:35 PM

Quote from: Lurkndog on April 01, 2023, 02:15:42 PM
I thought Carson Teva was going to get himself killed investigating the shuttle at the end of the episode. Shouldn't he be operating with a wingman?

I did too. I was hoping he'd survive. I like the character.

Yeah, Teva is cool. If Rangers of the New Republic is back on, I want him to be a central character in it. And if I can get Zeb on board as an Adelphi Ranger too, so much the better.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on April 01, 2023, 02:37:35 PM
The Cumulus Corsair is a beautiful model? Practical or CGI, it's very good.

Didn't that ship turn up in Clone Wars originally?

Quote from: Ratman_tf on April 01, 2023, 02:37:35 PM
I was kind of miffed at Bo-Katan getting to be the special person who gets to unite all the Mandalorians. She seems to have an exception to not wearing the helmet, and still being a part of The Watch. I wonder if The Armorer is just playing politics. I wouldn't blame her. Some steps have to be taken to restore their people. The Way seems to have lots of exceptions and provisios. It feels a lot like they're making stuff up on the spot so they can excuse story twists.

I don't mind Katee Sackhoff getting to show her face. And I think she makes a better ambassador to the "mainstream" Mandalorians than Din Djarin.

Quote from: Lurkndog on April 01, 2023, 02:15:42 PM


A big alien commiserates. IT'S ZEB FROM STAR WARS REBELS!!!

When Zeb came on the screen in live action, I cheered.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 30, 2023, 06:43:54 PM
I have a gripe I'm saving for Saturday. What issue did you have with the hyperspace jump?

I think it's just me making some bad assumptions about the nature of hyperspace jumps, and not thinking this shit happens at "the speed of plot."

A tiny one-man starfighter jumping from the Outer Rim to Coruscant in "oh shit, we need some backup pronto" time rubs me the wrong way.

I'm still thinking hyperspace multipliers and stuff like that, and need to adjust my attitude.

Quote from: Thornhammer on April 02, 2023, 10:12:07 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 30, 2023, 06:43:54 PM
I have a gripe I'm saving for Saturday. What issue did you have with the hyperspace jump?

I think it's just me making some bad assumptions about the nature of hyperspace jumps, and not thinking this shit happens at "the speed of plot."

A tiny one-man starfighter jumping from the Outer Rim to Coruscant in "oh shit, we need some backup pronto" time rubs me the wrong way.

I'm still thinking hyperspace multipliers and stuff like that, and need to adjust my attitude.

Ah. Yeah. SW has always played fast and loose with travel times. How did the Millenium Falcon travel from Hoth to Bespin without a hyperdrive? Fans have spun that one quite a bit.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on April 03, 2023, 05:13:50 AM

Quote from: Thornhammer on April 02, 2023, 10:12:07 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 30, 2023, 06:43:54 PM
I have a gripe I'm saving for Saturday. What issue did you have with the hyperspace jump?

I think it's just me making some bad assumptions about the nature of hyperspace jumps, and not thinking this shit happens at "the speed of plot."

A tiny one-man starfighter jumping from the Outer Rim to Coruscant in "oh shit, we need some backup pronto" time rubs me the wrong way.

I'm still thinking hyperspace multipliers and stuff like that, and need to adjust my attitude.

Ah. Yeah. SW has always played fast and loose with travel times. How did the Millenium Falcon travel from Hoth to Bespin without a hyperdrive? Fans have spun that one quite a bit.

Answer: Bespin is reachable from Hoth because it's actually a fantasy in sci-fi clothing.

For slightly more realism (but still in "space is a fantasy ocean" territory) I always presume that the trip actually took months between two really close systems because Han and Leia were acting way closer than they were during the time in the asteroid belt; like they'd had some time to get comfortable with each other. That also gives Luke several months of uninterrupted training with Yoda rather than just a few days.

The amusing option for me is that Hoth was actually in same system as Bespin. The galaxy is HUGE, but even a single star system can have multiple planets including a barely habitable ice ball and a gas giant. Cloud City is basically a fancier Alaskan Mining Company (which is why I actually think prettying it up in the special editions with all the windows and digital people was a disservice... the stark white walls and barely any people in basically an automated gas filtration mining facility in the deep Outer Rim much better fits the idea of an isolated outpost that was basically off the Empire's maps).

Basically, a star system is big enough you could have a Rebel Base hidden on one unpopulated planet and a "beneath the Empire's radar" Mining Colony on the only world of the system with any worthwhile resources and the two could be completely unaware of each other.

The big kicker with the "same system" answer though is the "small galaxy" problem of one of Han's old associates just happening to be in the same system as Han was chilling at the Rebel Base. The "Will of the Force" only stretches so far.

Which is why my preferred answer is "because its fantasy in scifi drag."

Quote from: Thornhammer on April 02, 2023, 10:12:07 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 30, 2023, 06:43:54 PM
I have a gripe I'm saving for Saturday. What issue did you have with the hyperspace jump?

I think it's just me making some bad assumptions about the nature of hyperspace jumps, and not thinking this shit happens at "the speed of plot."

A tiny one-man starfighter jumping from the Outer Rim to Coruscant in "oh shit, we need some backup pronto" time rubs me the wrong way.

I'm still thinking hyperspace multipliers and stuff like that, and need to adjust my attitude.

I have some difficulty swallowing flight times even within the same system. Like when Grogu leaves Mando in the clutches of the cyber-ghoul on Mandalore, travels to Kalevala in the same system, and gets back with Bo-Katan in what seems like an hour or so.

If the travel time is that short. then it seems like Mandalore is too close to civilization to ever have been abandoned in the first place.

Star Wars is a myth, not a sim.

Quote from: Lurkndog on April 03, 2023, 09:32:56 AM
Star Wars is a myth, not a sim.

Yep, that's the long and short of it.

In the words of a wise man, "then repeat to yourself, 'it's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

And I shall. And it will be good.

Quote from: Thornhammer on April 03, 2023, 02:26:44 PM
In the words of a wise man, "then repeat to yourself, 'it's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

Indeed! I was considering using that quote myself.

And, to be clear, I would not have been happier with some kind of "Cold Equations" ending where they didn't get back in time.

I like a universe where our heroes can just pile into a spaceship and zoom off to the adventure with their ray guns and laser swords, and never have to bother with minor details like fuel and oxygen. There are no spreadsheets in Star Wars!

Quote from: Lurkndog on April 03, 2023, 03:22:16 PM

Quote from: Thornhammer on April 03, 2023, 02:26:44 PM
In the words of a wise man, "then repeat to yourself, 'it's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

Indeed! I was considering using that quote myself.

And, to be clear, I would not have been happier with some kind of "Cold Equations" ending where they didn't get back in time.

I like a universe where our heroes can just pile into a spaceship and zoom off to the adventure with their ray guns and laser swords, and never have to bother with minor details like fuel and oxygen. There are no spreadsheets in Star Wars!

The Cold Equations is Science Fiction.
Star Wars is Science Fantasy.

I don't buy the "It's fantasy" excuse. Tolkien kept such meticulous records of travel times in LOTR that you can track the character's progress by the phases of the moon.

https://shire-reckoning.com/moon.html

I think a more accurate reason is that Star Wars, and The Mandlorian, are Action Flicks.