Thoughts? Reactions?
I think we are in for some amazing action scenes. I appreciate getting some more insight into Mandalorian culture (the Beskar steel, for instance) in addition to what got unpacked in Clone Wars and in Star Wars Rebels (also on Disney+). I appreciated the return of droid humor with the IG model assassin droid, and I chuckled to myself at the horrible aim of all the baddies at the OK Corral
I am a little less enthused with the big out-of-left-field big reveal at the end and what it might mean for tying in with the Skywalker-based tri-trilogy or beyond. I think we only see one other creature of Yoda's species in canon, and this lil fifty year old baby is the third. Am I supposed to believe a hardened bounty hunter with his reputation is gonna pack-bond with a lil creature just like that? Or was it a headfake?
As an aside, my friend and I were really hoping that the bounty wasn't out on Hondo Ohnaka (eyeroll) and were really hoping for a Cad Bane appearance.
bonus: The Mandalorian anagrams to Manhandle Ratio, and we learned that the nameless title character likes his odds against four storm troopers.
Comments
I need a timeline update. Where are we in the Star Wars timelines, what is a foundling, why were there dirty storm troopers, why does every show on every platform seem so damn dark?
The first episode takes place five years after Return of the Jedi and before any of the new trilogy. The Galactic Empire has fallen (obviously, bc RotJ), but the First Order has not yet risen to take its place. But just like post-WWII Germany still had former Nazi officers and soldiers, the post-Empire galaxy still has former imperial officers and soldiers. That's "the client" (assumed to be an officer or some official), and the dirty storm troopers.
a foundling an orphan who was found as a child. you see in the flashback scenes that the mandalorian was abandoned for his own safety in a chaotic moment, but then found by the mandalorians -- it's unclear if his origin is a different mandalorian clan than the one he's in now (assumed since he's called The Mandalorian), or if he was from an entirely different planet/race/species (less likely), or what. We just know that his origin is an outsider.
This series happens 11 years ABY (after the battle of Yavin) iirc. So this is after the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Jakku (not in the movies, but marked the true end of the Empire).
The dirty Stormtroopers and Werner Herzog's character are part of the "Imperial Remnant" that is leftover from the Empire. The Imperial Remnant is splintered and has many factions, as the Empire split apart into many shards after Battle of Jakku. That could explain why there were seemingly 2 different bounties out for the baby Yodellian (saw it on Reddit as a placeholder name for the species).
A foundling is likely a lost Mandalorian who was "adopted" into a new tribe after the Empire basically wiped out the Mandalorian homeworld. The martial culture of the Mandalorians was a large threat to the Empire taking over, and instead of attempting to get them on his side, Palps decided to just wipe them out.
Everything is dark and gritty, I don't have an explanation for that one.
So having watched all the movies is there anything else I should catch up to help me get the background?
I'd say if you have time watching Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars maybe with your kids (animated shows with a young Target audience) would be fun and possibly worth it. Good storylines, well done shows, just a LOT of them.
However, I think all your questions above will likely be answered via the TV show eventually in some form or fashion so it's not required. I haven't even watched all of Clone Wars bc it's so long. I'm just super obsessed with
retweet for Clone Wars and Rebels. I watched both series entirely though in the last year, and they are both so well done. kid friendly, but not at the expense of being worth watching for an adult.
edit: i found out today that Rebels is canon too, which makes me want to rewatch it again
Are those the one where Freddy Prince is the voice and there is a kid Jedi? I've seen a bunch of those on TV a few years ago.
That's Rebels, yes
Play bounty hunter on the GameCube
Bonding or not, his task was to bring the creature back alive, first and foremost, with the off chance that didn't happen, to bring back some tissue samples. He had the ability to bring it back alive by killing the assassin droid.
My thoughts through the first episode made me think of an RPG video game. Complete initial quest, get beskar steel, get it made into what you want (a pauldron), go on next quest and that's the one that sets up the rest of the game. Fun stuff.
yeah. the ET finger-touch moment certainly makes it seem as if there's bonding. could just be an entire head-fake though!
Yeah, we also don't know his background. Maybe baby yoda creature is speaking to something in his history. My thought at that, though, was...a species where 50 years is still a baby that can't take care of itself seems implausible, especially for a species so rare.
All those killer types...did they know baby yoda creature was there and they were protecting it? I'm sure we'll find out. I hope it's not just dropped, but this is Star Wars, long standing denizen of deus ex machina.
Yes. Because its impossible for a living (ie non-droid) creature to kill something as fucking cute as that baby yoda. You see those adorable eyes and you instantly know you have to protect that little guy at all costs.
Just watched it with my oldest and it was totally tits! I want a baby Yoda!
What about baby Jar Jar?
Probably be good for target practice?
The show has a Spiderman 1 feel too it. The Goblin with the plastic face.
I get the Mandalorian isn't supposed to remove the helmet, but its kind of annoying to see no facial expressions, and the distorted voice.
I'm still enjoying it and I hope it eventually changes.
Gonna pull a "Samus is a girl" book it.
The Mandalorian character is played by Pedro Pascal (aka Oberyn Martell on GOT). I'm sure we will see his face at some point.
Seems unlikely that Pedro Pascal would not show his face at some point in the series
Am I the only one that really didn't care for it?
I guess I was hoping for Rogue One and it felt more like a cartoon.
Second episode was much better.
i think the bluefaced prisoner just threw me off
Chapter 2 dropped at 3 am EST this morning. Just watched it on my lunch.
Yodling just keeps getting more interesting -- not just force sensitive, but clearly able to intentionally direct force use. We now are aware of at least 3 tracking fobs that were associates with Yodling. Mando is certainly not a "finished product" as a bounty hunter, nice to see him struggle and not just go on some galactic rampage where he's unstoppable. Are they on Tattooine? I ask because of the Jawas. That could be interesting. I appreciate how visually stunning everything is. I appreciate how little unwasted dialog there is.
Not Tatoonie. It's a new planet called Arvala-7. I suppose Jawas can move around and aren't just restricted to one planet.
Speaking of Jawas, The Mandalorian disintegrating a few of them is a nice shout out to Empire Strikes Back when Vader tells Boba Fett "no disintegrations!" Also, that egg must be damn delicious for them to just completely forgive him for killing their compatriots.
I thought it was the Skywalker homeworld as well and my son said no daddy, those Jawas have red eyes and in episode IV they were yellow so you are obviously wrong 🤣
Episode II was even more force boner worthy. No way he gives up his pet yoda for the bounty after it saved his life against that woolly rhinoceros that somehow lays eggs
So, since the Yodaling is an abandoned orphan just like The Mandolorian was, would that make the Yodaling a "foundling" that could be raised to be a Mandolorian Yoda?
Loving the show so far but man I was dissapointed to not get a John clease call out when he Jawas were chucking stuff over the wall at mando, would've loved a line from a jaws saying taking that you stupid knigggggggit. JK it's a good show and it's fun to get into
Jawas are the OG minions
Got that feel from the show and from earlier entries.
Wouldve died laughing if one had said Fetchez La Vache in jawa just for shits and giggles.
A fan so far, liked the inclusion of the Jawa Diaspora. It makes sense in a galaxy full of lots of dry barren planets that similar tech/vehicles would be common, and that similar races would gather or be forced to gather on them.
Also like that we are seeing more the underbelly that we only ever got a scene or two of in any of the films and which Disney wiped away the old version of for the most part.
Same with the Imperial Remnants. Not really high on the First Order but still space for some really cool stories, just not a fan of how seemingly even more decentralized and weak Disney's new canon has made the New Republic and Imp Rem post Endor.
Enjoying it thus far. I am intrigued by the possibility that The Mandalorian may not actually be a Mandalorian (by blood), but maybe another race that was adopted into a clan; this could be why he refuses to take off the helmet.
Still haven't seen Bill Burr, Gina Carano, Ming Na Wen or Giancarlo Esposito.
I think its safe to say he is human.
But Mandalore went through a Civil War in the new Star Wars canon, and had a group of clans rise up against the Imperial supported ruling one several years before A New Hope. The Imperial military gets involved, so the Purge they mention is likely part of that fighting.
At one point the Empire was testing out some crazy super weapon against the uprising, and was certainly looking to be heavy handed with their response.
Yeah, Mandalorians are human, just humans from Mandalore.
Which was always an interesting question to me, as the title scrawl states, this is a "long time ago, in a galaxy far far away". As such, are any of our main characters technically humans? I can't think of any reference in canon or otherwise that specifically names them as such.
So if it was me - and I fully admit to only wanting to cause some exploding brains - I would have made Gina Carano the Mandalorian. I would have given out all the details of her role as Cara Dune just like they actually did, and I would have brought on Pedro in the last half of the last episode of Season 1 just to boil some brains.
Everyone would be like, "But wait, if *he's* not the Mandalorian, who's inside the helmet?" and then she removes the helmet in the last scene.
And then I would announce that Season 2 wouldn't air for at least 18 months.
I absolutely love baby Todd's, from him over and over getting out to heal the bounty hunter and just getting picked up and put back in to chasing that lizard and eating it whole.
Auto correct...nice
chapter 3 best yet
Agreed.
You're the Star Wars expert, so two questions. Mandalorian is a culture/religion that came from the planet Mandalore? It is separate from bounty hunting, which has its own guild and bylaws?
i'm a fan way more than i am an expert. this season is unpacking what it means to be mandalorian by culture more so than what it means to be mandalorian by birth. we saw a bunch of that sort of world-building in Clone Wars and Rebels. Bounty hunters are not new to star wars either, but the idea of a guild with bylaws is new, at least to screen canon. i haven't read any novels. it would stand to reason that a mandalorian could be a bounty hunter but isn't inherently. it is the way.
Being a Mandalorian and being a bounty hunter are not one and the same. It seems that way in a sense, as the three (only?) most famous Mandalorians we have seen on screen in SW canon have also been bounty hunters (Jango Fett, Boba Fett, and now The Mandalorian). They are a race (made up of multiple species) that are primarily warriors though, so its common to see them going the route of bounty hunting or mercenaries.
Although not considered canon, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for XBox did a really good job of introducing characters that were from Mandalore that were not bounty hunters and giving them a much more fleshed out history. Canon or not, its still one of the best Star Wars stories that exists out there, and worth a play through (for HK-47 alone). You can get a really good port of it for cheap on iOS too.
there's lotsof Mandalore (lol get it) in the Clone Wars and Rebels
What about on Android? Always wanted to play through it just never had the time
In many ways playing through on your phone is more enjoyable than playing on a console. It eats up a ton of memory, though.
Best episode yet loving the fight scenes and even through a metal helmet you can sense the expressions
my recap.
Baby Yoda be like
and the mandolorians be like
and
and then finally
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4243605/SANTACAM.0.gif?w=640&ssl=1)
This is a perfect recap
I knew Mando was always gonna come back and save Baby Yoda but it still hurt to see him leave the little guy. At this point, if anything where to happen to Baby Yoda, I would be emotionally destroyed.
Totally agree that episode 3 was the best yet. I love that Mando collected his bounty, got a sick new set of armor, and then went back and gave his former client the big middle finger to rescue baby Yoda
Gina Carano is in the house
Unfortunately I would say that was easily the weakest episode of the season thus far.
I would agree. Some good moments (the AT-ST raising up and giving chase was pretty sweet.
Otherwise, it all felt a bit cheesy.
Yes, felt forced. Big time obvious call back to VI with the locals using sticks and trenches to try and overcome the baddies.
It was decent from a development standpoint -- learn more about mandalorian culture and establishes that it won't just be a "settle in and ride it out' kind of show
It did establish a bit more of the bond between the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. It was a little jarring at first with him referring to him as "the kid" a few times, and the love interest saying she would watch "his boy", but he is really going to the "dad" role quick
How did these trackers work? How are they still tracking him and why didn't the Mandalorian think of that when running away? There is no where he can go they won't follow him.
That really didn't make sense to me either. My guess as to the tracking is that it might be "midi-chlorian" related.
I don't think they've addressed it directly. The only details from the show that I've picked up is they start working if you're in a "general vicinity" of the target but they don't define what the vicinity is. That's why in the 1st episode, Mando is given the last known location of the target. So for example, if they know you're on X planet, you show up on that planet and the fob starts beeping.
Some fan theories think they may be biological based or like it works because it has a sample of the target's DNA. That's why Mando hasn't located an implant or whatever and popped it out so Baby Yoda can't be tracked. It's the most logical thing I've seen yet but I wish they really would explain it some more.
I'm not really into this show like I thought I would be. Many people love it, but for me it's just ok.
I expected this show to be more plot based. It seems more like individual episodes linked by a common thread. I like it and I watch it every week, but I was expecting more story.
plot seems to be pretty consistent with the novels and cartoons (both canon and non-canon): Don't fuck with Mando's they usually make you pay for it.
looks like chapter five ends on a cliffhanger and may lead directly into chapter six
Was a quick episode too but yes, I am assuming the character you see might be Gus Fring finally. But that's hard to say I suppose.
That's what I think, too -- he's ex-imperial who was supposed to meet Fennec. should set up a nice little arc towards the end of the season that hopefully build foundaton for future seasons. i really hope the story stays centered around the mandalorian and not necessarily baby yoda
It's following the same pattern as the other shows Dave Filoni has worked on (the animated shows Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars). Both them had larger plots but a lot of the episodes, especially early on, are a lot of self contained adventures that really just get you familiar with characters. I can see how people would be turned off by that. You don't see too many live action shows going that way nowadays. Everything with modern shows, especially streaming service and cable shows, is so plot heavy and there aren't many "filler" episodes. But I still really like The Mandolorian though I must admit, I also wish there was just a tad bit more progression than what we've had so far.
Episode 6 was legit.
Mando definitely kicked some ass, Baby Yoda did his part as well.
I enjoyed it. One half was definetely stronger than the other, but another quality episode in what has been one of my favorite series in awhile.
We have had so much time to see Mando as a conflicted guy that actually cares about other people, we forget that the people he is hunting see him as something a bit more terrifying.
and they definitely think down of Mando for having a conscience now compared to what he evidently was previously
i love this show. I was geeked out about it when it premiered, but not exactly super jazzed about the baby yoda (clone? my money) twist. I think the show lost some momentum for me that picked back up at the very end of chapter five. the beginning of chapter 6 was slow but i appreciate how it added a little back story, and appreciate how there was this lingering "where on earth is baby yoda right now" in my head. having said all that, as soon as they boarded that transport ship, this show crystallized for me into what i was expecting it to be. goodness gracious was that a tour de force
Read an interesting theory about Baby Yoda in this story arc is somehow going to tie into the (assumed) clone of Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker.
Timeline would match up, as this show is set about 30ish years prior to the new trilogy. Also mentioned is that the 7th episode releases right before Rise of Skywalker, and the 8th episode will air after. Also there is a screenshot of the doctor that was with The Client in the first episode, and on his shoulder he has an emblem closely resembling those worn by the Kamino cloners. Maybe Imperial remnants have been practicing cloning highly powerful force beings (which was also a storyline used in the fantastic Dark Force Rising books, which arn't canon but they have used some characters from it, like Grand Admiral Thrawn, in canon series) and the complications that go along with that (basically, in the books clones of those powerful in the Force basically go insane before they mature until another method is figured out)
Thrawn is legit. Probably my favorite star wars baddie
i really hope there's not a tie-in/crossover, but it almost seems too good to pass up
Thrawn is probably the most well developed villain in the canon in a number of ways, excluding Darth Vader himself.
Interesting note, Ep 6 was written by Chris Yost.
He was on Thor Dark World and early parts of Ragnarok.
But more notably was a comic and early 00's Marvel TV writer, along with Craig Kyle created the character X-23 back for the old X-Men Evolution cartoon.
This show reminds me a little of season 1 of Justified. There's an overall story arc somewhere there in the background, but each individual episode isn't really addressing it too directly, or feel like it's moving the plot along. They're all standalone episodes. I'm hoping that it's all character development for down the line.
I'm not digging these one off episodes. The show feels rudderless. If the episodes were a tad longer they could develop characters better. If they were more than 1 episode long it would feel like the story is going somewhere.
I don't completely hate it, but I really want to like it more and it's just ok to me.
Though, I will say, it seems like it's hitting its target demo of Star Wars fans that have read the books. I am not one of them.
I'm with you. I'm still watching for baby yoga but that's about it. I don't really understand what Mando is doing. It seemed like after the 3rd episode he was turning to a different life but so far he is just continuing his regular life while locking baby yoda in a room in his ship. This last suicide squad knock off episode was super unoriginal to me.