#mando season 3 speculation

[starnerd1]

Anyone else absolutely terrified about the Mando S3 finale?

So much is going around the internet (as it tends to do) about people wanting/expecting Bo-Katan to die in the finale. Vague and/or Cryptic comments from actors and producers and directors are fueling the flames and it's getting me all kinds of nervous.

Some root for her to die because they hate that she is 'taking the spotlight' or 'sidelining Din' or fill in the blank generic "i don't like having more than one main character" type of schtick. Other say it's the 'logical conclusion' to her story arc. That she needs to be redeemed for being a terrorist and they only way to do that is for her to die.

On this second point, I have to push back hard on this. Rewatch the Clone Wars. Rewatch fucking Rebels. She owned her bad choices and mistakes. Demonstrated massive guilt and regret. Refused leadership several times until Sabine convinced her through the rallies clans who chose to support her. And then, as she did the first time after the Siege, she was crushed by the Empire as all others were. This time was just 10000x worse than Gar Saxon betraying everything Mandalorian and throwing in with the Empire. So, what's the redemption she needs?

Anyway, I could go on a rant for AGES about this particular point. So I'll stop myself here.

There are others who want/expect her to die so Din will be motivated to take up the dark saber, take revenge, and then rule.

I'll only say this once: STOP KILLING WOMEN TO FURTHER THE PAIN AND/OR STORY OF MALE CHARACTERS. See Satine Kryze's murder as case-in-fucking point.

So, I guess the whole point of this post is to ask: is there anyone else out there nervous/terrified that they are going to kill Bo-Katan off in the finale? I just...I can't shake the onslaught of posts and speculation and rooting for her to die. It's so depressing and disheartening.

I need a hug.

[nimata-beroya]

I'm going crazy with the juicy rumors in the last 2 days. Because between all these praises for The Bad Batch Season 2 (especially for the bits about Crosshair's storyline) and the rumored hostility between Moff Gideon and Thrawn (according to what Giancarlo Esposito said in an interview, which I can't find the source. If anyone knows, let me know!) in The Mandalorian season 3, I don't know what to do with myself.

I'm half excited, half scared by the implications of a good storyline for my boy Crosshair, which he deserves, but I don't know if the people who watched the season 2 in advance wanted the same thing for him that I do. I can't trust their word. What if their idea of a satisfying story is the opposite of mine 😩 The next 3 weeks are going to be so karking long!!

On a happier note, although I don't want to get my hopes too high, that of Gideon and Thrawn not being exactly on the same side, I like it! I really, really do, because that opens at the possibility of my idea of what could be the big event/catastrophe in the Mandoverse crossover to be true. Or closer to the truth.

I'd like them to use the Grysks as big bad guys for it. I mean, I know they've taken Thrawn things from the legend trilogy, but they should take this from the newer ones. It makes sense for the Grysks to be a threat big enough to force friends, allies, and enemies to work together against them, and that's basically the premise of the crossover, right?

And can you imagine how far have the Grysks come into the Known space in the last decade, while left unchecked and working silently within the chaos of the Empire falling and trying to establish the New Republic?! I wouldn't be surprised if they've gotten even to the core worlds by now.

Anyway, this is just a wishful thinking on my part, and I wanted to put it out there. To get out of my chest, you know.

The first 3 months of 2023 are going to be intense. Will I survive them? I don't know 😅 Hope so.

[onlythegentle-survive]

who did the spies in the episode title refer to?

at first i thought it was referring to the recon mission, but moff gideon was ready for them so that could mean that someone on the mission had to have tipped him off that they were coming and what their plan was, right???

[cobbssecondbelt]

I know we are sad that Cobb Vanth did not return.

HOWEVER!

With what the finale teased us about the future of Din's journey and his new role, Cobb fits perfectly into the narrative.

[eagle-shadow]

Ok oh boy just finished watching episode 18 of the Mandalorian it's 1 am gonna be typos n stuff maybe fic maybe not for future me to deal with

HOLLY FUCKEN SHIT!!!

y'all think that the Mytho was like sleeping like all this time, like after the Annihilation that put Satine and Bo's family in charge of Mandalor. Since we know that Mandalorians don't have a true king let alone pass the crown to their son so to speak like regular royalty. Like the Kryze clan was part of the then Mand'alor's council and maybe even being considered for next in line but they sided with the Republic after maybe not being picked or may be the Republic offered better deal. Yet it goes horribly wrong and Mandalor is now a desert wasteland, they lost he people's trust and are now the Republic's puppet.

Those who do not bend are pushed out by republic forces the first of many exiles to come. Until Mandalors relationship with it's neighbors crumbles, we know the Tung expand out to other planets in the system before moving into the sector so it wouldn't be far fetch that the planets closest to them making the bulk of the Mandalorian Empire.

The Republic know this and target those planes in particular but given that most are to dangerous for human life they are ignored and the next step would be to exile them. They are wiped out history as time continues with them gone so to does the knowledge of Mytho and other supposed tales. Maybe those who were being exiled sealed Mytho away to insure that the Republic puppets would never become true Mand'alor. Along with sealing Mytho they took artifacts relating to Mand'alor, like the Mask is taken by a person to be hidden, maybe a cape made of pure crystals from the Planet Shogan that symbolize the Kara as each crystal is coated in a melted armor of the previous Mand'alor in the shape of an iron heart. As the planet is said to have connections to the force The spear of the Mand'alor is broken into three taken to separate Planets. The Dark Saber is given back to clan Vizsla as a red hearing to keep the Republic busy. The Mand'alor Basilisk droid is shut down and takes apart and scatterd across that system of planets.

As the Mandalorians kick out more of their neighbors Aliens only excepting human the stories are lost. Until the night of the Purge and Mytho's seal is broken strong like any being who has lived for so long. They know something is wrong they sense life but no one shows. Maybe the wake and sees the destruction believing that the Annihilation has just passed, or maybe it knows time has passed and it waiting for it's people to return.

Until one day a Mandalorian falls into the water and another one rescues their brother in arms

Idk speculations and stuff

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol. 15

Hi friends!!

Welcome to week 15 of The Spreadsheet Digest! I read a lot of angst this week.... but there's plenty of really good smut and fluff to balance it out, I promise! Also 3/10 fics are from one author, but I promise their stuff is to die for.

You can find the Spreadsheet here and all of my previous rec lists here.

Recs under the funny BTS pic from Triple Frontier

Birds of Prey - a Tommy one shot by @toxicanonymity

I normally wouldn't rec a tommy fic, but!! First of all Toxic wrote it so like... duh. Second of all it's kind of a sidebar to her Raider!Joel series and I'm assuming it kind of comes into play later in that series so like you should read it. Also it's fucking delicious. Raider!Tommy is sooooo fucking hot.

Fall Apart, Again - a Joel series by @wildemaven

AHHHHH THE TWIST!!! Healthy dose of angst right up front in the first chapter with these lovely hints of more to come AND THEN!!! there's a twist. I can't tell you about the twist because that would ruin it, but like I thought I knew what it was, right? And the thing I thought was gonna happen did and I was like oh! I called it. But that was a fakeout. There's a bigger twist. Fucking.... wild man. You gotta read it. (Oh and wildemaven writes so beautifully. The descriptive language is to die for). Get it while it's hot kids.

Breakout - a Joel series by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

Boxer (now trainer) Joel!! Reader has an asshole boxer bf! I hope Joel gets to beat the shit out of Tyler tbh. I really fucking love Ren's writing style and the way she builds up the characterization. Like we learn so much about Joel's life and personality, Tyler and Reader's relationship dynamic, Reader's sort of (as yet unknown to them) kinship with Joel, Sarah and Joel's relationship, and more all in 7K words. This fic is going to be so fucking lovely. I think it's one of those "Oh my god that poor man deserves to be happy for once in his miserable little life" fics and I LOVE those.

This is the Way - a Din one shot by @psychedelic-ink

I thought this fic was gonna be silly! And I mean I guess it was. Certainly no angst. But if you think accidentally moaning This is the Way would be silly.... you think wrong. The way Mando responded??? Good god this fic is hot, y'all. I just like... does Din have a breeding kink? Is it the fact that she said it when he creampied her and like... the marriage vow thing is "we will raise warriors" ??? Sorry I'm speculating a lot here. I just... anyway yeah feral din. very hot.

The Art of Healing - a Marcus Pike series by @northernbluess

This is such a gorgeous fic. It has a lot of discussion of ED recovery, so please read warnings and take care of yourself and don't read if it will hurt you BUT!!! The way the topic is handled in the fic is so fucking beautiful. Marcus is a precious angel baby and Jo is so so so strong and wonderful. It's really lovely to follow along with her therapy and see what she paints. It's also incredible watching her bond with Marcus grow. It's a slow burn, therapist x OFC, with lots of angst but also so many of these like... really tender and sweet moments. It's so clearly a story that is coming from the heart and I adore it and can't wait to read more.

Exile - a Javi P series by @jksprincess10

Ok big warning up front -- she killed steve lmao. That's how reader ends up being Javi's partner. I really love how Javi's dickish demeanor from early season one is being played up here. Big fuckin fan. I just know this is gonna be a beautiful smutty enemies to lovers extravaganza.

Only Angel - a Javi P series by @tieronecrush

I really like professor peña. Like it makes a lot of sense that he'd do that after retiring. I love the concept of this fic so much. And the tension is being built up so fucking well. Javi pining and chastising himself. The subtle mention of reader doing something to support herself that is definitely not TAing. I would be more than happy to be Javi's extraneous circumstance. Anywayyyy I fucking love this and I'm so excited for the next chapter ahhhh.

-------------- oldies but goodies ------------

I grabbed a giant chunk off the older half of the sheet so there's a pretty good section where it's just one author lol. Oh and a lot of these are on AO3 but several of the stories were also posted on tumblr, I just read them on AO3 for whatever reason.

One Thing I'm Missing - a Joel series by @joelscruff

Sex, Drugs, and... Tacos - a Dieter one shot by @absurdthirst

Deseos Profundos - Javi P one shot by @absurdthirst

Le Trio De Fleur - a Din one shot by @absurdthirst

Chemical Feelings - a Din one shot by @absurdthirst

Menace - a Joel one shot by @atinylittlepain

I'll Never Fall in Love Again - a Dieter series by OonaJaeAdira (on AO3)

Stress Relief - a Javi P one shot by ezrasbirdie (on AO3)

Waterproof - a Dieter one shot by LeslieLyman (on AO3)

Starlight - a Din Series by LovelessDagger (on AO3)

Let the right one in - a Joel Series by LaMorenadelAtl (on AO3)

Dark but just a game - a Joel One shot by devilmademewriteit (on AO3)

Celestial Navigation - Dieter Series by @write-and-buried

Extra Whipped Cream - a Dieter Series by @pettyprocrastination

----------------------

Happy Reading!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

There’s something so hilarious about how people were speculating that Mando season 3 was going to be “Din vs. Bo-Katan”, but the actual season turned out to be “Din + Bo-Katan”. I’m even guilty of thinking there’d be a rivalry (at least, as of episode 4, that doesn’t seem to be the case).

It’s like Favreau and Filoni saw all the speculation and said to themselves, “Yeah, we see that, but, like…what if they were friends? And parents to Grogu. And…I don’t know, what if they kiss…just throwing that out there.”

Side note, imagine Sabine and Ahsoka’s reaction to Bo-Katan being Grogu’s mom.

[thecleverqueer]

Ways I see Episode 8 of Ahsoka going:

Full discretion, I haven’t the slightest clue (which makes me nervous).

Up until now, I’ve had a pretty clear idea of where the narrative was headed, but I’m in the dark now. Still, here are my theories:

Thrawn absolutely makes it back to the known galaxy. I feel like this is an obvious given based on previous narratives (Mando season 3 and Filoni /Favreau interviews indicating that they wanted Thrawn to be the main villain of the era). I don’t know what Thrawn’s motivations are. Possibly revenge. Possibly a promise that he made to the emperor. Regardless, he’s going to bring the Imperial Remnants together. They’ll be a formidable force to be reckoned with. They’ll lead directly or slightly indirectly into the First Order.

Morgan Elsbeth will either make it out with Thrawn or will be killed by Ahsoka. I assume the three mothers will be in tow (with or without Elsbeth). It’s pretty apparent that those boxes that Thrawn was loading onto his ship are Nightsister (or Nightbrother) remains. This will be another problem for the New Republic to deal with. They’ll likely rebuild Dathomir while allying themselves with the Imperial Remnants. They’ll also likely show up in Skeleton Crew (pure speculation, but pirates and the undead chasing kids around sounds like a good time). I’m betting on Elsbeth’s survival.

Baylan is absolutely staying behind to chase after whatever greater voice calls to him. They may leave this plot thread open since Ray passed, but I feel like whatever it is he’s after; he’ll ultimately unleash. We won’t find out what it is this season. Maybe the movie? Maybe season two of Ahsoka should it get a second season? I don’t know. Ultimately, it’ll be a problem. It will likely require Ahsoka and all of her little Bokken Jedi (stray cats) to deal with.

Shin will either return to Thrawn with no other options in front of her, or she’ll turn to the light and join Ahsoka and her Bokkens. I imagine she’ll likely work with Thrawn and Elsbeth for a while longer, and they’ll abuse her. She’ll turn to the light inevitably. Clearly, it calls to her.

Now for the heroes… I can see this going one of three ways:

1.) I think this is the least likely options, but they all make it out of Peridea safely… by the skin of their ass. They’ll end the series where they link up with Hera on Lothal, and there will be an emotional “well, we’re fucked, but at least we have each other” moment. I don’t think this is likely because I honestly don’t think Ahsoka thought this through, and I don’t think they have the coordinates to get back without the whales that go to Peridea to die. Which leaves me with two more likely scenarios:

2.) All three heroes (Sabine, Ezra and Ahsoka) are left at the end of the story… stranded on Peridea. With no logical way home, they’ll have to work together to find a way to navigate back on Ahsoka’s shuttle in a later story. An argument can be made that Ezra’s constant banter about “going home” is a twisted foreboding where the narrative swiftly gut punches him and goes, “well actually.” Watching them navigate this new galaxy together in an attempt to get home could be compelling in the event they have actually green-lighted a second season of Ahsoka.

3.) Ezra makes it out in a dramatic fashion on the Chimera trying to stop Thrawn from getting back to the known Galaxy… which basically makes him Thrawn’s captive once more, and Ahsoka and Sabine are left stranded on Peridea… and, honestly, this seems like the most likely scenario. This really raises the stakes in a lot of different ways. First, we have Ezra back home, but not the way he’d planned to be back at all. Second, we have Sabine and Ahsoka trying to figure out a way off Peridea together which will allow for character development on the part of Sabine (she clearly has many lessons to learn as she has basically damned the galaxy over an attachment which we know is a big no-no in the “Star Wars: Lessons” department, and never ends well). It could also open the door for more mystical adventures, and a potential for them to work together to try and stop Baylan from doing whatever it is that he’s doing. We could also just have the two of them trying to navigate back through the unknown galaxy with Huyang which would doubtlessly be pure gold.

Things I don’t think will happen to the heroes (that other fans are hellbent on):

*Ezra dies.

If it were Lucas, and Sabine did what she did… Ezra absolutely would die, but this is Filoni and Disney. Ezra lives.

*Ezra sacrifices himself, and stays behind alone.

I don’t think that this would be a fair option considering that it was Sabine that screwed the Galaxy, and basically made Ezra’s self-imposed exile meaningless. I think he gets back to the known galaxy… either with Thrawn or with Sabine and Ahsoka.

*Sabine sacrifices herself, and stays behind alone.

Sabine is the one that has the lesson in “letting go” and “sacrificing for the greater good” to learn, but I can’t see Ahsoka letting Sabine stay on Peridea alone. Also, Sabine getting left behind would ensure another story would be wasted going back to Peridea again to fetch another lost Comrade… which is lazy and lame.

*Ahsoka sacrifices herself, and stays behind alone.

While this could happen, it would be lame and not very narratively fulfilling mainly because Ahsoka jumping into a whale’s mouth to save Sabine was enough of a sacrifice. It is Sabine that needs to learn the lesson, and she’ll learn nothing if she gets to go back to the main galaxy with Ezra and live happily ever after with he and the Ghost Crew while Ahsoka sacrifices herself and stays behind. Also worth noting, the whole premise of the series is this master/ apprentice relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine which has been fractured and should be at least on the mend by the end of the series /season. It seems clear that Filoni’s goal (as well as the way the show has been marketed) here is to make Sabine part of the disaster lineage which will require Sabine and Ahsoka to spend more time with one another. I think if one is left behind, the other will be there too.

*Ahsoka dies.

Ha ha ha ha ha! Ahsoka can’t die. Let’s move on.

*Ahsoka will be saved by the Skeleton Crew.

So, I will start by saying that I don’t know a lot about the Skeleton Crew, but from what I do know, it’s about kids getting lost in the Star Wars Galaxy. They run into Jude Law, and they have to find their way home. I tend to think that they’re going to end up lost in the known galaxy, not Peridea because how TF would they end up there? There’s also been rumors about pirates and Jawas, which once again, are in the known galaxy (and maybe this will finally open the door for a live-action Hondo).

Anyway, there are two big reasons that I don’t think Ahsoka will even show up in Skeleton Crew (and if she does, it’ll only be as a minor cameo). 1.) it’s supposed to be about the kids in the show and their experience, and if Ahsoka shows up in this capacity, then the show immediately becomes about Ahsoka being rescued. Let’s be honest. Ahsoka would absolutely hijack their show, and if you’re trying to build new characters and stories, this isn’t how it’s done. 2.) Dave neither wrote nor directed any Skeleton Crew, and Dave is pretty protective of Ahsoka and her story. I don’t think, at this point, that Dave would let anyone write canon stories about her without direct, credit-worthy involvement. I might be wrong, but look at the track record. I think I’m right.

Anyway. I guess we’ll see.

[ooops-i-arted]

Let’s go ahead and do Grogu + Child development for season 3 episode 3 because I honestly don’t have a lot of commentary since Grogu’s screentime is minimal.

(I will say I am still VERY curious still what Pershing was doing with Grogu specifically.  We know he was harvesting blood but what about DNA?  He talks about cloning - is the 101 Yoditos AU still a possibility???  Will we have an army of Grogru clones?????  Let me dream!!)

Right off the bat we see Grogu once again making sure Dad is okay.  You know, Din, it’s not healthy for your child to see you in danger so often, it’s gotta give him anxiety.  (Great tv for us, though.)  He’s patting Dad a bit, perhaps he remembers Cara looking after Din when they were trapped in the cantina in Redemption?  He definitely knows Dad would never want the helmet off.  (I loved the “wtf???” look he gave Bo & Friends in The Heiress when they took theirs off.)  Even after he’s in the pod, he’s still watching Dad, seeming concerned.

I wonder if we’re going to see more of his ability to connect with the living Force?  We know now he “connected” with Luke somehow during the Scotty Beam Me Up rock meditation sequence, and we saw him connect with and calm the rancor.  Does Grogu sense the mythosaur at all?  Will he be the one to ride the mighty beast?  We know there’s a Jedi out there who specializes in animal connection - I know I complain about excessive cameos a lot but I wouldn’t be as mad if it was Ezra Bridger, who I actually really like, come to teach Grogu some more Force stuff.  But this is all speculative and I digress.

Of course the big question is once again whether Grogu spoke.  Did he say “This is the Way”?  I think he intended to.  These new sounds are different than the stock baby sounds and even the classic patu.  I think Grogu is more purposefully trying to speak and imitate Basic!  This shows a huge leap in observational and cognitive skills.  We’ve already seen him put together that sounds can be communication and he can use them to get his needs met.  Now he’s at the next step, trying to speak so that he can communicate with people on their level!  It’s honestly a really huge step because a late learner has to want it on some level.  If they don’t care, they don’t get it.  (Had a student years ago, not a native English speaker and didn’t care about learning English or understanding us, until we put snowflake window clings up and she finally learned to speak just to ask us if she could have them, because she loved Elsa.  Before that she didn’t give a shit no matter what we tried to do to engage her.)

Side note but I am SO glad Grogu can close his new pod too.  It’s good he recognizes an unsafe situation and does it himself without being asked.  He really is paying attention to details so much and reacting quickly!  (Or maybe he’s just like, “there’s no way this lady will let me sit in her lap and have fun” and/or “there’s no way she’s as good a driver as dad” and just did it for that reason lol.)  I bet he wasn’t happy about having to do a whole trip away from Dad, ugh.  Think Bo spent that whole time putting Din on speaker because Grogu wouldn’t stop whining unless she did?  She’s still mostly an unknown to him, though she was pretty nice to him last episode, so he might’ve tried to test her.

For the end scene he’s pretty much just a quiet observer.  Writing-wise, he’s not really relevant to the scene, but I also think he’s picked up from Din that the Armorer is someone to be respectful of and listen to, and once again is imitating his primary caretaker.  Maybe next time we’ll get to see the other Mandos and Mando kids interacting with and playing with him?  Or Din and Paz get in a fight and Paz is very surprised when he’s thrown across the room lol?  If Grogu is officially a Mando now, I think it’d be fun to get to know his tribe members!

[loversandantiheroes]

So if I had to guess why exactly season 3 has turned into incoherent action figure playtimes, and this is pure speculation on my part, I'd probably wager that they did have a moderately sensible plan in place for shooting with Pedro on set between rounds of filming for TLOU, but covid delays on both sets fucked that schedule all to hell and they had to throw a bunch of new scripts together last minute so they could finish the shoot without a huge loss of money. I have no hard evidence for this, but I swear I remember chatter about Mando's production getting shut down due to covid outbreaks right as Pedro was flying back to LA on break from TLOU.

Still doesn't excuse the mess, but it might explain it.

[biblioflyer]

The writer's strike and franchise fatigue: two heads of the same coin?

Context: I'm shamelessly reposting a comment on a popular webforum where someone posed the question "What's next for Star Wars?" that prompted a lot of discussion about the whats and whys of what's working, what isn't, and of course everyone's favorite hobby: performing yet another autopsy on the Sequel Trilogy. I declined to go there in favor of speculating on the production side.

Ultimately I think the future of Star Wars requires Disney to do what a lot of franchise owners have been resistant to doing for various reasons: allow their creative teams a wide latitude to fully develop their ideas without unnecessarily harsh deadlines tied to quarterly earnings reports. Now that isn't to say that projects can fail on their own merits.

I don't know for a fact that Book of Boba Fett was timid, awkward, and boring because the showrunners couldn't make a cut that worked with the time and resources allotted, but we were mostly all impressed with Rodrigues' work on Mando so we were cautiously optimistic that a Cool Gangster Drama with Boba Fett could be a thing. So what the hell happened? Solve that mystery and I think you ensure that Star Wars has a future.

Looking at another popular "Star" franchise, we see a lot of similar problems with uneven writing and what seems to be differing opinions both inside and outside the franchise as to what exactly it means for something to carry that name. What sort of stories can you tell? How do you tell them? Can you have a point of view character or does it always have to be ensemble? Can you deconstruct the setting only to reconstruct and reaffirm it in the finale without losing the fans?

What explains "bad" writing? Coercion by the studio? Writer inexperience? Showrunner inexperience? A failure to find the right balance between modernizing the storytelling of a franchise without it becoming illegible as part of that franchise or to cling so hard to fan service that it is afraid to experiment and becomes a less interesting and murkier Xerox of itself?

Something that I found fascinating in the discourse around the writer's strike is that the format of streaming TV with its short seasons has turned everyone involved in these productions into gig workers. Unless you're one of a half dozen showrunners who have helmed widely acclaimed franchises, modern tv has become severely siloed on the production side: writers have limited opportunities to learn directing, editing, and show running. They also have limited opportunities to see how their work translates to the screen when it lands in the hands of directors, actors, set decorators, and FX artists.

If you add up all of the live action Star Trek shows produced to date, you end up with 8 seasons of streaming that equal roughly 4 seasons of broadcast era TV. Which means that under the old paradigm, a traditional TV show would only now just be airing its second "good" season. Which, shockingly enough, maps very neatly to attitudes about Strange New Worlds and Picard Season 3, and to a lesser extent Discovery season 4.*

*To the extent it will ever be allowed to make a second impression, which is another seeming "problem" of the streaming era that needs addressing since any "failed" first season is very likely to result in a sub-franchise that is going to get cauterized and forgotten about given the era of a permissive financial environment for funding additional seasons and permitting a production to recover and learn from their mistakes is pretty much dead and gone.

Were I Disney, given these realities, I would probably fund 2 or 3 "stables" of Star Wars writers and production teams. One for light hearted action comedy, one for "serious drama," and a third for something more esoteric. Maybe a fourth for big budget tentpole films. Keep them employed and give them opportunities to develop their tradecraft.

Don't be so quick to slash and burn a dud, use failure as permission to experiment. If nobody cares about Book of Boba Fett anyway, why not take some risks and see if some writers who are claiming they can turn in a second season that can "fix" the first season by turning the stories that go nowhere or are halfhearted into the first chapters in more meaningful stories? People already tend to avoid series that have only one season anyway and become ever more likely to do so the more time passes without more seasons so you're just throwing away your investment by not trying to salvage it.

This is incidentally why I'm not antagonistic towards the prospect of trying to rehabilitate the Sequel Trilogy. The Prequels are poorly made but were rich in potential. That potential was not left on the table, it was exploited until we can no longer separate the Prequels as they originally stood from all of the tie in media that added depth and nuance to the setting and storybeats.

So were I Disney and I have all of these props and set pieces in storage doing me absolutely no good, then of course it will eventually be time to try to make the Sequel Trilogy good. Maybe do some Director's Cuts and then build out the universe to make it feel less claustrophobic and less overtly a bigger, louder, dumber rehash of the Original Trilogy.

[nimata-beroya]

HOSTILITY BETWEEN THRAWN AND GIDEON??? (Yupp, anon is here again - so much in regard to stay away from tumblr). As a Thrawn- and Cross-stan my resolve postpone all the new SW stuff is waning... urgh. Apropos Thrawn: I once read an article how the Thrawn in SWR is more based on Heir to the Empire than Zahns later stuff which is continued in the new Thrawn Triology - so it would be amazing if they use this more... 😍 Thanks for posting this tidbit of information & stay safe!

Hey nonnie!! Happy to hear from you again!

LoL! Well, I said it before, and I'll say it again. You're a brave soul, even just by trying to stay away from Tumblr during this time 😆

Well, hostility could be a harsh word (even if it's the one I used), it's more like they don't have the same agendas and I don't think they're working together, not really. That's the thing I never was on board with once Thrawn's name was dropped in season 2 of the Mandalorian, and the speculation mill went wild. People said that Gideon could be part of the 7th Fleet and was working for Thrawn, and I was like seriously? I just couldn't see it happening. Thrawn and Gideon have different kind of leadership and ultimate goals. And neither is short of an ego, Gideon more than Thrawn. Thrawn doesn't really care about the Empire, just the military power it possesses and how he can use it.

If they're working together, it's only because they're using each other and will stab the other in the back the moment they have no use for them anymore. Well, Gideon would stab Thrawn in the back while Thrawn would do it watching Gideon in the eyes 😆 but that's besides the point.

And yes, having a threat that's not related to the Force is great. Andor proved that it's not absolutely necessary to have Jedi/Sith stuff around to be entertaining and great. Of course, the Mandoverse has already those elements in but not in abundance, which is a nice balance. The Force and those who wield it are there, but it's NOT about them. I mean, the galaxy is huge, with so many people and cultures to explore, so why stay with the same ALL THE TIME?

We know that The Empire/New Order won't be as real threat for another 20 years, and it feels silly to me to put them as the villain to defeat right now. It makes no sense to me. I know they're trying to fix the incomprehensible things that happened in the sequels with the shows, but again, why insist in something that didn't work well instead of using that it's great from the books.

The Grysks, on the other hand, are perfect for that role. Think about it. You have people who fought in the Clone Wars and/or against the Empire; 4 Jedi; a whole population of skilled warriors; and a guy who is a genius strategist and has been fighting those aliens for about 3 decades (and who also have spent the last 10 years with Ezra Bridger), like… I don't know, it's so obvious to me. I see Thrawn more like an antagonist than a full villain just for the sake of being evil, like Palpatine was. I'm sure there would be moments where everyone else pretty much says no to his plans, for example, because he goes too far. Because yes, Thrawn is willing to do the unthinkable to defeat the enemy or achieve his goals. The others won't cross that line, and there is the perfect conflict to explore in the crossover.

In fact, this headcanon of mine is based somewhat on the plot of a fic I have on the back burner, which in turn is based on this post. I don't think I'll write it anytime soon, but it's an idea that lives rent-free in my head, so you're not alone in that particular daydreaming 😅

Well, my answer got a little too long, so I better stop talking.

I hope you have a great day 💗

[awkward-but-nice]

With the rumors and how the season has been playing out, they seem to be holding a little more truth to them. And regarding his posts. You’re right we don’t know him, this is purely based on his enthusiasm he had hyping and promoting TLoU 3 or 4 times a week. Tagging co-stars…adding little gifs telling people to tune it. With Mando, there has been nothing compared to it…he use post weekly reminding people to watch.

*this is in no way trying to fight or agure with you…just a conversation*

yeah i mean, i guess... idk, i just never liked jumping to conclusion based on social media, because there can be all kinds of reasons for change in activity, and with how busy he's been recently, i wouldn't blame him for taking a break. either way, i also just hope that the rumors aren't true, because like, i want him to be happy and fullfilled with his work, and it would be such a shame if he isn't. so i'm not going to speculate on it, i don't think rumors like that are constructive, and it doesn't do anything other than cause more drama

[blueaphelion]

Now that I’m caught up on all the Star Wars visual canon (or whatever you’d call the movies and series), I’m starting to speculate more about the upcoming stuff, mainly The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka.

I wonder if Sabine will show up in Mando S3, since it looks like it’ll heavily be about Mandalore itself. She hasn’t been with Ahsoka during the times she shows up in Mando or TBOBF, which could mean any of multiple things:

1. Timeline-wise, we haven’t gotten to the Rebels epilogue yet, which means Sabine is still on Lothal, and Ahsoka has yet to stop by. Maybe Ahsoka is doing some footwork on her own, until she gets some actual leads on Thrawn and Ezra. Since there haven’t been any leads on them yet, Sabine decides to go get involved with whatever is going on with Mandalore when she catches wind of it. This is also why Ahsoka’s clothing/design in the epilogue is so different from what we’ve seen thus far in live action. She hasn’t yet gone through whatever it is she has to go through to become what fans have deemed “Ahsoka The White.”

2. We are past the Rebels epiologue, but for Mandalorian political reasons Sabine has split off from Ahsoka to help her people while Ahsoka continues the search for Thrawn and Ezra, and that’s why we haven’t seen her accompanying Ahsoka in Mando/TBOBF. Whatever happens in season 3 happens, and then we hop over to the Ahsoka series for the storyline that focuses on the search.

3. We are past the Rebels epilogue, and Sabine is with Ahsoka, but for whatever reason we don’t see her the times Ahsoka is on screen. She could be on the same planet doing other things for their cause, or she could be doing mundane things like sleeping on the ship or something (lol).

4. Something else that I’m not thinking of that is totally different than any of the scenarios I described. (Because let’s be real, we can speculate all we want but in the end, the official writers often come up with stuff we never would have dreamed of.)

It really all depends on the timeline. From what I’m observing, the live action series have all been released in chronological order, since Mando S1-2 came first and then The Book of Boba Fett follows after both in-universe and by release dates. In the future, Mando S3 is next, followed by Ahsoka (from what I’m seeing? Neither have had official, specific release dates confirmed yet.) If that’s the case, the events of Ahsoka will take place chronologically after the events of Mando S3.

Also, they seem to really like having characters cross over from one show to the next, especially if they’re a main character in one show and are just a side in another. Because of this, it seems highly likely that Sabine will be in Mando S3, even if she’s only there for like an episode or two as a background character with only a few lines. I mean, she is a Mandalorian, and we have no idea if anything happened to her family during The Purge, or if Krownest was hit at all, or what that situation is.

Also, as someone who is a former wielder of the Darksaber, it seems fitting that she would run into Din at some point. Lots of very interesting things could happen with that, since Din will have then met two former wielders whom are very different from each other. Sabine even still has Ezra’s lightsaber, which could mean some very interesting scenes and conversations. Just sayin’.

At this point, I’m going to drive myself insane thinking about all the “what if’s.” There are infinite possibilities. Do I hope we see Sabine in Mando S3? I love her and think there’s interesting potential for her character there, so yes. Will I be surprised if she isn’t? No. Again, the official writers know more about where the story is supposed to be going than I do. All I can do is sit back and enjoy whatever ride they’ve created for us.

[dornish-queen]

I'm rewatching the Mandalorian season 1, episode 3. It just occurred to me that Mando knows how to hold a baby correctly. Has that occurred to anyone else? Guys generally don't know how to hold an infant correctly unless they've had children. I'm starting to speculate now!!!

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

4AM thoughts while I decide if I should sleep on this chapter and then post, or post the chapter and then sleep (better sleep on it first and then do a final read before post):

was a reason ever given for the NR's bizarre attempt at Operation Paperclip? becuase I was watching this short podcast ep talking about sarin nerve gas and the host brought up the Cold War being the rationale for Operation Paperclip, and I didn't see any episode reactions speculating on whether or not there was a threat that necessitated rehabbing ex-Imps. I saw reactions talking about how the NR rehabbed Imps while also destroying their tech? huh? so the NR was doing Operation Paperclip out of the goodness of their hearts? I mean, I guess??? personally, I would've thrown them all into a floating prison because fuck 'em but I'm not the one who destroyed the NR in the Sequel Trilogy in a shitty attempt to recreate the conditions that set up ANH, what the fuck do I know?

HEAR ME OUT. my brain connected some dots. it's just me and my personal experiences with the Captain America movies, which were what really got me going in the MCU for a while but listen

I keep thinking about the speculations about what will happen in Season 3 and all the fics and arts and headcanons people spun for 2 years, and what is actually happening on Season 3, and it feels so much like what people were writing and drawing and headcanoning post-CATWS and what actually fucking happened (AoU, CACW, the Infinity Saga). I'm not just talking about the shipping, btw. I am very much talking about Din's journey throughout the first 2 seasons and the gravity of the end of Season 2..... and how it turned into a fucking joke. It was such a fucking letdown. I feel like a fucking clown for thinking Favloni (and Favreau especially) would actually do something meaningful with it.

I refuse to watch CACW out of principle and the Infinity Saga also out of principle. Wiki the summaries? Haven't done that. Everything I know I got from gifs and posts. I know straight up fuck all about the plots of these movies, but I know enough about how Steve Rogers' story ends and boy was that a disappointment. I get why his story ended, but how it ended sounds like a fucking spice dream. Of all the things, that's the ending they chose? lol k

to all the people claiming that 3rd episode was Mando's "Andor episode", no it fucking wasn't. it sounds like a fart of an attempt at a political/world-building episode with none of Andor's dedication to understanding what the fuck they're doing. maybe they had no choice but to set up the NR as corrupt, useless, incompetent, unable to outlast the Empire! maybe it's meant to mimic the more recent post-WWII/Cold War histories (I won't speculate here because I'm not well-versed in this department), but this coming on the heels of Andor... what the hell kind of sunrise was the Rebellion fightting for? are we really saying the Rebellion was fighting for a filler republic that Disney will burn away to make a better, cooler government run by..... who the fuck knows? nobody wants to do the hard job of building and rebuilding after a war. might as well just wait another 40 years for another Empire wannabe to blow up an entire star system and reboot the conflict for the next generation I guess????

no this season isn't going the way I expected because i wanted more out of Din. but honestly, it was the attempt to bring back IG-11 that turned me off the whole thing. fucking disgusting. let things die, favloni. they deserve to rest.