#they could have saved all of that for mando s3

[vvitchering]

Everyone talking about their opinions re: Din's possession of the darksaber and his development (or lack therefore) and I wanna talk to so

Ever since he got the darksaber at the end of s2 I've been firmly in on the side of "Din should be Mand'alor", which was a topic the fandom seemed pretty evenly split over. A lot of people got hung up on his personal distaste for leadership and while I understand and see that I STILL think he was the best possible choice to be the new leader. And imo the show spent a ton of time reinforcing that!

Din IS a great leader, whether he likes it or not. He's calm under pressure, he's a fantastic negotiator, he's well versed in the ways of many different ways of life and cultures, and he's honorable yet flexible, I could go on and on. I also think narratively, at least as far as we got in mando s1-2 and tbobf, he was being set up as someone who could be the bridge between the more traditional mandalorians he was raised with and the rest of the scattered clans.

Din's personal journey was so fascinating. At least until S3 dropped the ball, it seemed like we were heading into a really interesting exploration of Din as a symbol of growth and change. His growth from a relatively sheltered personal existence to one that was shaped by all of his new experiences in protecting and raising Grogu and meeting all kinds of new people was one that I thought foreshadowed his becoming a great leader for his people.

There was so much room at the end of S2 to explore Din's changing relationship with his faith and Creed. Even the developments within tbobf added some really potentially amazing facets to that with the possibility of redemption existing within an old Mandalorian legend.

His journey to Mandalore should have been the bulk of S3, continuing with the adventure-of-the-week format, but peppering in more Mandalorian culture as Din learns more about himself and begins teaching Grogu about his adoptive culture. I've never been in favor of Din giving up his devotion to his Creed, but I have been thinking a lot about him altering his relationship with it and I think a tight focus on his struggle with figuring out this new perspective in light of everything that has happened to him so far would have been really emotionally rewarding.

And to wrap that all up with his eventual arrival on Mandalore could have been beautiful and epic. Finding the planet ravaged but not inhospitable to life, wandering the ruins of the city, and then finding his way into the mines to the Living Waters. Finding not a dark dank cavern with a museum plaque, but a sanctuary protected and preserved from the bombing of the surface by the sacred metal in its very foundation.

He walks into this beautiful place at the end of his journey, redemption for his sins right there within reach, and he reflects on what it means to be Mandalorian. Not the definition he was always taught, but what is means to HIM. What it will mean for his son. What it will mean for his scattered people.

And he does go through with the ritual bathing. He recites the Creed just as he did as a child, he walks into the water, and he doesn't feel much different for it. There's no big a-ha moment, no bright light shining down on him, no mythosaurs dragging him down, it's all a little underwhelming after all he's been through.

But as he's floating there, much more dressed down than he ended up being in the show, letting his vision adjust to being without the helmet, he notices there's murals all along the walls. The history of his people all laid out in brilliant color. Stories he's never heard, victories and defeats, heroes and villains, war and peace. His people were once mighty. They could be again.

And maybe he's STILL on the fence about it all, even after this experience. And it's not until he's drying off and watching Grogu splash in the shallow water that he realizes it's not about whether he wants to do it or not. Just as it wasn't really a choice to save Grogu from his fate, it's not really a choice to save his people. To revive their culture and their planet and bring everyone home again.

JUST imagine his speech that he gives to his covert but in the context of bringing their children home to live and play under their own system's sun.

The thing about Din is, from the get-go, he's a protector. He's a guardian, he's a caretaker, he can't help but want to help. A season devoted to further exploring his relationship with being Mandalorian and how that translates to his eventual decision to lead his people would have been sooooo so so good. I am literally always thinking about this and all the lost potential. He wouldn't even have had to STAY Mand'alor for this to work. He could have accomplished what he set out to do and then quietly stepped down and left the politics to someone else (NOT Bo-Katan, I still don't see any reason why she should be allowed anywhere near the throne after how much of her own fault it was the planet was lost in the first place, especially since she's clearly not interested in confronting or even admitting her guilt)

Like. Literally every fan theory I've seen about what S3 could have been is 100x better than what we've gotten. I have to believe its intentional sabotage at this point because no other explanation makes sense. This could have been an absolutely AMAZING season if it had followed up on any of the plot points it spent two and a half seasons establishing.

):

anyway id love to hear your theories and what you would have done with this season given the chance! Tell me your thoughts!!!!

[short-wooloo]

We're now halfway through S3 of mando and it is very apparent that all of the episodes thus far could have been very easily rewritten to not include Grogu

Which is to say the reunion between him and Din absolutely could have and should have waited until the end of this season

And that really could have worked so well

As a start, those two episodes (specifically just the parts about Din, the Armorer, and Paz, the Luke, Grogu, and Ahsoka stuff should have been saved for later) from tbobf could have either been a single "between the seasons" special or the S3 mando premiere, which also would have allowed for tbobf to have a full season

And from there S3 of mando would alternate between what Din is doing and Grogu's training, exploring their separation and how they feel about it (also maybe with these Grogu chunks of episodes we could actually see Luke and Ahsoka's first meeting), although Din forms a real bond with Bo, and Grogu unlocking more of his memories of the Jedi Temple through his training with Luke (and maybe also through that we could have gotten prequel cameos)

Even chapter 20, the one that is the most Grogu centric, can still work in this separation framework, Din being around the mando children/foundlings really hammering in how much he misses Grogu, and the flashbacks to Order 66 and Master Beq can still fit in, it's just a part of the ongoing work Grogu's doing with Luke

Just... so many great opportunities wasted

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Mando, Bo-Katan and Other Things

Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3

The S3 premiere has left me with some thoughts so I'm gonna write them down here because I haven't done a Mando analysis in a while!

Going into this season, one of the key questions is whether or not Din will realise that the ability to identify as Mandalorian does not hinge entirely on whether or not you hide your face. Now I've seen different opinions on whether or not Din should ditch "The Way" ranging from him choosing to keep the helmet on all the time again to him just taking it off whenever.

Personally, I kind of fall somewhere in the middle. Taking the helmet off is something that is obviously very uncomfortable for Din and while I could definitely see him coming to terms with that rule not being something he has to stick to so rigidly, I don't think that that would mean he could automatically resort to taking it off without any issues. The creed was something that he was willing to put above his own life, so it's not going to be easy for him to move away from that. But then there's the matter of Grogu: the one thing that Din put above the creed itself. In my opinion, I think a good balance would be him taking the helmet off around Grogu and around Grogu only. I could maybe see it evolving past that, but for now, I feel like that would be a suitable solution for him.

But let's go into a little more detail about some things.

Din and Grogu

The boys are reunited! And with that comes some interesting avenues for how their relationship will evolve. Something I have said in the past is that throughout S1 and 2, while he is clearly showing a much more vulnerable and protective side around Grogu, it always felt as if Din was still trying to keep some semblance of a wall up between him and the child. We never see Din actually refer to the kid as his own in any way and I think part of that may be Din trying to stop himself from becoming too attached. Now obviously that didn't work, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was partly due to him knowing that he would have to let the kid go.

Din has lost his family, and so has Grogu, so they both know the pain of saying goodbye. Din also knows that he is going to have to give the kid to a Jedi at some point, so if he can try and put up a wall between them, then maybe that goodbye won't be so painful for either of them. At the end of the day, that didn't work because both of them are going to risk everything for one another, but I'm interested to see if this shifts slightly going into this season.

Grogu chose to go back to Din, meaning that Din now knows that that is where he wants to be. And I hope that this means we'll see Din becoming much more open around him. He doesn't have a mission to take him anywhere anymore, so he can just spend more time with him as father and son. We do already see a little bit of that in Chapter 17 when Din is showing Grogu the ship controls (my heart melted). He's teaching Grogu what it means to be a Mandalorian and what it's like the lead the life that Din does. Knowing that he doesn't have to give him up means that Din can open Grogu up more to his own life because this is (hopefully) how he'll be spending it from now on.

But let's tie this back to the helmet thing. Will Din choose to give up the ways of the creed if it means being able to show Grogu his face?

I think it's definitely possible, but it is going to create a lot of internal conflict for Din. Din wants to show Grogu his face, he wants to get rid of the physical barrier that is between them, but doing that would mean surrendering his connection to the creed. Yes, I mentioned earlier that Grogu is the one thing that Din has ever put above the creed itself, but this isn't just about a choice between Grogu and the Covert, it's a choice between Grogu and Din's own identity as a Mandalorian. Din took his helmet off once to save Grogu and once to say goodbye because he couldn't truly know that he would see him again. A split decision in a moment of high emotions is not the same as asking someone to give up their entire identity for the rest of their lives.

As the audience, we know that the helmet rule is kind of stupid. Of course Din can be a Mandalorian while taking his helmet off! But it isn't like that for him. He was raised to believe that the only "Way" was the Way of the Mandalore. He's been indoctrinated into this belief that showing your face means giving up your identity. And for someone like Din, who has spent the majority of his life sticking rigidly to those rules, letting them go is not going to be a simple decision. It means unlearning so much of what he's been told and going against everything he believes in. For him, this is still the only Way.

Which leads me onto my next point.

Bo-Katan

We only see Bo-Katan for a short time at the end of the episode but something she says here actually links to something The Armourer once said, which actually links to the helmet thing. Look at everything connecting!

Bo-Katan reveals that her people left once they knew that she didn't return with the Darksaber. Her entire group has collapsed because of what they believe (that only someone wielding the blade is a worthy leader). But let's think about this from the perspectives of Din and the Covert.

The Armourer once said that the ones who survived the Purge were the ones who followed the Way of the Mandalore, suggesting that they survived because they were the elite. They are the true Mandalorians and that is why they had survived for so long. And yes, they haven't been thriving the entire time, but look at them now. At the beginning of the episode they are in the process of recruiting a new foundling: their forces are growing! And then on the flip-side, you have Bo-Katan and her forces, aka the people that the Covert don't consider as true Mandalorians. And they're failing. Their group has collapsed. For someone like Din, who is trying to navigate his identity and what it means to be a Mandalorian, being told that the Way of the Mandalore is the only Way and then seeing the "other-side" falling apart probably reinforces his belief that he needs to be redeemed. He needs to follow the only way. And the audience know that Bo-Katan's forces dispersing has nothing to do with the helmet thing, but to Din it's evidence that they aren't true Mandalorians.

And I think it's interesting that the downfall of Bo-Katan and her people is due to their inability to let rigid beliefs go. Her people left because she didn't have the Darksaber; they didn't see her as a worthy leader. But that rule is almost as ridiculous to the audience as the idea that you can't be a true Mandalorian if you show your face. Yes, the person who wields the Darksaber has to be "worthy", but someone not having the blade does not make them a bad leader. They claim that without the saber, then they can't be a competent leader at which point, they're not following the leader, they are following the Darksaber itself (which then begs the question of why the person wielding it really matters).

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I'm very excited to see where this season is going to go and how Din's relationship to the creed, and to Grogu, shifts. He wants to show his face to the child, but that means turning back on the way of life he's been leading this whole time. And is that a good thing? Maybe evolution is the best thing, even if it means giving up on the rules that you so rigidly live by.

I think Alex at Star Wars Explained over on YouTube put this really well. He said that we're seeing some interesting parallels between those who are choosing to evolve and those who are sticking to the one thing that they know. Nevarro is prospering because the people chose to turn away from their life of crime. The pirates wanted things to be the way that they were and they lost the fight. Bo-Katan and her people are stuck following the way that they know and because of that, their group collapsed. The Covert are following the rules that they believe to be right and while they are under the impression that they are doing well, they had to be rescued from the creature by Din, the one who has evolved (or is in the process of trying to find his way). I think it's an interesting narrative and I would definitely check out the Star Wars Explained Chapter 17 review because the video explained this better than I did.

Din's growth is going to be an interesting thing to watch and I hope that Bo-Katan gets a deserving character arc as well. I'd be lying if I said I knew where this season is going but I believe that it'll be an interesting look into what it means to stick so rigidly to a particular way and how that can affect your life, for worse or for better.

Random Thoughts

Now that the longer, waffly, slightly more insightful bit is done, here are some random thoughts about the episode that don't really fit anywhere else but I feel like sharing.

I love that we get to see a new foundling being recruited at the beginning of the episode. At first I though that it might have been Din but even though it isn't, I think it is something to reflect on. We're watching a child make a commitment that will affect them for the rest of their lives. While it may seem like the right thing for them to do now, what happens if they get further down the line and realise that there is more to the world and being a Mandalorian than the Way of the Mandalore? I mean look at Din; he made the same decision that this child did and now he's stuck in an internal battle about his own identity.

Do you think that Grogu is aware of what exactly is going on with Din and the creed? Because he's over 50 years old, but he's also still a young child. I definitely think he's aware of the fact that Din is struggling and that the creed is why (look at the puppy eyes he gives The Armourer) but do you think he knows the full extent of what's going on? Does he feel guilty that Din is going through this struggle because he chose to associate with Grogu? Does he think that maybe it would've been easier for Din if he has stayed with Luke? What is the poor child thinking???

Din sitting all hunched up in the Anzellan's store is hilarious and it's a crime that they didn't show us him having to crawl in there.

Were the Mandalorians aware that there was, as the descriptive captions called it, a dinosaur turtle in the lake before they started the ceremony? You'd think they'd check to make sure that there weren't any man-eating monsters in there before they started. Has this happened before? Did they know that this had a chance of happening??? Feels like maybe they should've looked into that.

The droids holding Greef's cape are adorable and we need more of them.

Ngl, the way they explained where Cara Dune went is hilarious to me. She got explained away in one sentence. I love it.

[storytellingdreamer]

Post-Mando S3 thoughts

Mando S3 feels enjoyable but hollow - and I've figured out why.

On the whole, I enjoyed S3. There were so many good bits. I wrote lists of my favourite parts after watching each episode - I'll share them here later. I think, though, the reason I enjoyed it may come down to a) having relatively low expectations; and b) being determined to enjoy it, to search for the fun bits rather than focusing on the irritating ones. Focusing on the irritating bits just wears you out after a while, and I want to actually enjoy Star Wars stuff, not just whinge about it.

That being said, I've been thinking... and I think I've cracked the problem of why S3 feels hollow. Yes, inconsistent storytelling, creative decisions, etc etc. I'm talking about the result of all that. They tried to cram two seasons' worth of content into one, and half-arsed both seasonal arcs to do so.

More explanation and exploration of this idea below. I'm trying to keep this post and my overall Mando tumblr content relatively light atm, hence the read more. Overall it was a really fun season, and hey - we have two seasons' worth of ideas in it we can expand upon in fic now! Plus properly episodic Mando-and-Child season(s?) to look forward to!

Explanation of "two seasons in one" comment:

It started with their ill-conceived decision to put 1.5 episodes of The Mandalorian into TBOBF. If they'd made those parts of S3 proper, we could have spent the rest of S3 doing episodal storylines plus an overarching plot of Din's understanding of himself and the covert. Then saved the Mandalore plot for S4.

S3 would have then had room for stuff like the Lizzo and Jack Black episode, plus lots of Din-trospection, information/ explanations about The Way and Din's Covert, and some minor-character-building-to-major parts from people like Bo-Katan, Axe-Woves, and Paz Vizsla (and the Armourer, Greef Karga, that NR pilot guy, etc. etc. etc.). For the Mandos, only the Covert stays around longer than one episode though, this season.

The climactic arc of S3 would be the pirate battle for Nevarro - before the Armourer tells Din he still needs to go to the Living Waters if he wants to be redeemed... sending us to "The Mines of Mandalore" for S4E1.

If anyone wants to collaborate with me on writing those two seasons as fic, hmu.

[prolix-yuy]

Okay friends, I have some THOUGHTS on this last Mando episode, in particular the character we follow through most of it.

Spoilers for Mando S3 EP 3 below the cut.

There is a tiny moment in the episode that got my wheels spinning, and I haven't seen anyone talk about it yet so I'm going to.

In that opening scene where Dr. Pershing is speaking to the crowd, he tugs on his ear just before he begins talking about his mother dying because she didn't have access to cloning technology. A sad story, and completely sympathetic to the redemption arc he's advocating for himself.

But then, when he's being interviewed for what I assume is the thousandth time (giving some Blade Runner vibes here too), he tugs on his ear before he answers the question, "Have you experienced any feelings of anger or resentment towards the New Republic government or it's representatives?"

It's too big a movement to mean nothing. We take the time to watch both moments closely. So what does it mean?

I believe he lied about his mother, and that tells us so much more about Pershing than he wants us to know.

He says over and over again that he wants to help the New Republic, because he has a set of skills that could be of use to them. And some of that is to keep himself safe - if he's valuable, he's protected. But you can also see the itch of his new life getting to him. He's doing glorified data entry, living in a compound with other ex-Empire individuals, reduced down to a series of numbers instead of a name. A man with that much intelligence and drive is not going to be able to sit and live a mindless life.

So he lets himself think there could be a future where he can return to a semblance of the life he lived before, and he gets caught and punished for that desire.

But why the lying? What was the point of showing us that he lied about his mother?

Because it's not about altruism.

He didn't want to study cloning to save lives, he wanted to do it because it fulfilled something deeper in him - a drive to do something no one else had, to learn things that no one else could. He mentions that his mother was a doctor in the town where he grew up, and how he'd dreamed about having a lab as grand as the one they're standing in. Maybe she instilled this drive in him, maybe he saw a world that he would do anything to be in, but either way he has a line he says to people and one that is felt in his heart. He wants to do the work, no matter what that means.

And he does do that, for a time, when we see him experimenting on Grogu. He's in cahoots with the Empire still, as secret and sequestered as possible. He's enthusiastic, wanting to learn about Grogu and experiment on his unique physiology. He shows some care for him - I don't think he's necessarily unfeeling - but the research is always what comes first.

And people like that, with drive like that? I'm sure the Empire was lucky to have him. That's the kind of person you tell secrets to. That's the person you give all the lead in a leash and watch them bring back something spectacular. And if some of the theories I've seen floating around are true (ahem Palpatine), then it would be all the more important to silence him.

So a brief tick really gives us a look into Pershing's psyche, whether he wanted us to know or not, and now we see a bigger truth. He would have followed his research down the path as long as he could, and with whatever alliance would allow him to do so, and that's one of the reasons why they couldn't let him. Because he knew something born out of that tenacious drive, and it wouldn't have been long before he shared it with whoever let him have his lab and his experiments and all the time in the world.

Because it wasn't about altruism, and never would be for him.

[garden-bug]

ABOUT ME because hello there 🐞🦟🐛🪲🐜🪳🦋🪰🦗🐝

I am garden-bug and you can refer to me as such. I love bugs big and small but mostly big (unless I have a microscope handy which I literally don't guys I don't have a microscope). My favourite insects are praying mantids or ants and I have written too many essays that talk about ant symbolism.

I am relatively new to Tumblr.

I am a literature student and critical analysis is not my degree it is my lifestyle.

DNI categories and other info is in my bio.

I am multi fandom. I will list fandoms I engage with, my takes and my fics below:

Star Wars

OG Trilogy: Amazing incredible

Prequels: Flawed but culturally relevant

Sequels: 💀💀

The Mandalorian: Seasons 1 & 2 changed my life but none as much as season 3 which I was so appalled by that I spent the summer of 2023 rewriting

Ahsoka: 💀💀

Thrawn 1st 2 trilogies: Literally space Sherlock Holmes I love the Thrawn trilogies (haven't read the original yet I know shock horror but idt I'd cope)

Clone Wars: Very cool, Ahsoka my beloved, going to cause heartbreak and horror by saying that idc about the clones other than Rex so I have 'the clones' filtered out as a tag LMAOOO

Anything not mentioned I either haven't seen, abhorred, or forgot what happened in.

My other takes:

Star Wars is going down an unfortunate route where a lot of the previously established lore and messages are being undermined and misunderstood.

I do not like Dave Filoni's writing or his mando-verse or whatever he's calling it.

Ezra and Thrawn space adventures forever in our hearts 💔

Thrawn is an anti-villain. He’s not morally good but he isn’t evil either. Also people don't seem to be able to appreciate characters as storytelling mechanisms and instead take it personally when someone highlights a character's moral flaws.

Ships:

I wish I could ship Shin x Sabine but I've seen brick walls with more chemistry.

Thranto...

DINLUKE!!!

My Fics:

Mandalorian S3 (+ Ahsoka series rewrite):

Force-school crack fic:

One Piece

I am on WATER SEVEN! I love Franky with my whole life and Iceberg is a beautiful man. Started Dressrosa for Doflamingo and Law and Corazon and skipping through the eps because oh my god the pacing…

Ships

Zolu on the aroace spectrum my beloved 💞💞

Not been convinced by Zosan...

FROBIN!!

Lawlu

Oh my god dofuwani

Other takes:

I LOVE OPLA! It stole my heart. OPLA cast my beloved. So good. Amazing. Even my mum loved it.

Crocodad/Crocomom is real idc

The one piece is real

Death Note

I don't interact with this fandom much because my takes are shaped by my AU so I literally relate to nothing they say.

Ships:

Not a lawlight shipper. Light was mean and evil and L deserved better 11yr old me was distraught and my feelings have never changed.

L x my OC (that's better)

In my AU Near and Mello are raised as siblings so their ship kinda freaks me out.

Idc abt Matt I never even wrote him into my fic (rip).

Mello x Halle my beloved. I love when two bisexuals fall in love.

Other takes:

The manga is better.

The anime deserves a re-adaptation.

Near is my absolute favourite fictional character ever (genuinely do not know why huh) he is so annoying and I adore him.

Mello didn't die what L and my OC saved him.

My Fics:

I wrote this when I was 12 but it is the basis for my AU and deserves all the honorary mentions:

Jujutsu Kaisen

WHAT THE FUCK -

My fics:

Cosy one-shots basically:

Bungou Stray Dogs

Chaos shambled disarray that somehow I enjoy.

Pisses me off but it has its moments.

Ships:

Sokoku is my all time absolute favourite ship ever of all time.

My fics:

Dazai and Chuuya get hit by a tsunami oh no they have to face their tumultuous feelings for each other (spiral in all the mental-health ways) and accidentally adopt/rescue a small child:

Ninjago

JUMP UP KICK BACK WHIP AORUND AN D SHPIN -

I love Ninjago. Lloyd my beloved. Zane is me fr.

Ships:

Jaya

Zane/Pixal

Kai/Skylor

Llorumi is a NO Harumi is an irredeemable monster and you cannot convince me otherwise. My sweet Lloyd deserves better.

I don't ship any of the ninja with each other ESPECIALLY not with Lloyd the age thing is a mess.

Images used in the ninjago memes are from Pinterest and saved to this board under the ‘I’m gonna make memes’ section: https://pin.it/4rN3gIj

[licorishh]

Apparently this is an unpopular opinion but I really enjoyed the Mando s3 finale (spoilers under the cut).

The one thing that annoyed me (at first) was how Gideon just suddenly randomly destroyed the frickin Darksaber. Like. Bro. Bo's literally been after this thing for twenty frickin years, it's been the plot point of the entire season, she FINALLY has it and you're really gonna just squash it. But it occurred to me that that could actually have a symbolic purpose; the Mandalorians united not because Bo had the Darksaber, but because they had a common goal: to retake Mandalore. Now that they've done that, I think they've realized that they can continue to be a united people under her leadership because she is, objectively, the best leader they could have, and not because of some antique sword. I think it symbolizes the start of a new era for Mandalorians, one not bound by tradition, but by their desire to be a united people again. And honestly, that's actually some beautiful story-telling. Yes, the Darksaber has immense importance to the people of Mandalore, but now that they've moved past their hatred for each other in an effort to rebuild their home, a sword that was used solely to prevent the people from killing each other out of anger is no longer necessary, and frankly would only be holding them back. You could compare it to the old samurai of Japan way back in ye olden days (obviously they weren't having internal feuding but they were trapped in their old ways by tradition much like the Mandalorians).

I was very pleased that Pedro's acting went back to being great, and that the episode was more Mando + Baby Yoda-centric, and I'm very happy that we're going back to it being about just them next season. With everything they talked about in the finale, I feel like it gave the seemingly odd decisions they made in the rest of the season context and closure, and it honestly massively improved my opinion of the season. Apparently that's a vastly unpopular opinion, but I'm used to being in the minority when it comes to preferences in Star Wars.

A couple of the popular negative opinions people have had that I did not agree with were that the way Bo got the Darksaber back made no sense, and that because she got it back Mando had zero reason to stick around with Bo. They clearly explained why it made sense for her to get the Darksaber in episode 6, and while it was on a technicality, what other way would she have gotten it? It didn't make any sense for Mando to keep it, and Bo really needed it, and they never would have fought each other for it. If they had, it would have been very unbelievable and very out-of-character for both of them. Bo may have been ambitious and desperate to get it back, but she's not heartless and Mando is her friend. She wouldn't fight the guy to the death just for the sword. And in reality, it makes perfect sense that she got the saber from the creature who got it from Din. It all checks out. Other than that, yeah, there might be no "literary reason" for Mando to have stayed with her, but as he himself explained, she saved his neck TWICE and is his friend, so he stayed out of loyalty. Helping her simply because he wants to do what he can makes perfect sense. Sometimes, believe it or not, people can do things out of the goodness of their heart simply because they want to help. That and the fact that he wanted Mandalore to be retaken just as much as she did made it make perfect sense.

At the end of the day, Star Wars fans are some of the pickiest people on Earth and all seem incapable of just enjoying a show because it's fun. It's Star Wars. It's meant to be a good time with fun characters and cool fight scenes; it doesn't need to be a timeless cinematic masterpiece with writing so captivating it's used as a cornerstone of literature for hundreds of years to come.

All in all, after watching the finale, I've changed my mind and decided that I did really enjoy this season. Episode 6 was a train wreck, yes, but the rest of the season was fun and I think necessary so that Mandalore and its people could finally get the closure and happy ending they desperately, DESPERATELY needed.

And, of course, I nearly frickin cried when Mando said he wanted to formally adopt Baby Yoda. My boys are legally a family now and I may cry.

Great season, better than everyone said it was, and y'all gotta take your expectations down a notch. It had a few bumps, but explained and worked through them a HECK of a lot better than a lot of things have. I enjoyed it, and I can like what I wanna like.

I may have forgotten something here but this is all I got for now lol

Peace out.

[teashadephoenix]

i have some disorganised complainy thoughts about shared universes

i LOVE. love love love shared universes. i love that we live in a world where sometimes blorbo from show 1 makes a cameo on show 2.

i remember yearning for it 20 years ago, when the first spiderman came out in 2002. i remember thinking then that it would be so fucking cool if they could do team-up films.

and i remember going absolutely feral in the cinema in 2012 when the avengers assembled for the first time.

HOWEVER

there has been an inherent problem from day one with these films, and indeed the entire concept. and its that in order for each installment to have any kind of emotional anchor, they have to have stuff for all the characters to do. and instead of putting major character developments on the backburner for the team-up, they give them important shit to do.

which is why you can’t just go from iron man 2 to iron man 3. tony has ptsd from what happened to him in avengers, and if you missed that film, you miss out.

you can’t go from guardians of the galaxy vol. 2 directly to the next one, bc a LOT of shit happened to those guys in infinity war and endgame. you miss out.

you cannot go directly from s2 of daredevil to s3 without watching defenders. it absolutely does NOT make sense, and you miss out.

and now, you cannot go from the end of s2 of mandalorian directly to s3. you gotta watch book of boba fett or you. miss. out.

i feel like a good writer could give the characters something to do that didnt have anything to do with their main character/plot focus, and save all the important emotional bits for their own show.

on the other hand, these stories are being produced by people who assume they have their audience. the audience is absolutely gonna watch whatever they make in order to get the whole story.

and i know that’s what they think. Russell T Davies, the showrunner of doctor who, talked about it in a commentary once, about how he was worried if people would turn off during the series 3 ep Utopia bc it featured the return of Captain Jack Harkness, who had been missing since series 1, and gone on to be in his own show. And he talked about how difficult it was to create a sense of completion for Torchwood since none of the interesting questions about Jack were going to get answered in that show, because they were Doctor Who questions. (re: Jack’s immortality and how it came to pass)

But they conclude that the audience will hang in there for both shows because they want the story.

i don’t know what point i have here, apart from that it’s annoying. bc theyre mostly right. i did go watch tbobf to get that chunk of mando’s story.

i just skipped ahead to his bits. bc idgaf.

[bluehawkdustorm]

The mistake Star Wars shows keep making is that they treat the backstory as though it were the Act 1, skip straight to Act 2, and do things in Act 3 that should have been done in Act 1.

Full spoilers for Ahsoka Season 1, but this is also a criticism of The Book of Boba Fett and of The Mandalorian (S3 in particular).

The biggest, stupidest mistake I've ever seen in TV storytelling was the Mando episode in The Book of Boba Fett.

This mistake was severalfold. Din Djarin had his own show, with its own story, its own themes, its own conflicts, and its own self-contained arc. That arc had a huge culmination at the end of The Mandalorian S2, where the journey that started in S1E1 with Din meeting Grogu (aka 'The Child' aka Baby Yoda), turned throughout S1 with Din growing attached and fighting for that attachment, turned again in S2 with Din learning more about Grogu, and culminated in him "letting go" in the way he'd originally set out to do. The stage was set for another similar conflict in S3, where Din and Grogu both would spend time mourning that loss, make some hard decisions, and (probably) reunite.

Instead of exploring this conflict, the decision was reversed entirely in an episode of The Book of Boba Fett. Not even Din's own show; an act of blatant fanservice whose purpose was to include Grogu in Boba Fett's team-up, and then ensure that (excluding Chapter One) there wouldn't be a single episode of The Mandalorian that didn't have ten shots of the baby.

Temeura Morrisson all but complained himself that Mando got a full episode of his show, and I agree wholeheartedly with the complaint (whose goddamn show is this anyway), but it also damaged the narrative of The Mandalorian itself. The emotional stakes created by S2's ending are wiped clean in the *backstory* for S3, leaving S3 little to do in its own Act 1 ... except that now, even where there are opportunities to give Din new emotional stakes to explore, the character's arc seems to recede away from them like oil from water. The result is that Din's regrowing relationship with the Children of the Watch feels un-earned, Grogu's formal induction feels like a time-filler instead of the pay-off it should have been, and Bo-Katan's rise to Main Character feels like it's built on paddle-pop sticks. All of these moments could have been amazing, but the abrupt "reset" undermines them all.

Why does this matter for Ahsoka? Because it makes exactly the same mistake.

If it happened on a different show, it might as well have happened off-screen as far as your viewers are concerned, and you have to treat it as such.

It's okay to have stuff happen off-screen and still be part of your story, but the stuff that happened on-screen and the stuff that happened off-screen have to be handled very, very differently.

Ahsoka draws from a lot of story material that happened in Clone Wars, and in Rebels, then it ALSO draws from other stuff that actually happened off-screen (Ahsoka & Sabine's training montage, anyone?). The casual viewer doesn't know or care who Sabine or Ezra are, assuming they even know who Ahsoka is, let alone the Mortis Gods. And that's just fine and dandy, until the emotional stakes of your story start putting all their weight on it.

Am I saying these elements shouldn't be in the story? No, I am absolutely not saying that. But I am saying that these emotional stakes needed to be REBUILT. That takes time.

Basically: the same way the stakes of the TBoBF episode about Din should have instead been the basis of S3 ... the Act 1 stakes of Ahsoka S1 should have, instead, been built over a full season.

I don't know exactly what it would entail, but the Thrawn stuff should have been simmering in the background while Ahsoka and Sabine reconnect, face early training challenges through a few novel situations, progress the Thrawn story a little bit with a midway setup episode (finding/saving the map, but not yet knowing what to do with it), and then culminate the season with a short arc that involves Morai somehow. At the end, after a lot of hard work, Sabine has confirmed some basic force powers and (like Ezra) blended that knowledge with her existing skills; the lowest-powered force user, but backed up with a bunch of other skills that allow her to go toe-to-toe with force users, and the hard work and slow progress throughout the season to make that "small" amount of progress feel earned as fuck, proof that talent can be matched and exceeded with consistent work.

At the end of this hypothetical S1, the Morai arc is (comparatively) small and low-stakes, introducing the Mortis Gods lore (without retreading too much ground), and not leaning too heavily on it; whatever it is feels like it's wrapped up for now (but of course those of us who Know know that the lore will be important again later).

Then, in Season 2, we launch full-force into the Thrawn storyline we just got. The hypothetical S2 ends the same way the real-life S1 did, with Thrawn and Ezra returned, Baylan climbing an ancient statue of The Father, etc., but this time we've had a lot more time to develop (and get invested in) the dynamic between live-action Ahsoka and live-action Sabine. And the Mortis Gods moment doesn't only connect to "off-screen" elements [read: elements from a different show in a different medium], but to that one arc from S1 that acted as introduction and foreshadowing.

[poedamerum]

Star Wars as a whole is an adventure series, not an action series, n there's actually a distinction between the two

Adventure is very light in tone n maturity, it's like, the protag is sent on a quest to find a MacGuffin n them n their crew get into all sorts of situations of which they have to use their wit n cleverness to get out of, then eventually reach the MacGuffin n save the day, or realize the quest was their friendship, or whatever other reason

Action can be light in tone n maturity, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. Action can, of course, also be about a protag going on a quest to find a MacGuffin, n do all that the adventure team did. The difference would be what the audience is left with at the end

How did the movie make the audience feel thru-out the story is also important. In an adventure film, the audience is in for a thrill, sure, but they know that at the end, the hero will prevail, n the bad will not. In an action movie, u're not actually sure even if the hero will make it to the end or not. Will they prevail over bad? Maybe, maybe not

It's like Spider-Man vs The Punisher

That's the thing about Andor. It's not an adventure show, it's an action show, n the difference is painfully clear when u compare it to Mando or Kenobi. There's.......no sense of whimsy. No heroics, no deus ex machinas, no callbacks to other movies too. It's a very serious n mature take on Star Wars that has not been seen before, which has honestly been intoxicating for me. I'm very excited for the new season of The Mandalorian, but now I don't think I'll be too happy w it, since I know that that won't deliver on what Andor has been metting out. Mando s3 will be good, yeah, bcus I love the charas n their stories, but it won't be.......as tense as it could be, hilariously enough

Even knowing where Cassian's story ends, it's still a very thrilling show bcus u never know what's gonna happen next, bcus of its action genre

[robotsandramblings]

Bad Batch S2 new release date?

i am completely incapable of just waiting for official news lmao, i can’t NOT try to figure out when S2 will release.. i blame having Bad Batch withdrawals (like i’m not rewatching BB episodes a hundred times over lmao)

~

so here’s the thing: Disney uuuuusually tries to avoid airing two shows from the same franchise on the same weekday. But unless Disney is going to start airing Star Wars things on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays, they are going to have an overlap scenario:

either they have “Star Wars Wednesdays” with both Andor and Bad Batch S2 on Wednesdays,

OR they move BB back to Fridays and have to compete with The Rings of Power (new Lord of the Rings series on Amazon Prime) also airing on Fridays from Sept 2nd - Oct 21st.

#1 seems the most favourable to them, but then why bother removing all the Sept 28th promo material?? why not just keep BB S2 at Sept 28th???

so here’s my guess: one month delay. either Wed Oct 26th or Fri Oct 28th. yes i am crying @ this. but it would literally solve all their overlapping issues.

both The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon will be done airing their first seasons by then (Oct 21 and 23 respectively)

Andor will only have 4-5 episodes left anyways, so either a same-day or same-week overlap should be negligible

depends on the content/hype level of Andor’s finale vs BB’s premiere episodes, i guess.

there are only 14 weeks (aka 14 episode slots) between Oct 28th and February 2023...which is when Mandalorian Season 3 is set to release-- early Feb, late Feb, no one knows yet. but this means BB S2 pretty much needs to start near the end of October to avoid overlapping Mando S3.

Disney+ Day is Sept 8th, D23 Expo is Sept 9-11th -- could be saving Trailer #2 for BB S2 for either; more sensible with an Oct release vs Sept release

To me, the only real reason to delay BB S2, is if they really want that “open” Friday slot after Rings of Power is done. Otherwise, just leave it where it is and have ‘Star Wars Wednesdays’!!

[meandmyechoes]

Weekly Star Wars (Mando S3 Week 5, TBB S2 finale)

\ok, so, about the new episodes. I'm... decently surprised by them? I mean they're not GREAT, but they are not BAD either. An improvement to last week I guess? I'm not excited about them, but they do pulled at a few strings? I'm finding this whole experience strange, as if 'watching Star Wars weekly' has been habitualized and I'm just combating FOMO.

but back on the episodes. I watched Mando first this week because I want TBB to be really good. I was glad it was at ‘proper’ length ~40 minutes, but grew impatient as the episode went because you just know Mando & co. will come and save the day. It’s also funny all that fiasco just to shove R5 Din’s way was because of this plot point.

I still don’t see the point writing New Republic’s bureaucracy - but with R5′s case, maybe the show would eventually pay off. I don’t share the delusion of grandeur that Mando would ‘erase’ the sequels - I’d rather they stay away from it - but so far they represented a weak and restricted government that could easily overlook the birth of the First Order. That’s the tonal dissonace. It’s odd for a Saturday morning cartoon to interject with this backbone of the sequel trilogy - that should’ve been in the sequel films itself and long novels.

But I can still see they are trying to build up towards the Ahsoka show/Thrawn reveal/crossover event even if I dislike it. I really don’t like it because it doesn’t feel like The Mandalorian anymore. It feels just like The Weekly Star Wars Show and it took what’s little charm left of the Mandoverse away from me.

It wasn’t like I expected anything grand or catering in S3. Either they converge on Din and Grogu as characters, or they diverge to cover the Mandalorian identity and civil wars. Instead they cast such a wide net, it seems I only got very little of what was shown in the trailer.

Let’s go in on the episode. I think the Pirates are dumb and ugly. Nevarro set and costume is fine. New Republic captain scenes can all be cut if only to deliver the last scene and message that Giddeon escaped. Karga could’ve sent a direct message to Mando. I like Elia Kane better seeing how good she is at sabotaging. i still think it’s out of self-interest the Armourer acts. I really wanted them to retake Mandalore but now it seems if Bo-Katan and find the rest of her crew, a civil war would break out between the two factions again, if only temporarily to serve the finale. But then the whole Mandalore plot could then be condensed to just 4 episodes then! See? That’s why you don’t steal episodes from affliated shows!

I didn’t recgonize Zeb at all. I saw a CG-saturated creature and heard a very cartoon voice. The whole thing doesn’t look real at all. I thought it was odd that there’s a random Lasat coz I thought they were nearly extinct but I just rule it to Favloni ignoring established canon anyway. Either way it was that unrecgonizable Zeb never crossed my mind. tbh it’s not that bad. Though in hindsight, prospecting it as a preview to the Ahsoka show, I really don’t like it for the meaning CG > practical, even if it’s true here... a billionsssss company chose the least cost method...

---------TBB S2 finale-----------

Coming out of Mandalorian, I was equally impatient (or maybe it’s that dose of caffiene at tea). An episode named ‘The Summit’ that I expected to be about a conference and they actually show imperial old men talking and--

I guess I wanted too bad for the Batch to reunite and become a happy family again. All in all it’s not a bad episode - maybe not even a bad finale. I have to applaud their guts to outright state Rex (by extension other legacy characters) won’t show up in the beginning.

I didn’t see most of it coming, but I also didn’t trust what most of it says...? First of all I don’t believe that Tech is dead. Not that he isn’t dead, just that the writers are waiting out on fans’ reaction to finalize his fate. *sigh* This is definitely residual sequel. Tech was getting focus eps, a love interest, complete with a farewell so totally flags. I’d be kind of sad if he doesn’t come back... but one could also easily see now that Tech, Omega and Crosshair are all confined to the same place, they could easily get out themselves....?

Another quasi-disappointment is Omega’s importance is still not quite explained. If not, it’s even less clear now if her sex is not what made her unique. I also don’t see how she is the key to Palpatine’s eternal life quest unless normal growth rate is a feature and not the norm? Or was it about consciousness transfer?? Or it just circles back to pre-preimere that she is force-sensitive?? which seem to never be reinforced this season? IDK

Even thought TBB S2 made better use of their Quest epsiodes to sharpen characters and experimented with some upheaval within the teams, as well as limiting legacy characters to appropriateness, its pace still move under the conviction of a Season 3. It’s almost like they are dragging out the story so there’s a show to put on every week without an end point in sight - or even too much liberty to worldbuild early empire with it - because it’s animated.

When it comes around I guess I will still watch S3? but not with much more enthusiaism this time than to just watch what Lucasfilm Animation is up to. It’s kind of tiring to pick it apart every week if i just don’t like it that much. I would hate it if this mediocrity is the new face of Star Wars animation, but what business is that of mine. Season 3 would probably start with an episode at most of grieving and they’re all gonna reunite, whatever.

[gaymakima]

hi! I was wondering if u could tell me your opinion on book of boba fett? the only mention I ever see of it on tumblr is that it's bad but nobody ever says why. at least, I haven't seen any explanation or discussion abt it. would love some insight. feel free to ignore this also, no pressure. thanks for your time!

Hi there!

Admittedly, I haven't seen BOBF - I'm still working my way through TCW, which means it'll be a bit before I get to BOBF content. However, I am opposed to a post-ROTJ Boba Fett show in general, so I'll try to explain why, and what I've seen from friends, discord chats and tumblr, that make me apprehensive to watch it. I will watch it anyways! And my opinion on the show will probably change when I watch it - if you like it yourself, that's great! I have no doubt that it's a fun show, but there's elements of it that I don't like.

Namely, the idea that BOBF is "The Mandolorian season 2.5", which is a problem I have with Star Wars in general; the idea that it's becoming MCU 2. Not everything needs to be connected, and to have 2 episodes of you 7 episode show not include your titular character at all, besides a cameo? It's not what fans want, and it's not what they expect going in. A Boba Fett show should be about Boba Fett, cause, y'know, it's kind of in the title. Instead, they used it to promote Mando s3, rather than just. Make their own show.

Also - and this is definitely a personal gripe of mine - having the show take place after ROTJ is kind of a wasted opportunity. I get that Boba survives in Legends and Canon, and I don't mind that, but think of what we could've had if the show took place around the same time as the OT. Hearing allusions to those movies, but never directly interacting with the characters, save for key moments post ESB. Casting new actors to play old characters rather than using CGI deepfake. Explore the world of Star Wars during the OT, the stuff we don't really see. We already know what post-ROTJ Star Wars galaxy is like, thanks to Mandolorian. We don't really know what it was like during that time period.

There's also elements of the show that I've seen people say "don't feel like Star Wars" and I do think that's kind of a silly argument cause the Star Wars universe is massive and really, anything could happen. And that mentality can cause the writers and creators to just recycle old plots and shit bc they're afraid to take risks. Sometimes risks don't turn out well but that's okay. Trying something different is what matters.

Hope that answers your questions, anon! I'll probably have more opinions™ on it when I get around to watching it for real, but for now I'm still on s1 on TCW and simping for Obi-wan my beloved,

[dezmondmyles]

hi i just finished watching booba fettaccini from sore wores and i have no one to yell at this about so hey lmao check this shit out uh spoilers ahead

okay so overall, i thought it was just... kinda boring lmao.

cause like ok we have our A story (boba becoming the daimyo of jabba’s old territory) and our B story (boba being taken in by a tribe of tuskens). and honestly? B story way better imo because im a sucker for a good found family story. i eat that shit up, and it was just more engaging esp as someone who grew up on the movies, and last seeing boba as a little kid, and falling into the snarlac pit before that.

like idgaf what he’s doing now really lmao the whole “i will show the people of mos espa that im their friend smilers” was just kinda, meh. like i wanna see the legendary boba fett doing cool bounty hunter shit but i get it ya know, he explains why he’s doing what he’s doing, and that’s all well and good. and i wouldnt have minded if it just wasnt so goddamn slow.

like nothing HAPPENS during the A story. all the interesting shit is in the B story. it’s not until ep4 that it’s like alright! time for a real story now!!!!

buuuut first, we gotta dedicate not one, but two whole episode to din djarin and grogu. like dont get me wrong, i fucking love the mandolorian, like so sos soso much. but that’s their show. this isn’t their show. it’s boba fett’s. why the fuck do they have so much prominence?? why wasnt this saved for mando s3?? why did boba fett suddenly stop being the main character OF HIS OWN SERIES?

cause din and grogu just stole the show, considering it very suddenly became about them. and then it’s like “well fuck what boba’s doing, i want more of this!!” and yeah i know we are getting more of it but im just... jon, dave, wyd guys.

and then we LOSE cobb vanth for cad bane. and then cad bane dies. it’s like okay!! that’s cool and all!! but WHAT was the point? i know that cad bane is boba’s old mentor but like, idk, i feel like they could have set it up way better than this? i feel like there should have been more impact to his appearance and his final stand off with boba? like these two have such a history but you don’t feel anything really between them watching it. so ultimately, i feel like it was a waste of a character and just another nod to the clone wars series.

ashoka had more impact in this series, and she only appeared for like 10 minutes!!! i know she’s also getting her own show, so it’s a good way to keep interest in the character but like... idk i wasnt happy with bane, and im very sad vanth is “dead”

(i mean i dont think he’s really dead they dont outright say he died just that he was shot down, and this is star wars, does anyone ever really actually die unless you see an explicit close up on their bodies? which vanth didnt get soooooo lmao)

just... yeah man idk. i get why they couldnt do a clone wars or empire era boba fett story because well, no offense, but temuera morrison is Old now and their de-aging tech is not... perfect quite yet, not on the same level that marvel is. and lbr the de-aged luke is kinda bad still and his voice is very obviously a computer we’re not gonna talk about luke here ok but I GET WHY.

and i realize i could be in a small minority of people who didnt totally enjoy the show. i didnt hate it, and there were plenty of parts and characters that i liked. it just felt idk, like it was being held back and kinda awkwardly squeezed in between mando seasons. i feel bad for it honestly, cause i feel like it did have so much potential but dave and jon just kinda... dropped the ball on it. idk. hopefully obi-wan and ashoka won’t have that same problem, but we’ll seeeeee.

anyway thats all i got no i wont take criticisms or debates about it okay bye <3

[emmybreese]

this basically encapsulates how i feel about the din & grogu arc right now

[peridotbelle]

Book of Boba Fett Episode 6 Spoilers!!!

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This was great. I loved the episode. I didn't think we would get to see the visit to Grogu until a flashback in S3, so YES. And Ahsoka!!! *Kermit flail* That was totally unexpected, and seeing her and Luke together, "You're just like your father"... Ijustcan'tevendreamscometruehappysobbing. 😭🥰

But! In the matter of Grogu and Mando... I still don't particularly care for the way the new canon presents Luke's Jedi philosophy. I feel like he should be more willing to deviate from the Old Ways, to look at the flaws of the Order and try and find a better way forward. (Given TLJ, I guess the fact that he doesn't could be the whole point, but anyway...)

On the one hand, given his lack of formal training, all he really has is this great mythologized view of what the Jedi were based on legends and what artifacts/texts he was able to gather, so it's understandable that he would try to cling to that, that he would feel very deeply the responsibility to keep those traditions alive as he tries to rebuild the Jedi Order singlehandedly. Cool, I get that.

But at the same time, I feel like that same lack of knowledge would also empower him with a little more flexibility because there's no one around anymore to tell him how it was done (except Ahsoka, more on that below...) I don't think any Force ghosts he might be able to commune with would be saying "yes, make all the same mistakes we did!"... though of course he does end up doing just that, and we see his bitter disillusionment in TLJ, the lesson learned too late. Something more like the old EU, where he made the Order his own, where he had a wife and family, for crying out loud!

And it's that subject of attachment, as discussed in this episode, that really seems off to me for Luke. I really want a scene between Luke and Ahsoka where they're discussing this/Grogu, where Ahsoka is giving him the same warning she did Mando in S2, about how attachments can lead even the best Jedi down the dark path, and I want Luke to look at her and say, with all that beautiful RotJ earnest belief, "Maybe. But they can also bring them back. They can save us."

Because THAT'S what he should be believing at this point, right? He's seen his faith in his father justified, seen Anakin's love for his son restore him to himself. Even as Luke learns (hopefully) the full story of Anakin's fall (from either Anakin and Obi-Wan's Force ghosts or Ahsoka or all three (Wow, wouldn't that be AMAZING TO SEE?!! gimmegimme)) that knowledge should still be tempered by his own experience. (And there's actually some current canon justification for this in Bloodlines where Leia thinks about how Luke has this peace about Vader that she never can b/c he saw him redeemed/saw him become Anakin again.)

Luke should say "From what you've told me, it was my father's fear that turned him to the dark side, his fear of loss, of losing love... not the love itself. How can we say all attachment is wrong when I saw it save the entire galaxy?"

And then he and Ahsoka can have this whole debate that ends in her getting some healing, some peace about it. (I JUST NEED HER TO KNOW THAT ANAKIN WAS OK IN THE END, OK?!😭 AND I ALSO NEED LUKE TO KNOW WHO HIS FATHER REALLY WAS!!! THESE TWO (AND LEIA) REALLY NEED TO TALK!) Bc I understand Ahsoka's ptsd regarding Anakin, and it makes sense why she thinks the way she does about this specific topic. (Although, as someone who walked away from the Order bc of its flaws, I would also think Ahsoka would be the first person who would warn Luke away from following too closely in their footsteps.) But I don't think Luke should agree with her on this, so all this to say that I don't like the fact that he makes Grogu choose between Mando and the Jedi at the end of this episode. >:/