Star Wars: The Mandalorian

For all my "Jesus, I hope we don't get bogged down in a whole load of boring Jedi bullshit" stance, the second I heard the lightsaber power up, I got a tingle along my arms. A function of age, probably.

An excellent episode. Obviously the name is a letdown, but oh man, when Rosario Dawson talked about things going dark for him when he was (presumably) being held and experimented on, and the revelation that his powers are shaky because he deliberately hides them to keep himself safe, well, that just broke my heart for the little chap. The cynical bit in my head is going "typical bloody Disney", while I'm trying not to cry at the fucking Mandalorian, of all things.

It also shows just how much he wanted those blue macarons.

Grogu the youngling who lived

Typical Disney is right but in all the best (classic) ways. OTM post. This one hit so many things for me that are the best parts of the essence of SW past and current. And my heart broke for the little guy, too.

Stylistically this ep was a peak.

Easy enough to speculate that the Jedi that might respond to Grogu (how can this be a bad name?!) will be de-aged Luke although I guess it could also be Palps as Snoke or however that stupid idea might almost work

I was hoping his name was Minch

xp probably not

going to be really sad if the coda ending text of The Mandalorian is “Grogu joined the new jedi academy at was later slaughtered by Kylo Ren several decades following our tale”

I don't get the emotional connection with Baby Google that others are having here but I appreciate the construction, the design, the acting, the tone and the state of constant crescendo. The initial novelty of being back in the star wars universe sans cynicism is waning under the weight of this season's consistent fanservice and integration of first trilogy history but they're mostly keeping it light enough that I don't feel the need to check a wiki. Considering the demographic they're trying to reach, that feels like a triumph.

xp His absence in the new movies (which are otherwise “all hands on deck” in terms of surviving characters) does sort of raise the question.

I think the whole series makes the case that there are just other stories/other people out there doing their thing on their own terms. If anything, the encounter with Ashoka -- pretty much on that path as well -- underscores it. Combine that with the fact that Grogu isn't going to be that much older comparatively by the time of the sequel trilogy and I'm good with it (because he's already 50 years old and still a baby).

That’s true, though the last movie gave a hint as to even Ashoka’s fate.

I thought this series would very much be an “other stories” kind of thing, but it’s being pulled by the Filoni centrifuge back into the core narrative again!

A pal (who’s more into this stuff than me) theorized that the next Jedi reveal may be Ezra Bridger

Would love an Ezra and Baby Groguda series with Rebels folks popping in

As somebody who has no knowledge of the Star Wars universe outside the main movies, I just want to attest that this series totally works if you treat all of what's apparently fanservice as "here's a new cool character."

^ agree. that’s where I’m at

also btw Elspeth Morgan was played by Diana Lee Inosanto - a great martial artist in her own right (who I first came to know as Buffy’s stunt double in the tv series) ... she’s also Dan Inosanto’s daughter & Bruce Lee’s goddaughter, so she has the ~receipts~

so ALL the cool kids came to the party this week

Thanks for that — I figured she had to be some big deal!

I have been excited seeing Mr Kim as an x-wing pilot.

I loved this episode so much. Was anyone else stoked to hear Grand Admiral Thrawn's name?

As somebody who has no knowledge of the Star Wars universe outside the main movies, I just want to attest that this series totally works if you treat all of what's apparently fanservice as "here's a new cool character."

Yes, this is me too. I appreciate the tone of the conversation on this thread, where I learn the connections, but there is no "do you even Star Wars?"

Sorta want gorgu to die anonymously and basically unknown, as one who was secretly superpowerful but horribly damaged. Lost to history because of weird circumstantial bullshit, but whose cryptosuperhits will be revived by gnostic hipsters. also, weirdly adorable and charismatic.

what?

Was anyone else stoked to hear

You were definitely not alone.

I'm satisfied that they addressed my earlier quibble of—how come Yoda was training others at 100 years old, and Grogu is still a “baby” at 50?

Turns out he probably should be talking, etc., but has been traumatized by his ordeal.

400 years

Yoda?

Around the age of 100, Yoda was ready to pass on what he had learned. Having attained the rank of Master, he spent the next eight centuries training and tutoring generations of Jedi. It was estimated that over his lifetime, he trained around 20,000 Jedi.

i thought he says 400 in empire (im not debating i'm sure the internet is right)

I think he says “For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi” (and he’s nearly 900)

RIGHT

thanks for that info on Diana Lee Inosanto above

np!

Maybe Yoda was training Jedis for like 760 years and he just rounded up.

Still great TV, but I felt unsatisfied by this episode, probably because it entangled the ongoing story with the Not-The-Movies-Verse in a way that didn’t do justice to our latest character and just opened a lot of new unanswered questions.

1. Anybody who’s watched clone wars and rebels knows Ahsoka is capable of winning the duel with the magistrate in a walk, I mean come on.

2. Who saved Grogu (obviously a brand of scandinavian yogurt) from the Jedi temple on Coruscant? What happened to him in the 30+ year interim?

3. Mando’s quickdraw with the enforcer & his surprise droid would have been fun standing alone, but muddled together with Ahsoka’s duel it just ended up being overly predictable.

I imagine your questions in point #2 will eventually be answered. Agree the action was somewhat predictable and clichéd (and the dialogue wooden). It was a “good” episode in terms of meaty and consequential developments, but maybe not so much in how it actually played out (as opposed to, say, the episode with the aerial hijacking).

we don't need The Child's backstory after that point, frankly. not really interested in seeing medical torture flashbacks

"mirror, hand me"

lol just now realizing how different my experience of this show is from that of real star wars heads

pretty impressive that it seems to have (largely) appeased both factions

also y'all are incredible nerds

it's the MCU formula frankly. suck in diehard fans with lore but just enough to keep it comprehensible

perhaps shirley. who knows

we don't need The Child's backstory after that point, frankly. not really interested in seeing medical torture flashbacks

Definitely this. It was bad enough when Adam Pally the stormtrooper hit him. I also think that too much backstory runs the risk of Mando becoming a side character in his own show, which I don't want. One of the things I like about it at the moment is that he drifts in and out of other people's stories, and some of the more Star Warsy people recognize some of those stories, and some don't. But Mando and Kid's forward motion is the focus, and I will be disappointed if that changes.

i think they’ll stick with that. the main appeal of it all is the relationship between the two.

and got the impression that that glance between baby yoda and the jedi at the end was a shared acknowledgment that baby yoda had told her with his “feels” that the mandalorian needed baby yoda as much as the other way round.

After a few days to live with it, I find myself surprisingly ok with “Grogu”.

I love it

the terrorists have already won

Chatting with Rosario and Filoni about things

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/rosario-dawson-dave-filoni-mandalorian-ahsoka-tano-grogu

I don't really see the big deal with "Grogu" tbh, I mean, "Yoda" is a pretty dumb sounding name too but we've had 40 years to live with it.

It's no Yanno!

Yoda is much more euphonic than Grogu.

Grogu will stifle giggles when a menacing figure steps out of the shadows and introduces himself as 'Boba'

"After the tea." "What?"

My son absolutely geeked out over Ahsoka, lived up to the hype. I think I geeked out more for the mention of Thrawn, tbh, but I think Dawson did a really good job with the character.

To find out more about why Ahsoka is searching for Thrawn, stay tuned for the entirety of Star Wars: Rebels on Disney+