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The Mandalorian

So the finale was pretty enjoyable.

- I'm glad they destroyed the Darksaber. Hopefully they don't somehow bring it back, that shit should be unfixable without a Jedi to help put it back together.
- Really cool battle scene between the Imperial beskar troops and the Mandalorians
- Din fighting through the shields section by section was probably my favorite action beat of the whole show.
- Grogu and Din vs the Praetorians was badass. I love the way the Praetorian stuntmen have the exact same lethal energy as those in TLJ did. Maybe its some of the same guys?
- Is it just me or did it feel like a series finale? Everything seems wrapped up but lets get real - either Gideon is somehow not dead (i.e. his awesome armor saved him) or the force sensitive clone who opened his eyes in the tank survived and somehow escaped.

EDIT: sadly, Din came out of this without:

His handgun


and his
smart rockets
 
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Alright, that was a pretty fun finale. The action was great, especially the hallway scene with Din (or should I call him Djarin now?). Glad to see the Darksaber destroyed. not liked how people obsessed over it both in and out of universe.

Overall, I was satisfied with this season. I think it was a bit confused on whether it wanted to be an adventure of the week show or an epic space adventure at times and this caused some issues but overall I really enjoyed it. And it seems like they're setting up next season to fully return to an adventure of the week format which I think is good (or to just end it, this episode could also work as an ending for the show though I don't think that'll happen).
 
Vympel said:
So the finale was pretty enjoyable.

- I'm glad they destroyed the Darksaber. Hopefully they don't somehow bring it back, that shit should be unfixable without a Jedi to help put it back together.
- Really cool battle scene between the Imperial beskar troops and the Mandalorians
- Din fighting through the shields section by section was probably my favorite action beat of the whole show.
- Grogu and Din vs the Praetorians was badass. I love the way the Praetorian stuntmen have the exact same lethal energy as those in TLJ did. Maybe its some of the same guys?
- Is it just me or did it feel like a series finale? Everything seems wrapped up but lets get real - either Gideon is somehow not dead (i.e. his awesome armor saved him) or the force sensitive clone who opened his eyes in the tank survived and somehow escaped.

EDIT: sadly, Din came out of this without:

His handgun


and his
smart rockets
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It did feel like a series finale. I wonder if they anticipated not getting a 4th season and wanted to wrap things up.

That said, I'm honestly not sure where they go from here. Din Djarin is out in the galaxy as a bounty hunter to teach his apprentice how to .. be a bounty hunter? With all the build-up to reclaiming and restoring Mandalore that feels a little odd. Of course if Mandalore was the focus we'd likely end up seeing a "Game of Beskar " kind of internal drama.

I did like seeing the various Mandalorian groups represented at the end. Gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, they can get their heads out of their .. armors .. and start treating one another with respect.

Another neat touch was exactly how self-absorbed Gideon is. He wanted to make Force-sensitive personnel for the Empire? Okay, sounds interesting. He wanted to make Force-sensitive clones of himself out of sheer ego? That absolutely tracks. (Though I'm a little irritated we didn't get to see Bo-Katan and Din emptying a clip or two into Gideon just to make absolutely sure they got him.)

Finally, if the Mandalorians don't spend the next couple of years carefully searching every inch of the Mandalore system I'd be surprised. One part training, one part surveying to see what's left, and a massive priority that is making sure there aren't any other Imperial outposts hidden around.
 
As I've previously posted, Season 4 is already written. However, I don't think they've started production on it yet, because they might be waiting to see if tweaking is needed in light of future audience reactions to "Ahsoka" and "Skeleton Crew". Also, I'm not sure if Disney has actually green-lit Season 4 yet, or if Favreau was just writing the scripts on his own time and dime.
 
Sad to say, I was rather bored with much of that. Felt very risk-free.

I can't say Gideon dying was a surprise, he felt like he was running on narrative fumes hen he was actually around, and of course we know Thrawn is coming.
 
Anyway, I feel like I somehow invited this curse upon myself by complaining last time that capital ships go down too easily to fighters.

Because this time our light cruiser single handedly defeats the entire bomber/interceptor wave sent to kill it. Guess the trick to effective capital action is to evacuate all but one crewmembers, thus turning it into a somewhat oversized fighter.

That nitpick aside, it's interesting just how plain dumb Gideon is. He says that he will "take care of Din Djarin himself", then hides in his inner sanctum, located behind his collection of incredibly precious, irreplaceable clones. And then he's upset when Mando blows them up on the way? What did you expect to happen.

The action is a lot better than last episode though. They worked the whole "blaster proof armor" concept for once.
 
Grogu will no longer pilot the horrific zombie puppet that was IG-12. Plus IG-11 gets to be Sherriff so maybe next season Filoni will give him a cowboy hat
 
I was so sure we'd get a peek at Thrawn especially with how long that slide show at the credits was going. Was similarly sure that Axe Woves was gonna bite the dust. Felt like the aerial Mando on Imperial combat was very messy visually. Don't think it was quite as good as the last episode but it's definitely in the upper half of the series.

Nice that the Armourer's taken out the whole you can never take your helmet off part of the Creed, we're making progress. A fine enough finale.
 
That finale felt short and it turns out it was. Credits started at the 35 minute mark.

10ebbor10 said:
Because this time our light cruiser single handedly defeats the entire bomber/interceptor wave sent to kill it. Guess the trick to effective capital action is to evacuate all but one crewmembers, thus turning it into a somewhat oversized fighter.
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I'm pretty sure that the cruiser didn't win that fight, what with it being literally on fire and nosediving into the planet when we see it next. I don't think Axe would have crashed it (as opposed to having it hover and fire on the base with cannons) if it was still functional, it seemed more to me like it was going down and he decided that since it was crashing anyway he might as well steer it into the enemy base as one last "fuck you."
 
The Narrator said:
That finale felt short and it turns out it was. Credits started at the 35 minute mark.


I'm pretty sure that the cruiser didn't win that fight, what with it being literally on fire and nosediving into the planet when we see it next. I don't think Axe would have crashed it (as opposed to having it hover and fire on the base with cannons) if it was still functional, it seemed more to me like it was going down and he decided that since it was crashing anyway he might as well steer it into the enemy base as one last "fuck you."
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The cruiser is pretty damaged yeah, but there is no sign whatsoever from any if the bombers and interceptors.

So I assume it took those out first.
 
It's good. I liked it! There's no way in hell this is the end of Din and Grogu. At all. I don't believe it for a second.

You know, with John Wick 4 making all the money and armored+helmet now being cool, maybe, just maybe, armor will now work as intended in films. Are we seeing the end of swords going through full plate? Is armor being effective on the small and big screen on the horizon? Maybe!
 
That was... ok? Alot of flash and flair but not all that much substance. I was entertained but by the end I was like "Oh, that's it?"

bluntblade said:
Well, S4 is reportedly already written and the story apparently concludes in the big crossover film.
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I'm down for this, although it's kind of interesting that there can't really be a "good" ending.

This is all now leading up to the rise of the First Order and... like... you know, it does indeed rise. At best we get a temporary "Yay we did it" when all the players come together to take down Thrawn but... that's not the end though.

It is kind of neat though that it seems like we will end up getting a version of Heir to the Empire in movie form though.
 
Mandalor might remain out of the fight against the First Order and only send ships against Palpatine in the end. The planet is messed up and its going to take a generation or two to rebuild to what they have after the Clone Wars, and even more generations to get back to a green (non-glassed) Mandalor. So the Empire might not bother with Mandalor in Thrawn's campaign, now that Moff Gideon has messed that sector up for them.

Din Djarin's angle going forward will be at the call of the New Republic's Rangers to find, detain or kill Imperials on their list. So maybe he'll eventually be sent to Coruscant to find and neutralized a spy operating there (discovering Elia Kane). Otherwise, he'll bump into other New Republic groups (like General Hera Syndula's group plus Ahsoka) while they are tracking down Thrawn and others relate to Thrawn's return.
 
Ithekro said:
Mandalor might remain out of the fight against the First Order and only send ships against Palpatine in the end. The planet is messed up and its going to take a generation or two to rebuild to what they have after the Clone Wars, and even more generations to get back to a green (non-glassed) Mandalor. So the Empire might not bother with Mandalor in Thrawn's campaign, now that Moff Gideon has messed that sector up for them.

Din Djarin's angle going forward will be at the call of the New Republic's Rangers to find, detain or kill Imperials on their list. So maybe he'll eventually be sent to Coruscant to find and neutralized a spy operating there (discovering Elia Kane). Otherwise, he'll bump into other New Republic groups (like General Hera Syndula's group plus Ahsoka) while they are tracking down Thrawn and others relate to Thrawn's return.
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And again, we run into the same problem of making media in between major movies. Ultimately nothing matters and you can make the characters as compelling as you want, they won´t matter and will only make the movies worse by comparison bu creating a ton of plot holes.
 
It is still 25 or so years until the events of the sequel trilogy. A lot could happen. The First Order doesn't really come into play political for about 20 years.
 
Sabertooth said:
And again, we run into the same problem of making media in between major movies. Ultimately nothing matters and you can make the characters as compelling as you want, they won´t matter and will only make the movies worse by comparison bu creating a ton of plot holes.
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That's never been true. The Star Wars universe has always been full of more stories happening before, after and between the films. There's more to the galaxy than what happens in the movies, and there are more people in the galaxy than the main characters of the films. People can still have victories or tragedies of their own regardless of what's happening with the Skywalkers. One of the best-written things this franchise has ever produced is a show about a guy that we already know dies in five years, because what people do with the time they have left matters.
 
I wonder if they just crowded this season with too many plot objectives and lore reveals. With the first and second, it's either a travelogue or all in service of one or two goals, allowing the space for one or two really good, character-driven episodes. Here they seem in a hurry, so things like Din having to undertake an arduous pilgrimage and Bo-Katan conflicting with the Children/dealing with their different ideas of what Mandalore ought to be are sped through.

It makes me appreciate those middle episodes of each Andor arc all the more now, because this show feels like what would happen if an exec had kept demanding "get to the good bit!" of Gilroy and co. We get resolutions, like Din getting to the Living Waters and being welcomed back from exile, Bo being given an indulgence by the Armourer and then getting her duchy back, but the actual conflict is never explored. Nor is quite enough of the adversity emphasised.

I guess that was foreshadowed in TBoBF with how, after ten minutes of Din in a bad place, he gets a nice new ship and gets Grogu back.
 
The Narrator said:
That's never been true. The Star Wars universe has always been full of more stories happening before, after and between the films. There's more to the galaxy than what happens in the movies, and there are more people in the galaxy than the main characters of the films. People can still have victories or tragedies of their own regardless of what's happening with the Skywalkers. One of the best-written things this franchise has ever produced is a show about a guy that we already know dies in five years, because what people do with the time they have left matters.
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The NR collapsed in a very short matter and the FO gained control of the galaxy.
 
Anyone else feel like the Armorer had that same conversation at the end with whomever adopted Mando when he was younger?
 
Sabertooth said:
The NR collapsed in a very short matter and the FO gained control of the galaxy.
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That's an overly simplistic version of events, though.

The First Order/Contingency/Imperial Remnant/Imperial Rump State had been actively working against the NR since the very beginning to orchestrate it's fall from multiple angles.

Arguably the most effective of them all hasn't really been addressed in any of the on screen media, the surrender of the Imperial Rump State. They pulled a Mandarin, surrendering and willfully joining the NR will full intent of taking it over from the inside. They did... surprisingly well, becoming a major force in NR politics before the First Order officially revealed itself and a large chunk of NR worlds immediately defected to to them.

The NR never really stood a chance, partly due it's own general incompetence and largely due to relentless Imperial subversion. They've got them covered from several angles...

First, Operation: Cinder caused a ton of damage to everything, crippling the NR from the start.
The Contingency/First Order took the best the Empire still had and disappeared to create a new Empire in secret.
The Imperial Rump State was probably the largest Imperial territory and they were mostly harmless before just... becoming a part of the NR.
The Imperial Remnant was a (seemingly) disorganized collection of warlords picking away at Outer Rim territories, forcing the NR to commit it's limited resources to swatting them down when they showed up.

I am curious about certain lore implications presented in the finale though. Was the First Order just one of the factions involved with the shadow council, or were all of those remnants working on behalf of the First Order? We know for sure Brendol Hux was First Order from the jump, and as we know from TRoS, the First Order was really a front for the Final Order, which we ALSO know was basically "the plan" all along even back in the days of the Galactic Empire proper.

Makes me wonder if Brendol Hux was actually in the Sith Eternal.

EDIT -

Moving on from that, I am kind of pumped to see what we get with reclaimed Mandalore. It definitely will take them a long time to rebuild, so I think during the PT they're probably mostly laying low. Maybe some presence at Exogol. But I really think Mandalore is poised to be a player in the post-TRoS galaxy.
 
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Sabertooth said:
The NR collapsed in a very short matter and the FO gained control of the galaxy.
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This doesn't really address my point at all.

Yeah, it was kind of dumb and lazy how quickly and easily that happened just because Abrams wanted to reset the status quo, but it's also thirty years in the future. Thirty years is longer than the time between World War One and World War Two. Does WWII existing make people's experiences in WWI meaningless? Was winning WWII meaningless because it was promptly followed by the Cold War?

The '70s and '80s had lots of Star Wars stories set during the time of the original trilogy. Does knowing how the Galactic Civil War will end make any story set during that time meaningless? The prequels were terrible, but there were still some good stories set during the Clone Wars. Are those stories meaningless because we know what will happen in Revenge of the Sith (and that it's dumb)? For those of us who followed Legends, before there was a sequel trilogy there was the New Jedi Order series and the Vong War as the kinda-dumb story that broke everything in the setting. Does that make everything that happened in the books before that meaningless?
 
Wade Garrett said:
And then actual upgrade was the Interceptor, doubling down on "It needs to go fast so it can scout better and also win dogfights with piddly insignificant Rebel starfighters unworthy of being shot at by my precious triangle baby's turbolasers."
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Cloak&Dagger said:
Target size doesn't seem to matter much in Star Wars, especially with the prerequisite massive ECM to prevent 24/7 aimbots. But yes, she wasn't just deliberately tanking all the shots.

Squadrons is unfortunately defunct. It's one of the rare good EA games, which means it got neglected and actively killed.
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Wait already?

It didn't come out all that long ago!
 
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