This episode contains spoilers for the first episode of season three of The Mandalorian.The MandalorianSeason 3 begins with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) trying to reclaim his lost honor after taking off his helmet during Grogu’s rescue and eventual adoption. Heroes are doomed. Mando was put off hold for the most egregious offense, and his only salvation in command is to bathe in the living waters of Mandalore’s mines. This is no easy feat when the surface of the planet was destroyed by the Empire.
Mando’s return has monsters, blaster-slinging action, a space dogfight, and gurgling Grogu cuteness, but it all felt rushed. The lean runtime packs a mountain of exposition into a light-hearted 37 minutes, while a solid hour would have done it a world of good.
Chapter 17, “The Apostate”, has the Armorer (Emily Swallow) make a new helmet for a foundling, who stands in a river surrounded by the Watch. The boy takes the oath of the Mandalore and the helmet is placed on his head. Suddenly, a huge crocodile-like creature bursts out of the water. It grabs and startles as the Mandalorians’ rain blaster fires, but explosives fail as the carnage continues.
Mando swoops down in the sleek Naboo N-1 Starfighter and shreds the creature with turbolasers. At the foundry, Mando shows the Armorer a green piece of crystallized glass from the surface of Mandalore. The creed teaches about salvation. He will provide proof that he has bathed in the Living Waters, so the decree of exile will be redeemed. This is the way.
Grogu and Purrgil in Hyperspace
Grogu gazes in wonder at the cetacean Purrgil as they fly through hyperspace before landing on a blooming Nevarro. The streets are bustling as they pass a statue commemorating IG-11 (voiced by the great Taika Waititi). Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), resplendent in flowing red robes, is now the High Magistrate. He has an excellent piece of land and a big offer for Mando. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of pirates.
Vane (Marti Matulis) and his men, subordinates of Pirate King Gorian Shard (Nonso Anozie), want to drink in the old saloon. Greef refuses. It is now a school. Tensions lead to a quick draw. Greef shoots the blaster from Vane’s hand. His men are then taken down by Mando and Greef. Vane hurries off with a stern warning. Pirates are no longer welcome on Nevarro.
Cara Dune (Gina Carano) left to join the New Republic Special Forces. Greef needs a new marshal. Mando politely declines. He needs a reliable droid. Mando tries to reactivate IG-11 from his parts. The droid reverts to its original programming and attacks Grogu. The terminator is crushed via a statue that fell from the service droid. Greef takes Mando to the little Anzellans to fix IG-11, who needs a new memory circuit. Grogu grabs an Anzellan like a teddy bear. Mando pries him away. He promises to come back with the role.
Pirates attack in The Mandalorian Premiere
Mando shows Grogu the flight controls as they fly off. The lesson is interrupted by a pirate attack. Vane’s back with backup. Mando flies into an asteroid field. He deftly outwits and destroys the hunters. Vane flees but leads Mando to Shard’s heavily armored ship. The Pirate King demands their surrender. Never underestimate a modified N-1 – Mando flips the turbo switch and launches into space.
Their next stop is Kalevala. They land at a Mandalorian castle on a cliff. Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff) sits on a desolate throne. There’s nothing to join. Her troops left. She had no authority without the Darksaber. Mando should lead them as owner. He asks if she has given up retaking Mandalore. She coldly replies that his cult left their home long before the Purge. Bo-Katan blames them for breaking their people. Mando tells her his plan to bathe in the Living Waters. She scolds him like a fool: “There’s nothing magical about Mandalore’s mines.” She tells him their location under the civic center in Sundari city. Mando will find out if “the planet is really poisoned.”
The Mandalorian and Grogu go to Mandalore for a baptism in the Living Waters. They’ll have to fix IG-11 first; then they can find out if Mandalore is a toxic wasteland. An apostate is defined as someone who renounces their faith or religion, and that’s not Mando, who clearly wants to get back into the not-so-warm embrace of the Watch. It could be that he will definitely leave the cult in the course of the new season; a good bet is that he will use the Darksaber and collect Bo-Katan’s stolen fleet to free Mandalore.
Smooth action sequences
Despite the skillfully crafted action, the premiere had little depth. Cara Dune was cut with two lines of dialogue (likely for political and cultural reasons behind the seasons). Objectives were clearly laid in a bare-bones manner.
The series always rewards with slick action sequences and great creature effects, and the space battle with the pirates looked great, but bells and whistles don’t make up for good character development. Scenes of Mando rocking Grogu in his arms were too short. These characters require additional growth after a half-hour runtime; as of now, the whole thing just feels robotic.
The Mandalorian is a Lucasfilm production. New episodes premiere every Wednesday, exclusively on Disney+.