By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review contains spoilers.
It’s felt like an age, but we are FINALLY back with The Mandalorian and of course, we will be doing weekly episodic reviews for Season 3 – this is the way!
The title of the episode is “The Apostate”, which is very fitting given that Din Djarin has essentially rejected the teachings of the Children of the Watch, by removing his helmet and breaking his creed, thus taking on this new title of an Apostate. We know that this season is going to focus heavily on the Mandalorians, as a collective, and with so many varying factions within their overall culture, it’s going to be interesting to see how much Din takes from each faction, in shaping the Mandalorian that he wants to be. I don’t think he will remain as part of the Children of the Watch, I think he will ultimately end up as a clan of two, that being him and Grogu, with the possibility that more will join.
The episode opens with a plethora of Mandalorians sporting a full spectrum of colourful armour, which I always love to see. Sure, Din’s outfit is cool and all, but I just love the more colourful flourishes of the different tribes and wearers. The ceremony is interrupted by a giant creature attack and we see the Mandalorians do their best to fend off the reptilian-like creature. More firepower is needed, so it’s a good job Din and Grogu were on hand in their new Naboo Starfighter to save the day! With his redemption, at least at this stage, still important to him, our duo set off on their mission to Mandalore.
Before arriving at Nevarro, there was a lot of ugly crying, coming from me, as I watched the hyperspace scene because it gave us our first live-action look at the Purrgil aka Space Whales. This was such an emotionally overwhelming moment for me, personally, given my love for Star Wars Rebels. While I don’t expect to see them again in this show and to be fair they only teased their silhouette and sound, I do expect to see them again as we move into another upcoming live-action show, given their significance in Star Wars Rebels. This ten-second sequence was my favourite moment from the episode, which is crazy, because if you haven’t seen Rebels, then it means nothing!
On Nevarro, Din and Grogu are reunited with Greef Karga, who is now the High Magistrate, with emphasis on the high! A lot has changed on the planet, and it is now a bustling hub of independent trade and commerce. It’s also much more colourful and full of life. The best moment in this section of the show was the statue of IG-11, made from his salvaged parts, which was a nice tribute. We are introduced to a band of pirates, which gives me great hope that a certain Hondo Ohnaka might make an appearance at some point – a boy can dream, right? I liked that the pirate First Mate was called Vane because one immediately thinks of Charles Vane, so that’s a nice touch. We learn that they are part of the crew of the Pirate King Gorian Shard. I like the idea of pirates being involved, at least in these early stages. While it’s not new to the animated world, it is a little more unique for live-action Star Wars. We learn the fates of Moff Gideon and Cara Dune, although I have no interest in the latter unless they recast, so I was more than satisfied with those answers.
Din wants IG-11 back, and after a not-so-successful first reanimation attempt – reverting to his default programming of ‘kill Grogu’, its time to take a trip to some Anzellans – who you might recognise as the same species as Babu Frik. I love that they brought back Shirley Henderson to voice all of these characters, it was a super fun scene. They cannot fix IG-11 without a missing key component, which Din will have to acquire in order to restore IG-11 and aid him in his quest. There was a sickly cute moment with Grogu and one of the Anzellans that really melted my heart. Who wouldn’t want a hug from Grogu?
Din and Grogu depart, but run into Gorian Shard’s crew, including Vane, again, and so, an outstanding space battle occurs! This was a fast and frantic sequence, with Din stalking and taking out the pirates with great skill. Despite Vane leading Din to Shard’s ship, and getting our first look at the Swamp Thing-esque Pirate King himself, he manages to use the Starfighter’s speed boost to escape and make it to Kalevala. Kalevala is actually the birthplace of Duchess Satine Kryze, which is fitting as Din and Grogu arrive at a Mandalorian castle, to be met by her sister, Bo-Katan on the throne. She thinks Din’s mission is a foolish one, and since she has been isolated from her clan, holds a good amount of disdain for Din, the current owner of the Dark Saber. While Bo-Katan will obviously return in the near future, I don’t think her role will be that of an outright ally – there will be plenty of twists and turns before the season is out!
Overall, this was a wonderful season opener of The Mandalorian! It was a soft reset of sorts, as it put to bed a lot of the past events and sets the story up for exploring the world of Mandalore. The mix of action and exposition was perfect and it ticked every box for what I wanted from this first episode of a brand-new season!
What did you think of the Season 3 opener of The Mandalorian? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media.
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