The Mandalorian S2E8 - Chapter 16

Strangely I've - for years now - thought I would need such a cool Luke scene too, and don't get me wrong it HAS DEFINITELY BEEN GREAT, to finally see it on screen.
BUT, being a descent of a father that failed to look after his family in full focus on his career in younger years, I have been extremely involved in the moment of Din and Grogu letting go in a way that nearly blasted the whole Luke thing aside.
Especially having in mind, that maybe, it could become a journey with a bitter end for Grogu, if he stays at Luke's Place all too long.
Therefore I really hope, Grogu is able to join Din afer a few years of training or at least could escape the Ben Solo massacre.

It would be a great goal to achieve, if I could look back in a few years and I could reassure myself that I could catch some of the world's "blaster shots" that were supposed to hit my children.

In that regard Din is as good as a role model for protecting a kid, as Luke was as hero all that years ago. Times change

 

Agreed. I don’t think the ST could have worked if Luke didn’t have some sort of fall/struggle to over come. If he was as all powerful as many of us would have imagined, then where would be the challenge?

I just thought TLJ was a bad movie (not trying to rehash that here) but not because Luke was “damaged.”

My point was more that Luke being a badass 5 years post ROTJ doesn’t contradict him being damaged 20 years post ROTJ.

 

Din told Bo that Gideon's cruiser would make for a nice asset in retaking Mandalore. Maybe she takes the cruiser and works out a deal for Mando to take her ship.

 

I loved the episode. Moff Gideon was easily the best character in the episode, in the whole series, and I was honestly sad to see him defeated so easily, and sad to see the episode come to an abrupt end with the arrival of Luke, and how easily Luke defeated the erstwhile terrifying Dark Stormtroopers. The battle between Moff with the darksaber and Din with the solid beskar arrow was great and I wish that had been the final battle. Slave 1 was another favourite in the episode.

It leaves so many questions open. The central dynamic of these two seasons--Din and Grogu's growing attachment--has now ended and in many ways that, for me, marks the end of this series. The next season, and I suppose seasons, should gravitate around the battle for Mandalore, with a leader who in no way wishes to lead, and the more numerous Mandalorians from another sect. I love Boba's clear friction with the mainstream Mandalorians and how this will develop further.

The next season, although now no longer about emotional attachment and Grogu, starts to interest me. Din is from a fairly small sect, at odds with mainstream Mandalorians, and now he has the one weapon the entire mainstream Mandalorian nation wants, a weapon they want to retake Mandalore, an objective Din does not hold. And yet, throughout the season, Din has repeatedly gone against the central tenant of his own sect: he has removed his helmet.

I feel the capture of Grogu's blood and how this leaves the Empire is an interesting question. Moff is still alive, and apparently awaiting trial. But he indicated he'd already got Grogu's blood, and one would assume the blood is elsewhere, or at least I hope so for the sake of the story. Does this setup the return of the Empire? If so, Disney is going to give Star Wars another life, a new battle between the Jedi and Sith, and that feels strange, if only for sentimentality.

There were annoyances in the episode and I feel there's valid criticism, some of which is mentioned in this thread. Yet this episode, and former episodes, have created so many more interesting possibilities for a new Star Wars. And this new life to Star Wars, given the overall quality of the story telling forgiving some Disney filler episodes, should be enjoyable and compelling.

 

Not a bad idea. Then he would be the rightful owner of the DS (which he doesn't really want to have), wearing te armor all over his body AND would join the fight for Mandalore while piloting a Mandalorian ship. Who if not Din should be able to unite the different Mando parties.
It would be in character if he achieves peace on Mandalore and just wents off the scene afterwards. Looking for Grogu

 

Solid, solid episode. I felt the dubstep sound effects were a bit cheesy but aside from that.. awesome. I think it's a shame they didn't do better with

Spoiler: Spoiler

Luke's face

with whatever technology they used though. A deepfake with two weeks of work could make it a lot better.

 

I just realized and something that is glaringly obvious. Din was rescued by a Mandalorian after nearly being captured by a machine. Grogu was rescued by a Mandalorian after nearly being captured by a machine. Din's attachment and fatherly feelings towards Grogu are mirrored in his own upbringing. Great storytelling.

 

That never happened though. He assumed the full blame for the rise Kylo Ren on behalf of his blood line and the failed jedi order. He exiled himself to prevent what he could only see as further suffering caused by his and the jedi's involvement.

 

In both cases, I think the word "killed" makes more sense than "captured," but otherwise agreed, this is a really good storytelling technique.

 

I also like the implication that R2 was the one who saved Grogu from order 66.

And that IG11 saved him from the troopers on Nevarro.

 

I FINALLY watched the episodes! So I have a lot of feelings that I'm not done processing yet. Let's get on with the word-vomit.

First off I TOTALLY CALLED THAT LUKE APPEARANCE! I mean, I'm pretty sure most of us did, but I'm still glad I was right! I thought it was Sebastian Stan until a friend pointed out that it wasn't, and my dad and I saw the credits. Luke's role in this episode was everything we wanted from him in the ST, and it was so storming good. It's also a sign of how sometimes the predictable answer isn't always the bad answer. We all knew someone was coming to save the day, and we all pretty much figured it'd be Luke. But seeing him kick so much butt by himself and actually appear on-screen was so awesome! It's not knowing the answer that's bad, it's how one presents the answer.

Secondly, there were a LOT of old-school sci-fi references in this episode. My dad and I saw Battlestar Galactica in the Dark Troopers, Alien in the air-lock sequence, Terminator with the flamethrower and some other stuff, and I think one more reference somewhere. We sadly couldn't find a Predator reference though...

Third, BAE IS BACK! Sasha Banks may not be the best actor on the show, but she's cute and I enjoy seeing her. Bo-Katan's shots at Boba Fett were soooo well-done for a non-Boba fan like myself.

Fourth, I love the girl power and the team-up aspects in this episode and the finales in general. Outside of Gideon, the women on this show have consistently been the best performers (although Baby Yoda is the true star), so seeing them all team up here was really fun. I hope they keep them around. In terms of the team-ups, I'm just a giant sucker for that "ragtag group of misfits teaming up" trope (so long as the characters are actual characters and the story gives everyone time to shine) and seeing it in the finales of The Mandalorian is no exception.

However, like always, this episode wasn't perfect. More and more I've noticed the CGI failings in this show. Part of it is probably because I'm looking for them, but other parts are far too noticeable to miss. The Imperial shuttle in this episode was NOT pretty, and I cringed nearly every time I saw it. (It wasn't pretty in the previous episode either.) Sasha Banks' acting was pretty rough at some points towards the beginning. I think it worked for her character, but I still noticed it. And lastly, that CGI Luke, while good, was still a little off. I think going with Sebastian Stan still would have been the right choice.

Overall, this was a very solid finale in an even better season than before. I've said it once and I'll say it again - The Mandalorian is the sequel series that fans didn't know they wanted, but pushes all of the right sequel series buttons. It's created far more goodwill than the ST has done with a fraction of the controversy, and is far more respectful to all sides of canon than the ST was. I'm curious how the next season will look for the show, but I'm here for the ride. This is the Way.

 

Yes.

 

Anyone else spot the scars on R2-D2 shoulders of his time on Jabba's sailbarge as a droid serving drinks from a shoulder-topped tray table?

 

I'd give this a like but I don't have the 30 posts yet.
I should have signed up earlier. Now the season is over.

 

It's a 10 from me!

 

The really clever thing Jon Favreau and company did here with Luke is give him an opportunity to shine without slaughtering a bunch of people. The droids were well thought out. If Luke had done something like Ahsoka, it would have been really out of character for the "lay my weapon down" Luke from the end of The Return of the Jedi.

At some point it will have to be addressed more clearly, but the Jedi Order being military arm of the state was one of the huge issues that led to their downfall. Luke settling down with Mara Jade and slaughtering life forms just isn't part of his character. I'm not sure some of the fanbase is on the same page with where Lucas took this character.

 

Before CGI we had stuff like the Gorn on Star Trek TOS.
The disappointing effects in Star Trek TOS (Preview S1-E16) - The Galileo Seven (this was my favourite series at the time).

I am quite happy with the CGI in The Mandalorian.

 

I saw the episode finally, it was good... but still (and people will hate me for this) the show is kinda straightforward and simple and full of fanservice. Seeing Luke, Bo-Katan or Ahsoka was great, but I am not that blown off by it actually in comparison to opinions like: “this is the best star wars!” “Better than sequels!” etc. People were complaining about the lack of backstory to Snoke, but are completely hyped by Luke just swinging his lightsaber, uttering few lines and leaving without any explanation... the ending was bittersweet, but I hated how open it is with Din and Bo-Katan’s lightsaber and my opinion is, that Season 1 worked nicely as intro to the show and setting up second season with the mission and main villain, but Season 2 to me relied heavily on cameos and just fan service. After the stellar first episode with tons of easter eggs and great cameo from book by Cobb Vanth setting up the return of Boba Fett, the rest, altough with awesome SW visuals to look at, was kinda lacking to me. Still don’t know what Pershing and the imperial remnant wanted. Are they a single cell or do they operate in bigger scheme under someone? All that build-up and Luke just shows up and takes away Grogu... Who hid Grogu away and why at the end of Clone Wars?with what we know happens to Luke 25 years after, I need some answers and I don’t think we will get lot of Luke in Season 3 of show called Mandalorian.
It was great ride, but for me it still left something to be desired from me and flashy visuals and designs are not enough for me.

But as a fan of Boba Fett since being a kid, damn, Temuera and the whole Fett bits were awesome and I am looking forward to his spin-off series! More so that Mandalorian felt to me like “here you have a Boba Fett series you wanted, but with a stand-in as Boba Fett is presumably dead”. So this made me interested a lot!