SPOILER The Mandalorian S3E3 Chapter 19- The Convert

I thought Chapter 19- The Convert was an excellent entry into the Mandoverse, it definitely expanded the world with it's story-heavy script and setups that were full of fun little Easter Eggs, some of them carrying actual function in the episode. I sorta thought in the back of my mind, at least, that we may have gotten an episode without Mandalorians after the first two episodes were so packed with action and Lore, so I was glad to see it pick up exactly where we were left. I don't take Bo's silence about the Mythosaur as anything deceptive, more like she is in a state of disbelief herself, and she just wants to get out of there. I loved the Tie Interceptors and the dogfight, we've now had more starfighter action in 3 episodes than we have had the entire series! More, please! Bo had some seriously bad-ass moves in the fight- that scene where she angled one wing up and did that dead-stall spin, when R5 started floating up behind her...i think I pulled a muscle laughing in the middle of a big gasp. I'm guessing the size of the squadron was our first Moff Gideon hint.

Ok, the meat of the episode dealing with Pershing on Coruscant was just awesome! Coruscant looked amazing, and I loved all of the little Easter Eggs and throw-backs. I totally get all the comparisons to Andor, and honestly, for me they are even more significant if not intentional. I don't think they were. Amnesty Housing does look exactly like Edie Karn's apartment complex, though, and the New Republic definitely doesn't get the same usage out of their office square-footage, but I really enjoyed how much of the city had changed amd how much of it looked the same. I did not care for the way the Imperial Refugees were given numbers as IDs, and the Droid parole officer, but obviously that was the point. They did a great job of making Pershing a sympathetic character, which was a very steep climb for me. Elia Kane is a very interesting development, and I am completely stumped by her motivation. I'm truly 50/50 on who she is really working for, the NR or Gideon. The train scene gave me Jedi: Fallen Order vibes, and the entire time they were in the Destroyer, I was convinced that Gideon was just around the corner. So, that's a mindflayer? Sorry, I mean, Mitigator. I still don't know why she wanted to give him the brain scramblies, especially if she is really working for the Bad guys. Wouldn't they want him mostly intact?

I did love how they did the bookend thing with the Mandalorians. I kept waiting for Bo-Katan to just absolutely put Paz Vizsla in his place when he smack-talked her family, I have a feeling they will get their moment eventually. The Armorer is really interesting here. She was very fast to accept and welcome Bo into the Covert simply based on taking a swim. Makes me think that she knows or suspects something that she's keeping to herself. Also, now that Din is redeemed as a true Mandalorian, AND he has the Darksaber... How and why is the Armorer still calling the shots? Is that gonna be the big tension going forward? Will Bo push Din to take his position as Manda'lor, causing a problem with the Armorer?

 

Yes, he definitely falls into that cliche of the one-track-mind scientist (possibly naive but ultimately wouldn't care anyway) who lives only for his work, regardless of its use (or misuse) and its effect on society. We saw that creepy stuff he was doing in the Nevarro lab: He was doing a lot more than cloning new organs for dying people. Even his pleas to Din in chapter 3 not to hurt Grogu were so he could keep on sucking out Grogu's genetic material--an innocent child who had no choice in the matter.

 

Cute girls only ever use nerds; so Her sinister nibble was merely the icing on her mole cake....

Also, blasters are only fatal to armored Stormtroopers.

Doctor Pershing is weakness personified.

Ironic. History is written by the victors.

 

There's been mentions in this thread about when Bo says something to the effect that, "That's too many (TIE Intercepters) for a warlord." I can't remember exactly how she put it, but anyway, what if this is our introduction to Grand Admiral Thrawn? And only in later episodes and/or series we see it? Something to chew on.

Great episode, front-to-back. Stunning visuals, especially in the dogfight scenes. The Pershing storyline was excellent. Honestly, not a single complaint.

 

I think one of the achievements of The Convert, was that I was never sure which one of Pershing or of Kane was going to turn out to be duplicitous. I thought it could go either way.

And I like that the episode included both Kane's treacherous ruse and Bo being economical with the truth.

 

My turn I thought it was good to see Dr Pershing again because I thought after chapter 16 the rescue there was more to his story. So glad Katy came back & her character name was revealed because I thought her character died in season 2 after the gang had stormed the bridge. I'm also glad that Mando is redeemed as I thought since he didn't finish the creed recital it didn't count. I am worried about Bo because I think she will make a power grab with Paz against Djinn & The Armourer faction. I could be wrong but the way she stared at those touching her armour got me worried

 

Always nice to see Tie Interceptors in action but, converse to what some others have said, I actually found the dogfighting scenes the least interesting part. Possibly since we know the outcome. (I was gripped throughout the Coruscant scenes.) Except in the sense that it showed Bo Katan and Din Djarin finally bonding. It reminded us that Bo doesn't actually respect Din. They've been allied for one reason or another here and there, but with completely separate motives. However, the new found amity is likely a convenient disguise, like Kane's was, so that Bo can position herself to assume leadership of the Children, as a replacement for her disloyal Night Watch covert. Keeping the helmet on is a convenient mask for that ruse. And it's also the reason why I've distrusted the Armorer since day 1 almost. (Pats self on back)


Did we get any inside the cockpit shots of the Tie pilots? I don't remember any. And they are often a highlight I look out for.

 

Now I want a photon fizzle or a sabersicle or whatvever those things are called.

Oh and what was the deal with Pershing's ear? Why did he keep touching it like he was listening to an ear piece? It didn't seem to have anything to do with Kane.

Was that just the ear that was next to the face of the Imp pilot that go blown off in Chapter 16? And he feels pain there in moments of stress? I can buy that as I have a slight injury there myself.

 

They even went as far as recreating the moment in Andor when Karn was forced to make way for a mouse droid.

 

Interesting thought...

Bo-Katan first marks that: "I've scugged off a lot of Imperial warlords."
Later, she adds: "That's a lot of ships for an Imperial warlord."

So, we've got "Imperial warlord" mentioned twice, which is a very clear example of hanging-a-lantern to make the audience subconsciously take note of it. So, someone is certainly coming (i.e., Gideon, Thrawn, or someone random warlord) down the road. This is similar to how Gorian Shard and his pirate crew were overtly exploited in Ep.17 -- The Apostate; another obvious hanging-a-lantern on stuff to set it up for later.

It could be Thrawn, but I would sort of expect the launched TIEs to be TIE/d Defenders and not Interceptors, to keep it all connected and clear. Still, it is possible they wanted to keep some mystery as to the Imperials' identity for a later big reveal.

 

The similarities between this chapter and Andor should come as no surprise. And not because the show is trying to adopt some of that Andor cred or they're trying to homogenise the D+ Star Wars shows.

Whether they are in a totalitarian regime or a democracy, decadent or otherwise, bureaucracy tends to look like bureaucracy (ok maybe not like in Idiocracy ). That's why we put up with the regimes behind them, or don't recognise the tyranny they serve.

They have their essential purposes but no matter what ideology is behind it, we are all subject to them. They are all systems that develop and have inherent flaws which are the bane of some and can be exploited by others.

I believe our visit to Coruscant will be brief though. It helped establish that Gideon is out there. And provided a nice mirror to Din's redemption story and also Bo's as yet unrevealed intentions, which may be as duplicitous as Kane's were with Pershing. Or not.

Thinking about Kane's ear problem. It seems too conspicuous to just be an incidental character tic to show the injury bothering him in times of stress. Perhaps he's got something in there which protected him somewhat from the mind flayer. Not enough to retain what he knows about Kane's treachery. But enough to remember that she betrayed him and to want to dish out some justice next time he sees her. I hope,

 

The short range fighters were the giveaway.... SOMEBODY had to bring them with! And WHERE have they been hiding all this time? I wonder....

If it isn't, then the story is going to suffer from serious Imperial warlord bloat.

 

Very interesting how this episode took a pretty critical look at the New Republic, even going so far as to use the Resistance theme as in-universe circus music.

I wonder if future Episodes of Star Wars will examine a corrupt "good guy" government, rather than en evil Empire, much like the prequels did?

 

That's a pretty interesting little point about the theme being used almost in a mocking way. It's pretty well established that the NR was flawed from the start, and what we are seeing in this series, is that the Empire never really went away. I think the point being made is, just as that silly caricature told Pershing, Republic, Empire, New Republic... They are all the same in some ways, to some people. Pershing falls into that category. He likely felt indentured to the Empire, then after being liberated and given amnesty, he still feels like a prisoner within the NR. The difference is he was at least doing work he had a passion for with the Empire. He obviously has the intelligence to accomplish great things, but he doesn't have the "street smarts" to work the system in his own favor the way that Elia Kane is able to do. Is there an infiltrator in place inside the Amnesty program that is pulling strings? It seems almost too coincidental that these two ended up in such close proximity to each other. I'm very curious to see where this arc with these two characters is going. It almost seems too obvious that Kane is working for Gideon or the Imperial Remnant, and I am loving the parallel between her and Bo-Katan.

 

Thereisnothingtoseehere, move along....

 

I came back to message boards a little late after the season started, but what a ride.
The two year waiting was crazy!

Let's go for Episode 3 then!
Visually and as a SW fan, I love it!

1. We have TIE Interceptors back, they were my most favorite fighters with B-Wings as a kid, seeing them in ROTJ, I have waited for them since the trailer.
2. Everything with Coruscant! I have missed Coruscant a lot in Sequel Trilogy, as we saw it only in Prequels and briefly in the Special Edition and was a bit fatigued by seeing desert, snow and forest planets again. Except for Canto Bight, the ST is a bit plain and uninteresting with planets.

Coruscant: Seeing the peak of Umate, seeing the square with cones from McQuarrie's art and Clone Wars in live action, seeing the train from Clone Wars, revisiting opera house and going to The Works where they dismantle star destroyers. It was great to see Coruscant in greater detail after OT.

For the episode itself, the dogfight with Bo and Din against TIE Interceptors was awesome and the follow up with the Mando cult interesting.
With Dr. Pershing, I did like we get to know him more and sympatize a bit with him, unfortunately, the setup was clear from the start.
As I saw Kane at the table with other ex-imperials, we knew that something bad would happen with her involved, but I was surprised with that happening by mindflayer like that. New Republic in the now canon is really dissapointing in comparison to old EU and it's depressing. I am not saying that it is bad, I actually like this realistic approach based on the prequels, but with how Skywalker saga ends, hell, to witness the hero Luke Skywalker fighting for hope in the galaxy, that again gets screwed by incompetent people and bureaucrats who look like they have learned nothing, even using indoctrination on ex-imperials, which is ironic. Star Wars is not a story about hope anymore, but a series of tragedies in galaxy far far away...

Since Season 1, the setup for something bigger happening with the Empire remnants is clear, as it builds up slowly for the 3 seasons and if they don't reveal the big threat this season, I will be really mad! It is definitely Moff Gideon! But as many fans speculate, is he part of something bigger? I doubt that, but secretly wish for it... Is it Thrawn?! They can for sure twist the expectations and do whatever they want, as I believe that it will be Gideon, but he was operating in limited scale before to not waste resources and now he's after something and goes all guns blazing. But if they will go bigger, then yes!
Filoni recently teased this big showdown for the post Ep. 6 era and I really hope we won't have to wait for that another year or two and can get at least some glimpse or reveal.

I hope the show picks up the pace with these build-ups and goes all guns blazing! After cameo heavy season 2, I really like that it relies more on the original characters and goes to explore the Mandalorians and state of the galaxy in this era.

 

So I've converted (see what I did there) my husband into a Mandalorian fan! After twenty-plus years of trying to convince him Star Wars is awesome and him merely tolerating my nerdy stuff, Grogu got to his heart and he asked if we could watch the series from the beginning before season 3 started. So we did and here we are.

But I watched chapter 19 with him last night, and it threw him for a loop. He is a very casual fan of course, having only really seen the original trilogy and bits of pieces of SW that I've watched, and despite my explanations he is very confused about where we are in the time line. He is puzzled as to why there are so many Imperials flying their ships around if Luke and Leia and Han won the war, and he asked a couple of times about the New Republic, "They're the good guys?" and "Leia is in charge of this?" and "So where is Luke during all this--just hanging out with the ant robots?"

And all I can say is, as the caveats die on my lips, "Well...yeah."

It threw me for a loop too, more than I wanted to admit. Although I didn't really mind the Dr. Pershing side trip because I know it will pay off down the road somewhere, I really wanted to get pack to the pew pew, the cute green puppet baby, and the mythosaur rising up out of some magic waters. That part is fun. I don't want to think about the depressing state of the New Republic government that makes we wonder all over again why the heroes of the OT even bothered.