SPOILER The Mandalorian S3E3 Chapter 19- The Convert

Just like Palpatine's cohorts in the Senate undermined the Republic in order to help him become Chancellor and remain in power thereafter. It's very likely that former imperials where tasked to undermine the New Republic.

Kane was the goose that laid golden eggs for the Amnesty program. Proving herself as a model convert by identifying and betraying some unrepentant or recalcitrant former imp fodder who were of no further use to the remnant forces outside the NR. And being in a perfect position of trust to chaperone reformed yet harmless POWs in order to validate the Amnesty program. But also to intercept and either exploit, corrupt or neutralise assets like Pershing. Using the instrument of reconciliation against the new Republic's attempts at reconstruction and appeasement.

This has happened in real life where "turned" soviet agents supplied seemingly vital intelligence, with the assistance of a mole in the intelligence service, while also being a channel for intelligence going the other way and for intercepting genuine defectors. (See Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for a fictional depiction of this process).

Kane is telling a half truth about the NR trying its best and needing help that she wants to give them. But not in the idealistic way that Pershing or her NR employers infer.

I'm pretty sure she definitely wants the Empire back and this is her deep covert mission to achieve this while the NR are blinded by the results she's helping the amnesty program achieve in rehabilitating the good apples, and rooting out seemingly rotten ones that she's set up.

As the quote from Tinker Tailor goes, "Everything the Circus (British Intelligence) thinks is gold is s*** served up from Moscow."

And the reason this was allowed to happen? Political interference. The powers that be felt the benefits were so great that they couldn't see that it was too good to be true and preferred it to being in the dark and having to do things the hard way.

 

What could be an even better version, or another perspective, Kane is entirely in control of the wheel, and she can land safely regardless. She has hedged her bets. Obviously the Amnesty Program and New Republic trust her enough, and now that she has "foiled Pershing's plans" her value and trust will no doubt go up. If the NR is able to snuff out any dissident Imperial agenda, she will be thought of as key to that success.
However, if the Imperials are able to stage some sort of breakout or this is the early stages of the First Order, then she will likely be considered a key factor of that. If she is solely motivated by self-preservation, she can be on the winning side either way.

My big problem, if she is fully converted to the NR, then she really pushed Pershing into doing what he did, and also, she knew that he was sincere about simply wanting to do good for the NR. In no way was he interested in going back to subvert the NR and be loyal to the Empire. She manipulated him. Either for the purpose of increasing her own credibility, or for another more sinister reason. There is just so much about their interactions that could go either way...

 

I don't buy that Kane is so zealously converted that age would feel the need to surreptitiously exceed the setting on the "mind flayer" with Pershing. That doesn't really make sense. And why hide the true extent of her newfound commitment for the NR from Pershing? Why not try to have it rub off on him? Rather than tempt him with an illicit plan ostensibly to equip him for expressing his enthusiasm for helping the NR in the way he knows best.

 

I'm 100% on Kane being an Empire Baddie pretending to be a 'convert'. As @Martoto said, her actions don't make any sense otherwise.

The fact that she's valued by the Amnesty Program exposes the NR's naivete (which will lead to their eventual downfall). They want so very much for their program to be successful in 'turning around' the Empire's authoritarian wack-jobs, that Kane gives them what they want. She's able to play the program's officials like a fiddle.

I wouldn't be surprised if their 'star pupil' offers to help convert Moth Gideon.

 

There has to be one baddie per season.. so either is someone within the mandalorians, like Bo-Katan.. or Kane.
Still not sure though what she wants.. I mean season 1 and 2 was about Grogu and this one clearly is about the mandalorians.. so will Kane somehow be after the mandos?

 

Her expression after Pershing told her he wanted to go get the equipment is really what's keeping me from thinking she's totally in for the empire. Even after he's gone, she doesn't do a villain smile or smirk, she looked sad or disappointed. It's that one thing that's throwing me off. Did she manipulate him, yes, but he doesn't have to bite. Very clearly, he knew the rules and that he was breaking them. He then rode the subway illegally and tried to evade arrest. From the POV of someone whose job is weeding out those who aren't committed to the program, he was a bad apple. Even if his intentions were good, he wanted to work on something that was declared illegal, according to that droid.

 

But he wouldn't otherwise have gone along with it if she hadn't tempted him with illicitly gained biscuits and encouragemed his ambition to "help the New Republic". That's even worse than entrapment.

Definitely wouldn't have thought to do it himself.

 

You're not wrong in any of this. BUT, there are clues to the other side as well. If this season has taught us anything so far, it's not to get hung up on expectations. This arc is secondary as to the focus, but it is parallel to Bo-Katan's. So are they both being deceptive? Kane does also have a third possibility, that she is working both sides and biding her time to see which side pays off better for her.

That's why I'm not sold on her being loyal to Gideon. If she is, then the best place for her would be right where she is. Somebody "more than a warlord" is obviously after the Mandos, since they attacked Kalevala, and I think that is Gideon. He would know where to find Bo-Katan. So, if she's working for him, she would just do his bidding without any personal vendetta against the Mandalorians.

As far as conflict within the Mandalorians, I think they are past that beyond little power struggles within. Mandos are well known for in-fighting, but I think that for the most part they will act as a unified force against an outside enemy. For now, at least.

Yep. Her expression also could have been a reaction to his goody-two-shoes attitude about wanting to help the NR if she were hoping to radicalize him. Maybe that's why she betrayed him. She saw that he could not be turned back to the Empire's side, so she used him to boost her trust and status within the Amnesty Program. She found a way to use him for whatever purpose she could.

 

THIS!!! ^^^^

If Pershing couldn't be turned, he was a threat given Gideon's hopes to bring back Palp. Kane killed two birds with one stone: Pershing got his brain fried and she got extra brownie points with the Amnesty Program's muckidy-mucks.

 

I said so at the time that one of the achievements of this chapter is that it kept you guessing who would betray who. Is Pershing really converting. Maybe he just preferred it when he was doing what he does best and doesn't care if it's for NR or whoever. And if the NR aren't interested then he'll gladly go on the lam and scurry back to Gideon. Maybe Kane, who we knew little about, was grateful to not just be thrown in jail and persecuted. Maybe she naively thought that helping Pershing was the right thing to do. Maybe she was now loyal to the NR, but old habits die hard.

But after it all played out, and we saw Kane's mask only really slip as she was cranking up the flayer on Pershing, there's been no doubt in my mind she's not reformed at all.

 

Yep, THIS! ^^^^

I agree that Kane was played in one of those swarmy "smiling" ways that could've left viewers wondering about her motives all the way up to, in Martoto's words: "cranking up the flayer."

We still don't know what her end game is. But my money is on her playing a role in Gideon's escape.

 

Another thing we are overlooking-
We do not know exactly what a mind flayer, excuse me, a 602 mitigator, does to a person. Is it like hypnosis, or more like a lobotomy? Is Pershing just not going to remember recent events, or does he now have to be sent back to the Institute for reprogramming?

 

Yeah I've been seeing tick tok videos of those attempting to make them, it all started with that bread Rey made in The Force Awakens & now food has become part of the franchise.

 

Another great episode. Definitely my favourite so far (seen up to Ep. 4). The part with Pershing and Kane was the highlight of the first half of the season for me. The build-up to Pershing trying to retrieve his mobile lab was suspenseful, with a nice shocking twist at the end. Kane's presence seemed ominous from the get-go, but somehow I still didn't expect what was coming. If nothing else, I'm just happy we finally get to learn about the New Republic, even if it doesn't cast them in a particularly positive light.

Aside from that, I like how, in spite of her dark part and everything she's done, there is absolution for Bo-Katan, that she still has hope at finding a new direction and purpose. Then again, we'll see how the rest of the season plays out.

Speaking of which, I'm curious who the Big Bad of this season will be. Will it be Gideon? Thrawn? Both of them? And/or, was it someone else entirely who sent that TIE force to attack Bo-Katan's castle?

 

Now in Mandalorian S3E3 we see Bo-Katan delivering on the expectations of the Armorer and bringing home the Mando Fleet and many warriors. She also finally gets the Darksaber back after some very eloquent reasoning by Dinn Jarin. Impressive. I was wondering how that would happen and if it would involve a tragedy. It didn't. Mandos also go into battle against nature, so the struggle to save Dinn from his mishap in the Living Waters on Mandalore is a legitimate struggle that earns her the Darksaber. Good stuff.

On the way there, we learn an interesting tidbit about the life of droids: droid bars. Since 'their kind aren't allowed in here' (words of Wuhrer from the Mos Eisley Cantina), they have their own spot. There are enough independent droids to set up places like that and I would definitely let my droid hang out in there. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall. Also interesting to see Christopher Lloyd turn up.

 

Loved the world building in this episode, especially Lloyd's character. It makes sense that Separatists would not only still be around, but would continue to hold a grudge.

 

Agreed. It was also interesting seeing a flourishing planet in the outer rim post emperor. And a seemingly successful "graduate" from the amnesty program.

On the topic of KS though. I'm enjoying the screen time she's been given this season. The way she performed the hesitation and slight shame at the end of the last episode when the armorer made her take her helmet off was top shelf. Really great to see her get to bring Bo to life again and further her journey wherever that takes us.