SPOILER The Mandalorian S3E4 – Chapter 20: The Foundling

I doubt you would be yearning for an arc if it was an actor we'd never seen before and didn't have the kind of history Best has though.

 

Full disclosure: I do not want JarJar Binks to ever appear in ANY SW story, anywhere, anytime, ever. The theory here does make sense, and, honestly, I trust that Jon & Dave would handle it better than anyone. That being said, my detest for the CHARACTER never had anything to do with Best. I also don't feel like 'redemption' is the best word, although I totally get what you're saying.

It is, however, fan service, but absolutely done the right way. Not a thing wrong with a little proper fan service every now and then. I don't think that the decision was made to give Best the role simply to make a point. That point was made, however, and the man deserved it. This could be a great character, and why not Best? I think we surely will get more of him, although it may be another year or more to get the continuation and find out where they jumped to. There is more of that story to tell.

I myself did not know of Kelleran Beq. Ahmed Best was very familiar to me, and I knew there was something significant about that face, but I didn't fully connect until the credits. That's when I got a little misty and fist-pumped the air in support of him. That being said, I completely agree with @Darth Derringer that the JarJar story is not needed, and I just don't see an actual cameo happening. Drop his name, okey-day, be done with it. I will say that I would LOVE it if Kelleran is still somewhere out there, or even just maybe that he is.

Cynical much? I can say that absolutely I have had a head canon since Grogu's first flashback, that whoever rescued him could and should have a full story arc, becoming a recurring character in the Mandoverse.

In all seriousness, how is it any different to denigrate or dismiss a character based on the actor, than it is to ridicule and harass an actor based on a character they portrayed?
By all reports, Ahmed Best is a talented artist, an outstanding man, was beloved by all his co-stars, endured mental and emotional torture by some "fans" and yet he has remained loyal and supportive of the franchise. From what we know so far, Kelleran Beq is an upstanding Jedi Master who taught Padawans and risked his life to save the lives of others.

Maybe we should give these guys a chance instead of generalizing them after 5 minutes of screen time.

 

No. You did ask what the point was of casting Best and not giving that Jedi an arc. Implying that the casting made the character simply fan service. Which doesn't make sense.

Several Jedi "rescued" Grogu in that scene. Most died. Kalleran was just the one who got him to the landing pad. What if he died protecting the Nubian ship as it took off?

 

I would argue that ANYBODY who was cast to be the Jedi who got Grogu out of the Academy and onto the landing pad was going to become 'a big deal' to the legions of fans of the show.

That's like saying Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings was 'just' the one who saved Frodo from Shelob the giant spider in Mordor.

Since the story was 'to be continued...' it's always a possibility. Whatever happens, Grogu somehow gets separated from his Jedi rescuers and lost. That should be interesting to watch (whether we get it this season or later.)

 

It's nothing like that. Frodo and Sam travelled Middle Earth together for months, years maybe. Before being temporarily split up on the stairs at Cirith Ungol.

 

No, sir. IF I had said those words, that's definitely NOT what I was implying. By the way, I'm leading the charge for us true fans to reclaim the term "fan service". It's such a silly misuse of what should be a positive thing.

Bingo!...

...Bango!...

...Boingo!!

Sorry, mate, I was gonna respond to this, but I eyerolled so hard, I have a severe headache and need to go lie down in a dark room.

 

Well the poster to whom I replied to, which you took exception to, certainly did imply by calling it "Ahmed Best's character" "fan service". Since you invoked cynicism on my part regarding the reply, you can forgive me for mistakenly thinking you were owning the point that the other poster made. The post did definitely imply that Ahmed Best appearing in the role demands an arc or else it is simply fan service. So the correlation between the actor and fan service IS there and I think I'm entitled to point out that fan service, which I also think is an abused term, is not appropriately applied here. And that's not being cynical about Best. That's just a proportionate reaction to the depth of the character's contribution to the story as depicted so far.

 

The term 'fan service' is used A LOT (and often NOT in a positive way) when describing The Mandalorian. I really don't get it. As @MBWilson and @Martoto have both said, it's a positive sign the show is connecting with its audience.

If something gets 'thrown into a show' to make viewers giddy, it's going to have the exact opposite effect if it doesn't make sense for the story that's being told. I would argue that in the case of S2's appearances of Ahsoka, Boba Fett, and Luke Skywalker, their appearances all made perfect sense.

In the case of Ahmed Best's appearance in this past episode, we all knew somebody saved Grogu, the only question was who. If you want to talk pandering 'fan service' that doesn't feel right, you might have had a point if the kid had been saved from out of nowhere by Yoda or Mace Windu. But in this case, it was one of the Jedi teachers. Not only was the character -- named Kelleran Beq -- cool-looking, he was played by Ahmed Best who has a history with Star Wars. But -- come on, folks -- his appearance was no where in the same category (totally different character, totally different look) than we got with Mark Hamill's surprise appearance last season.

 

I've always interpreted the negative use of "fan service" as shameless use of things to invoke sentimental feelings to win over viewers. C3PO in The Phantom Menace, or Darth Maul in Solo, for example. It's spread to calling any callback or reference is dismissed by some faction as fan service. Really, fan service can be just a wink and a nod to the more hardcore fans. Prime example would be the camtono. I'm positive that if I asked ten friends and family, some which are SW Fans, maybe one would know where that came from. That was totally Jon Favreau looking me right in my face and winking. Yet it was completely sensible and fit right into the world.

Yes, there is a difference because Luke is established and well-known and Kelleran not so much. Yes, we knew someone had to have rescued Grogu, just like we knew someone would show up to train him. I don't think ANY other character could, or will have the same impact, ever. Mace Windu, Barris Offee, Jocasta Nu, all those theories as being Grogu's savior, those would have been more "fan service". I'm holding strong on my theory that Kelleran Beq was created for this purpose, and the gameshow was a secondary entity. Now, was the character created specifically for Ahmed Best? Who cares?! That's waaay above my pay grade. Moff Gideon was written specifically for Giancarlo Esposito. The behind the scenes of it all is just that- behind the scenes. It's fun trivia, and the overall story of Ahmed's history in the universe is now very interesting and uplifting. I trust the creators to keep those things separated and treat both character and actor with the deserved respect.

 

So glad Ahmed came back as Kelleran Beq, he deserved more than being a gameshow jedi master. Also glad Grogu had a proper scene with Armourer revealing his Order 66 survival as well as his ascension as ''Foundling Grogu'' so cute when she said that & his crest upgrade, that is going to be a funko find for the future.

 

So did Grogu spend some of last 30 years with Gunguns?

 

Wow. Once again, Star Wars has not failed to pull a surprise on me. Ahmed Best has returned. It wouldn't have surprised me much to get a Jar Jar reappearance someday. But I would have never expected to see Ahmed playing a new character, let alone a Jedi! (Even though it turns out Kelleran Beq previously debuted in Jedi Temple Challenge, but I didn't know about that before.)

Either way, I'm happy for Ahmed. He deserves it. And I'm excited to see more of his character. Despite how much I loved the Clone Wars series itself, I'm usually fairly lukewarm when it comes to Clone Wars flashbacks from later-era media. But in this case, I'm looking forward to seeing Kelleran Beq again. Even if it only ends up being one more episode, but I still wanna see the rest of his awesome heroics in getting Grogu to safety.

 

Great message from this guy

 

I noticed something about the flashbacks, put it here and telle me what you think.

Grogu had his flashback in this chapter, as the Armorer is forging its medal.
Go back to S1E1 : the very first flashback from Din Djarrin occurs precisely when he brings the beskar plate to the Armorer, and she's forging his shoulder-protection.

Is that just a poetic rhyme ? Or does the forge - or, actually, the forging - is something that provokes the flashbacks (and why) ?

 

Nice catch, @daRinze!

In both cases, Din and Grogu reexperience escaping from a major trauma in their young lives -- one that that led them to become Mandalorian Foundlings.

 

You could take from it that both Din and Grogu were molded into who they are by those moments more than anything.

 

Love this discussion! I've seen more than one person comment about how the Forge serves like Boba Fett's bacta tank with flashbacks, except here, they fit into the story.

I also kinda like the idea that The Forge, or the process of molding the Beskar has some sort of magical psychic power.

When the Armorer was forging Bo's replacement pauldron, I was so much hoping for a flashback.

Well put! THAT is poetry.

And now, after Chapter 21, it does seem as though The Forge is a very important part of their culture and we will likely get more on that.