SPOILER The Mandalorian S3E7 Chapter 23- The Spies

Not even sure where to start, Still processing that one. Overall I think I really enjoyed it

Amazing action sequences throughout,
I liked the deep plunge into what's been going on with the empire this season...
Not sure how I feel about IG-12...
Lots of possibilities for the finale! I'm excited to see how they wrap this up

 

I believe it was @Darth Derringer that predicted that Moff Gideon would don an all Black Mandalorain / Vader-like suit... an astute prediction.

 

It was the episode that made the long (and sometimes meh) journey through the previous six episodes worth it. A great payoff episode.

 

There was just a minute between the creation of both threads, so just unfortunate timing. I merged them.

 

Exactly as @Madmartigan said in the OP.
Hell yeah!

Cool looking stuff aside, the revelation that Gideon has a base on Mandalore all this time!
I was expecting his fleet to show up and ambush the Mandalorians in the atmosphere and when the Imperial/Mandalorian troops came in, I expected the Imperials show up then... but this was unexpected. I wouldn't call it a plot twist, but a nice surprise indeed!

Another thing, I was looking forward to see Gideon in Mandalorian armor since it was reported by Making Star Wars and one of the reasons why I was a bit nervous about complete absence of Gideon in the Season so far.
It did deliver, even tho I am still a bit tired from the every time stronger villain of the season formula, but they pulled it off! And Gideon's reasoning behind it was awesome.

Cool stuff:
- Brendol Hux.
- Palleon
- Praetorian Guards being a mix of the ROTJ/TLJ.
- Gideon not being a Mandalorian wannabe but a multicultural fascist who reaps the benefits of different cultures, while tossing aside their values.
- Gideon's hubris... The man was a weak spot of dark trooper project, not with Gideon inside. Plus beskar.

Seeing the shadow council was awesome, what caught me by surprise is, that the narrative shifted a bit. I asumed that Hux left for Unknown Regions with others and transformed and built up the remnants as First Order, isolated from the Imperial Remnant we see in Mandalorian.
With him being quite clear about his intentions leading to the whole ST plot, it looks like he is secretly in touch with Palpatine.
I asume that we are long past the battle over Jakku. Hux cooperating with the remnants was surprising as well.

I must say that even tho the season lost the drive for me in the last two episodes a bit, the revelations and Gideon paid off in the end
and I can say that I am satisfied already. I can wait for the conclusion in peace next week and I am super hyped for Ahsoka.

 

I am not sure, if such a question would deserve separate thread, but what do you guys think?
With all the revelations and Thrawn coming in next plus Hux and Palleon to have huge resources at their disposal,
will Moff Gideon die in this season finale?

I believe that all his trump cards are on the table since he showed up in Season 1 and this is probably his last chance to shine, before becoming someones lap dog or might get punished for his failure...
I believe that the Mandalorians will succeed in the end.
I also wonder, if there will be some cliffhanger/revelation to set up the next season, as we know that there will be fourth one and Favreau and Filoni stating, that there will be connections in the New Republic era, but the shows are supposed to be standalone and not like Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett.
I also saw some rumors that Boba Fett might show up in the finale, but there was nothing so far, that might lead to his appearance.
Even tho I wonder, how is his crime boss schtick going on nowadays and how is Cobb Vanth.

 

That's all major leaks (I believe) for Mando s3 revealed:
--Gideon in a black samurai suit with a horned mando helmet;
--Pretorean guards from TLJ;
--Grogu riding IG-11 like a mecha suit;


There are leakers out there who definitely possess true sources.

Also, Pre Vizla probably ain't dead. Favreau will want to come back, I am sure. (If not, they would have decapitated him, for sure)

 

Also cool to see Brian Gleeson playing Armitage Hux (=keep it in the family) and Xander Berkeley as Captain Pellaeon! Things are being set up!

It's gonna be so artistically done...

 

Brendol Hux. Armitage is his son and played by Domhnall Gleeson

 

Yes, of course; Brendol! Got my wires crossed there for a bit

 

Indeed. As the sequence began, I wondered "why are there Empire-style hallways on the way to the forge? That's a bit lame and derivative..." And then it is revealed that Gideon has made it his evil lair! I was fooled and that was cool

 

Collecting my reactions live as I have them:

-Neat intro, but I kinda wish it hadn't been spoiled for me.

-Weird of the fleet to fly right over Karga's city. That seems quite intimidating, a bit fashy.

-Oh god, Babu Frik made a Gundam for Grogu

-Did they not get Taika back, and are just making as much as they can out of the lines he already recorded? I'm thinking the answer might be "yes", lol (I'm sure it's just a joke, though).

-I bet the rumors of Mandalore being "poisoned" or "cursed" (as well as Mandalore's own martial reputation) dissuaded any attempts of Rebels establishing a base there, because it sounds like it could've been an excellent place to hide, and within decent striking distance of the core worlds, too.

- mandalore survivors, interesting. i like how rough they look. kinda reminds me of Rex's walker situation on that Dune-esque planet

- I know a lot has been made of how this season seems to put Din and Grogu on the backburner for Bo, but their interactions here made me realize something... Bo is, culturally at least, a lot more relatable. She talks like an actual person, has her helmet off, etc. Meanwhile, Din speaks like a barbarian in some fantasy universe, has his helmet on, seems fully indoctrinated again. I still think that he might be "saved" from the Children of the Watch still, but if so the show is being interestingly understated about how dark his turn has been lately.

- dang it guys, can you stop punching each other for like one day? (cool live action depiction of a vibroblade though, we don't get that often enough)

- ugh, they got me. giving grogu one of those tiktok inspired dog speech buttons actually just made him even more adorable

- Hear me out... Mandalorians just need to stay on Nevarro. They've got a good thing going there. They need to stop trying to live on scary worlds where giant kaiju things are trying to eat them.

- once again, getting real strong Moria vibes from Mandalore

- new trooper designs are cool, but it's interesting how much Gideon has fetishized Mandalorian culture. it's like if Kallus had a much weirder complex with the Lasat, outside just guilt.

- it does kinda feel like we've come full circle, and Star Wars is now inspired by the spoof stormtroopers in the Community paintball episode


- oh my, the Empire's made itself at home

- din, is that flamethrower gonna work against beskar?

- yeah, gideon wants to be a mandalorian so bad. Maybe they can just let him join the cult?

- Oh neat, they're going with the multiple iterations of increasingly scary Dark Troopers. That's pretty cool, actually.

- aw dang, that fleet was kinda cool. don't blow it up.

ugh, I have to go, will finish the last few minutes later

 

From a behind-the-scenes, scriptwriting perspective, Season 3 has been an interesting one to watch develop. I continue to enjoy the show but Season 3 has a much different vibe than the first two. The first three episodes of Season 1 were epic and got the show off to a thrilling start. Then Season 2 found its groove and busted out some major league viewership numbers. For most series creators, finding that 'sweet spot' would've resulted in it being milked with 'more of the same' for three or four more seasons. But Favreau decided to use this season to push the show in a dramatically new direction and lead the show down a path that will eventually lead to his buddy, Dave's, feature film.

While that's all well and good, it seems to me that Favreau had some major 'heavy lifting' to do as a writer to make the course-changes necessary from the ending of Season 2 to where we are now (Chapter 23: The Spies.) To make this shift, Favreau had to:

• Turn Bo Katan from a Season 3 threat into a friend. This meant Favreau first had to change the Bo that we saw at the end of Season 2. We learned Bo's fleet had deserted her because she didn't have the Lightsaber anymore. It sort of stretched credibility a bit because she had followers (sans darksaber) last season leading to capture of an Empire cruiser in Mando Season 2. But I suppose that's a minor point. We also had to buy that she really didn't care about the dark saber anymore. Lastly, Jon had to come up with a way to get Din and Bo together on Mandalore (which I thought he handled beautifully and (IMO) the two's team-up has been cool.)
• Change The Armorer's world view. This meant Favreau had to take a rigid, 'by the creed' cult leader who despised Bo Katan and transform her into a "We are all Mandalorians First" statesman. To me, that transition wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. But for an action-adventure show, I realize I'm being nit-picky.
• Change the show's 'flow' from the first two seasons. Full disclosure, I absolutely loved Season 2. In my opinion, it ranks right up there as one of the best seasons of any TV show ever. Each episode was a mini-movie with a different look, a different tone, and a different vibe, yet they were all tied together by Din's quest to find a Jedi trainer for little Grogu. Given the show's new direction this season, Favreau had to depart from the comfortable format he'd created and give us one over-arching story with little 'Perils of Pauline' interludes stuck in. Personally, I feel it has lacked the tightness of S1&2 because it lacked the overall quest element that existed in the first two seasons. But given the major shift in the storyline this season, its absence was understandable.

No one will convince me that Season 3 is what Jon originally envisioned for Din and Grogu. Frankly, I think he's a victim of his show's stunning success. It would be one thing if his only charge was to sustain a hit TV show. But given what happened to the STs, Favreau found he had the weight of reenergizing the entire fanchise resting on his shoulders. That explains why the show has had to expand to incorporate the Dave Filoniverse. This is not meant to criticize, but simply explain why Season 3 is what it is. It's all well and good and will no doubt lead to more thrilling adventures down the road (I'm super-pumped for the Ahsoka series.) But there's a part of me that would've liked to have seen a continuation of the more intimate and personal story Favreau originally set out to tell.