Star Wars Mando season 3

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair, they pretty much did that in the first two seasons, showing that other Mandalorians don't adhere to this custom and having Din compromise it for the sake of his ward, while also having his faction be decimated down to a handful of members.

None of that should have interfered with them working out the logic of how the covert works.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought the appeal of the Mandalorians, as far back as when kids had to save up proofs of purchase to get their Boba Fett action figure by mail (with the non-firing rocket pack, alas!), was that they were stone cold killers.

But the Disney+ series seem weirdly determined to undercut that. It's one thing to show Djin not being infallible -- the series would get pretty boring if he was a perfect warrior 24/7 -- but between Boba Fett wanting to walk around without his helmet on and get jumped by every petty thug on Tattooine and the Mandalorian covert acting like a bunch of raw recruits who seem to be flummoxed by everything other than Mean Girling Djin, it seems like the folks in charge of Star Wars think their main appeal is their helmets.

Heck, if I were in charge of Star Wars, I'd probably have a summit where we sat down and did the one thing I think JJ did undeniably right before TFA and write down all the stuff that makes Star Wars awesome, which he used to remix all the contents for that movie. But I'd drill down and talk about what the essential fun elements are for everything -- What makes a wookiee cool? What's awesome about hyperspace? What is the appeal of Stormtroopers? -- and put fences up around those, so we don't end up with how the broader Mandalorian community has been portrayed in this season and in Boba Fett. (For crying out loud, how is that we've never seen Boba Fett disintegrate anyone, when Darth Vader of all people had to say "bro, take it easy with all the disintegrations" in TESB?)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There was a plan. In fact there were two; one for each director.

I think if JJ had written down what happens in Episode 9, The Last Jedi would not have zigged as hard as it did. Or maybe he wrote it down and hid his trilogy bible in his mystery box, in which case, shame on him.

 

[Ryujin]

None of that should have interfered with them working out the logic of how the covert works.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought the appeal of the Mandalorians, as far back as when kids had to save up proofs of purchase to get their Boba Fett action figure by mail (with the non-firing rocket pack, alas!), was that they were stone cold killers.

But the Disney+ series seem weirdly determined to undercut that. It's one thing to show Djin not being infallible -- the series would get pretty boring if he was a perfect warrior 24/7 -- but between Boba Fett wanting to walk around without his helmet on and get jumped by every petty thug on Tattooine and the Mandalorian covert acting like a bunch of raw recruits who seem to be flummoxed by everything other than Mean Girling Djin, it seems like the folks in charge of Star Wars think their main appeal is their helmets.

Heck, if I were in charge of Star Wars, I'd probably have a summit where we sat down and did the one thing I think JJ did undeniably right before TFA and write down all the stuff that makes Star Wars awesome, which he used to remix all the contents for that movie. But I'd drill down and talk about what the essential fun elements are for everything -- What makes a wookiee cool? What's awesome about hyperspace? What is the appeal of Stormtroopers? -- and put fences up around those, so we don't end up with how the broader Mandalorian community has been portrayed in this season and in Boba Fett. (For crying out loud, how is that we've never seen Boba Fett disintegrate anyone, when Darth Vader of all people had to say "bro, take it easy with all the disintegrations" in TESB?)

I think that there could have been a very simple and somewhat logical way to handle the helmet thing: Just say that no one who doesn't follow The Way is worthy of seeing a cult Mandalorian's face. It would play very much like the ST:TNG episode featuring the Talarians. They wear gloves when not solely amongst their own kind, so as not to be soiled by alien contact. it's still clumsy outside of a fastness, by somewhat more believable.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think that there could have been a very simple and somewhat logical way to handle the helmet thing: Just say that no one who doesn't follow The Way is worthy of seeing a cult Mandalorian's face. It would play very much like the ST:TNG episode featuring the Talarians. They wear gloves when not solely amongst their own kind, so as not to be soiled by alien contact. it's still clumsy outside of a fastness, by somewhat more believable.

100%

"Have you taken off your helmet in front of outsiders" would have been much better, both logically and for the benefit of the show.

 

[Ryujin]

100%

"Have you taken off your helmet in front of outsiders" would have been much better, both logically and for the benefit of the show.

They could even have said that Foundlings were not yet Mandalorian, and so couldn't see their faces. That way the CGI fight scenes would have been no more difficult.

 

[BASHMAN]

Now I think they have tapped the well dry, and the helmet taboo is hindering the show more than it helps it, which is why I hope Bo-Katan leads them away from it.

Speaking of Bo-Katan leading... One other thing I thought of. The darksaber only "counts" if you win it in combat.

Din was defeated by that spider-creature on Mandalore. Bo took the darksaber from the spider-creature and killed it, rescuing Din.

Bo is now the rightful owner of the darksaber, by creed.

 

[pukunui]

One thing that boggles me about the campfire eating scene is this: did no one take any meal breaks between when Bo joined the cult and that scene? Why was that the first time Bo was finding out how the cultists eat?

Maybe that’s just how they eat when they’re out in the open. Maybe they don’t do it that way inside the cave. Or maybe they all just eat in the privacy of their own quarters so communal eating (or lack thereof) doesn’t ever come up.

 

[MarkB]

None of that should have interfered with them working out the logic of how the covert works.

I think they didn't think they'd need to - that they were going to reduce them to a mere remnant that would have only minor impact on the plot going forward. So they happily established their hard-and-fast rule, no taking off the helmet in front of anyone at all.

But sometime between seasons 2 and 2.5, they began to pivot back to them, maybe because of fan reactions to the Armourer, first bringing her back in The Book of Din Djarin, then doubling down with the massively-expanded population of the cult in season 3. Maybe they're taking this in a useful direction, but for now the pivot has felt rather awkward.

 

[pukunui]

I am hopeful that they are heading in a direction where Bo learns some useful stuff about her culture without going full cultist, and in turn she teaches the cultists how to fight like an organised unit so they can not only defend Nevarro from pirates but also retake (and ultimately defend) Mandalore – and as part of that, she’ll teach them that it’s OK to take off your helmet and eat together and stuff.

 

[Stalker0]

One thing that boggles me about the campfire eating scene is this: did no one take any meal breaks between when Bo joined the cult and that scene? Why was that the first time Bo was finding out how the cultists eat?

That's a common narrative conceit used in many many many tv shows and movies. Just like someone explains something as they finish the journey, when realistically they had hours on the road to talk about those things. Its a narrative device to catch the audience up on things.

 

[pukunui]

That's a common narrative conceit used in many many many tv shows and movies. Just like someone explains something as they finish the journey, when realistically they had hours on the road to talk about those things. Its a narrative device to catch the audience up on things.

Yeah, but it's kind of a stupid narrative device. They could have done the eating scene separately and then not had them camp out at the bottom of the peak, and it would have made a lot more sense narratively.

 

[Hussar]

Are people seriously weirded out by a cult having weird stuff like always wearing helmets? That's where you draw the line? There are lots and lots of real world cults that a FAR weirder than this.

 

[Zaukrie]

Are people seriously weirded out by a cult having weird stuff like always wearing helmets? That's where you draw the line? There are lots and lots of real world cults that a FAR weirder than this.

We aren't talking about that ... We are taking about this. And it's stupid, regardless if there is other stupid stuff out there. More than one thing can be stupid......

 

[Hussar]

We aren't talking about that ... We are taking about this. And it's stupid, regardless if there is other stupid stuff out there. More than one thing can be stupid......

Fair enough I suppose. The cult is stupid. Ok. I mean they are in part to blame for the destruction of Amanda lore according to Bo-Katan. Why the presumption that the cult is a good thing? Like, at all?

I’ve always just presumed that the cult was inept and self destructive.

 

[trappedslider]

destruction of Amanda lore according to Bo-Katan.

I know it's autocorrect but...my gods what did she do to be destroyed?

 

[Maxperson]

Speaking of Bo-Katan leading... One other thing I thought of. The darksaber only "counts" if you win it in combat.

Din was defeated by that spider-creature on Mandalore. Bo took the darksaber from the spider-creature and killed it, rescuing Din.

Bo is now the rightful owner of the darksaber, by creed.

I don't think that counts. The spider thing didn't take it from him and just beating someone that has it probably doesn't count.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think the "rightful owner" thing has to be put in the category of "some people believe it", rather than "objectively true". The darksabre does have a mystical connection to the Force giving a seeming of sentience, but what it seems to care about is what the wielder believes in themselves.

 

[MarkB]

I think the "rightful owner" thing has to be put in the category of "some people believe it", rather than "objectively true". The darksabre does have a mystical connection to the Force giving a seeming of sentience, but what it seems to care about is what the wielder believes in themselves.

Yeah, what qualifies as winning it in battle will be up to the Mandalorians to determine. Do you have to just defeat the blade's current owner, or do you need to defeat them while they're actually wielding it? Does it have to be melee combat, or could you take them out with a blaster? A thermal detonator? A star destroyer?

 

[trappedslider]

 

[pukunui]

Episode 5 tonight. I wonder what will happen. Have to wait till after D&D to find out.