The Mandalorian - Chapter Sixteen - The Rescue

ctg

weaver of the unseen
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The Mandalorian and his allies attempt a daring rescue.
 
I absolute loved seeing Fett hunting down the Imperial shuttle holding the doctor. Millenium Falcon had hard time escaping it, so the shuttle crew had no choice on avoiding the Slave I. They were effed, and to be honest, going to light speed was their only option, before they got blasted with the ion cannons.

Another thing is that after the boarding, the Imperial pilot confirmed that the Doctor is actually a specialised cloner, just like we've always assumed. Thing is, however, cloning is cloning, and it is not genetical engineering. It is not creating a totally new thing from some bits and pieces that the Imperial are gathering from different sources. Frankly, I'd assume the step from yodaling to Emperor is freaking difficult to achieve, even if the Child is a wonder.

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"You're a disgrace to your armour," Bo-Katan.

Man, I laughed out loud so hard. The princess is no different to Mando and for her knowing the story, even calling Fett's daddy as "The Donor" is rubbing against the code. She's not in power, and yet she acts like she is and everything should bend to her will.

Mr Fett however is doing his business and he has really grown over the years. Princess Bo-Katan however has grown bitter, and there's some things that I could put down for her being a matriarch, even though I have never really witness anyone of them being that way.

What she did wrong was to claim straight away that the Black Sabre belongs to her, even though it belongs to one that wields it. That is the Way and the Tradition, and Mando definitely should know that. But he doesn't and Bo-Katan uses him as a puppet.

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That is an actual model and it's shot in the traditional way instead of using CGI. Frankly it is something that Disney has in their hands, but I never thought that the IML model shop was so heavily involved in this production.

What I don't get is the Fett's play, because he should have continued attack runs instead of jumping to the hyperspace. More chaos is better. The cruiser should be able to take some bounding. Another thing is the calls.

We know that Grand Admiral Thrawn is behind all of things, and he could possibly sent in aid, while they were having a fight. So in all sense Fett should have stuck around, doing donuts and supplying a combat patrol on the operation instead of jumping away.

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I was glad that the doctor explained that they are now fully robots and the last phase got rid of the human pilots. Thing is they are a formidable force. Also my theory about them wearing Beskar was right, because all Mando's blasts did nothing.

The only thing that worked against them was the beskar spear and possibly a light sabre ... and a high-rate-of-fire blaster. Why the last one?

If you look into the minigun or in any machinegun that has a high cyclic rate, the idea is that with a high rate of fire you will get that hit, and in the close quarter battles, getting a hit between the armour plates is a way to defeat the dark trooper. Getting many of them and you don't have to space the whole lot like Mando did.

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I am so glad that Moff explained the whole thing about the Dark Sabre to Mando, giving out the whole plot for power. He even added that Bo-Katan had somehow got that sabre, before Moff took it from her.

It's too bad that Mando only wanted the kid and not the power, which in my eyes makes him the ideal leader for the Mandalorian faction, because the power will not corrupt him.

Their fight was superb and it also proved that Moff has not been in Thrawn's combat school because he went in with anger and force, instead of using the skills and cunning. Then again I don't think he has faced many melee opponents. But Mando instead showed practice and superb skills, plus he had the reach advance through the spear.

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I got chills for seeing Luke's X-Wing, him fighting the dark troopers and besting them. What I don't get is that how he was able to cut through the Beskar plates when nothing else has worked on them. Is the really true that the light sabres can cut through anything?

I thought that the Beskar was developed, because the Mandalorians needed something to protect themselves against the power. I get that Force could crunch them, but for sabre to cut through the plates so easily, not so much.

What surprised me even more was the sensitivity. We know Luke is THE CHOSEN ONE. The one to fulfil the prophesy and ultimately he's Anakin's son. In all essence he's as close to the actual Force Beings as possible. And the same thing applies to Groku. So, for him to acknowledge that was a big deal.

I suspect that Groku's absence is to save him from the fight that Mando is going to bring to the Mandalore. It is good that we are not going to have to worry over him as Luke will protect him with all his might and power. In this way we can also be assured that he doesn't venture into the dark side or linger in the greyness at between the light and shadows.

If you watch the last scene, you will find answers to the Hutt problem. I hail the Overlord. Hail to Boba the Hutt!
 
Well, I was wrong. This show wasn't going to continue in an endless cycle, never achieving any goals, with a reset button every week. It actually did have a conclusion. Grogu was delivered to a real Jedi. I didn't expect that ending. 10/10 stars!
Luke did look good. Better than the young Leia at the end of Rogue One
He looked too real, except for one point when I thought it didn't look like him at all.
I suspect that Grogu's absence is to save him from the fight that Mando is going to bring to the Mandalore.
I wonder though, is that story going to be quite as exciting? I'll miss seeing Grogu! Can Seasons 3+ ever live up to the expectations of Season 2?
 
Great action but a sad ending to the season.
Mando and Grogu shouldn't be separated -- not even when his new guardian is none other than the personification of The Force Itself, Luke Skywalker. Watching Luke leave with Grogu was like watching Social Services take a child from its father. Yeah, Grogu needs guidance to develop his abilities. Yeah, Mando might be a bit guilty of child endangerment here and there, but can't Grogu spend days in Jedi School and nights with his adoptive dad?
Can the show survive if the relationship takes a back burner? Fans are not going to stand for that, and unhappy fans do not make for a long-running series. Just saying.
I loved hearing the sweet sounds of an expertly swung light saber as Luke sliced and diced his way though the Dark Troopers to come to the rescue.

What I don't get is that how he was able to cut through the Beskar plates when nothing else has worked on them. Is the really true that the light sabres can cut through anything?

I thought that the Beskar was developed, because the Mandalorians needed something to protect themselves against the power. I get that Force could crunch them, but for sabre to cut through the plates so easily, not so much.
I don't think the Dark Trooper droids were wearing Beskar. Their body plates stopped everything Mando threw at them except his trusty Beskar spear, which abruptly ended the fight. Even the Darksaber couldn't do any more than give the spear a brief red hot spot.
My guess is that the Dark Troopers were protected by some other sturdy metal. Maybe Valyrian Steel?
 
Yeah, I'll miss the little guy but life, and tv series, go on. Looking forward to what they do with season 3.
 
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The season finale confirmed my opinion that we have here a show full of unfulfilled potential. I believe Filoni like Lucas before him is a great ideas man, someone who's a real asset in brainstorming sessions but who cannot deliver a tight script. As for Favreau, I'm not sure what to think of him yet. But if the show is anything to judge him by, then he too is a fanboy who doesn't have much else to offer.

What grates me the most is the constant fan service in a show that in spite of all its pretences offers nothing new. There is no edge to this show. The story is safe, the plot is loose and unfocused. Visually (art direction + special effects, both practical and digital), it's perfect. It's one of those childhood sweets wrapped in colourful paper - its aspect, its smell and its taste pull at all the right strings and surround you in a safe blanket of warm memories, but behind it all is just a creamy sugar pill that's pretty bland.

I would lie if I said the show didn't provide its exciting moments. I've been a fan of all things Mandalorian since Boba Fett showed up in the Empire Strikes Back (in my case, nearly thirty years ago when I first watched the OT). He was the first character I could draw perfectly well from memory. I had all the action figures. I got my mythosaur skull tattoo as soon as I turned 18. That's how much of a fan I am. So seeing Boba come back to life and finally showcase his fighting skills (even though the original Expanded Universe had done it years before this show), seeing a squad of Mandalorian warriors board an Imperial ship, just watching those kickass pieces of armor moving on screen is a joy to me.

But behind the nice, colourful wrapper, what's actually there?

Poor fight choreography and a serious helping of plot armor, for one. There's zero sense of threat. Not once did I fear for any of the good guys' lives. Grogu is captured and spends presumably days in a holding cell even though Moff Gideon already 'got all he wanted from him'. So why on Hoth is he still alive, safely waiting for his rescuers in shackles? There's no valid reason in my mind, if Grogu was to be the unwilling donor in a genetic (cloning?) experiment, to explain why the imperials couldn't just draw a bit of blood and airlock him into space within 5 minutes. Unless the real plan was to have him brought before Darth Sidious so he could become his new Sith apprentice maybe, but Moff Gideon looks like a guy who's motivated by personal gain and not by his faith in the Emperor. And why would that expert in cloning engineering be involved at all if the end game wasn't to clone Grogu? On the subject of airlocks, let's have a passing mention of these ultimate, Terminator-like machines called Dark Troopers, who are vented out of the ship for a good 10 minutes before they remember they are equipped with rockets that allow them to board the ship again. Or who stop their assault on the heroes the second Luke's X-Wing shows up in the docking bay, on the other side of the ship. What, are they also equipped with Jedi detectors? Why else would they all turn their focus on a lone pilot arriving on board a pitiful fighter? Would it not have been more exciting for Luke to get the drop on them unexpectedly after they had already killed half the heroes and were about to deliver the coup de grace?

Bland direction and cinematography for two (I blame this new technique that consists in projecting the scenery of a scene onto a screen that surrounds the set, preventing the directors from tilting their camera too far up or down for convenience's sake). Rodriguez's episode was amateur hour. I mentioned in the thread dedicated to that chapter he was asked by Favreau to artificially extend the action scenes for the sake of turning a 19-page script into a 30-minute episode... And you know, that's something that could've worked with a director like John Woo (HK era), but Robert Rodriguez? Come one. He's no action director.

There are many things to like in this show but so far it's been no more than an appetizer and the main course is nowhere in sight. It's like it's still trying to find its feet after two seasons. Granted, those seasons are short, too short. This is a show that could do much more with 10 hour-long episodes, rather than 8 episodes of 20-45 minutes. But I guess Disney at this stage is in full damage control mode and their main objective is to bring all the original fans back on board in an attempt to erase the stain left by that mess of a sequel trilogy. So the objective is more 'give the fans some reason to cheer for Star Wars again' and less 'give people a good show that doesn't pull any punches.'

Oh and don't you worry about Grogu. I'm not sure how they're going to explain his return to the show, but if we know Disney and we do, we also know that Grogu is the one element they can't do without. In fact he is the entire engine behind the plot and characters. Din Djarin does not exist as anything else than a babysitter. You take Grogu away, what's left of his character development? Zero. Grogu has been his sole reason to exist as a character in this show. He wants nothing. His actions make it clear he's not interested in saving the galaxy or his people. He's not after fame, does not want power or money... They need Grogu. And let's not even mention the truckload of toys the little green elf allows them to sell. And let's not mention either that Grogu is what makes this show a family event where parents and children can sit down in front of the TV together and 'oooow' and 'aaaaw' whenever he moves his little green paws or blinks his big black eyes. They are never going to risk turning the show into a gritty space-western with Din Djarin hunting down targets on Tatooine without dear Baby Yoda in tow.

The Mandalorian might as well be called Baby Yoda, because he's the McGuffin that makes the show. We'll see him again, and soon.
 
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You take Grogu away, what's left of his character development? Zero. Grogu has been his sole reason to exist as a character in this show. He wants nothing.

I disagree. He has changed a great deal since we saw him first time on that ice planet. For example, instead of being a stubborn git, he's listening these days and the helmet, it came off. In this and in the last episode. The fighting style is also getting improved.

There is a lot of character development, but it's not all his show and if we only saw him, it would be somewhat boring series.
 
I disagree. He has changed a great deal since we saw him first time on that ice planet. For example, instead of being a stubborn git, he's listening these days and the helmet, it came off. In this and in the last episode. The fighting style is also getting improved.

There is a lot of character development, but it's not all his show and if we only saw him, it would be somewhat boring series.

He absolutely did change, but this change is conditioned by his relationship to Grogu. He's only OK to take the helmet off if it's going to allow him to save Grogu or say goodbye to him face to face, but I doubt he would take it off in any other context. His entire character development went from 'I care about nothing and no one, I just do my job' to 'now I have something (someone) to live for.' If that something (someone) goes from his life, what does he have left? Nothing, he's back to square one.

There is no Din Djarin without Grogu. There is no 'The Mandalorian' without Grogu. Disney has a choice between taking Din Djarin on an entirely different path (but again, what does this character care for or want beside Grogu? I see nothing) or bringing back Grogu early on in season 3 to give Djarin a chance to develop their relationship further. Disney being Disney, I foresee more Grogu sooner rather than later (because cuteness, toys, etc.)
 
On the subject of Bo-Katan refusing the Dark Saber offered to her by Din Djarin on account of needing to earn the saber by fighting for it:

Wookieepedia said:
After rescuing her father from Imperial custody and destroying the superweapon she had built while an Imperial cadet, Sabine offered the Darksaber over to Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, the sister of the former Duchess, whom she deemed to be the rightful person to lead the Mandalorians against the Empire. Bo-Katan was reluctant to accept the mantle of leader, but with the support of the other clans, agreed and accepted the Darksaber.

This is from the #1 SW encyclopaedia online... Now I haven't seen Rebels so I cannot confirm this is what happened, but can anyone explain how this makes sense? She was offered the dark saber once but is now for some reason reluctant to take it without a fight?
 
On the subject of Bo-Katan refusing the Dark Saber offered to her by Din Djarin on account of needing to earn the saber by fighting for it:



This is from the #1 SW encyclopaedia online... Now I haven't seen Rebels so I cannot confirm this is what happened, but can anyone explain how this makes sense? She was offered the dark saber once but is now for some reason reluctant to take it without a fight?
I took it as that she lost the dark sabre as a result of combat and now needs to win it in combat to deserve it again.
 
She was offered the dark saber once but is now for some reason reluctant to take it without a fight?

Well, they found the Dark Sabre and Sabine for being a good girl brought it back to Mandalore, to her mum. She offered it to her, but instead of accepting mum said, "you need to earn it in the fight!"

Why, she asked and the answer she got back was the tale that goes all the way back to the Clone Wars, where we see the animated Dark Sabre for the first time. That time it being in Maul's collection. He used it to claim power on Mandalore and the Clans.

You have to remember that there are different clans, not just the Death Watch and they have their own customs. But, when it comes to grasping the power, you have to win the Dark Sabre in combat. That is the Way.

So Sabine practised sabre fighting with Ezra and at that point, blind Kanan, the Grey Master. Her aim was to get it and use it, and on they also went through the Mando battle drills with flamethrower and stuff. All that you'll see in the live action fights. At the end it was a tough fight, but she won and then she yielded the power, because the family was more important to her than leading Mandos.

That family being the Rebels family and with Kanan gone and Ezra lost in... [spoilers] she opted out and allied with Ashoka to go look for the boy.

I'm kind of glad that Ezra wasn't the Jedi that found the Child.
 
Seeing Red 5's markings: Tier 1 Weeping
Seeing the hilt of Luke's Lightsabre: Tier 2 Crying
Seeing the green glow echo of Luke's lightsabre powering up in direct contrast to Vader in Rogue 1: Tier 3 Blubbing
Mando's goodbye face : Tier 4 Howling
R2 D2: Dead. Just couldn't take it no more!

R2 D2 is my spirit animal so when he showed up at the end (and we know he and Grogu will get into some huge shenanigans) I was done in.
 
"It was very tricky because it's very hard to keep a secret nowadays, especially with Star Wars, because people are so curious about it," Favreau told Good Morning America about Hamill's top-secret Star Wars return. "There are so many people involved with the process, with visual effects finishing, making it, filming it, the studios, everything."

Because "every piece of casting leaked" ahead of season 2, Favreau added, "We were so scared right up until it aired that our surprise cameo was going to leak too."

"But we started off the whole series with the Baby Yoda reveal, with the Grogu reveal, that was a secret that everybody was really blown away by," Favreau said of the Mandalorian's (Pedro Pascal) first meeting with the Child at the end of the show's premiere episode in 2019. "Part of that is not telling too many people, not having merchandise that’s being tooled up and announced and that kind of thing."

Set some five years after 1983's Return of the Jedi, the Peyton Reed-directed episode used top-shelf technology and a body double (Max Lloyd Jones) to reveal a decades-younger Luke when the Jedi Master boards Moff Gideon's (Giancarlo Esposito) Imperial light cruiser at the end of "The Rescue."

"And then to have the very last episode, to have Mark Hamill actually on set filming, and us using whatever technology we had available to de-age him and try to make him look as much like he did in the old films," Favreau said.

Reacting to his season-ending cameo over the weekend, Hamill tweeted that preserving the secret "for over a year with no leaks is nothing less than a miracle," calling it a "real triumph for spoiler-haters everywhere."

 
Do you think there will be a season 3? I thought that this was the end. a good end, and maybe a new story at a later date, but the end of the Mandalorian as we know it is possible because of the way it ended.
 
Do you think there will be a season 3? I thought that this was the end. a good end, and maybe a new story at a later date, but the end of the Mandalorian as we know it is possible because of the way it ended.

Yes, of course there will be. It was commissioned weeks ago. I don't have a news piece, but you can find it online.
 

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