[TV] The Mandalorian (*Spoilers*)

[Ihavewaffles]

Here's the thing about that, though: The show so far has basically been a collection of action scenes. I'm not going to make excuses for the movies, but it's much easier to make something that's almost universally enjoyable when you don't have to worry about trivial things like characters and plot...

It's the reason stuff like this is so badass even a decade later:

Meh, old republic, just copy-paste the looks, style from sw movie n add a bunch of lazerz n explosions, so unoriginal...

[Nellise]

So I guess I'm the only one that likes the shorter runtimes? So many hour long shows (really 45-60 minutes) feel like they drag trying to fill out the time. If you have a 4 hour story to tell, tell it in 4 hours, don't pad it to 13 hour long episodes just because (see: nearly every Netflix Marvel show).

[Ebalina]

So far nothing worth while has happened.
But its alright, it does have a starwars vibe to it so i'm fine with it for now.

[s_bushido]

Meh, old republic, just copy-paste the looks, style from sw movie n add a bunch of lazerz n explosions, so unoriginal...

You realize that you just described this show, right?

Well, I take that back. The stormtroopers had dirty armor, so it's not completely copy-paste.

[Kyphael]

Just saw episode 1. Well made as far as special effects and cinematography. Acting is a little meh, but it was nice seeing Carl Weathers again, he looks in better shape than I recall in his old age. The whole mounting the alien mount thing seemed weird and a waste of time, but the final scene with the other Droid bounty hunter was cool, then the infant from Yoda's species sets up cool things potentially for Disney's Star Wars universe. Maybe we'll see him again post Rise of Skywalker? Then again, it doesn't matter, I don't think reincarnation is a thing in Star Wars, Yoda is still a force ghost so the little guy is just a well placed Easter egg at best.

It's hard to care for a story about a character who never takes off his helmet, we know little of his past, and will never intimately know, but I guess with Star Wars, you have to check your literary critique at the door. It's all very passive. The Mandalorian (who we don't know the name of) is a bad ass gunslinger, he gets paid to bounty hunt, and occasionally gets into a scuffle but more or less comes out unscathed and just as bad ass as before. Doesn't really work well for a protagonist of a series, but it's passable, especially considering The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi butchered even fleshing out and humanizing its own protagonists with a much bigger budget, The Mandalorian is a triumphant in comparison to Rian Johnson and J.J Abbrams' outings crafting characters to care about. Hat's off to Jon Favreau.

Also, anyone thought The Mandalorian was going to be about Boba Fett escaping The Sarlacc?

- - - Updated - - -

Just saw episode 2. Kind of uneventful, but the bad acting is less glaring since there are considerably less characters. Whole stretches without dialogue, and while that might work in a story like Cast Away, it's kind of boring a movie where the lead character's face is hidden, and we don't know his conflict really. Really felt like chapters 1 and 2 should have been just one whole chapter 1.

The baby from Yoda's species carriage floats by itself?
The scene with the little hooded guys slice open the muddied furry egg and eats the... yolk inside was gross and unnecessary, like Luke sucking milk out of alien's tits in The Last Jedi.
The Mandalorian fights a furry rhino and... the baby has Force powers or telekinesis of some kind?

Not much to write home about, but for $6.99 a month, who am I to complain?

[Lothaeryn]

snip

I would rather say that Ep 1 and 2 are supposed to be one whole pilot that was deliberately split to make the opening week busier to keep interest for disney +'s launch, but we'll see if the series will stick with a 30 minute segment setup or expand to be a bit longer for more nuanced dialogue and plot development. Still early, hopefully episode 3 gives more background or starts giving better context.

As for the baby, the old canon explained that Yoda's species was very heavily tied to the force even in their youth. As far as we know most of the species is force sensitive, so it being able to use force abilities at a 'young' age isn't too far of a stretch. It kept trying to heal his wounds in the one scene, so it likely is capable of understanding social nuance already, even if it can't really speak.

The carriage floating on its own looked funny to say the least, but probably was done to save time instead of him lugging the child around in dangerous situations.

[Kyphael]

I would rather say that Ep 1 and 2 are supposed to be one whole pilot that was deliberately split to make the opening week busier to keep interest for disney +'s launch, but we'll see if the series will stick with a 30 minute segment setup or expand to be a bit longer for more nuanced dialogue and plot development. Still early, hopefully episode 3 gives more background or starts giving better context.

As for the baby, the old canon explained that Yoda's species was very heavily tied to the force even in their youth. As far as we know most of the species is force sensitive, so it being able to use force abilities at a 'young' age isn't too far of a stretch. It kept trying to heal his wounds in the one scene, so it likely is capable of understanding social nuance already, even if it can't really speak.

Oooh, ok makes more sense now about Yoda's species being force sensitive.

The carriage floating on its own looked funny to say the least, but probably was done to save time instead of him lugging the child around in dangerous situations.

See, now that's something that would have actually made chapter 2 more interesting, if The Mandalorian had to actually carry the baby and keep it safe during the action scenes. It would have made him more sympathizing to the viewers in his plight, trying to keep an innocent baby alive and having a hard time doing so, but with the convenience of the floating carriage, it took away a core element that could have made chapter 2 more interesting.

[Lothaeryn]

Oooh, ok makes more sense now about Yoda's species being force sensitive.



See, now that's something that would have actually made chapter 2 more interesting, if The Mandalorian had to actually carry the baby and keep it safe during the action scenes. It would have made him more sympathizing to the viewers in his plight, trying to keep an innocent baby alive and having a hard time doing so, but with the convenience of the floating carriage, it took away a core element that could have made chapter 2 more interesting.

I think the idea is that the Mandalorian, at least in the beginning of the show, is not supposed to be sympathized with; He is supposed to be a ruthless bounty hunter akin to Boba Fett, only doing the job for credits and personal gain/honor/glory.

So far he has not shown any real attachment to the child (and for good reason, it's his bounty mark after all), and it could very well be a tossup whether or not he will complete the assignment and turn it in, or it could very well be that he holds onto it instead.

[MatadorMedia]

Disney+ has earned my $6.99 subscription this month. Free trial and two episodes of the Mandalorian and I'm sold.

[eschatological]

I like it.

For those who complain about the sparse dialogue, Favreau seems to be doing it in the old spaghetti Western style. I even like the music, which is a vast departure from "normal" Star Wars stuff. A lot of these first two episodes were about the stoic cowboy aesthetic. I imagine as other characters take a role in the show, there'll be more dialogue in general.

I also like the helmeted protag. It makes him really inscrutable. You can almost hear the gears turning when he looks at the baby and is thinking. Even a subtle head tilt can express emotion - sympathy, concern, etc. Kudos to Pascal on conveying that subtlety with a helmet on.

Also, that baby Yoda is goddamn adorable.

A couple question I have since I don't ever read Star Wars literature:

1) Was this Tattooine? Or can Jawas be found everywhere? If so, their moving fortress seems like it wouldn't work in many types of environments.

2) Why are the Mando and the other guy unsure of what's going on with the baby? This is post episode 6, do people not know The Force came back with a reckoning and smacked the Emperor down? And if this is Tattooine, that a kid from Tattooine did it?

3) It's been about ~20-25 years since the fall of the Empire, no? Cause Luke was 19 when ANH started, 23 by the time it finished.......how much longer past this is that? How have people forgotten about Yoda, perhaps the most famous Jedi Master of all time, head of the Jedi Council? How does the Mando not recognize this baby as from Yoda's species?

4) If this baby is 50 years old, this means it was alive during.......well, the entirety of the prequel and original trilogies. Can't imagine that's true and it isn't connected in some way to some sort of contingency plan by Yoda, or maybe a secret family of Yoda's.

[Budong]

I like it.

For those who complain about the sparse dialogue, Favreau seems to be doing it in the old spaghetti Western style. I even like the music, which is a vast departure from "normal" Star Wars stuff. A lot of these first two episodes were about the stoic cowboy aesthetic. I imagine as other characters take a role in the show, there'll be more dialogue in general.

I also like the helmeted protag. It makes him really inscrutable. You can almost hear the gears turning when he looks at the baby and is thinking. Even a subtle head tilt can express emotion - sympathy, concern, etc. Kudos to Pascal on conveying that subtlety with a helmet on.

Also, that baby Yoda is goddamn adorable.

A couple question I have since I don't ever read Star Wars literature:

1) Was this Tattooine? Or can Jawas be found everywhere? If so, their moving fortress seems like it wouldn't work in many types of environments.

2) Why are the Mando and the other guy unsure of what's going on with the baby? This is post episode 6, do people not know The Force came back with a reckoning and smacked the Emperor down? And if this is Tattooine, that a kid from Tattooine did it?

3) It's been about ~20-25 years since the fall of the Empire, no? Cause Luke was 19 when ANH started, 23 by the time it finished.......how much longer past this is that? How have people forgotten about Yoda, perhaps the most famous Jedi Master of all time, head of the Jedi Council? How does the Mando not recognize this baby as from Yoda's species?

4) If this baby is 50 years old, this means it was alive during.......well, the entirety of the prequel and original trilogies. Can't imagine that's true and it isn't connected in some way to some sort of contingency plan by Yoda, or maybe a secret family of Yoda's.

It wasn't Tatooine. The planet was called Arvala-7. No idea how Jawas got there with a sandcrawler. Jawas can be found on other worlds but I'm pretty sure they're native to Tatooine.

Most people in the galaxy, including the Empire, didn't know the Emperor was a Sith Lord. Most didn't know who Vader or Luke were. These things were far outside the scope of your average galactic citizen.

Show takes place only five years after Return of the Jedi. Again most people in the galaxy had no idea who Yoda was or had ever seen any member of his species.

It might be 50 or it might register as 50 in clone years if it's a cloned version of Yoda. Clones do age much faster. We'll see.

[Jotaux]

By the time of ANH the force was seen as a an ancient religion.

[Kyphael]

It wasn't Tatooine. The planet was called Arvala-7. No idea how Jawas got there with a sandcrawler. Jawas can be found on other worlds but I'm pretty sure they're native to Tatooine.

Most people in the galaxy, including the Empire, didn't know the Emperor was a Sith Lord. Most didn't know who Vader or Luke were. These things were far outside the scope of your average galactic citizen.

Show takes place only five years after Return of the Jedi. Again most people in the galaxy had no idea who Yoda was or had ever seen any member of his species.

It might be 50 or it might register as 50 in clone years if it's a cloned version of Yoda. Clones do age much faster. We'll see.

Wait, what? Jedi were pretty public figures, they were very often seen parading around and rubbing shoulders with politicians like Senator Palpatine or Senator Amidala. They were known as peace keepers and regarded as heroes, going to other worlds and openly helping quell conflicts like when Yoda shows up on the Wookie home world and they all know him. Likewise, many other Jedi are shown fighting in the streets with locals or Storm Troopers, locals who possess the tech of taking pictures with handheld devices and can spread word of mouth. I mean, obviously most citizens didn't know who Yoda is intimately, and his history, but as a Jedi Master, he, Mace Windu and others to say the least must have been pretty well known on planets where people at least kept up with whatever Star Wars' version of "news" might be.

I will agree with yeah, most people didn't know The Emperor was a Sith Lord, let alone what a Sith even is, I think only Jedi know what Sith are as they're pretty much extinct save for Sidious, but Yoda and Mace Windu I imagine must have been somewhat known.

[Skizzit]

The baby from Yoda's species carriage floats by itself?

It floats on it's own, but it seems to be tied to the Mando's wrist computer. There was a scene in Ep.2 where he closes the lid by pressing something on his wrist. My guess is there is some kind of digital tether that keep the floating pram nearby. That's why it sped along when the Mando was hanging off the side of the Sandcrawler.

For those who complain about the sparse dialogue, Favreau seems to be doing it in the old spaghetti Western style. I even like the music, which is a vast departure from "normal" Star Wars stuff. A lot of these first two episodes were about the stoic cowboy aesthetic. I imagine as other characters take a role in the show, there'll be more dialogue in general.

I also like the helmeted protag. It makes him really inscrutable. You can almost hear the gears turning when he looks at the baby and is thinking. Even a subtle head tilt can express emotion - sympathy, concern, etc. Kudos to Pascal on conveying that subtlety with a helmet on.

Yeah, this is very much an old school western / samurai movie set in the Star Wars universe. The mysterious stranger on a mission who we will find out more about as the series goes on and all of that. The lack of dialog doesn't bother me at all. Thus far the series is telling a rather simple story and is easy to follow without the need for characters to explain their every action.

Wait, what? Jedi were pretty public figures, they were very often seen parading around and rubbing shoulders with politicians like Senator Palpatine or Senator Amidala. They were known as peace keepers and regarded as heroes, going to other worlds and openly helping quell conflicts like when Yoda shows up on the Wookie home world and they all know him. Likewise, many other Jedi are shown fighting in the streets with locals or Storm Troopers, locals who possess the tech of taking pictures with handheld devices and can spread word of mouth. I mean, obviously most citizens didn't know who Yoda is intimately, and his history, but as a Jedi Master, he, Mace Windu and others to say the least must have been pretty well known on planets where people at least kept up with whatever Star Wars' version of "news" might be.

I will agree with yeah, most people didn't know The Emperor was a Sith Lord, let alone what a Sith even is, I think only Jedi know what Sith are as they're pretty much extinct save for Sidious, but Yoda and Mace Windu I imagine must have been somewhat known.

The whole "everyone forgot if the Jedi were real or just a legend" thing is just something you need to accept about Star Wars. It has been an issue pretty much since the start. I just look at it as a result of the Empire consisting of many, many worlds and the people on the more remote worlds having little to no contact with planets like Coruscant. Does it makes sense that everyone forgot the Jedi were real over the course of about 30 years? No, not at all. But that's just the way it is.

[Zaktar]

I like it.

For those who complain about the sparse dialogue, Favreau seems to be doing it in the old spaghetti Western style. I even like the music, which is a vast departure from "normal" Star Wars stuff. A lot of these first two episodes were about the stoic cowboy aesthetic. I imagine as other characters take a role in the show, there'll be more dialogue in general.

I also like the helmeted protag. It makes him really inscrutable. You can almost hear the gears turning when he looks at the baby and is thinking. Even a subtle head tilt can express emotion - sympathy, concern, etc. Kudos to Pascal on conveying that subtlety with a helmet on.

Also, that baby Yoda is goddamn adorable.

A couple question I have since I don't ever read Star Wars literature:

Yeah, love the spaghetti western feel to it, especially the music. The Man with No Face? And also no name.

- - - Updated - - -

The whole "everyone forgot if the Jedi were real or just a legend" thing is just something you need to accept about Star Wars. It has been an issue pretty much since the start. I just look at it as a result of the Empire consisting of many, many worlds and the people on the more remote worlds having little to no contact with planets like Coruscant. Does it makes sense that everyone forgot the Jedi were real over the course of about 30 years? No, not at all. But that's just the way it is.

I always took that as the result of a consistent campaign, older folks would of course remember... something, though how many people would have met a Jedi personally? People who were young, or not born would not have much of an impression of them after the Emperor destroyed as much information about them as he could, and talking about them might caused you to disappear; their knowledge of the Jedi would be very minimal and seem like legends. It doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to me.

[Endus]

The 2nd episode is a tonal shift from what some people predicted the show to be like but it's really good. Can't wait for more.

Didn't we basically always know they were aiming for a spaghetti western/lone ronin vibe? Because this nails that, so far.

I like it.

For those who complain about the sparse dialogue, Favreau seems to be doing it in the old spaghetti Western style. I even like the music, which is a vast departure from "normal" Star Wars stuff. A lot of these first two episodes were about the stoic cowboy aesthetic. I imagine as other characters take a role in the show, there'll be more dialogue in general.

Dialogue is also often a shortcut. It's the proverbial "tell", from "show, don't tell", as a writing mantra. You're better off not having dialogue, and communicating ideas visually; showing the Mandalorian's ship being cannibalized by Jawas, for instance. He sees the ship and Jawas, he starts shooting, they start fleeing, you don't need dialogue. The Mandalorian shouting "GET OFF MY SHIP" or "Damned Jawas" is wasting time and narrative space repeating what his actions already tell us.

Dialogue isn't necessary, and often gets in the way. Sure, you need it for scenes like the one where he's negotiating with the Moff, but not for a lot of what we got in Ep 2. Mad Max: Fury Road was light on dialogue, too, and was acclaimed for doing so.

I also like the helmeted protag. It makes him really inscrutable. You can almost hear the gears turning when he looks at the baby and is thinking. Even a subtle head tilt can express emotion - sympathy, concern, etc. Kudos to Pascal on conveying that subtlety with a helmet on.

If the actor can pull it off, it's better. A big ask, but Pascale is handling it really well. It doesn't matter what the guy's face looks like. His face is the helmet. That's all we need.

1) Was this Tattooine? Or can Jawas be found everywhere? If so, their moving fortress seems like it wouldn't work in many types of environments.

Jawas like sand. You got sand? You got Jawas. In theory, they've got ships, though we don't see 'em.

2) Why are the Mando and the other guy unsure of what's going on with the baby? This is post episode 6, do people not know The Force came back with a reckoning and smacked the Emperor down? And if this is Tattooine, that a kid from Tattooine did it?

Even pre-Empire, Force-users were rare and most people never met one. Also, it's a baby.

3) It's been about ~20-25 years since the fall of the Empire, no? Cause Luke was 19 when ANH started, 23 by the time it finished.......how much longer past this is that? How have people forgotten about Yoda, perhaps the most famous Jedi Master of all time, head of the Jedi Council? How does the Mando not recognize this baby as from Yoda's species?

Pretty sure it's meant to be 5-10 years post-RotJ.

Also, Yoda's species is super-rare. Possibly nearly extinct. And we don't know he DIDN'T recognize the species.

4) If this baby is 50 years old, this means it was alive during.......well, the entirety of the prequel and original trilogies. Can't imagine that's true and it isn't connected in some way to some sort of contingency plan by Yoda, or maybe a secret family of Yoda's.

No real reason to assume it's any relation to Yoda at all, any more than I'm related to Miyamoto Musashi, famous Japanese swordsman, just because we're both humans.

I feel the important point there is "this baby is 50 years old", though. Clearly not physically developed, though it can walk. Possibly has no endurance and needs lots of napping, because baby. But could have the intellect and reasoning of a 50-year old human. Could be Jedi-level Force-trained, if too young to enter as a Padawan for combat training. The scene where the Mandalorian is trying to stitch himself up, it's pretty clear the little guy is trying to help, meaning he knows how to heal with the Force. And he Force lifted that Rhino-thing. Strong little bugger, even if he needed a nap after. Everyone keeps acting like it's as useless as a human infant, and I feel that's a super big mistake.

[Wermys]

Right. Some people don't seem to understand this. It wasn't "we are not using any of this" it was "we are not going to be forced to stick to all these random books written by a bunch of different authors but we will pick and choose the bits we like and use them" They dropped $4 Billion on the franchise so of course they were going to want to take it in their own direction.

Like Kevin Anderson for example. I haven't seen ANY eu material of his brought in. Which is a redeeming feature about the disney universe.

[Aurrora]

1) Was this Tattooine? Or can Jawas be found everywhere? If so, their moving fortress seems like it wouldn't work in many types of environments.

It's Nottoiine. The toy jawas are called "Offworld Jawas" so it's probably not Tattooine, plus there's some freestanding water which probably wouldn't be there on Tattooine.

2) Why are the Mando and the other guy unsure of what's going on with the baby? This is post episode 6, do people not know The Force came back with a reckoning and smacked the Emperor down? And if this is Tattooine, that a kid from Tattooine did it?

The Empire destroyed everything about the Jedi they could find, so maybe they'd just never heard about the force, although the ugnaught looks like he's old enough to have been around before the purge.

3) It's been about ~20-25 years since the fall of the Empire, no? Cause Luke was 19 when ANH started, 23 by the time it finished.......how much longer past this is that? How have people forgotten about Yoda, perhaps the most famous Jedi Master of all time, head of the Jedi Council? How does the Mando not recognize this baby as from Yoda's species?

This is 5 years after Return of the Jedi.

4) If this baby is 50 years old, this means it was alive during.......well, the entirety of the prequel and original trilogies. Can't imagine that's true and it isn't connected in some way to some sort of contingency plan by Yoda, or maybe a secret family of Yoda's.

[/quote]
Could be completely unrelated to Yoda, that's kinda speciest of you to assume....

[Skizzit]

I always took that as the result of a consistent campaign, older folks would of course remember... something, though how many people would have met a Jedi personally? People who were young, or not born would not have much of an impression of them after the Emperor destroyed as much information about them as he could, and talking about them might caused you to disappear; their knowledge of the Jedi would be very minimal and seem like legends. It doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to me.

That's actually a good point. It is highly likely that Palpatine not only wanted to destroy the actual Jedi but wipe out their memory and legacy as well. Demolish any and all Jedi temples, erase any info in any databanks about them, and also take out anyone who would speak publicly about them. If that were the case, I could easily see knowledge of the Jedi being reduced to whispers and rumors within 30 years. Then, this series takes place just 5 years after RotJ so Luke would just barely be trying to restart the Jedi order so while The Emperor would no longer be actively suppressing the knowledge, info about the Jedi would still be largely unknown.

I feel the important point there is "this baby is 50 years old", though. Clearly not physically developed, though it can walk. Possibly has no endurance and needs lots of napping, because baby. But could have the intellect and reasoning of a 50-year old human. Could be Jedi-level Force-trained, if too young to enter as a Padawan for combat training. The scene where the Mandalorian is trying to stitch himself up, it's pretty clear the little guy is trying to help, meaning he knows how to heal with the Force. And he Force lifted that Rhino-thing. Strong little bugger, even if he needed a nap after. Everyone keeps acting like it's as useless as a human infant, and I feel that's a super big mistake.

Hell, for all we know Yoda's species could have some king of genetic memory where each generation is born with the instinctual knowledge of those that came before. It could explain why they would be such strong Jedi as well as why they seem to be largely extinct as Palpatine would not want such a race to live. Yoda's race was one of those things Lucas intentionally kept a secret so it will be interesting to see just how much is revealed in this series.

[Volatilis]

I like that every scene is from the point of view of the mandalorian.

We're seeing the world through his eyes rather than flicking around from character to character to hear about space politics, then lightsaber battles the next minute.

I hope they dont go too force heavy because I like the fact the show is blasters and doesnt deal with Jedi/force