I must confess to something. The first time I watched all of the Star Wars movies was just a couple of years ago. I finally watched my way through them and since then I’ve checked out other things connected to the series, like The Mandalorian. Din Djarin, the Mandalorian, Mando… whatever you want to call him is back along with Grogu.
CHAPTER 17: THE APOSTATE
This season kicks off with what felt like a bit of a slow start. While some may not be fans of this, I actually appreciated it. It felt like the same storytelling as season one. We are back to focusing on the relationship with Mando and Grogu and with that comes adventure, travel, space pirates, and more. These two are what originally drew so many people into watching The Mandalorian. Newcomers to this series could jump right in here and enjoy episode one. Though be warned, that might not be the greatest idea as you’ll be left wondering why Mando took his mask off and who is this Yoda look-alike.
The end of season two set everything up for the return to Mandalore. This is exactly what is going on. The Mandalorian needs to go back because he went against the way of the Mandalorians and took his mask off. Now in order to redeem himself he has to go back. This episode kicked off reminding us of the importance of putting on and keeping on the helmet showing the ceremony of receiving a helmet and swearing an oath to keep the helmet on always. Just really sends home the importance and reminds us why Mando is in trouble for removing his to show Grogu his face. Now, during that ceremony, the Mandalorians end up under attack by some large monster and cannot get the upper hand until Din Djarin shows up. The Mandalorians are clinging to the old ways, but Din Djarin is accepting progress, adapting, and change.
We end up at Nevarro and we’re again reminded of certain groups being stuck in the past and others wanting to progress. Greef Karga is now the High Magistrate and he ends up having to deal with some space pirates who will not accept that Nevarro is no longer a criminal hotspot. Where they once would go have a drink is now a school. Things are progressing at Nevarro all thanks to the citizens there. Greeg Karga may have changed his outer appearance but he’s still a gunslinger that will protect his town. He wants to keep progressing forward and Mando sees all of this. He ends up helping Greef Karga defeat the pirates.
I really appreciate that there is still humour tucked in throughout the episode. It’s scattered throughout and often shows up thanks to Grogu. One of these moments happens when Mango wants to see about getting a droid repaired by some Anzellans. For whatever reason Grogu keeps trying to pick them up and squeezing them. All I could think about was when Grogu ate the frogs and hoping he wasn’t going to try to eat one of them.
All in, it definitely feels like we are back to a more classic Star Wars feel for this series so far. Humor, adventure, and spacecraft fights. I’m intrigued to see where the series goes this season. I suspect we’re going to see Mando and Grogu continue to learn and grow together and accept that the old ways might not be right anymore.
