WiC Watches: The Mandalorian
Chapter 3. Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian and Emily Swallow is the Armorer in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+
The Mandalorian: “Chapter Three: The Sin”
This episode starts off with the Mandalorian delivering the baby Yoda to the shady Client, but the bounty hunter displays some concern for the welfare of the child he’s relinquished for a handsome reward of Beskar steel. He immediately takes his prize to the legendary Armorer, where we see another handful of Mandalorians (one of whom’s green-themed armor looks a lot like Boba Fett’s) and learn something of their warrior ethos: “This is the way.”
During the ritual of the forging, the Armorer uses the Mando’s new Beskar steel and makes a batch of rare projectiles called “whistling birds.” The procedure also appears to engage Mando’s memories of being violently orphaned as a child. Mando selects a new mission as far away as possible — the Ocean Dunes of Carnac — but the fate of the Yoda baby still nags at his conscience.
Chapter 3. The Child and the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+
In every great story, the hero must act, and Mando’s first heroic action lies in his decision to abort his departure and return to find the Yoda baby. His motivation is protective, paternal, and without hope of profit. These forces are obviously foreign to him, but also undeniable. Once Mando rescues the little green dude (dudette?), the tracking fob of every bounty hunter in town activates, resulting in a hoot of an action sequence.
As with the Star Wars movie series, the Stormtroopers end up being cannon fodder, no matter how hard The Mandalorian tries to make them more rough-and-tumble, but I will admit the action sequence where Mando works his way through the boys in dirty white is admirably creative. You have to be a fan of Saturday matinee action and adventure to truly appreciate this series, including nick-of-time rescues by the cavalry (in this instance, the cavalry is a platoon of Mando’s heavily armed fellow Mandalorians).
Chapter 3. Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+
We get more nods to the original Star Wars movie in “The Sin” — watch out for an IT-O Interrogator Droid (the floating black sphere that Darth Vader used to menace the imprisoned Princess Leia) and blasted Rodian bounty hunters. While these New Hope reminders are a barrel fun, they could eventually feel overdone if the show doesn’t let up.
I’m not overly worried about that, though. This show is an exhilarating blast, and with the hero and Yoda baby now escaped and on the run, The Mandalorian‘s storyline feels primed and ready to spread its wings and dig into the depths of a complicated anti-hero, reveal the mysteries of the legendary Mandalorian culture, and fly into the great reaches of the galactic unknown.