This article includes SPOILERS for episode 1 of Season 3 of The Mandalorian – You have been warned!
Episode 1 of the Mandalorian lays out this season’s storyline pretty simply: find a droid to help Din navigate Mandalore, bathe in the sacred pools deep within the mines under the city of Sundari, get his transgressions forgiven and be reinstated within his tribe. And while the plot may be simple enough, there are plenty of obstacles standing in his way.
We begin seeing a helmet ritual being performed by the Children of the Watch on a young Mandalorian boy. The ceremony is interrupted by a gigantic alligator-turtle-like creature (#Alligurtle) that is intent on eating everyone there. Thirty or so Mandalorians could not defeat the creature and were doomed until Din arrived in his modded N-1 Starfighter and blew it up. I believe that this is critical to this season’s storyline. It foreshadows his role as “Mandalorian Savior” while acknowledging his flaws and commitment to Mandalorian redemption, both personal and as a people.
Whether Din wants to be the eventual leader of Mandalore or not, he is in a position of massive potential. But he is more interested in redemption within his tribe first. We know that once he’s restored, he’ll have instant support from all who are in the Children of the Watch, and from any other clans who believe that the Darksaber wielder is the rightful ruler of Mandalore (see: Death Watch/Kryze). It’ll be a William Wallace-like revolt where small victories lead to large victories and the eventual reclamation/restoration of Mandalorians back at their home.
Din and Grogu then travel to Kalevala to see Bo Katan. She sits alone in an empty throne room, symbolic of current state. Her Death Watch tribe has dissolved and is scattered across the galaxy along with the rest of the Mandalorians. Her claim to unite and rule Mandalore has failed (again) and as long as Din has the Darksaber, she will never rule. She resides on and empty throne, bitter and spiteful with her words. Din is an obstacle for her…which makes her dangerous. There was brief exchange about the Darksaber:
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes,” and then Din kept the conversation moving. We never did see the Darksaber in this episode, but we found out one very important thing – Bo wanted to know where it is. Dangerous.
*Side note: while traveling through hyperspace, Grogu saw the shadowy forms of the Purgil. Those creatures are a nod to the Rebels series and are critical to the last known whereabouts of Ezra Bridger and Admiral Thrawn. I love this easter egg.
The rest of the episode take Din and Grogu back to Nevarro to see their old friend (Grand) Magistrate Karga. Din needs a droid to help him navigate Mandalore and tries to reuse what’s left of IG-11, but that fails. Judging by trailers for the Mandalorian, this will presumably set up a reunion with Din and R5-D4.
Din and Greef go full “cowboy-mode” in their dust-up with some Pirates. The shootout is later escalated in space where 6 pirate fighters attack Din and Grogu as they leave Nevarro. An awesomely “Star-Warsy” space battle ensues with Din blasting most of the fighters out of the sky, and narrowly escapes an encounter with the leader of the Pirates on his Hammerhead-class Pirate ship. It was a perfect way to end a solid first episode.
How did you feel about episode 1? What do you see happening in episode 2? Leave a comment below.