Unexpected detours, aren’t they? Although it is titled The Mandalorian, the third season’s third episode decided to break up with Din, Bo, and Grogu for most of the episode in a well-done, but equally unsatisfying side quest. Let’s dive into it.
The episode opens where we left off last week, with Din having just been dragged out of the whitewater beneath Mandalore by Bo Katan. She seemed very intrigued by her encounter with the Mythosaur in the waters, both in the cave and later during the final moments of the episode. I speculated that Din might be the one to ride the beast last week, but now I wonder if Bo will be the one to attempt her own beast quest. If she can tame the creature, she might be able to claim the throne of Mandalore and bypass the Darksaber altogether, as riding the Mythosaurus was a path to leadership before the sword was forged. For a better understanding, read Mandalore the Great.
The episode then gives us an impressive dogfight sequence, where Bo and possibly Din in his N1 take on a squadron of TIE interceptors (my favorite TIE variant, it should be noted). Bo’s castle is destroyed by bombers and a huge TIE contingent ambushes the duo, who then flee the battle. Who operates such a large fleet? A question for another time. And this is where the episode takes a wild left turn.
We hijack and spend much of the rest of the episode on a beautifully rendered Coruscant with Doctor Pershing, the cloner of the past two seasons. He was rehabilitated and joined the New Republic as a numbered member of Amnesty, a haven for ex-Imperials to contribute to the new government. He just does trivial administrative work and functions as a cog in the machine, much like Karn in Andor. That is until he looks for the cracks in the system. Pershing stars to feel conflicting emotions, hesitating even during his very Blade Runner 2042 Or celestial fall-esque evaluations. He wants to continue his job, but according to the law, he is unable to do so, despite the benefits.
Pershing strikes up a friendship with Kane, who you might remember as a high-ranking member of Moff Gideon’s cruiser in season two. Contrary to Pershing’s strict philosophy of following the rules, Kane seems a bit more willing to bend the rules, especially if it serves the New Republic. I found his demeanor too friendly and flags were raised, with good reason.
Fed up with the bureaucratic paperwork, Pershing is easily manipulated by Kane into slipping into a different sector (a big no-no for those in the Amnesty program) to infiltrate a decommissioned Star Destroyer in order to find the materials Pershing needs to continue his research. on cloning. But it was all just an undercover operation, orchestrated by Kane. Not only that, but during Pershing’s rehabilitation using a form of hypnotherapy, Kane cranks up the dial, seemingly turning his brain to mush, leaving no witnesses. I’m going to assume that Kane is not only still loyal to Gideon and is still an active participant in the Remnant, having possibly escaped his imprisonment after the season two finale of The Mandalorian. Gideon probably wanted the search to continue, but since Pershing is directly responsible for his arrest at the hands of Din and co, Pershing was not invited into the plan and was left to waste away on a table.
But this arc doesn’t seem resolved, so I feel a bit conflicted with this episode. At this point, I wonder what the point was. It was the longest mandalorian episode so far and it hasn’t taken much Din. But that didn’t solve the detour plot either. I’m going to assume that the plot of this episode about the theft of cloning research is related to the Palpatine/Snoke plot of the sequel trilogy, but at this point does anyone care? care? And since there is no closure, this meaty Andor-The light subplot, which challenges blind obedience, feels incomplete. I’m sure we’ll have some answers later and come back to The Convert differently, but for now I feel a little indifferent. Which is a shame. Between the aerial combat, incredible Coruscant blueprints, good acting and writing, and an interesting subplot, this could have been an outstanding episode. But I feel with a sense of “so what?” for the moment.
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