Every time an episode of The Mandalorian lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on the seventeenth episode – Chapter 17: The Apostate. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Jen Sopchockchai
Mando and Grogu are back! And I mean that statement on two levels: for me, and for them. The return of this series and, more specifically, this action-packed premiere brought me immense joy. From the jump, this first episode activated my Star Wars fan lizard brain with a boatload of Mandalorians, all in different armor designs, flying around in their jet packs and fighting a giant space crocodile. This is where my heart lives, friends.
It may seem as if this big action scene had little to do with the overall Din and Grogu plot, and was only an excuse for everyone’s favorite dad and baby to make a grand entrance. But this scene, and this scene as the opening for this season of The Mandalorian, actually conveys a lot about the thematic priorities of this season’s story. This band of Mandalorians fight off a giant creature, but the creature’s attack is an interruption, interfering with what appears to be a baptism into The Way; this shows us the current state of the Mandalorian people as lost and dwindling, desperately trying to cling to their traditions and avoid cultural extinction. This newly inducted Child of The Watch (both literal and figurative) must undergo this pivotal coming of age ceremony not amid the splendor of the glorious Mandalore we’ve seen in The Clone Wars; instead, he must do so on an unidentified desert planet, which is just the latest of many refuges his people have sought out.
This “we’re back” feeling is one that Din and Grogu appear to feel as well. This episode, for me, was very much demonstrating that in the wake of their reunion during The Book of Boba Fett, Episodes 5, 6, and 7 (which you should watch if you haven’t already; they explains how Din and Grogu got back together), The Mandalorian and The Child are better together. Their reunion and the emotional satisfaction — perhaps even balance, to use a Jedi term — that reunion brings has made each of them more confident and self-assured as they face obstacles together. Everything’s gelling and firing on all cylinders. When, for example, Din runs into Swamp Thing — I mean that pirate he irritated when he helped Greef Karga deal with some riff raff on Nevarro, he’s running circles around them and escaping them with ease. Din seems unable to miss a step now that he’s back with Grogu. As a viewer invested in their relationship, I found that to be a very satisfying follow-up to those The Book of Boba Fett episodes.
IG-11 is one of my favorite characters from the series, and I adored his arc from assassin to nursemaid in Season 1. So it wasn’t like I wasn’t happy to see him. And yet…I feel like trying to bring him back is unnecessary and may taint his legacy. The explanation within the show is there — Din doesn’t trust just any droid because he was already anti-droid, but IG-11 was so extraordinary that only he will do. But it still feels like we’re returning to a well too soon. Like we’re bending over backwards just to bring back a beloved, popular character. It doesn’t make enough sense at this stage, but I’d love to be proven wrong later.
Din wants IG-11 to be their explorer drone in the mines, and they can only repair IG-11 if they first retrieve this obscure part that the band of Babu Fricks, Anzellans, tell him he needs. This will surely launch some kind of side quest that we will have to resolve in the next episode or two before we can resume the journey to Mandalore — I’m excited to see where we go and who we meet next.
Both leaders send him away with lukewarm tidings. The Armorer essentially says, “sure go try your crazy plan if you want; we’ll talk when you’ve got something to show for it.” Bo-Katan, completely disillusioned by her inability to keep her faction together without the symbolic power of the Darksaber to galvanize them, seems largely uninterested when Din shows her the artifact that suggests hope for the planet of Mandalore. While I was a little freaked out that Bo-Katan never got up out of her throne and was essentially frozen in one position for the entire conversation (maybe that was a power move on her part?), I very much enjoyed Katee Sackoff’s sarcasm and bitterness in this scene. The way she tells Din to “wave around” the Darksaber and everyone will follow him cracked me up.
On both fronts it seems Din has an uphill battle to climb, and he’s going to have to discover something pretty substantial and concrete on Mandalore. Something tangible that will get Bo-Katan and The Armorer’s attention. Something that will convince them all to return to Mandalore.
(This is condensed and edited – with permission – from Jen’s The Long Take review, which you can subscribe to here)
Paul Naylor
Well, Mando’s back and I didn’t realise how much I’d missed him.
The opener to Season 3 follows on from the character’s stand-out performance in last year’s The Book of Boba Fett. But as a fan, you know all that, so let’s skip to my fave moments., which aren’t particularly Mando-focused. That guy gets almost all of the limelight.
1) Grogu spinny chair – how cute that our diminuitive sidekick has found such a fun way to use The Force! Again, again, AGAIN!
2) Grogu plays on being cute – those who visited The Mandalorian Experience at Celebration Anaheim would have seen the full size Naboo N1 fighter, complete with interactive Grogu. If you waved at him, he waved back. This went down so well he’s now waving on-screen.
3) Grogu wants a pet – The Babu Frik-alikes are uber-cute. So much so that Grogu enthusiastically grabbed one, to be met with “Bad Baby’. T-shirt coming soon?
4) IG-5 AND A HALF – IG-11 proved to be a popular character in Season 1 and that meant his improbable resurrection was too tempting to be overlooked.
What was left had been made into a statue, honouring his importance in stabilising the planet of Navaro. Din wanted his old friend back, so the rebuild began – leading to an unforseen complication! I couldn’t help but think of Bishop from ALIENS as we saw the remnants dragging itself around on the floor.
5) Kowakian in the trees – visually, this ticked all the nostalgia boxes. Salacious Crumb’s cousins hanging out, cackling away. A lovely nod to 1983s Return of the Jedi in its 40th year.
Ross Hollebon
The Apostate cometh. And with Din Djarin’s intentions made clear to the rival factions of the Armorer and Bo-Katan Kryze, the journey to the Living Waters beneath the mines of Mandalore has started—and with Grogu, often playfully, in tow.
There has been exponential growth and cultural expansion on Navarro, under the watchful eye of High Magistrate Greef Karga—including the addition of three Anzellan droidsmiths. But the Mandalorian’s quick visit to “meet an old friend” does little more than set up that he needs a droid to help explore Mandalore. We’re also introduced to Pirate King Gorian Shard and his pirates (who look amazing—kudos to all the SFX make-up artists on these incredible practical effect aliens). There’s a good chance they’ll factor in negatively when Djarin comes back to see if IG-11 can be fixed.
To me, this episode is about the tragedy of Mandalore’s people. The opening scene is a Children of the Watch baptism. Their traditions are followed, the ceremony progresses, and the newest child warrior induction is almost completed. Then there is a massive reptilian monster that storms the beach, attacking the group of 41 Mandalorians (maybe that number is off, but it was my count). Their attacks are well orchestrated but the group is overmatched and without enough firepower. Their traditional ways fail as even the Armorer is seen losing in her attacks. As Paz Vizsla makes a desperate attempt to save his fellow warriors it is Din Djarin saving the day in his N-1 Starfighter. Two specific shots, possibly learned while defeating a Krayt Dragon on Tatooine, kill the beast and calm the beach.
Djarin approaches the Armorer and tells her of his goal to get the decree of exile lifted. She has no faith in him and has given up on their former planet, having bought into all the talk of destruction and poison. He leaves, telling her he will return.
A similar, but less eventful scene, occurs at a Mandalorian castle on Kalevala, the homeworld of the House of Kryze. Bo-Katan broods and lounges across her throne, similar to Maul when he was on the Throne of Mandalore in The Clone Wars. (Another note from the animated series is that this castle is where Bo-Katan and her sister, Duchess Satine Kryze, were born.)
Djarin, upon informing Bo-Katan of his intentions, is once again questioned and ridiculed by a Mandalorian leader. She complains about his “cult and how they gave up on Mandalore long before the purge.”
Djarin’s response, as Grogu looks on from his pram: “I am going to Mandalore.” Bo-Katan begrudgingly assists him by sharing that the mines of Mandalore are beneath the civic center in the city of Sundari. He turns to go and she whispers, “goodbye, Din Djarin.”
The stage is set and we are looking at a front-row seat to exactly what the way is with Djarin wielding the Darksaber—but with no intention of ruling, just redeeming himself.
And, during my favorite moment of the short episode, maybe we were given a clue as to how Ahsoka and her friends will find Ezra Bridger. Seeing Grogu recognize and be amazed by the massive purrgil space whales in the blue, glowing blur of hyperspace is the Star Wars magic I live for.
Daniel Lo
Sometime during elementary school, I developed a deep interest in Nessie. The internet was still an obscure text-based novelty at the time, which meant I was constantly checking out every Loch Ness Monster book from the local public library. I’ve spent countless hours poring over each and every grainy photograph, completely mesmerized by the prospect that ancient marine reptiles had somehow evaded extinction. The infamous “surgeon’s photograph” was still several years away from being universally debunked, and in my young mind that was all the proof I needed. Unfortunately, what started as a childhood fascination has since morphed into a deep-seated fear of sea monsters.
This, of course, made for a rough start to season three of The Mandalorian. I don’t know if it was the mild panic-inducing imagery, but the opening sequence felt unnecessarily long. I don’t know why they couldn’t all just retreat into the cave and wait for the dinosaur turtle (where would we be without Wookieepedia?) to go away, or if it was too dangerous to be kept alive like Palpatine. The answer, aside from showcasing the latest monster effects, was so Din Djarin and Grogu could make their triumphant entrance.
I’m not sure how much time has gone by since the end of season two, but it was long enough for Nevarro City to receive a pretty thorough makeover. The streets are clean, Kowakian monkey-lizards aren’t being barbecued, and there’s no trace of the Empire in sight. A couple lines of dialogue quickly explained some key events from The Book of Boba Fett, and that somewhere off in a parallel universe Gina Carano will be making her appearance on Rangers of the New Republic. On the other hand it hasn’t been so long that pirates have forgotten about their past dealings in the old cantina, and insisted on escalating that fact. Fortunately, Greef Karga has lost none of his gunfighting skills and made easy work of the unwanted guests with the help of Mando, who was of course still quick on the draw himself. Then strangely enough, an attempt was made to revive a surprisingly intact IG-11 which made for a great Terminator-esque sequence. The scare wasn’t enough to shelve the project and luckily a couple of Anzellan droid smiths in a hilariously small workshop were up for the task of finishing the job, providing that Mando can source a new memory circuit. He would have to leave the planet to do this.
After what was a pretty good space dogfight against some more pirates upon departing Nevarro, Mando visited a possibly drunk Bo-Katan to (re)join forces. Has he forgotten about IG-11’s missing parts already? Not content with being told to go home, Mando did manage to leave with information on where the mines of Mandalore can be found, which is his key to acquiring redemption according to the Way. Roll credits and spectacular concept art.
Lake monster phobias aside, season three of The Mandalorian kicked off as a bit of a mixed bag for me. One factor that didn’t help, in my opinion, was the combination of alien pirates speaking in North American accents. Contrast this with the original trilogy where, if I’m not mistaken, every alien character spoke in alien dialects with the notable exception of Yoda (who even then spoke with an unusual syntax). I know that English-speaking aliens have been making appearances since the prequel trilogy, but something about it still feels vaguely un-Star Wars to me. It spares the audience of subtitles and guesswork, but compromises on realism. I know, I’m concerned about Star Wars being unrealistic.
On a more positive note, I did really like the appearance of Purrgil silhouettes despite a very limited familiarity with the creatures. It’s generally difficult for me to get into animated content, so I appreciate any and all live action crossovers. My good friend and fellow Fantha Tracks contributor Brad Boutilier pointed out that they may have served as foreshadowing of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a character whose live action debut I definitely look forward to.
Perhaps unfairly, Andor has set a completely new standard for Star Wars TV shows. After the absurdly high levels of writing, acting, and production quality, a return to Mando did take a bit of recalibrating expectations. On the other hand, the fun and light-hearted side of Star Wars was a glaring omission from Andor, in which case The Mandalorian was also a VERY welcomed return to some of the best elements of the franchise. Despite offering a mixed review, I remain excited for the rest of the new season. Most of the trailer scenes have yet to unfold, and if they are at all anything to go by then we are in for quite a ride.
Jonathan Hipkiss
After what has felt like a lifetime, The Mandalorian finally returned to our screens this week and the episode served more as a recap and setup than anything else but still delivered the goods. I have to admit that opening sequence had me fooled. I thought it was a flashback to a young Din Djarin but that was quickly put to bed by his heroic rescue in his Naboo Starfighter. One thing I kept thinking throughout this episode is that you can clearly see where the budget goes. The set-design is phenomenal and the production values are immense.
It was delightful to have Mando and Grogu back together and their relationship proves both heart-warming and delivers genuine and unforced laugh-out-loud moments. Grogu’s skit with the Anzellan’s was magic and Din has truly become a father to the little one and it’s in these small moments of play that the bond really shines through in a natural and powerful way. If this season opener was a little straightforward then perhaps it needed to be in order to setup the many threads going forward and teasing the jaw dropping moments that we know are to come. Overall; a perfectly strong episode on all fronts and it’s just fantastic to have this show back. We’ve missed you Mando!!
Brad Boutilier
So, The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian was actually the first piece of Star Wars content I ever watched. It was the first days of January 2020. I was bored and ready for a new piece of entertainment. I’m an internet user, so obviously I’d seen Grogu and the show was on my radar for that reason. I knew fellow contributor Dan Lo was a big Star Wars fan, so I decided to give the series a shot. At minimum it’d give us something to talk about. So, I fired up the first episode and was instantly in awe. The worlds were incredible, everything was so dirty and worn, the worlds felt lived in and real. I loved the aesthetic. I think I watched the entire first season in one sitting that evening, and I’ve been down the rabbit hole ever since. The next day I began watching the films in release order- original trilogy, prequels, then sequels. All 9 films were watched over the course of 1.5 days. Next up was Rogue One, then Solo, followed by The Clone Wars and Rebels. Since then I’ve watched all the Skywalker Saga films at least twice, and some of them more then that.
Anyways, all of that to say that The Mandalorian is what started my love for Star Wars. I thought season one was really quite good. Season 2 was also good, but not as good as season 1. I found season 2 struggled to find it’s footing and often floundered around, failing to move the story along in a meaningful way in a lot of episodes, resulting in a feeling of poor pacing over a season where the majority of major moments happens in a handful of short, eventful fits of action. The overall story was fine, it was just execution that was rough, and the writers tried to stretch too little story over too many episodes, often in service of fitting in cameos and trying to lay ground work for other shows in the universe.
The show was often in conflict with itself- it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Was it a fun, adventure of the week type show, each episode a self contained story with little to no overarching plot to a season or to be carried episode to episode? Or was it a serialized story, with a larger plot set to play out over many episodes across numerous seasons? The show tried to do both, with the resulting product suffering as a result. It was still a fairly good show all things considered, but the identity crisis was evident, and many episodes left me feeling underwhelmed at the video game side quest nature, even if I otherwise enjoyed the episode.
For me, season 3 is the make or break season for The Mandalorian. They spent the first 2 seasons setting up a larger story for the series and setting up spin off shows for the ‘Star Wars Cinematic Universe‘, now it’s time for them dig in their heels and deliver. They need to put together a season with a more coherent and cohesive story that plays out over the whole season, not just a few minutes in a few episodes and the rest is filled with a cute green baby and video game side quests.
Now, onto episode 1. I thought it was fairly good! I’ve seen a fair bit of criticism of this episode, that it was slow and uneventful, and not what people had hoped for or expected. This may come as a surprise given the last few paragraphs I’ve just written, but I disagree with that sentiment. I feel like they set up quite a few storylines to play out over the season, and also posed some interesting questions I expect we’ll see answered.
First, we went to Navarro because that’s our connection to the Outer Rim, the New Republic, and the brewing trouble in the region. Mando fought the Imperial Remnant there, he played a large role in creating the thriving society that lives there now, and he has friends there. Conflict is likely going to return to the planet, likely in the shape of that brewing trouble that’s been eluded to, and that brewing trouble is likely connected to Thrawn and/or the Imperial Remnant in some way.
Second, the Armorer. In universe some time has passed since episode 2 and presumably the events of The Book of Boba Fett, but the numbers in her keep seem rather large, and there seems to be quite a high number of younglings. How did this come to be? Did some Mandalorians defect from Bo Katans keep and join the Armorer? I expect we’ll find out this season.
Third, what’s going on with Bo Katan? What kind of mercenary work are her defected crew doing? Did anyone remain loyal to her? Is she really going to just give up? Quitting doesn’t seem to be in her nature based on her previous portrayals. Have recent events led to, or will lead to, a change in her ideology? Maybe she’s realized her crew didn’t care for tradition and the warrior way as much as they simply worshipped power, and the whole thing is rather hollow. Maybe she’ll soften a bit on Din’s ideology, and maybe Din will soften in his own ideology. If they put their heads together they could find a better way forward for their people and create a very strong force to reckoned with. The kind of force that could be the greatest threat to, or assert of a certain blue alien with red eyes. And they’d probably also make cute baby Mando’s, but not as cute as Grogu.
Mark Newbold
It’s been over 2 years since we saw The Rescue, the 16th Chapter of The Mandalorian, and while plenty has happened in the real world (global pandemic, aftereffects of Brexit, land war in Europe, somehow Lilt has been rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit flavour) and also in the GFFA during the later half of The Book of Boba Fett, sitting down to savour the 17th Chapter The Apostate really did feel like only a few months had passed. Speaking recently with Jon Favreau on a roundtable along with Jedi News and Future of the Force, Favreau was asked what keeps the tone of the show so consistent, and he was very clear what that was.
Jon Favreau: By writing. Filoni is also a great mentor to me in that way, because he studied at the feet of George for so long. And in animation, it’s so labor intensive, and there’s so many artists involved that you have to create consistency.
That consistency has never been clearer, as the show – sharper and visually more impressive than ever – returns without skipping a beat, a decent tract of time passed as Din and Grogu return to a Nevarro that’s very much on the up to reunite with High Magistrate Greef Karga and get started on his next mission of clearing his name and being reinstated as a true Mandalorian in the eyes of his people. We hit a lot of touchstones in the episode – we see Kowakian Monkey Lizards living high in the trees, a lovely tribute not only to the rejuvenation of Nevarro but also to the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, a film that in spirit (and of course on the timeline) feels closest to the series. There are Anzellans, the droidsmith species of Babu Frik as seen in The Rise of Skywalker and voiced by Shirley Henderson, Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter films and the voice of Babu. A trip through hyperspace that not only reveals that Mando sleeps with his helmet on but also how Grogu gets into the cockpit as he watches passing Purrgils in the depth of hyperspace, and the fate of the Darksaber; still in the posession of Djarin while Bo-Katan pouts on her throne, the Mandalorians now roaming as mercenaries as Din tries to regain his honour while we learn that Cara Dune is a Spec Force New Republic officer and Moff Gideon is in New Republic custody for war crimes.
That’s a LOT of info, quite apart from the main flow of the episode that sees Djarin swoop in to help his people fight a huge dinosaur turtle as it attacks a Mandalorian ceremony, a trip to Nevarro, a thrilling asteroid field dogfight that shows how adept Mando is at effortlessly switching from prey to hunter and the satisfying feeling that we’re back baby, we’re back in action with Mando and Grogu and on this form the next seven episodes are going to deliver a boatload of info, thrills and reveals.
As it has been for most of the last 46 years, it’s a good time to be a fan.
Eric Onkenhout
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is finally here and with that, we’ve learned some new things about the series’s timeline. The first two years of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have taken place over the course of several years. This would give time for Nevarro to recover and prosper and for Din and Grogu to develop a strong relationship. Additionally, Grogu spent about two years training with Luke from the end of season two to now. Knowing that Grogu has barely aged in several years lines up with his age but child-like appearance.
‘The Apostate,’ directed by Rick Famuyiwa, looked noticeably brighter than previous episodes of The Mandalorian, especially Nevarro. Maybe because many of the scenes took place during the day. Regardless, it looked vibrant visually. Din seeks redemption for removing his helmet, but The Armorer isn’t very welcoming. However, she does agree that he needs to visit Mandalore and take a bath there to be redeemed. The large dinosaur-like creature looked quite realistic. I loved the armor on its backside, reminiscent of several armored dinosaurs.
Din arrives on Nevarro and meets High Magistrate Greef Karga, who has entirely transformed the once run-down spaceport. Greef tries to get Din to stay on Nevarro by offering him land, but Din turns him down. By the way, Carl Weathers’ costume looked absolutely stunning! Weathers also carries himself differently, which could also be attributed to his outfit. He’s the man, and he knows it.
Karga and Din run into Pirate King Gorian Shard’s men and get into a shootout just outside a school. Amid the numerous school shootings and whatnot here in the States, I could understand why this scene might seem insensitive, and I agree. It could’ve been done outside another building other than a school. Also, with kids likely inside the school, seeing their elected official shooting someone is not what we want kids to see. But then again, I’m sure they knew who they were elected into office. Shard’s pirates consisted of a Weequay, Nikto, Trandoshan, and Quarren.
How Cara Dune’s (Gina Carano) story was explained worked well without making it messy. High Magistrate Karga tells Din he needs a marshall to help him enforce the law on Nevarro. When Din asks why he doesn’t ask Marshall Dune, Karga reveals that after she brought in Moff Gideon, she was recruited by New Republic Special Forces. Meanwhile, Gideon was shipped to a New Republic War Tribunal.
Once Karga realizes Din is on Nevarro for business, Din tells Karga that he needs IG-11 back. Since IG sacrificed himself at the end of season one, he has been memorialized as a statue on Nevarro using his remaining parts. Din says he needs a droid he can trust to help him explore Mandalore. This was a strange request. To specifically ask for a droid that was mostly destroyed in an explosion to help do a job Din could do himself. Personally, I think Taika Watitit was on set, possibly discussing his Star Wars movie, and he asked to be in an episode.
Watching IG-11 crawling around on the floor was cool, if not a tad creepy. After that didn’t work out, Karga recommended having the Anzellans fix IG-11. Of course, we know one Anzellan named Babu Frik from The Rise of Skywalker. I love nods to the sequel trilogy. Considering how choppy that trilogy was, it’s nice to see ties back to it.
Leaving IG-11 behind for now, Din departs Nevarro with Grogu, but while cutting through an asteroid field, Din is ambushed by Gorian Shard’s pirates again. We need more space battles in The Mandalorian! After dispatching all but the lead pirate fighter, Din is led right to Shard’s capital ship. With guns trained on him, Din escapes by blowing past Shard’s ship. Shard was an interesting alien we hadn’t seen before. He had green skin and strands of green “hair” on his head. Sort of a raggedy-looking Boss Nass. And I loved his voice too!
Din finally arrives on Kalevala, another planet in the Mandalorian system. He lands his makeshift Naboo fighter on a landing pad outside a Mandalorian castle and enters. There at the end of a long entranceway, sits Bo-Katan, alone on her throne. When Din says he is there to join her, she claims there is nothing left to join. When she returned sans the Darksaber, her forces left her. Bo-Katan sounds bitter about the Darksaber. Like she’s sick of the entire thing. She sounds tired of the Mandalorian way of life and all of its rules and factions.
Din tells her he’s headed to Mandalore to bathe in the Living Waters and be forgiven for his transgressions. Bo-Katan tells Din the mines he needs to find are in Sundari beneath the civic center. And off he goes.
‘The Apostate‘ was a solid start to season 3 of The Mandalorian. While I feel that The Mandalorian is a little overrated, I really liked this first episode, and I hope this series starts to find its way, much like The Clone Wars did in its third season. Jon Favreau said he wasn’t sure when The Mandalorian would end, but that’s not so important as long as there is a direction.
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in The Mandalorian – The Guide: Chapter 17: The Apostate
Brian Cameron and Paul Naylor discuss The Apostate on Good Morning Tatooine
Mark Mulcaster and Mark Newbold discuss The Apostate on Making Tracks Reaction Chat: The Mandalorian S3 Ep1 – The Apostate
