The Mandalorian: Chapter 20: The Foundling

March 22, 2023 6:12 AM - Season 3, Episode 4

Din and Bo-Katan spend time in the hidden Mandalorian covert.
posted by EndsOfInvention (78 comments total)

The Jedi in the temple, Kelleran Beq, was played by Ahmed Best, i.e. the actor who played Jar Jar Binks.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:33 AM on March 22, 2023 [20 favorites]

Other than Ahmed Best (and I am SO HAPPY for him!) this was a pretty ho-hum episode.

Re: the kid taken by the pterodactyl. Paz Viszla at first calls him a foundling, and then later calls him his son. Does this mean there's some kind of formal adoption process for foundlings, so that they take their adopters' surnames? And if so, why hasn't Din done that with Grogu?
posted by orrnyereg at 7:48 AM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

I wonder at some point if they'll ever get Baby Yoda any ... other clothes. Does he just live in that one dirty robe for years?

Oh, wait, you're putting a toddler in a wrestling match?!?
Bo is SO CUTE to him, though!

"He is too young to speak the creed, and too young to wear a helmet." (Also, how the fuck are you gonna fit it over his big ol' ears?)

Oh, it's like, space paintball, then.

Poor Baby Yoda flashbacks.

This whole society sounds pretty stupid if they literally can't eat group meals because they all have to hide their heads. God, I hate the helmet rule so much. It's SO impractical.

That said, the gold helmet is the best.

"We have brought you three foundlings in need of training" AND THEY'RE GIANT BABY PTERODACTYLS DA FUCK.

"Um...I wasn't hallucinating, I swear...."

I would like to note the painting of a giant Baby Yoda and the um....crab...things...in the credits is definitely SOMETHING, all right.

I presume a child can both be a foundling (as in, that's his current status in the clan) and the guy's son. Foundling may be kind of an age/maturity range thing. I forget what they said the next level after foundling was, but ... something.

Din doesn't seem to use his own name much at all, dunno why he'd bother attaching it to the baby?

Good for Ahmed Best getting a better character this time.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:33 PM on March 22, 2023 [7 favorites]

I didn't recognise Ahmed Best, but when his credit flashed up I realised why I recognised but couldn't name the Jedi. Considering what Star Wars put him through I was stunned...

One thing though... you can have the flying creature always escape, or you can know that they kill their captives, but how can you have both?
posted by Molesome at 12:47 PM on March 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

You can when the creature does not kill their prey immediately.

I liked this episode. More Baby Yoda training please.
posted by Pendragon at 1:59 PM on March 22, 2023

The Grogu flashback kept this episode from being a little bit meh, and that being, the Children of the Watch with the helmet rule are only entertaining for so long. The whole scurry off and eat in secret was absolutely ridiculous. Though, I suppose if they had a building of their own, instead of a cafeteria, you'd have a bunch of little cells/stalls for everyone to step off into. Still stupid. I think it's also helpful to remember that the vast majority of the surviving Mandalorians are not part of the Children. My own theory is that Bo-Katan is going to use the cult to her own advantage and hopefully, eventually ditch the helmet rule.

I didn't make it through the first episode of Best's Star Wars show, but I was excited to see him get to portray the character in today's episode. I generally enjoyed the flashback, though, the invincibility of the Jedi in battle always seems to hinge on what the plot demands. It seemed like maybe a squad of clone troopers took out three or four Jedi at once? Meh. But whatever. The chase scene in Coruscant seemed to go a little longer than necessary and lacked a certain feeling of dynamism. I was not expecting a Naboo shuttle and Naboo guards waiting for Beq and Grogu. My current theory is Padme left a last minute instruction on her way to Mustafar (perhaps Bail sent her a message that something was up). One must now wonder if Beq survives his separation from Grogu or not. Money is on "not" but you never know. Again, when the number of Jedi who died in the purge really depends on plot necessity.

The opening scene of the Mandos training just seemed a little too chaotic to appear impressive. Grogu's handling of his opponent is going to make me wonder if it will breed some ill will elsewhere where he pulls on his Jedi training. Hrm. I'm still confused on whether Vizsla's kid was in that creature's gullet the whole time or what. The delay between the grab and the rescue again, felt weird. I guess we'll be seeing the Mandos flying around on their little dragon things in the future. Clearly, Bo-Katan will be cruising on the mythosaur by the finale. After all, as a certain character said in season one, the Mandalorians tamed the mighty mythosaur. :x
posted by Atreides at 2:20 PM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

Second week in a row that I was far more interested in what was happening on Coruscant. I don't think Jon Favreau knows how to write TV, except in the "episodic adventures" sense of the first two seasons. What an unfocused mess this season is. It's veering dangerously close to Book of Boba Fett territory.
posted by crossoverman at 3:01 PM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

This show is so weird and so goofy. The fighting drill scenes looked like a bunch of convention attendees messing around. Jumping Yoda was bad in the prequels and it's bad here. 80 per cent of the dialogue is people either saying what they are immediately about to do or saying what has just obviously happened. The structural stuff - doing this after the mix last week - is so weird I kind of respect it? But the whole thing is starting to feel like a vaguely recalled dream about star wars.
posted by ominous_paws at 3:58 PM on March 22, 2023 [6 favorites]

Ok class, It's a lovely day so we're all gonna go and have Phys. Ed. on the beach today.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:49 PM on March 22, 2023 [15 favorites]

I enjoyed it. Not much happened, but the Coruscant chase scene was exciting (hey BoBF, this is how you do a chase scene) and the Mandalorians vs flying beast was much better than the previous Mandalorians vs giant turtle. It does make sense that a warrior cult would purposely settle on a planet full of predatory megafauna. Survival of the fittest and all that.

re: foundling, it does sound like foundling is partly a status of how you joined (orphan adopted into the clan) and partly a rank, which is confusing. Din mentioned Grogu rising from "foundling to apprentice".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:10 PM on March 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

I really wanted Grogu to try eating the crab.

I'd have preferred if Grogu had force-deflected the dart instead of doing that backflip thing. But, for the kiddies, I suppose.

I agree, "foundling" can mean the traditional English sense, and also as a rank of these cult Mandalorians.

The timeframe doesn't make sense, but preferring to feed their young live prey can make sense. But why not chomp on it as soon as it was attacked? Apologia could be that the pterodactyl had an ego/ hubris. Megafauna need a lot more nutrition than it looks like is around.

I like those baby pteros!

Directed by Carl Weathers.
posted by porpoise at 7:25 PM on March 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

80 per cent of the dialogue is people either saying what they are immediately about to do or saying what has just obviously happened.

This is the Way.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:29 PM on March 22, 2023 [21 favorites]

It's nice watchable eye candy, but I was hoping for some more of the Dr. Pershing / Coruscant plot from last week. Feels like we're missing an overarching plot.

Even within the episode the raptor stalking seemed a bit perfunctory. When they made the big deal over noise I thought there'd be some drama over that, like someone risks falling but doesn't want to use their jetpack, or some silent hand signals business, but they just climbed up and went into the nest.

There doesn't seem to be either a menacing baddie or a clear goal for the protagonist.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:29 PM on March 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was like "what the hell are they going to do with those dinosaurs" and my husband, no pause, goes "they're going to ride them and it's going to be awesome." He's right, of course. This creative team? Why did I even ask that question?

I'm glad Ahmed Best got this chance to be cool in Star Wars. But it wasn't much of an episode, really, was it? We're enough episodes in now that we really ought to have more of a sense of where this season is going.
posted by potrzebie at 11:08 PM on March 22, 2023 [5 favorites]

It is baked into the soul of the internet to have Opinions about Star Wars.
posted by JHarris at 11:54 PM on March 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

I really enjoyed the hell out of this episode. There were some definitely weird things, like how did that foundling survive long enough for them to find him. Why didn't she feed her babies right away?

I was surprised when Bo Katan mentioned to the armorer that she had seen the mythosaur, because she seemed to be keeping that pretty quiet. And when is Grogu going to show dad his new armor?

I'm wondering where there going next though. I mean, they can't spend the entire rest of the season just hanging around training on the beach right? Now that they know Mandalore is livable, why haven't they all moved there to make a new home?
posted by ceejaytee at 4:18 AM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

Literally neither Din nor Bo has told them?

I hate taciturn characters. Not talking much is a BORING way! But I'm just here for the baby anyway.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:36 AM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

I think Fleebnork Jr. will enjoy this "monster of the week" episode.

I thought it was just ok. The chase through Coruscant was dragged out a bit too long for doing relatively little. It wasn't even that interesting to watch, and it looked like a video game cutscene.

It's nice they gave a nod to Ahmed Best after how he was treated by toxic fans.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:51 AM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

OK, this show is so fucking stupid. Those Mandalorians have got to be the dullest race in the Star Wars universe. They say little of interest, spend their time sparring without a whole lot of discipline. And of course, those precious masks have to be worn at all times because of reasons. When a dragon snatches away a young one, best they can come up with is "follow it to its lair"... in jet packs they must know would be inadequate. "It always gets away." WTF?!? At least Bo katan had the presence of mind to hop in a ship and give chase.

Maybe there's good reason her clan split off this lot.

And it's not like she's a remarkable personality herself. When she had down time, all she did was brood in her chair.

Baby Yoda's flashback was kind of interesting. But not enough to carry the episode.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:25 AM on March 23, 2023 [6 favorites]

like how did that foundling survive long enough for them to find him. Why didn't she feed her babies right away?

As a fellow parent I can understand the desire for freshly prepared meals and sticking to a routine for meals
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:48 AM on March 23, 2023 [12 favorites]

Weird that the Coruscant flying-around action looked iffy FX-wise but the flying-around dragon fight looked *seamless*, and gorgeous.

Ya know, that ship Kelleren took? Pretty much has to belong to Jar Jar, right?
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:02 AM on March 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Ya know, that ship Kelleren took? Pretty much has to belong to Jar Jar, right?

Dude, you are crossing the streams here.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:31 AM on March 23, 2023 [9 favorites]

Before this season began, Favreau made a comment to the effect of "we're barely in the middle of the story", and that's what we're getting this season. I think it's a bit miscalculated, though. The reunion of Din and Grogu should have happened in this season, not in BoBF, and only after Din redeeemed himself on Mandalore. Instead, both of those things got minimzed, and we're idling in the middle of things with no clear stakes or even interesting side quests.

I am sure that Grogu will use the Force on the raptor babies, and I bet he'll be the one to ride one of them in some battle scene near the end of the season.
posted by briank at 7:04 AM on March 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Maybe I'm oversensitive to puppets in peril, but I found Grogu's flashback surprisingly moving. We saw him gain an earlier space-dad, repeatedly nearly lose that space-dad, while in parallel fretting at the armor-making in the forge, which to me read as anxiety over losing his current space-dad to Mando-ness. I don't know, for me that was a lot. Yeah the chase was silly, but Star Wars is often at its best silly, and it did a good job of pushing my "no don't take the baby's dad away" button every few seconds. I also found the Coruscant sequence satisfying in how it paid off things from last week to do being recently re-familiarized with that environment - "he's looking at that weird bright hole in the side of the building ... oh, there's going to be flying train shenanigans", etc. And now I know that was the Jar Jar actor getting to be OG space-dad, I'm a very satisfied customer after this episode. *appreciative clap*

On further reflection, it'd probably better for the baby if he found a space-dad who's not a member of a persecuted militaristic cult. Kid's got an unfortunate pattern there. Hmmm, maybe we're heading for an ultimate conclusion to this story where Din leaves the cult and the bounty hunting behind and just focuses on being the dad Grogu needs and that's it. I'd like that.
posted by threecheesetrees at 7:12 AM on March 23, 2023 [10 favorites]

Ya know, that ship Kelleren took? Pretty much has to belong to Jar Jar, right?

GOD DAMN IT. He was a senator from Naboo after all at exactly that time period. If the next episode has Beq meeting up with Jar Jar or something, a certain segment of fanboys will simply implode from it all happening within the Mandalorian (Star Wars done right don't ya know?). I am going to just die (in a good way) if this is how it plays out in some form or manner. In nice news, while Ahmed Best left Twitter, he's still on Instagram and apparently knows how excited and happy people were with his appearance.

The movement in this episode was subtle. Bo-Katan opening up to the Armorer is a step toward something bigger, and her request for the new armor decoration indicative, outwardly, of a desire to be seen as representing all Mandalorians (as the Armorer noted, it is a symbol that all may wear). I still don't think Bo-Katan is going to go all in on "helmet always on," but she's calculating and seeing a new opportunity to achieve her dream of a new Mandalore through the Children of the Watch.

As mentioned above, the forge definitely brought back trauma for Grogu. Whereas Bo-Katan's growing affinity (???) for the group was put on outward display, his new piece of armor was hidden under his robe. While it was a reward for being more "mandalorian" it is something that he not yet outwardly to be identified with. I generally find it hard to believe that we're going to ultimately end up with a helmeted Grogu. I wonder if the trauma of loss, being even more awakened within him, is going to create a conflict of some sort. I still think this season is going to lead into or show Din choosing Grogu over "the way." But, you gotta also think they want to show a cute little Grogu doing a cute little Grogu gurgle of "this is the way" that is clearly spoken. So who knows.
posted by Atreides at 8:38 AM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

So is Yoda's speech defect a species trait, or did Yoda just learn Basic at a late age? Like, should we expect Grogu to say "the way this is" or is that species-ist?
posted by Kyol at 8:45 AM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

In Tales of the Jedi, Yaddle spoke normally.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 8:52 AM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

We have only one data set to rely upon, Jedi Master Yaddle. Yaddle looks like Yoda, but with long hair, and is only seen in the frame in The Phantom Menace, not heard. But, last year, they released Tales of the Jedi a beautifully animated six episode series that focus on Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku. Yaddle has a prominent role in one of the episodes and she speaks in regular syntax, not in the manner that Yoda uses. So...50/50, I guess?
posted by Atreides at 8:52 AM on March 23, 2023

They're going to stop wearing helmets all the time because otherwise they won't be able to show Yodicito's face anymore and he is Cute. I don't think they'll have Din leave the covert again, I think one apostate arc is enough for any show. The Children of the Watch will loosen up as a result of their acceptance of these new members, there's going to be some awful standoff about Helmets or Not, probably Paz Vizsla is going to stand up for Tradition, there'll be some shit with the Darksaber where it looks like the sect will split, but then they all pull together to take out Moff Gideon when he comes for Yodicito... IDK I'm not sure of the details but I feel like the broad contours are pretty clear. I hope I'm wrong and this show comes with some surprises though! It's done it before. But this season has felt pretty muddled and I feel like when that happens Star Wars goes back to the same plot wells time and again.

I predict Yodicito's first intelligible spoken word this season finale and it'll be something REAL cute and special
posted by potrzebie at 9:18 AM on March 23, 2023 [10 favorites]

I still maintain that it's not Grogu, it's Greauxgout, and when he speaks it's going to be in an almost unintellible Cajun accent that nobody remarks on.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:33 AM on March 23, 2023 [26 favorites]

I laughed out loud at “They always get away,” the sudden too-loudness of jetpacks after chasing with jetpacks, and Big Mando climbing with his huge machine gun after the no blasters thing was stressed so many times, and was that kid in the bird’s mouth the whole day and a half? But for all the stupidity I still enjoyed the episode quite a bit.
posted by rodlymight at 10:20 AM on March 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Star Wars is really best when you don't stop and think about things.
posted by Atreides at 10:50 AM on March 23, 2023 [15 favorites]

Is Bo-Katan going to ride a mythosaur into battle?
posted by yonega at 11:39 AM on March 23, 2023 [5 favorites]

The whole scurry off and eat in secret was absolutely ridiculous. Though, I suppose if they had a building of their own, instead of a cafeteria, you'd have a bunch of little cells/stalls for everyone to step off into.

I'd like to see how they return to the campfire after eating. Having found a secluded spot to eat, when they're done they have to return (a) carefully so they don't stumble across a de-helmeted buddy who's still eating and (b) presumably walk backwards to the fire calling out "are you decent, I'm coming back... ready or not". Or perhaps they just agree a fixed duration for the meal time.
posted by NailsTheCat at 11:55 AM on March 23, 2023 [7 favorites]

Is Bo-Katan going to ride a mythosaur into battle?


1000% absolutely.

Now, against who, where, when, and why? I ain't got a clue.
posted by Atreides at 1:56 PM on March 23, 2023

This is a terrible planet. We should not have come here.
posted by kyrademon at 3:43 PM on March 23, 2023 [11 favorites]

It's a really bad planet!
posted by potrzebie at 5:08 PM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

I don't see how that planet supports carnivorous megafauna. It cannot just be pterodactyls and alligator-turtles eating Mandos all day?

Is there a spaceport? Where does the Armorer get the fuel to operate her forge? Where do they get the food to fill their little mando-bento boxes?

It is pretty well known that sitting facing the fire is a good way to ruin your night vision: I was surprised Bo-Katan didn't set a guard.

As a rock climber, I am appalled at the terrible and energy-wasteful technique these Mandalorians are exhibiting. By the time they get halfway there, they will be entirely exhausted. Use your legs! Instead they are pulling themselves up the lines and just propping themselves off the wall with their legs. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

oh wait some did change their technique, thank goodness. But WHY did Paz carry that huge gun all the way?

Chekov's alligator-turtle!

This was enjoyable but it doesn't make a lot of sense. And the dialog is hella clunky, as were the kids & others training in the beginning. Why were they randomly shooting into the water? There wasn't a target out there.
posted by suelac at 8:10 PM on March 23, 2023 [7 favorites]

A giant predator has our foundling. We've brought the war party to the base of its nest-spire. Should we immediately start climbing up there to rescue the child before it gets eaten? Maybe utilizing the thermal imaging that our helmets offer to negate the disadvantages of darkness?

No, let's set up camp here and have a nice meal. Have a chat about helmet etiquette. Get a good night's sleep. We'll get the kid in the morning, what's the rush?
posted by good in a vacuum at 8:57 PM on March 23, 2023 [16 favorites]

"Din Djarin, have you ever removed your helmet? By Creed, you must vow.”

"I have."

“Then you are a Mandalorian no more."

"Hang on, it was just to eat. We all do it. Three times a day. I went somewhere nobody could see."

"Sorry, did I say 'Mandalorian'? I meant 'hungry'. You are hungry no more."
posted by rory at 11:08 PM on March 23, 2023 [6 favorites]

Why were they randomly shooting into the water? There wasn't a target out there.

The sacred Mandalorian fishing technique.
posted by JHarris at 11:34 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

How cool wouldn’t it be if it was Kelleran Beq who trained Grogu and hid him away. Give my man Ahmed Best some time to shine in a big SW project like Mando.
Posted 01 Dec 2020
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:26 AM on March 24, 2023 [20 favorites]

I don't see how that planet supports carnivorous megafauna. It cannot just be pterodactyls and alligator-turtles eating Mandos all day?

We can't play the "Drink every time there's megafauna" game without them.
posted by mikelieman at 4:15 AM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

By the same token, I don’t understand how that great white shark in that movie got so big when all it ever ate was two swimmers, a dog, and Robert Shaw.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:37 AM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's entirely possible that this little corner where their cave IS the safest spot on the planet, but the planet being so hazardous is why no one would think to look for a bunch of helmeted religious zealots running around randomly blowing things up. Which is also why, the megafauna so far have shown an interest in these little shelled creatures that are far tempting prey than the other wild life that will kill you in seven different ways.

Or well, it'd just look cool spray painted on the side of a van.
posted by Atreides at 6:47 AM on March 24, 2023

I don't see how that planet supports carnivorous megafauna. It cannot just be pterodactyls and alligator-turtles eating Mandos all day?

Well, we know the alligator turtles eat the pterodactyls.

Why were they randomly shooting into the water? There wasn't a target out there.

No wonder the alligator-turtles are pissed off.
posted by mikepop at 6:48 AM on March 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Alligatortles, if you please.

It's entirely possible that this little corner where their cave IS the safest spot on the planet,

I think we’ve all been trained by decades of sf movies and tv to assume that any setting we see on an alien planet is the single biome that covers the entire world. What if I told you that in the Star Wars movies that the scenes of Tattooine and Hoth and Endor were all actually filmed in the same planet??!?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:15 AM on March 24, 2023 [14 favorites]

Fanfare isn't the place to be spreading lies, ricochet biscuit. Next you'll tell me that Endor and Tatooine were filmed with a few hundred miles of each other. Geez.
posted by Atreides at 11:26 AM on March 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

Looks like you could drive from Jabba’s Palace to Cestus III (where Kirk fought the Gorn) in under four hours.

(Note that I am not entirely familiar with the filming locations in California so I checked them on IMDb: looks like the forest of Endor in Smith River is now logged and deforested, which makes me sadder than the mortality of any of the actors. At least they weren’t killed to sell off their organs.)
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:09 PM on March 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

I found this episode silly in many ways, but I enjoyed seeing Din and Bo Katan's deepening relationships with Grogu. BK is more human to Grogu than she is to most other characters. It's interesting to see the balance of power flipped a little between her and Din now that she's on Din's home turf and doesn't really understand how his clan operates.

But yeah, largely silly. I wish they'd cool it with the exposition-heavy dialogue.

I really enjoyed Grogu's flashback scene. I know it's total fanservice but I always get Big Emotions around Order 66 and it was so great to see Ahmed Best being badass. I felt like the puppetry was really good in this sequence, you really got a sense of (a) Grogu's emotional turmoil and (b) how at the time of Order 66, he was a significantly younger baby.

Also, he is so small and I love his little waddles.
posted by unicorn chaser at 5:45 PM on March 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

Oh! Right, I was going to go look up how many damn Jedi actually _did_ manage to survive Order 66. Like it feels like there are new ones all the time, sheesh clone troopers, git gud.

Having looked it up. Wow, that's, uh, a lot more than I expected.
posted by Kyol at 9:00 PM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

I mean, Jedi are pretty badass. It's not surprising that tons of them survived order 66. The point was not to eradicate them completely, it was to eliminate a whole bunch of them and force the rest into hiding, rendering the sect a non-threat for at least a few generations. It basically worked; Anakin Skywalker's pain-in-the-ass children may have taken the architect of the plan out of the picture but there's nothing like a healthy and thriving Jedi order rising from the ashes in any of the canon future we've seen.
posted by potrzebie at 10:13 PM on March 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

A Post-Order 66 Jedi falls right into the realm of the lone gunman/wandering ronin storytelling tradition and it's one a lot of people enjoy. Toss in under constant threat of persecution and voila, built in tension and drama. Thus, Jedi keep surviving! During Rebels, Dave Filoni tried to explain how Yoda's comment to Luke, being the last of the Jedi, worked out and it mainly fell into the category that everyone else was somehow moved off the board or no longer affiliated as Jedi.
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on March 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's apex predators all the way down on this freakin planet.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:04 PM on March 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

One of the characters is named Paz Vizsla, which is fun, as vizsla's a dog breed. Maybe this is why they have to wear helmets, some are secretly dogs?

Mandalorian steel: 🎶the fabric of our lives🎵
I want Surprise Bulletproof Baby Yoda to be a plot point.


> Ok class, It's a lovely day so we're all gonna go and have Phys. Ed. on the beach today.

(out of sync chorus) This is the Way


I saw a Mandalorian helmet in the nest and was worried the foundling was alive, but without a helmet, so couldn't be simply rescued, but would have to do a new side quest. Or if he'd have, like, an emergency hoodie.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:18 PM on March 25, 2023 [8 favorites]

I wonder if it was always the plan to return Grogu to season three of The Mandalorian via Boba Fett, or did the producers all of a sudden realize that sending their cash cow to leave the series to train as a Jedi was bad for business?

Perhaps there's an internal struggle between producers who really want to tell the story of the Mandalorians and those who will settle for the Grogulorian.
posted by fairmettle at 5:36 AM on March 26, 2023

There is no way in hell I would watch this show without the baby being in it. Taciturn people who barely talk and don't show their face are NO FUN on their own, and the only charm/interest/laughs/awwww I get from Mando is his being a space dad, because the contrast is what makes him interesting. If this show isn't "The Bounty Hunter and the Baby," I'd be OUT. I bet a lot of people would.

I think the logical conclusion/plot was that a baby Jedi should be trained by a Jedi, and that's where "return him to his people" is the most likely thing, unless the planet of Yodas is ever found.
While I think doing "Mandalorian season 2.5" during The Bore of Boba Fett was a really strange choice, it sounds like it was also to have some duration of time/training go on before they reasonably reunited the two.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 PM on March 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

There is no way in hell I would watch this show without the baby being in it.

Grogu is older than Din Djarin.

"The Bounty Hunter and the Baby,"

Grogu is older than Din Djarin.

a baby Jedi should be trained by a Jedi

Grogu is older than Luke Skywalker and has more formal Jedi training than he does.
posted by The Tensor at 1:47 AM on March 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah, but for his species he appears to be the equivalent of a toddler and can't even speak yet.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:56 AM on March 27, 2023 [7 favorites]

when 100 years old you are, bah gah gu
posted by kokaku at 5:58 AM on March 27, 2023 [9 favorites]

Yeah, but for his species he appears to be the equivalent of a toddler and can't even speak yet.

I suggested long ago that the little-green species mostly communicated psychically, and they're perplexed why the monkeys keep flapping their pie-holes all the time.
posted by mikelieman at 3:02 PM on March 27, 2023 [4 favorites]

This seems to be the case with the Jedi, at least, but that said, we know Yoda and Yaddle were able to flap pie-holes.

He may say his first word this season, though!
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:30 PM on March 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

This seems to be the case with the Jedi, at least, but that said, we know Yoda and Yaddle were able to flap pie-holes.

True, but the flapping of pie holes may be an ancillary part of communication with the bulk of it happening psychically.

Some people gesture when they speak; others do less so or even not at all. If a theoretical species encountering humans communicated only through sign language and barely noticed noise, they might wonder at why some of us seemed to at least communicate at least to a small degree while others just waved our limbs around a bit and mysteriously flapped yon pie holes.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:52 PM on March 27, 2023

Metafilter: some of us seemed to at least communicate at least to a small degree while others just waved our limbs around a bit and mysteriously flapped yon pie holes.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:13 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's apex predators all the way down on this freakin planet.

I don't mind Planet of the Megafauna but it did bug me that the dragon creature seemed to have the eye arrangement of a prey species, not the forward-focussed vision that a predator has. Maybe there's an even bigger flying thing we haven't seen yet.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:20 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

Grogu is older than Din Djarin.

Don't care. I would like to see ze baby.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:02 AM on March 28, 2023 [8 favorites]

What if I told you that in the Star Wars movies that the scenes of Tattooine and Hoth and Endor were all actually filmed in the same planet??!?

I thought Star Warses were filmed on location.
posted by larrybob at 1:30 PM on March 30, 2023 [5 favorites]

They are. That’s the point. Location is a surprisingly diverse planet.
posted by Naberius at 9:18 PM on March 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

Of all the implausible things in this show... Baby Yoda flipped ten feet in the air and no one noticed. You'd think the other foundling kids would stop and stare, or be all "how did he do that", or at least say "woah, cool". Nope, unremarked, and this after Mando shines a big spotlight on him saying "show them w hat you can do". Also surely some of the adults who know the history of Mandalorian / Jedi warfare would be a little uncomfortable to have this Jedi wizardlet in their midst?
posted by Nelson at 9:40 AM on April 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

And nobody squeed, "THAT'S SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!111!!!" when he flipped ten feet in the air, either. That's even less believable!
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:34 PM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

You'd think the other foundling kids would stop and stare, or be all "how did he do that", or at least say "woah, cool".

We're talking about a galaxy in which freaking Cthulhus are dock workers. Everyone's so jaded long ago and far away.
posted by JHarris at 6:23 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

I suppose so. Thinking about this has made me reflect on how thin the writing is for the little Mandalorian tykes. Like there aren't any actual kids being kids in this show. There aren't any other child characters written at all, just the one hapless kid there to be a princess to be rescued from the pterodactyl castle.

You could imagine a few scenes fleshing out Grogu as a character. The other kids meeting him, trying to figure out what species he is. Shyly making friends. Grogu accidentally eating the reproductive organs of one of the older ones. A playground fight where Grogu accidentally throws a kid into the air but Mando flies up and rescues the victim before any harm is done. You know, heart-warming kid stuff.
posted by Nelson at 7:09 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

The writing on this show is so low effort.
posted by skewed at 10:55 PM on April 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

You know, heart-warming kid stuff.

I'm envisioning The Infancy Gospels of Grogu.
posted by larrybob at 11:41 AM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Gospels of Grogu:
* If it's food, eat it.
* If it's live food, eat it.
* Shiny balls must be stolen.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:20 PM on April 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

Megafauna need a lot more nutrition than it looks like is around.

this is a star wars.

you can't have infinite energy for warp drives and blasters, as the plot determines, then have strict macroecological principles on display--when the movies started out with giant space worms living on asteroids. it s special crystals or something.

give me the MegaEcology.
posted by eustatic at 6:43 AM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ah, so, you see the way it work (I've decided) is like this:
The idea is that these megafauna all have a sort of larval stage where they are essentially miniscule lifeforms. They float around in space gathering energy, or in the blood stream of other creatures, basically wherever there are energetic process you find these tiny larval creatures.
They eat up the energy and convert it into a sort of energy field which is then consumed by the adult versions to maintain their enormous energy requirements (or in some cases replace normal bio functions, like breathing).

Of course all this means that sometimes other creatures can learn to siphon off energy from this energy field and do some flashy tricks with it.
It also means that somewhere out in the galaxy far far away is a very hungry Megachlorian.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:40 AM on April 17, 2023

Just now catching up, a little behind.
Before watching this episode I'd been watching the youtube livestream of the falcons at Cal, here: nest cam

Yes, there are three of them, yes, they are adorable and hungry, yes they are birds of prey and get fed, well, prey. So my sympathies in this episode might have been a bit misplaced.

That having been said it's clearly going to be more than full time job to feed these things, having watched the work the peregrines do to keep their three fed.
posted by nat at 12:10 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]