The Mandalorian: The Child
November 15, 2019 9:10 AM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe
The Mandalorian is unexpectedly assisted in his side quest to retrieve a giant monotreme egg in order get off Arvala-7.
Hey, Mando didn't spend 3 years at MMM (Mandalore Monokeras Monotreme) university for nothing.
posted by Gaz Errant at 1:04 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Gaz Errant at 1:04 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Well, daq was right about this episode at least. No denying the Lone Wolf and Cub influence here.
posted by Quonab at 1:38 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Quonab at 1:38 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
I think my beef with this episode is that the jawas are on some planet somewhere yet they have the exact same transport they do on tatoonine. I mean that's just some cringey fanboy callback service right there to me. I mean, it's ok, but shouldn't they be in something else? A different model of transport?
Also, I'm so glad he didn't take Hoggle from Labrynth with him at the end.
Quibbles aside, I'm enjoying this show. Hope it gets better.
posted by Catblack at 2:00 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
Also, I'm so glad he didn't take Hoggle from Labrynth with him at the end.
Quibbles aside, I'm enjoying this show. Hope it gets better.
posted by Catblack at 2:00 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
Forgotten Weapons investigates the Mandalorian's blaster: turns out (like many Star wars props) it's based on a real historical gun.
posted by Bee'sWing at 2:15 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 2:15 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think my beef with this episode is that the jawas are on some planet somewhere yet they have the exact same transport they do on tatoonine. I mean that's just some cringey fanboy callback service right there to me. I mean, it's ok, but shouldn't they be in something else? A different model of transport?
It's basically the same type of terrain, so that wasn't the big issue for me - but Jawas had (AFAIK) always been exclusively native to Tatooine...having them be present on this planet in the first place is the fanservice.
I thought this episode was weaker than the first and the choice to center it so much on Jawas was largely responsible - not just because it was pure canon-busting fanservice but because Jawas really have no depth as characters, and this episode didn't really give them any more depth. (I guess we learned they like to...eat eggs? Really messily and inefficiently?) Of course it's hard to give Jawas depth when they have no faces and don't speak Basic (i.e. English) but y'know...that's what you're stuck with that once you make the decision to go with Jawas for the fanservice value. They could've gone with Toydarians or Weequays or something instead and they still could've fought off the Mandalorian and sent him on a sidequest but also been made a little more three-dimensional. I will admit I was amused by the sight gag of the Mandalorian squashed into a Jawa-height sandcrawler cockpit, though.
On the bright side, either the music is just growing on me or else it was distinctly better this episode.
posted by mstokes650 at 3:02 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's basically the same type of terrain, so that wasn't the big issue for me - but Jawas had (AFAIK) always been exclusively native to Tatooine...having them be present on this planet in the first place is the fanservice.
I thought this episode was weaker than the first and the choice to center it so much on Jawas was largely responsible - not just because it was pure canon-busting fanservice but because Jawas really have no depth as characters, and this episode didn't really give them any more depth. (I guess we learned they like to...eat eggs? Really messily and inefficiently?) Of course it's hard to give Jawas depth when they have no faces and don't speak Basic (i.e. English) but y'know...that's what you're stuck with that once you make the decision to go with Jawas for the fanservice value. They could've gone with Toydarians or Weequays or something instead and they still could've fought off the Mandalorian and sent him on a sidequest but also been made a little more three-dimensional. I will admit I was amused by the sight gag of the Mandalorian squashed into a Jawa-height sandcrawler cockpit, though.
On the bright side, either the music is just growing on me or else it was distinctly better this episode.
posted by mstokes650 at 3:02 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
AFAICT from consulting Wookieepedia, Jawas were indeed found only on Tattooine in all previous Canon and Legends sources.
posted by tobascodagama at 4:53 PM on November 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 4:53 PM on November 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
Wow, tough audience around here. I enjoyed this episode. I don’t see a problem with Jawas being on other planets or taking their crawler to other planets, I guess. Maybe they bought a ride on a space cruiser.
I did think the music was better. I think the Mandalorian “theme” was more pronounced.
I hope Mando gets himself another chunk or two of Beskar steel. His chest armor got pretty beat.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:55 PM on November 15, 2019 [10 favorites]
I did think the music was better. I think the Mandalorian “theme” was more pronounced.
I hope Mando gets himself another chunk or two of Beskar steel. His chest armor got pretty beat.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:55 PM on November 15, 2019 [10 favorites]
I think part of my continued enjoyment of Star Wars is due to me not having read a whole bunch of the EU books and such.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:56 PM on November 15, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 4:56 PM on November 15, 2019 [20 favorites]
I'm not complaining that that jawas were on a different planet -- I assumed they would be, being scavengers. I sort of object to jawas on a different planet having the exact same transport as one we've seen on tatooine. And I can understand that jawas might all use a similar type of transport, but it's just lazy not to paint it differently or modify it. And lazy in that way where they've got this vast diverse universe to play with but for reasons of fanboy familiarity they'll keep playing off old nostalgia.
posted by Catblack at 5:43 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 5:43 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
"You must bring us the egg."
Sweet! A quest! Oh look, the kid tagged along, this is like Children's Week in WoW. I wonder if it's a repeatable quest?
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 5:50 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
Sweet! A quest! Oh look, the kid tagged along, this is like Children's Week in WoW. I wonder if it's a repeatable quest?
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 5:50 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
I like to think that if you drop Jawas on any planet, they will naturally scavenge enough materials to build a sandcrawler.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:25 PM on November 15, 2019 [36 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 6:25 PM on November 15, 2019 [36 favorites]
I'm really enjoying the show so far, and that dang baby yoda is so freaking cute it hurts my teeth.
Last thread, Burhanistan mentioned being a bit shocked by the violence that the Mandalorian seems to be easily capable of, and I was reminded of that while he indiscriminately murdered a bunch of Jawas that stole his car. It seems like we are meant to sympathize with the Mandalorian, but I wonder how far he is willing to go to get his hands on that camtono of Beskar...
posted by Rock Steady at 6:39 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
Last thread, Burhanistan mentioned being a bit shocked by the violence that the Mandalorian seems to be easily capable of, and I was reminded of that while he indiscriminately murdered a bunch of Jawas that stole his car. It seems like we are meant to sympathize with the Mandalorian, but I wonder how far he is willing to go to get his hands on that camtono of Beskar...
posted by Rock Steady at 6:39 PM on November 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
Ten minutes until the first spoken (English) dialog. Very John Ford western.
I actually enjoyed this episode more than the first. The first episode had a lot of carrying to do, even being embedded within the SW canon. This one was sparser, simpler, clearer.
The way the Mandalorian approached the task of trying to get his ship parts back, fighting up the side of the crawler only to reach the top and be shot off... that was excellent.
I thought that the "riding the side of a tank, being ground against a cliff" might have been a callback to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that might just be me.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 7:27 PM on November 15, 2019 [12 favorites]
I actually enjoyed this episode more than the first. The first episode had a lot of carrying to do, even being embedded within the SW canon. This one was sparser, simpler, clearer.
The way the Mandalorian approached the task of trying to get his ship parts back, fighting up the side of the crawler only to reach the top and be shot off... that was excellent.
I thought that the "riding the side of a tank, being ground against a cliff" might have been a callback to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that might just be me.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 7:27 PM on November 15, 2019 [12 favorites]
Ok, I was confused and thought he was on Tatooine and I missed it being mentioned. I don't mind the Jawas though, it was all entertaining.
"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion."
🎆🎆🎆 HELL YEAH! 🇺🇸🔫🦅🗽🤠🏈🍔✝️⛪🎅🧨🎆🎆🎆
posted by riruro at 7:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion."
🎆🎆🎆 HELL YEAH! 🇺🇸🔫🦅🗽🤠🏈🍔✝️⛪🎅🧨🎆🎆🎆
posted by riruro at 7:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
Ha! I had the same Indiana Jones flashback!
Likes the first episode a lot, but we all agreed this one wasn’t as interesting. Felt like a quest of the week sorta thing. And that was with the assistance of blue milk cocktails.
posted by purenitrous at 8:05 PM on November 15, 2019
Likes the first episode a lot, but we all agreed this one wasn’t as interesting. Felt like a quest of the week sorta thing. And that was with the assistance of blue milk cocktails.
posted by purenitrous at 8:05 PM on November 15, 2019
In the prior episode discussion, entropicamericana wrote: it's really fun seeing people who grew up playing with kenner's star wars toys getting to play with the real thing.. watching the falcon crash through the trees and slide to a stop sideways in the snow atop a cliff in tfa, seeing luke effortlessly survive a barrage from a fleet of walkers in tlj, the ig droid whirling and shooting like a dervish in the mandolorian, these all feel like scenarios we used to imagine in the sandboxes of our youth
As seen in this episode.
Sandboxes of our youth, indeed.
Bonus link, for reading: How Boba Fett Became a ‘Star Wars’ Icon -- The bounty hunter barely appeared in the original trilogy—and died in hilariously sad fashion—yet he still endured in the extended universe and grew in popularity to the point that Disney+ is staking its debut on a new series made in his image. Such is the power of looking really freaking cool. (Jake Kring-Schreifels for The Ringer, Nov 8, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:17 PM on November 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
As seen in this episode.
Sandboxes of our youth, indeed.
Bonus link, for reading: How Boba Fett Became a ‘Star Wars’ Icon -- The bounty hunter barely appeared in the original trilogy—and died in hilariously sad fashion—yet he still endured in the extended universe and grew in popularity to the point that Disney+ is staking its debut on a new series made in his image. Such is the power of looking really freaking cool. (Jake Kring-Schreifels for The Ringer, Nov 8, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:17 PM on November 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
And I'll echo the discomfort at casual violence. Yes, I get that he's a Mandalorian, and their weapons are religious items for them, and that he's a Foundling, himself kidnapped or whatnot.
I have come to terms with the Mandalorian being the Good Guy and the kidnappers in the prior episode being the Bad Guys, in the style of clear-cut Westerns of yore, but the Jawas were gratuitous kills in my eyes. The Jawas shocked him, instead of killing him, and they quickly forgave him for vaporizing a few of their crew/ family for the possibility of an egg snack?
Still, this show is fan service that has hooked me. Star Wars x Lone Wolf and Cub with baby Yoda as the cub? And baby Yoda catches and swallows a desert toad*, despite the Mandalorian telling him in a stern tone to spit it out? I'm sold.
* In addition to this showing the 50 year old specimen from a mysterious species (Wookieepedia) being carnivorous, it shows him to be unconcerned about the death of other creatures, at least at this point in his (very long) life.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:15 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
I have come to terms with the Mandalorian being the Good Guy and the kidnappers in the prior episode being the Bad Guys, in the style of clear-cut Westerns of yore, but the Jawas were gratuitous kills in my eyes. The Jawas shocked him, instead of killing him, and they quickly forgave him for vaporizing a few of their crew/ family for the possibility of an egg snack?
Still, this show is fan service that has hooked me. Star Wars x Lone Wolf and Cub with baby Yoda as the cub? And baby Yoda catches and swallows a desert toad*, despite the Mandalorian telling him in a stern tone to spit it out? I'm sold.
* In addition to this showing the 50 year old specimen from a mysterious species (Wookieepedia) being carnivorous, it shows him to be unconcerned about the death of other creatures, at least at this point in his (very long) life.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:15 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
I wonder how much Baby Yoda is just sandbagging. It strikes me a lot like Luke and Yoda's first meeting where Yoda plays dumb and has fun with Luke as a way of sizing him up. So he's a cute little baby in a floating bassinet, but when it's in his interest he is walking around, catching frogs, and using the force.
posted by Gary at 11:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Gary at 11:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [11 favorites]
Ya know who ELSE was a cute youngster with abnormally strong power in the Force without even having been trained?
How does this baby NOT turn Dark Side big time if its grown-up role models are a Mandalorian and/or Imperial Werner Herzog
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:29 AM on November 16, 2019 [11 favorites]
How does this baby NOT turn Dark Side big time if its grown-up role models are a Mandalorian and/or Imperial Werner Herzog
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:29 AM on November 16, 2019 [11 favorites]
he protec
he attac
but most importantly
he nap
I love baby yoda and he/she is now my son/daughter I have spoken
posted by lazaruslong at 6:23 AM on November 16, 2019 [53 favorites]
he attac
but most importantly
he nap
I love baby yoda and he/she is now my son/daughter I have spoken
posted by lazaruslong at 6:23 AM on November 16, 2019 [53 favorites]
Jawas may be native to Tatooine, but hunger goes where the food is. If there's scavenging to be done around the outer rim, scavengers gonna interstellar scavenge.
I do wonder what deal they made to have a whole Sandcrawler or two hauled around. I had to have my car towed a dozen kilometres the other day and it cost me an arm and a leg.
Mando's response to the Jawas was to treat them like vermin, not people. This is consistent with the casually racist language other Star peeps have used when discussing them in the movies. I am sure Jawa Twitter is alive with hashtags of outrage.
So Yodlings are not vegetarian? By this I am surprised.
It's like when Doctor Who occasionally eats meat. It's disconcerting. Willing to die to defend the space whale and be snotty on behalf of the earth pig but also carelessly eat the earth chicken with orphans during the London blitz? Weird, if you ask me.
Little Yodarians being carnivorous likewise leaves me scifi shook.
posted by Construction Concern at 11:00 AM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
I do wonder what deal they made to have a whole Sandcrawler or two hauled around. I had to have my car towed a dozen kilometres the other day and it cost me an arm and a leg.
Mando's response to the Jawas was to treat them like vermin, not people. This is consistent with the casually racist language other Star peeps have used when discussing them in the movies. I am sure Jawa Twitter is alive with hashtags of outrage.
So Yodlings are not vegetarian? By this I am surprised.
It's like when Doctor Who occasionally eats meat. It's disconcerting. Willing to die to defend the space whale and be snotty on behalf of the earth pig but also carelessly eat the earth chicken with orphans during the London blitz? Weird, if you ask me.
Little Yodarians being carnivorous likewise leaves me scifi shook.
posted by Construction Concern at 11:00 AM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
I bet Yoda ate plenty of frogs on Dagobah.
posted by Pendragon at 1:51 PM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 1:51 PM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
I have a question regarding a moment at approximately the 19 minute mark. The Mandalorian is recovering from being thrown onto his back, the music changes, the camera focus blurs, we cut to Baby Yoda—is Mando just taking a break or is something else being signaled here? It’s a pause in the action that seems significant, but the significance to me isn’t clear.
posted by josephtate at 2:02 PM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by josephtate at 2:02 PM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
yeah he sits up like some invisible hand is helping him up.
posted by some loser at 3:49 PM on November 16, 2019
posted by some loser at 3:49 PM on November 16, 2019
Kermit the Frog is probably having second thoughts about watching this show.
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:00 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:00 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Since baby yoda has huge force powers, I guess actual Yoda wasn't necessarily a wise old sage strong in the force through centuries of dedicated meditation. He was just from a species with a naturally high midichlorian count. That's kinda shitty. (I'm not personally invested enough into Star Wars to actually be angry about it though.)
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:16 PM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:16 PM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
or maybe he spends so much of his force power just keeping himself alive that he has to be very careful when he unleashes it to fight the forces of evil. we see it take a physical toll on him after all.
posted by some loser at 7:26 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by some loser at 7:26 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
I actually didn’t like the first episode much at all (for a bunch of reasons, most significantly that “rugged, stoic man who takes what he wants, and cares for nothing but money” is not an interesting protagonist to me), but I liked this one a little better. And yeah, the music, which I thought sounded pretty stupid during the first episode, is growing on me.
posted by Syllepsis at 9:56 PM on November 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
> Sweet! A quest! Oh look, the kid tagged along, this is like Children's Week in WoW. I wonder if it's a repeatable quest?Yeah, this. The show so far feels incredibly video-game-y. It’s very much structured in terms of discrete fetch quests (I could practically see “Objective Updated” pop up on my screen when the Jawas told the Mandalorian to get the Egg), to the extent that the Mandalorian has a device that magically points at his objective like the quest compass in Skyrim.
> Pretty lucky stab there, Mando.Case in point. You see, the Flamethrower Blast plus the Force Choke had already gotten the creature down to just a few hit points, so any attack would have killed it.
posted by Syllepsis at 9:56 PM on November 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
Psst. Do you like D&D custom multiclass character build videos?
How to play Boba Fett in Dungeons and Dragons 5e.
posted by bartleby at 11:46 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
How to play Boba Fett in Dungeons and Dragons 5e.
posted by bartleby at 11:46 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
to the extent that the Mandalorian has a device that magically points at his objective like the quest compass in Skyrim.
It seems like *every* yoda-hunter has one of these, that have been leading them in a ceaseless stream to that orc fortress where the prize was kept for years. Did not one of the indistinguishable goons in that weird compound think to maybe take the tracking chip out of the baby and just move or something? Or did a handheld device that can track force sensitives across the galaxy become a cheap commodity good just *after* the Empire collapsed?
posted by FatherDagon at 6:38 AM on November 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
It seems like *every* yoda-hunter has one of these, that have been leading them in a ceaseless stream to that orc fortress where the prize was kept for years. Did not one of the indistinguishable goons in that weird compound think to maybe take the tracking chip out of the baby and just move or something? Or did a handheld device that can track force sensitives across the galaxy become a cheap commodity good just *after* the Empire collapsed?
posted by FatherDagon at 6:38 AM on November 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Am I the only person made kinda uneasy by Nolte's character? He seems to skirt really closely to being an uncomfortable caricature of Native Americans from old Westerns. He shows up to teach the outsider his ways of living off the land, speaks in a stilted manner, and dispenses wisdom. He even sits cross-legged to make peace with the Jawas. Maybe I'm reading too much into him, but this is the company that brought us Watto, Jar Jar, and the Neimoidians.
posted by haileris23 at 7:39 PM on November 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by haileris23 at 7:39 PM on November 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
Possibly? Personally I saw him as a generic "old wise man" from samurai films.
I just find the archetype really implausible and a little annoying because of. But I could see an ever older Clint Eastwood in an 'Unforgiven 2' where he just isn't physically up for the task anymore and needs to give a side quest to someone else.
posted by porpoise at 12:33 AM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just find the archetype really implausible and a little annoying because of. But I could see an ever older Clint Eastwood in an 'Unforgiven 2' where he just isn't physically up for the task anymore and needs to give a side quest to someone else.
posted by porpoise at 12:33 AM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
IIRC sandcrawlers were abandoned industrial vehicles left behind after a mining company went bust, they weren't built by Jawas. At least according to old EU stuff.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:31 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:31 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
I continue to enjoy this show but my biggest gripe is how short the episodes are. 30 minutes seems to go by in the blink of an eye now that I'm used to the big TV shows being 45-60 minutes or more.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:46 AM on November 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:46 AM on November 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
The egg side quest felt like a Borderlands busywork grind, in the sort of less fun part that makes Borderlands less fun on replay, down to the recovered Macguffin being something absurd and wasteful.
I'm still waiting for this series to grab me and make me feel like it has any there there. It looks cool, but so far, I'm just not sold.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:23 AM on November 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm still waiting for this series to grab me and make me feel like it has any there there. It looks cool, but so far, I'm just not sold.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:23 AM on November 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
How has Disney/Lucasfilms managed to introduce a baby Yoda to the world without simultaneously introducing the opportunity to buy our own baby Yodas?
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:01 AM on November 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:01 AM on November 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
I liked it; both of them much more than I expected to.
I don't know if anyone else felt this, but his adventure up the side of the sandcrawler reminded me so much and seemed like there were specific callbacks to the SNES game Super Star Wars that it felt intentional and pretty nice. Play through video.
posted by skynxnex at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I don't know if anyone else felt this, but his adventure up the side of the sandcrawler reminded me so much and seemed like there were specific callbacks to the SNES game Super Star Wars that it felt intentional and pretty nice. Play through video.
posted by skynxnex at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
End credit art for the first two episodes, from Reggie's Take. Higher resolution (width: 3840px; height: 1600px) than TV Web's stills from episode 1.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:34 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 11:34 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
While I agree the quest for the egg itself was a pointless side story, the story of the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda was advanced quite a bit.
First, it established the length Mando is willing to go in pursuit of his goal. He was going to get that egg or die trying. And I submit he would have died if Baby Yoda hadn’t intervened. Which leads to the second point — the Mandalorian now owes him an enormous debt.
So the question now is will the Mandalorian repay that debt? As of right now, the character is a cipher. Did he shoot TI-11 because he couldn’t kill a child or was it a calculation that he didn’t want to share a diminished bounty for Baby Yoda’s corpse? After he was ambushed by the other bounty hunters, it became clear that he is in grave danger until he turns Baby Yoda over to the Imperial holdouts who hired him.
So, now the question is when will he recognize the debt he owes Baby Yoda and have his change of heart? Has he already had it and is he plotting how to escape? Or will he turn over Baby Yoda and collect his bounty before freeing the child?
Personally, I’m rooting for the latter. It still allows for ambiguity in Mando’s actions and sets up greater opportunities for ongoing conflict with the remains of the Empire.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:19 PM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
First, it established the length Mando is willing to go in pursuit of his goal. He was going to get that egg or die trying. And I submit he would have died if Baby Yoda hadn’t intervened. Which leads to the second point — the Mandalorian now owes him an enormous debt.
So the question now is will the Mandalorian repay that debt? As of right now, the character is a cipher. Did he shoot TI-11 because he couldn’t kill a child or was it a calculation that he didn’t want to share a diminished bounty for Baby Yoda’s corpse? After he was ambushed by the other bounty hunters, it became clear that he is in grave danger until he turns Baby Yoda over to the Imperial holdouts who hired him.
So, now the question is when will he recognize the debt he owes Baby Yoda and have his change of heart? Has he already had it and is he plotting how to escape? Or will he turn over Baby Yoda and collect his bounty before freeing the child?
Personally, I’m rooting for the latter. It still allows for ambiguity in Mando’s actions and sets up greater opportunities for ongoing conflict with the remains of the Empire.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:19 PM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think I minded killing the rhino the most. Surely in this video game there was a way to lure it out, eg with a baby-yoda chase, and just steal the egg. I mean, she was just defending her nest -- unlike the jawas, there was no moral ground whatsoever to kill her. And the fact that some random stab did it really made it feel like it was the writers callously killing her as much as the cowboy. So far I mostly haven't cared that this trifle continues in the post-trilogy tradition of solving problems with violence without even a nod towards avoiding hate, but if the hero continues to go around murdering aliens and animals without even the option of a conflicted frown, I may have to give it a rest. Hope not -- looks good and sounded better this time, I'm happy with playing this game on ""story"" mode as long as it doesn't completely devolve to a third-tier side-quest shooter.
posted by chortly at 8:40 PM on November 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by chortly at 8:40 PM on November 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
I am loving this show!
Things I liked:
- Baby Yoda...I mean...nomming the frog (that's my new band name) after adorably playing with it (we think), climbing out of his bassinet over and over again to try and Force-heal Mando's arm, and Mando picking him up and putting him back every time until he shuts Baby Yoda inside so he stops bugging him. How completely wiped out Baby Yoda is after Force-lifting the space rhino. Baby Yoda is so cute without being twee and making me hate him, but so clearly Yoda too. They are doing an excellent job with him. I normally hate CGI cute. I don't hate Baby Yoda.
- The Mandalorian's growing relationship with Baby Yoda is awesome, and so much is conveyed by so little, like how he keeps gently checking on Baby Yoda while he's recovering after the rhino
- the fact that, so far, every time it veers slightly into Twee George Lucas territory, they pull it back and make it cool again.
- Kuiil!!! I have spoken
- the music was noticeably better this episode
- it's beautifully shot
- I shouldn't be surprised by what a great job Pedro Pascal is doing simply with voice and physical acting, and I shouldn't be surprised by how much he manages to tell us just with posture and gestures, but I am consistently surprised by this. He is truly a great actor. I occasionally forget that we still haven't seen any part of his actual skin other than his wounded arm. That man has so much charisma it works even through a full face helmet.
- how faithful to things like Mandalorian weaponry and clothing it is so that you really believe it's in the Star Wars universe, also the fact that Mando has clearly been on the road for a long time and really needs his bounty money, his cloak is torn, his armor doesn't match and is badly scuffed, etc.
Things I didn't like:
- yeah, the shooting of the Jawas was a bit brutal and disturbing, but it also really worked in the "space western" motif.
- the space rhino was a bit dumb. It certainly fit well with the Star Wars creature shop aesthetic, but it wasn't really all that scary. I did like its furry egg.
- Jawas eating the egg, I mean....if they like eggs enough to trade back all that valuable salvage for a single egg, why eat it in such an inefficient manner? But Jawas gonna Jawa I guess
- no episode 3 yet
posted by biscotti at 3:21 AM on November 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
Things I liked:
- Baby Yoda...I mean...nomming the frog (that's my new band name) after adorably playing with it (we think), climbing out of his bassinet over and over again to try and Force-heal Mando's arm, and Mando picking him up and putting him back every time until he shuts Baby Yoda inside so he stops bugging him. How completely wiped out Baby Yoda is after Force-lifting the space rhino. Baby Yoda is so cute without being twee and making me hate him, but so clearly Yoda too. They are doing an excellent job with him. I normally hate CGI cute. I don't hate Baby Yoda.
- The Mandalorian's growing relationship with Baby Yoda is awesome, and so much is conveyed by so little, like how he keeps gently checking on Baby Yoda while he's recovering after the rhino
- the fact that, so far, every time it veers slightly into Twee George Lucas territory, they pull it back and make it cool again.
- Kuiil!!! I have spoken
- the music was noticeably better this episode
- it's beautifully shot
- I shouldn't be surprised by what a great job Pedro Pascal is doing simply with voice and physical acting, and I shouldn't be surprised by how much he manages to tell us just with posture and gestures, but I am consistently surprised by this. He is truly a great actor. I occasionally forget that we still haven't seen any part of his actual skin other than his wounded arm. That man has so much charisma it works even through a full face helmet.
- how faithful to things like Mandalorian weaponry and clothing it is so that you really believe it's in the Star Wars universe, also the fact that Mando has clearly been on the road for a long time and really needs his bounty money, his cloak is torn, his armor doesn't match and is badly scuffed, etc.
Things I didn't like:
- yeah, the shooting of the Jawas was a bit brutal and disturbing, but it also really worked in the "space western" motif.
- the space rhino was a bit dumb. It certainly fit well with the Star Wars creature shop aesthetic, but it wasn't really all that scary. I did like its furry egg.
- Jawas eating the egg, I mean....if they like eggs enough to trade back all that valuable salvage for a single egg, why eat it in such an inefficient manner? But Jawas gonna Jawa I guess
- no episode 3 yet
posted by biscotti at 3:21 AM on November 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I normally hate CGI cute. I don't hate Baby Yoda.
They're mostly using an animatronic puppet! And actually, everything I've read makes me think they're not using CGI at all for Baby Yoda.
posted by cooker girl at 6:47 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
They're mostly using an animatronic puppet! And actually, everything I've read makes me think they're not using CGI at all for Baby Yoda.
posted by cooker girl at 6:47 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don't like cute puppets either. With or without CGI.
posted by biscotti at 9:33 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by biscotti at 9:33 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I don't like cute puppets either.
I have the death sentence on twelve systems!
Mando has clearly been on the road for a long time and really needs his bounty money, his cloak is torn, his armor doesn't match and is badly scuffed, etc.
I find it interesting that he seems to be earning parts of his armor with the Beskar steel he gets. He has a pauldron crafted in the first episode, and a comment is made about how the extra metal will benefit the Foundlings in their tribe.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:42 PM on November 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
I have the death sentence on twelve systems!
Mando has clearly been on the road for a long time and really needs his bounty money, his cloak is torn, his armor doesn't match and is badly scuffed, etc.
I find it interesting that he seems to be earning parts of his armor with the Beskar steel he gets. He has a pauldron crafted in the first episode, and a comment is made about how the extra metal will benefit the Foundlings in their tribe.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:42 PM on November 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Baby Yoda and The Mandalorian merch were held back to avoid premature delivery of spoilers (Jacob Oller, SyFy)
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:37 PM on November 21, 2019
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:37 PM on November 21, 2019
How Lucasfilm’s New “Stagecraft” Tech Brought ‘The Mandalorian’ to Life and May Change the Future of TV (Slashfilm)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:23 PM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:23 PM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Jawas eating the egg, I mean....if they like eggs enough to trade back all that valuable salvage for a single egg, why eat it in such an inefficient manner? But Jawas gonna Jawa I guess
Maybe think of it less as "We'll give you your parts back if you bring us The Egg" and instead "We'll give you your parts back if you help us throw an Egg Party"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:33 AM on December 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
Maybe think of it less as "We'll give you your parts back if you bring us The Egg" and instead "We'll give you your parts back if you help us throw an Egg Party"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:33 AM on December 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
Soo-kaa! ("The egg! We're gonna get so wasted!")
posted by JHarris at 7:34 AM on January 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 7:34 AM on January 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
As always I’m years late to the party but oh man I’m using that line to end fights with my husband now. I have spoken.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:54 PM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:54 PM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by Rock Steady at 12:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [8 favorites]