Star Wars: The Mandalorian

[Wrathbone]

Agreed on Dave Filoni. I'm only halfway through Clone Wars and I've not seen any of Rebels, but it's clear that he gets Star Wars and what makes it special. Far more than JJ Abrams. I'd be thrilled if Disney made him the de facto Star Wars story architect for all future projects - i.e. not necessarily the writer or director for everything (which would be impractical), but the person who understands and channels where the wider story is going. The new George Lucas, in other words.

[Raid]

Filoni is the best thing to happen to Star Wars (at least on screen) since the original films.

[Raid]

Episode 6 is decent.

Spoiler

Dark Troopers! Actual Phase II Dark Troopers from Dark Forces! I know they were visible a few episodes back, and the subtitles seemingly named them at the time, but I suppose I wasn't expecting a reference to a 25 year old videogame. If this were a Dave Filoni episode, I'd assume this was an apology for rewriting the plot to steal the Death Star plans to replace Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors with vaguely similar characters. Perhaps Favreau has similar reverence for the pre-Disney canon.

So I've never been a big fan of Boba Fett. He was a little menacing in the original films, sure, but he didn't really do very much. He tracked the Falcon to Cloud City, and I think he took a few pot shots at Luke. In Return of the Jedi he comically dies without doing anything interesting. His entire character seemed to be "Has cool hat and jetpack." Jango had a much better portrayal, and while he also died pretty quickly, he did at least go down to the best lightsaber fighter in the universe. This episode rectifies this, and now Boba has finally earned all of the fan adoration.

And goodbye Razorcrest. I can't say I've been a big fan of the design to be honest - it was a perfectly decent looking landing craft, but it just didn't look particularly... well, cool. There's something to be said for staying a little bit low-key, but it's like James Bond driving around in a Ford Transit. They talked the ship up a bit in season 1, but it just never quite clicked with me. I do wonder what they'll replace it with. It'd be nice if Mando got something a little larger next time; the 'Crest didn't exactly make for an interesting set.

[Raid]

Episode 7 is another corker. This series has definitely become a lot more consistent in quality this year.

[Sly Boots]

Ooh, think I'll give in over the next week, finale should have aired by the time I get to it

[Hatredsheart]

Episode 7 is another corker. This series has definitely become a lot more consistent in quality this year.

Agree, really enjoying this.

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, really enjoyed that one.

Spoiler

And the ending! Not a huge surprise as I'd heard the rumours, but I still gawped like an idiot for a few seconds.

Just started watching. Really enjoyed episode 1, and the twist at the end

[Mantis]

All caught up now. Whilst I approach everything Disney do with cynicism nowadays as everything seems to be created from the production line of what they think will generate the biggest audience based off previous past popular characters, this has turned out to be far better than it ever really had the right to be.

I don't really know much about the expanded universe or any of the recent releases, so a lot of the recurring characters are somewhat lost on me, but the general plotting, writing and direction of this show has been pretty great since the get go.

I'm not sure it's something we will all look back on in years to come as being a standout show of its time like some shows become. But overall I am really enjoying it.

[Raid]

I have mixed opinions on the finale.

Spoiler

The episode was good overall, it was perhaps a little predictable (Mando carrying his spear meant that he was obviously going to have a lightsaber fight with Gideon) but I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion. Having Luke turn up and save the day felt like a bit of a cop-out, even if the fanboy in me was giddy. I did think at first that it would be Ezra Bridger; there really aren't that many canon Jedi in the universe at this point - just Luke, Leia, Ezra, possibly Cal Kestis and Cere Junda (strictly speaking Ahsoka isn't a Jedi, though the show didn't make that distinction earlier in the season), so there was a pretty limited list of recognisable characters that were going to answer Grogu's call, and Ezra is the only other one who has a green lightsaber.

And there's a post-credits scene in this one which is definitely worth a watch.

[Mantis]

Spoiler

I thought they might have gone with an older Luke not realising that the show is set so soon after the original movies. Regardless, the CGI on him looked pretty dodgy.

Have they confirmed whether the show will see a third season? The ending felt so abrupt, mainly due to how much of it felt like it was dedicated to shootouts and lightsaber shenanigans.

[Raid]

Spoiler

I think a third season has been confirmed as coming next year. It didn't feel at all like a conclusion to Din's story, and I suspect that we'll be following the Darksaber story. I do hope that Luke isn't going to be making more than a cameo; as much as I enjoy Jedi and Lightsabers, Star Wars ought to be a lot bigger than the Skywalker Saga.

[Sly Boots]

Yup, an absolute corker of an episode. Probably my favourite so far.

Spoiler

The Child has a name!

They really brought Star Wars back to its roots; there were several shots in that that could have been form a Kurosawa film, and it was a great introduction to Ahsoka Tano for an audience that may not have met her before. I think Rosario Dawson was a good bit of casting, although I have to admit to being just a little disappointed in Tano's fight with the Magistrate given that one of the galaxy's strongest force users armed with lightsabers probably shouldn't have had much trouble against someone that wasn't obviously force sensitive using a spear.

They even teased the sole remaining plotline from the end of Rebels, the one that I was really hoping would become its own series. If Ahsoka knows that Thrawn is alive, then she's probably still on her quest to find Ezra Bridger, which likely brings Sabine Wren into the picture. Given that Sabine is a Mandalorian, I think there's a decent chance she'll turn up too. I don't think it's going to be a plot they do much with in The Mandalorian, as this is Din Djarin's story, not a sequel to Rebels, but maybe the fan reaction would go some way to convincing Disney it's a story worth finishing.

I'm so glad that Dave Filoni wrote and directed this one, even if it was an obvious choice given the material. He even managed to sneak Morai and what looked an awful lot like a Loth Cat in there.

Just watched ep5, and now having read this I don't know what any of this means

[Raid]

Don't worry, it was a stream of consciousness ramble about tying into other Star Wars productions. Watch Rebels, it's good.

[Sly Boots]

Don't worry, it was a stream of consciousness ramble about tying into other Star Wars productions. Watch Rebels, it's good.

Is it on Disney+ like Mandalorian?

[Raid]

Yup.