What Is The Purpose Of The Mandalorian Continuing?

If this show’s heading down the path I think it’s going, it might as well just stop while its ahead. The Mandalorian S3 Ep.3 was a much longer episode and fleshed out than the previous two, but it introduced topics that remind me too much of the Sequel Trilogy.

I know it’s not really a secret the Sequel Trilogy is the overarching endpoint for every single post-Return of the Jedi/pre-The Force Awakens movie, T.V. show, etc., but I can’t help but feel annoyed when said shows introduce the Sequel Trilogy themes and backstory.

I’m not going to go into a full review of this episode as it’s already been a few days since its release, but I will say that this was the best episode released thus far.

Coruscant was far and away the best designed planet the show has shown yet, while the courtly intrigue of The New Republic, fallen Imperial fighters/employees, and an OG trilogy villain who should have been left alone was a nice break from the usual fast-paced, mindless action scenes The Mandalorian Season 3 has overused thus far.

Don’t get me wrong, there was still mindless action scenes (ex: the Tie Fighters attacking Bo-Katan and Mando out of nowhere) but it was definitely on the backburner.

Also, bringing back Dr. Pershing’s character was a good idea as I thought he was one of the best parts of Season 1 and an Imperial/villain of his nature (you know, not entirely evil but also not entirely pure) was missing from Season 2 and the season so far.

Nonetheless, it’s too bad he is essentially the gateway for Disney to introduce the whole “cloning Emperor Palpatine” arc that the Sequel Trilogy painfully laid bare. I know Palpatine was cloned in the Expanded Universe, but the way it was done and how it was handled was so much better than the stupidity Disney gave us in those three abominations called movies.

The Sequel Trilogy is the entire reason why Star Wars has become the fallen, disgrace, nostalgia-baiting, apathetic franchise we see today, and Disney was the architect of the Sequel Trilogy. Now, I can accept the existence of the Sequel Trilogy so long as it’s never mentioned, promoted, introduced, or hinted at in any future Disney-Star Wars projects, but the plot of this week’s episode is essentially doing all four things.

Pershing’s cloning expertise and warnings of a “super powerful individual in the Empire’s remnants seeking to get more powerful” (or something to that effect) is introducing and mentioning Snoke, cloned Palpatine, and the cloning methods in general, the Imperial that betrays Pershing is hinting at Palpatine and the New/Final (it was so stupid) Order string of informants and spies at work, and the New Republic’s lackadaisical approach to the Empire is promoting the events of The Force Awakens.

Watching this episode has me feeling like someone who just read some nice, caring, loving old text messages from a girlfriend he broke up with years ago. Yeah, it’s interesting to see the threads of how the relationship progressed and developed in the beginning, but I know it only ends in a toxic, bitter mess. Its best to just forget and move on, which is what Disney is not doing with the cursed Sequel Trilogy.

Anyway, another thing that has me really questioning the existence of this show is the relationship between Grogu, Mando, and Bo-Katan.

Not only has Mando and Grogu’s relationship progressed to a point where there can’t be any development in Mando’s lifetime (as Grogu is still a baby at 50 years old and won’t realistically be an adult until he’s 150-200 years old), but Mando and Bo-Katan’s relationship has also hit a dead end.

We already knew Bo-Katan desperately wanted to rule Mandalore during the Clone Wars and the wars with the Empire, but now its painfully obvious she’s going to be put on a collision course for the Mandalorian throne with the events of this episode. Having her be the only person who saw the “mythical, thought-to-be-dead” mythosaur, the very creature that only a true ruler of Mandalore could rule, is the dead giveaway.

However, that’s where I have my problem: why is this show still about Mando and Grogu?

As Bo-Katan said literally an episode ago, “did you think your father (Mando) was the only Mandalorian?”  Mando should have either been killed off, given up the dark saber to Bo-Katan in Season 2, or be introduced much later on in the season as a character Bo-Katan has to confront to recapture the throne of Mandalore.

Or, in other words, focus the show on Bo-Katan and her struggle to reclaim the Mandalorian throne against the New Republic, remnants of the Empire, and other forces.

She is an extremely interesting character with a cool backstory, great interpersonal connections with beloved Star Wars characters (Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, New Republic leaders, other Mandalorians, Darth Maul, etc.), the motivation and willpower to achieve weighty, interesting goals, and has a great actress (Katee Sackhoff) who can lead a show.

This kind of show literally writes itself with good writers, solid directing, and Andor-level attention-to-detail.

Anywho, this whole season really feels like a waste of time as I’m not only watching two characters get their value and commercial worth milked out before my very eyes, but also a quasi-introduction to the most destructive, corrosive area of the Star Wars franchise.

Episode 3 gets a 7.3/10 from me.

Images Source: Featured Image: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Review | The Mandalorian | Disney+ – YouTube)

In Text Image 1: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 3:”Chapter 19″)

In Text Image 2: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 3:”Chapter 19″)

In Text Image 3: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 3:”Chapter 19″)