The Mandalorian Chapter Thirteen Spoiler Discussion

[KRYPTON INC.]

Thrawn....Thrawn.


There is nothing but Thrawn.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

-You will place Grogu on the seeing stone, at the top of the mountain.
There Grogu must choose his path...

How close are they playing it?
Image invokes;
If we see the RC knob on one side, ..something else ((if not the Dark Sabre), a significant Jedi totem, or Jedi calling to him?) on the other...?
So what will the Yoby choose?
The knob will mean he's rejected the Jedi path, and wants to stay with his dady?

They went to the KILL BILL/LADY SNOWBIRD well this time... I can totally see this happening now.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

So, regarding Thrawn... that’s gotta be another Sackhoff situation, yes?

Because visually Mikkelsen is perfect for it.

Outside of Covid stuff making things difficult for whatever reason... They have to get Lars. They HAVE to.

 

[Sithborg]

I just don't see The Mandalorian becoming the Rebels sequel series.

 

[Herolee10]

I just don't see The Mandalorian becoming the Rebels sequel series.

Agreed. If anything, I could see it leading more towards Mando helping Bo Katan reclaiming their home world.

It's possible they're just planting seeds for Ahsoka's own Disney series, with Thrawn being the main antagonist there.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

My buddy has this idea that they are looking to "Avengerize" SW on Disney+.

Multiple shows that will have connective tissue to tell a larger story that will crossover.

 

[BlackFox]

This series just gets better and better. Wow.

After episode 2 I was a tad concerned but each one after has swung for the fences and not missed, so much to love about this epsiode from the "Nightcrawler" esq opening to the introduction of some great new characters as well as being really dark and the closest tone to Empire since well forever I guess and getting baby Yoda backstory and name. So many neat little touches and nods to even bigger things as well, the mind boggles for not just the next 3 episodes but also future series, damn this is making Star Wars great again.

The only slight waste was Michael Beihn not really have much to do or say, bit of a nothing character but at least it was a nice cameo if nothing else;

Otherwise, damn, 10 out of 10 stuff here for the third straight week.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Doing another live watch at work. Ate first so there's no distractions at all.

Welp... Here we go.

1. Wow. We just go right into it huh? Tano's style in live action is... interesting. Not too flowery but with some sizzle, but the hits and combat is, while fantasy based, pretty strong and "gritty". I have to say some of the "digital seams" are showing but that feels purely a budget thing. Otherwise this feels ambitous if a bit hemmed in by the budget. Dawson looks great. So, lone hero trying to save civilians on some outer rim backwater? Got it.

2. Mando has gotten really comfortable with his charge. He was never a bad guy to the kid but his voice has much more emotion around him. Makes it obvious that his connection to the kid will be a tension in the show. Will he WANT to give the child away? Will the child want to leave Mando?

3. Like I stated before... This is ambitous and it's not that anything looks horrible but the "movie on a TV budget" aspect is noticable a bit. Not overwhelmingly so, no, but... It's there at the edges so to speak. I will say, and this is a bit of a complaint about a lot of our current and in the recent past sci fi shows etc., is why there seems to be so much sameness is how they present places that aren't the big sci fi futuristic cites (Which on ANOTHER note, at this point in this show would be a real nice change of pace, just saying.) in so much of post 2000's stuff? It's all psuedo-western frontier towns of one stripe or another. Change the color palette and the big signifieres of the environment (Swampy, forest, desert etc.) and BOOM! different planet, right? It's a bit old, and that's not just Mando or SW, it is way too common in my view.


4. Okay... Mando Martell with a Beskar spear? (They REALLY did write this one just for our own @Roose Bolton ) Filoni... You had me at spear. I think I know who'll be walking away with that thing. I hope it's not a signal of Mando attempting to go one on one with Tano... I don't give him much of a chance against her myself. This actess playing the villain seems familiar too, but I can't place her.

5. I just stopped watching and called a friend cuz... HOLY **** THAT'S MICHAEL BEIHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For real... At first I was like "Is that Clark Gregg?" Then I was, no, someone else. But **** it's Cpl. Hick's of the Colonial Marines himself! I had no idea he was showing up or if I did I completely forgot. NICE.

6. Okay... Time to do some speculating... The baby was at the Temple. Order 66 happens. Anakin/Vader slaughtered the ones old enough to pick up a sabre. Somehow the baby was taken and hidden. That's the bullet points so far, no? Okay...

Total speculation but...

"There is still good in you..."

Tano alludes to Vader.

Could Vader have been the one to hide BabyYo? I know... But it's a hell of a twist. Vader could kill those ones old enough to wield a weapon but he couldn't murder that baby. He thinks he can render it harmless to allow it to live it's life and wipes it's mind of it's training and time with the Jedi. Or... Not. Still... Now there's more details to the questions this all brings up. Who had the child after the fall of the Jedi? How did Gideon's faction seize or find him, how did it get out of their hands and who was it that had taken the child from Gideon and whom Mando liberated him from?


7. Yeah... I don't think Tano is being set up to train the child. Interesting that Tano was one who broke free of Jedi tenets but doesn't see how she could do the same for the baby and train him in ways that do not fall into the issues that allowed Anakin to fall to the darkside of the force. At least I would think she wants to protect the baby, unless she's invovled with something dangerous already. What is Tano doing here? What information does that woman have? And who is she? The actress. It's killing me. I KNOW her.

8. Well, someone is a fan of KILL BILL. Makes me think about how Ming Na was that assassin last season. Maybe they wanted Lucy Liu for this part and couldn't get her for whatever reason? This really does look like a Star Wars take on The Bride Vs. O-Ren. This actress is pretty good with a staff. In fact I kinda feel like maybe she's a stunt woman that doubled for Dawson. That lady KNOWS how to handle that staff. Fight coordination is again in this scene really good. The double handed thing is something that take a lot of effort to pull off, and I say this as someone that's fought in matches with weapons.


9. Is there anything else to say but... THRAWN!!!!!! Holy ****, holy ****, holy ****!!!! I was thinking that the woman's master would be connected to Maul and his criminal empire but Ben did away with him when Luke was a boy as we now know... Thraw though? Well... Where is this going? Are Filoni and crew gonna try and make lemons out of lemonade with RISE OF SKYWALKER's out of nowhere Palps return? Will they attempt to tie this all together? Heady stuff, and a pleasant but truly out of left field choice.

10. So the two are still bound together. Oddly... Anticlimatic but still a good end. Tano is obviously in play as a supporting character of some kind and the "quest" is still a thing as it's the whole hook of the show.


This was... Really, really, really good. Not mind blowing but solid all over. Great guest stars, moved the plot forward, revealed tons and delivered on being the live action intro to a fan fave character.

PS the villain was it turns out... Diana Lee Inosanto. Whom... I've met a couple of times. I KNEW I saw that face and heard her before. Seeing her name in the cast list at the end was as big an "oh ****" as Thrawn's reveal. She's the wife of Guro Dan Insanto, one of two people Bruce Lee gave the right to teach his Jeet Kune Do concept of martial arts as well as being an incredible Filipino Marital Arts master in his own right as well as being holder of multiple black belts and titles. And Diana is his wife who trained under Dan for decades now, and it shows in how she did that fight at the end. Makes me think more and more that she might have been stunt doubling for Dawson at some points. A great way to wrap up this episode.

The Batman Begins docks and Kill Bill duel sequences really stood out to me.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

My buddy has this idea that they are looking to "Avengerize" SW on Disney+.

Multiple shows that will have connective tissue to tell a larger story that will crossover.

That sounds possible. If they do that, I hope we still get different shows in different eras.

 

[Sawyer]

It's possible they're just planting seeds for Ahsoka's own Disney series, with Thrawn being the main antagonist there.

That was the feeling I got. Her appearance felt way too significant to just be a one-off, but I also don’t think this is going to become The Mandalorian (Co-Starring Ahsoka Tano). So I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she’s got a solo series coming her way in the near future.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Good episode.
Rosario Dawson looked great as Ahsoka Tano.
Her light saber fights were sober, no crazy stunts, same with her fight with the "spear Lady", I liked that she didn't appear unbeatable against a non Force user.
So, Beskar can stop a light saber, I didn't know. Cool stuff.
Micheal Biehn, yeah !
Thrawn name drop, more yeah !
The Kid has a name, even more yeah !

 

[Iceman]

Absolutely loved this episode, and man was this was so lore heavy. We got:

- Ahsoka
- Baby Yoda backstory
- THRAWN!!!
- We might finally get to see the ancient birthplace of the Jedi - Tython
- The Jedi that will reach out, has to be Ezra right? Can't be Luke or Leia. How old is Ben Solo suppose to be around this time?

Thank you Dave Filoni, George taught you well.

Yeah, all amazing stuff. I didn’t really expect all this stuff to be touched on in a Mandalorian series and it’s really blasting through expectations on that front.

 

[Iceman]

Agreed. If anything, I could see it leading more towards Mando helping Bo Katan reclaiming their home world.

It's possible they're just planting seeds for Ahsoka's own Disney series, with Thrawn being the main antagonist there.

I am totally there for both of those. Bo Katan needs to become one of the most important supporting characters of this series in future seasons.

Ahsoka needs her own series, and Thrawn needs to start getting big exposure as the next major Star Wars villain. He can be the best successor to Vader that none of the others have managed to live up to so far.

 

[TheVileOne]

I watched the ep and at first was all excited but the more show progressed the more something felt off about Ashoka. I couldn't quite figure out what it was. I had no problem with her look or how she carried her self even the acting was great. I Spent all day today thinking why Ashoka felt off to me. Then it clicked on me why.

She wasn't very vocal like we seen her in Clone Wars or even Rebels. We never see any of the banter that is typical of Ashoka. When she did have dialog it felt rushed like they where holding back with her in terms of her dialog.

Even the scene where she talks about how she seen what attachment and fear can do to fully trained Jedi Knight. This dialog seemed rushed and straight to point. It was like Filoni was holding back with her. I just don't know why. That scene could played out so much better if she sat down and calmly explain to Mando that her former Master had lots fears and formed attachments. That eventually it lead him to dark side and the Galaxy was left in ruins because of it.

It wasn't a bad performance by a long shot. I don't think Rosario was fantastic playing Ashoka. I hope that we get a lot more with her as Ashoka.

She wasn't quite as warm as the Ahsoka we've seen in animation. Even in her adulthood as Fulcrum, she was warmer than this.

I also found her attitude about Grogu questionable knowing what she knows about Ezra.

These were really my only issues with the episode.

I would like to note it's quite possible something has happened to Ahsoka to make her a little colder.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Ezra is the guy Ashoka was talking about when she said : I knew another one with dark inside ?

 

[Broseph44]

Ezra is the guy Ashoka was talking about when she said : I knew another one with dark inside ?

Anakin

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Anakin

With the previous post about Ezra I had a doubt. Never watched Rebels.

 

[CaptainWagner]

JJ Abrams had 6 months to rewrite the script and junked a lot of his crazier ideas because he had to have a film done by December 2015, no matter what. And in doing so, he imo, made my second favorite Star Wars creation so far. He also wrote it with Lawrence flippin' Kasdan, which is why his Han and Chewie are so spot on, imo.

Your attempts at gatekeeping, with the guy who heavily borrowed from Lucas and Spielberg his entire career, is one of the most bizarre arguments I have ever heard.

I mean, I utterly loathe TFA and TROS and think Abrams has had, like, only two original ideas in his entire life, but the people who like those movies are still perfectly legitimate Star Wars fans. I've never understood the compulsion to try and say there are "real fans." It's just as nonsensical as complaining that TLJ doesn't "feel like Star Wars" because somebody made a 'yo mamma' joke. (That said, I totally could have churned out a script in 6 months ten times more innovative than TFA, but I digress)

Anyway, back to Mando:

-Well, THAT escalated quickly
-I love how this is basically a horror movie with Ahsoka as the monster
-Major Samurai vibes, which is always a good look for Star Wars
-Loth-Cat!
-I feel like they nailed the look for Ahsoka, but I'm not sold on the performance yet. Which is weird, with Filoni writing/directing. I get that Ahsoka has grown a lot and seen some ****, but she just seems so serious. It just feels off missing the fun side of her.
-Groju? I'll accept, but he's still Baby Yoda in my heart.
-Okay, now THIS is some ********. Ahsoka left the Order because she saw through their flaws and now she's pulling this "I can't train him because he's too attached" nonsense? She's the last person who should be trying to enforce the old rules. And then she cites Anakin as a reason, as if she should know better than anyone that it was the suppression of his attachments that was the problem, not his love itself?
-And again on the topic of "What the ****, Ahsoka?" - This is also hugely hypocritical, since she's wringing hands over Groju's potential anger and darkness while mercilessly cutting her way through dozens of guards.
-This is an excellent fight scene. Probably the best in the show so far.
-What the heck was up with that moronic quick-draw? They set up this guy as a pragmatic character who we'll see again, only to have him get himself killed again for literally no reason.
-Thrawn! Freaking Thrawn! That makes me happy.
-Oberyn has his spear back. And this time, he's wearing a helmet.

 

[metaphysician]

Is it considering type casting now to give Pedro Pascal a Spear?

Is Mando now becoming Space Oberyn Martell?

Nope, since Din confirms his kills, and wears armor.

 

[Gothamsknight]

I definitely think the Thrawn tease is building towards an Ashoka series rather than that stuff happening in Mandalorian, but I could be wrong. Either way, I am one happy Star Wars fan. Question is, who is the jedi that baby yoda will call to? Luke? Ezra? Cal?

 

[sueb1863]

Was I the only one who was sort of hoping The Child would turn out to be a girl? Just because everyone was assuming it was a boy...

And any Michael Biehn fans should check him out as the lead character on the CBS Western series "The Magnificent Seven" (1998-1999). Several of the 22 episodes are on YouTube. Nice to see him getting work.

 

[TheVileOne]

Was I the only one who was sort of hoping The Child would turn out to be a girl? Just because everyone was assuming it was a boy...

And any Michael Biehn fans should check him out as the lead character on the CBS Western series "The Magnificent Seven" (1998-1999). Several of the 22 episodes are on YouTube. Nice to see him getting work.

I remember the late 1990s TV version of Magnificent Seven. I wish it lasted longer.

We've seen a female member of Yoda's species, and they don't look like Grogu or Yoda.

So it was reasonable to expect that Grogu was MORE THAN LIKELY a male of the species.

 

[Sithborg]

To be fair, both puppets of that species were terrible in that movie. About the only time you will find people being happy the replaced a puppet with CG...

 

[metaphysician]

It still irks me that Ahsoka is alive. I get that she is Filoni's favorite, but come on man. There is but one Jedi at this point, and his name is Luke. That Ahsoka and Ezra are still out there. I mean they are the most useless Jedi ever. Especially as there is galaxy defining stuff that literally needs Jedi help. I can't waits for Ahsoka to be alive post ST, to emphasize the lack of importance of Luke Skywalker being the literal last Jedi a second time.

I might agree with you, if Luke himself weren't absolutely useless. Which he shouldn't have been, but the new movies reduced him to so being, so. . .

 

[metaphysician]

-You will place Grogu on the seeing stone, at the top of the mountain.
There Grogu must choose his path...

How close are they playing it?
Image invokes;
If we see the RC knob on one side, ..something else ((if not the Dark Sabre), a significant Jedi totem, or Jedi calling to him?) on the other...?
So what will the Yoby choose?
The knob will mean he's rejected the Jedi path, and wants to stay with his dady?

Honestly, I think the "correct" choice should be for him to go towards neither the ball nor the sword, but simply to go to "Dad". Rejecting the idea of the choice put before him as being a real one.