The Mandalorian Chapter 3: The Sin has arrived. Let’s talk about it. I assume you also woke up at 3 AM to watch. Or 6 AM or some time in-between depending on where you live. It’s easier for me to forgo the snooze button than if I’m waking up for a flight to go on vacation. Is it any wonder the latest rumors have Disney handing over the reins of the Star Wars franchise to Jon Favreau? I’m no Kathleen Kennedy hater, but even Drew Bledsoe had to reluctantly watch as Tom Brady showed him how it’s done. Hey, football fans can be nerds too. Have you heard of fantasy football? Well, I’m drafting Jon Favreau way too early next year. I might not win the league but he’ll cross the goal line often, and he’ll know how to utilize the talent around him. Go deep Dave Filoni!
Needless to say, in talking about the latest episode of The Mandalorian we’ll be getting into spoiler territory. It’s more dangerous than the Outer Rim Territories, but it’s where all the good action is. So if you haven’t seen the episode get back in your freighter at docking bay 94 and watch it first. If you don’t want a recap and speculation move along. Move along.
After the first week-long wait (it seemed like an eternity, like it was more time than the wait for the first episode to drop) we finally get past the set up. We’re down for the conflict, and Chapter 3 delivers! This episode is Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. It’s got it all, plus it has ice cream! Didn’t anyone else see the Empire Strikes Back Easter egg? We’ll get to that.
We were afraid this might happen. Our favorite Mando — who, by the way, has a name. He’s Dyn Jarren or Din Jarron or some other variation on spelling. Apparently Pedro Pascal mentioned the name in an earlier interview, and we all missed it or were thinking it was a diversion. At some point a lot of people still hoped The Mandalorian would turn out to be Boba Fett’s survival story. Let it go. That cinematically wasted character got sidelined for the young new talent. Expect Pedro, er Din, um, Dyn to take us to the big game. Anyway, our favorite Mando goes through with his deal to deliver his quarry directly to “the client.” Greef Carga has no idea if the client wants to eat it or hang it on his wall. Eat it! Eat it! It’s Chunky Monkey!
The Mandalorian delivers Baby Yoda (the as of yet unnamed asset I called Yomama last week, but would be better named Yobaby, so we’ll go with that this time). The look of betrayal in the eyes of Yobaby! I swear he said, “Dad?” but Mando didn’t notice. Werner Herzog’s character is antsy to take the prize and hand off the Beskar steel so they can do whatever it is they plan to do with Yobaby. Clone it? Remove its Midi-chlorians and put them in the Chunky Monkey? Only Dr. Pershing knows for sure. Keen eyed sleuths on the inter webs pointed out after Chapter one that the client’s crony, Dr Pershing is wearing a Camino cloners patch on his shoulder. Did Master Syfo Dias get a buy one get one free deal on clones before the Clone Wars? Going by canon’s timeline Yobaby is the same age as Anakin Skywalker, so I suspect this will either be addressed in the season’s final reveal or it will be further hinted for mainstream fans so the speculation on it will fuel hype for Season Two of The Mandalorian.
Mando gets his payment. Every Star Wars nerd smiled when the container for the reward was put on the table. A backstory for those who don’t know this one: During the evacuation of Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back a resident of Bespin is seen running with a prop that, for the most part was just a Star Warsy thing. More widely laughed at than Qui-Gon Jinn’s Lady Bic communicator, “Ice Cream Guy” in The Empire Strikes Back became one of Star Wars fandom’s favorite jokes. The actor ran through the halls of Cloud City with an ice cream maker. Jon Favreau has retconned that prop to be a safe, and now “Ice Cream Guy” is a lot more interesting. Was he stealing from Lando? Was he running to catch Boba Fett so he could pay him? Get to work, fan fiction nerds!
Have I mentioned how scary Werner Herzog’s character is? Mando’s got balls of Beskar to double cross him. After collecting his bounty we learn some more about the fate of Mandalore while Mando gets his armor upgraded. Mandalorian warriors are living underground even after the fall of the Empire. Mando passes on a Mudhorn signet and orders some “Whistling Birds” from the armourer. A flashback sequence during the armor montage reveals Imperial Super Battle Droids are responsible for the fate of our Mando as a youngling. How he becomes a foundling remains to be seen, but I’m hoping he’ll have been rescued by a Jedi. Dave Filoni directed Chapter 5, so I suspect we’ll get a flashback of Obi-Wan Kenobi or Ahsoka Tano rescuing the young foundling in that episode. If you’re keeping count I expect a big cameo like that and I expect Yobaby (or Baby Yoda) is a girl. That tells me we’re likely getting a live action Ahsoka Tano. What better way to introduce her to Disney+ subscribers? She’s going to get her own series. Book it.
Chapter 3. Streaming Now.#TheMandalorian #DisneyPlus pic.twitter.com/kVvc4C409S
— The Mandalorian (@themandalorian) November 22, 2019
The Whistling Birds come in handy when he goes back to rescue Yobaby from Dr. Pershing. Mando starts up the razor Crest to take on a new bounty hunt (the sequence is reminiscent of Han Solo prepping the Millennium Falcon for the first time in Solo: A Star Wars Story. It’s a reminder that our protagonist may be a scoundrel, but he’s also a hero). He’s suddenly struck with a pang of guilt. He can really act behind that helmet! Or is it something else? Dare I say a Force connection? Keep counting, kids. I think there’s a good chance Mando will be revealed to have Force abilities, himself. Perhaps that’s why a Jedi rescued him as a boy. I’m really jumping into the deep end of the speculation pool.
Bounty fobs go off all over the place when the hunter becomes the hunted. When it becomes too much and it seems like he’s done for we get a scene right out of Rebels or The Clone Wars animated series. Mando nerds collectively squealed in delight and woke up everyone in the house. Live action Mandalorian Warriors arrive in time to provide cover for Mando’s escape. Greef Carga is there in the Razor Crest waiting to ambush Mando after an amazing series of action scenes. Mando dispatches him easily, but Carl Weathers’ character is saved by a brick of Beskar he had in his breast pocket.
Mando puts a rocket back-pack on his Amazon wishlist and mends his bond with Yobaby before the credits roll. This is going to be a long week, but now there’s something good to talk about at the Thanksgiving table. What happens next? Is Mando going to be temporarily caught by Gina Carano’s Cara Dune? Is there a Force bond between Yobaby and Mando? Are we going to get a live action Ahsoka Tano? Will we get an Obi-Wan Kenobi cameo? Maybe Anakin? Mando is a boy during The Clone Wars. Maybe we get all three! If that happened it would be as if millions of voices cried out in joy and were suddenly silenced when Jon Favreau fed them the best pumpkin pie that’s ever been made. Save room for Chunky Monkey. This series is only going to get better.
Related Article: The Mandalorian Chapter 2 – Spoilers and Speculation