‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3, Chapter 17 “The Apostate” Recap

Spoilers for The Mandalorian Chapter 17, “The Apostate”

After the weight of Andor, it takes an adjustment to watch The Mandalorian through the proper lens. The season 3 opener reminds us quickly that the most successful Star Wars title on Disney+ is a Saturday adventure serial that drops at the turn of the clock from Tuesday to Wednesday. Director Rick Famuyiwa does what he can with Jon Favreau’s safe writing in “Chapter 17.” Ludwig Göransson’s themes are right in time with the action, keeping this episode interesting and fun despite little plot movement and a weak hook at the end.

“The Apostate” sends Din Djarin on a seemingly unnecessary fetch quest, presumably the setup for the next episode. Some of our hiatus-long questions are answered, but none of the answers satisfy. There is little to complain about in the episode, but without the show taking chances, it feels mundane, like, “Did the season start yet, or is this just primer?” A few subtle hints were dropped, implying some long-awaited additions to the cast, specifically of the Rebels kind. This mildly exciting opening to the season may be simply a half-hour refresher course to The Mandalorian. We can probably expect a lot more to talk about soon.

“The Apostate” opens on the Armorer (Emily Swallow) forging a Mandalorian helmet. It’s a smaller one, so the automatic inference is that Grogu is getting his duds, but that tease goes out the window quickly. A boy stands in the water, waiting to be inducted into the creed. He looks confusingly like Daniel Logan, the actor who portrayed a young Boba Fett in the prequels, but he’s off enough that he might be a young Din Djarin.

Before the boy can promise never to remove his helmet (I hope you washed those locks, kid), a giant creature emerges from the lake to disrupt the ceremony for a quick, crunchy snack. The scene feels like a flashback until Mando’s Naboo starfighter appears and saves the day.

It’s a treat to see so many live-action Mandalorians. Someone is bound to do a breakdown of the armor to identify some of the background characters. Until then, you get the Armorer and Paz Vizsla (played by Tait Fletcher and voiced by Jon Favreau). After the opening title, the Armorer redundantly lets Din know he’s no longer Mandalorian because he removed his helmet. If he were a true apostate, he’d flip her off on the way out and renounce the cult Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) knows the creed to be. Instead, he finds a loophole in the hopes of being redeemed. With Mandalore having been nuked from orbit by the Empire, the Armorer isn’t convinced Din will find a way into the mines, but she tells him, “This is the way” (a cliche that’s getting a little too played), and sends him on his merry way to humor him.

Off to Nevarro to pick up a few…necessities? But first, in hyperspace, Grogu notices silhouettes of a pod of Purrgil (space whales attuned to The Force and can travel in hyperspace). This is either a nod to the animated series Rebels or foreshadowing the introduction of Thrawn and Ezra, last seen amongst the Purrgil at the end of the Rebels.

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On Nevarro, Din, and Grogu walk through a newly thriving city that feels very much like Batuu, aka Galaxy’s Edge, at Disneyland and Disney World. The sense is reinforced when they walk by a tree filled with Kowakian monkey-lizards (like Jabba’s laughing pet, Salacious B. Crumb). The tree looks inspired by the parrot tree in Disney’s California Adventure. Non-local parkgoers don’t know enough not to park their strollers beneath the tree. You can imagine why. Grogu even picks up the pace to his pram as he floats by to avoid anything messy.

They come upon a “statue” of IG-11 in the town square. You may remember him from season one as the assassin droid programmed to destroy “the asset.” The statue is made from the destroyed parts of the droid that should have stayed dead. For some reason, Din Djarin wants to get the band back together for one last show.

High Magistrate Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) greets them in the square to tell us about how well he’s been running the place. They’ve even turned a pub into a school. Don’t tell Vane (Marti Matulis), a Roddy McDowall/Cornelius soundalike, and his band of pirates, though. They want to party in the schoolhouse. These old contemporaries of Greef are just here to give him grief. Burn the bridges to the friends who hold you back, kids, or you’ll also have to deal with these kinds of shenanigans!

Captain Gorian Shard isn’t going to be happy after Karga says no more pirates jumping on the bed. Karga offers Mando a job as marshal after Din helps dispatch the baddies. It seems the scene was constructed simply to explain the missing Marshal Dune (Gina Carano). Cara is said to have been recruited by New Republic Special Forces, presumably as their social media expert. Gideon is said to have been sent to a War Tribunal, and we still have no eye on the Darksaber. We aren’t even sure, at this point, what Din Djarin did with it after acquiring it in combat.

Mando declines the offer to remain on the planet but wants help to rebuild IG-11. Like a disfigured Terminator T-1000, IG-11 is resurrected, only to go full-out Dalek mode on Grogu. He’s quickly destroyed…again, but Din insists on repairing him. Fan favorite Babu Frik, droid repair extraordinaire from The Rise of Skywalker, impacted the base so Greef Karga has a company of Anzellans living and working out of a mouse hole in the courtyard just for this occasion. Din, when they tell you, “No fix the broken,” believe them. This species has been typecast to know what they’re discussing regarding droids. The IG series has also been typecast. Keep up on the notes. He’s a killer.

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Mando insists that he can find a new memory circuit even though they were discontinued around the same time as the IBM 5100 computer. He really wants this IG unit back. Is he sentimental, or is he just self-sabotaging? Bringing IG-11 back is only going to lead to trouble. And the fetch quest begins. Maybe Mando will enlist the help of John Titor to find the part that will fix the assassin.

When Mando and Grogu are back in space, they are greeted by disgruntled pirates in an asteroid field. They are no match for our hero. We were wondering if the action would pick up again. However, the action, though fun to watch, seems pointless. Instead, it’s the introduction to a new antagonist. Captain Gorian Shard will likely ruffle some Beskar feathers this season.

Our duo makes their way to Kalevala, where Bo-Katan is brooding over losing the opportunity to wield the Darksaber. The elephant in the room is finally addressed, but it’s still hiding behind the curtains, fiddling with the weapon we desperately want to see again. After an uneasy exchange, Bo-Katan tells Din where to find the mines on Mandalore so he can bathe in the Living Waters. It’s right next door to the Radio Shack that carries IG unit memory chips.

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