The Mandalorian, “Chapter 17: The Apostate” Review

03/07/202303/11/2023Rob Siebert 3 Comments

SERIES: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E1 – “Chapter 17: The Apostate”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Marti Matulis, Katee Sackoff
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Rick Famuyiwa
PREMIERE DATE: March 1, 2023
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian continues his journey toward absolution.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I know this gripe has been…uh…griped, by many already. But it must be said: This premiere should have been about how Din Djarin and Grogu are ultimately reunited after the latter’s time training with Luke Skywalker. Instead, they did that story on The Book of Boba Fett, stealing thunder that should have been reserved for this third season. Choosing to give us those critical moments under the banner of a different show was the biggest, and perhaps only major, mistake The Mandalorian has made thus far.

Simply put, The Book of Boba Fett should have been about Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and the characters that show is specifically about. The Mandalorian should, conversely, be about Mando and Grogu’s journey together. Going forward, let’s not color outside the lines anymore. If they want these characters to appear in one another’s shows, be my guest. But events and moments that are critical to a particular show, should be done on said show. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Between this new season of The Mandalorian, and the success of The Last of Us on HBO Max, I think we can all agree Pedro Pascal is living his best life right about now.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that opening sequence was a flashback to Din Djarin’s childhood. It would have made sense, given this episode, and apparently this season overall, are about him seeking redemption in the eyes of his people. Mando did get a nice entrance, though. So there’s the upside.

Vane and the other pirates want to break into an in-session school before being stopped by Mando and Greef Karga. That’s a nice heelish bad guy move.

I call BS on the notion that Mando thinks IG-11 is the only droid that can help him in his quest to find the living waters of Mandalore. IG-11 had a nice little story in season one. I even liked the statue in town being dedicated to him. We didn’t need to revive him for more.

Gorian Shard, the big lead pirate behind Vane and his crew, looked like, in Mrs. Primary Ignition’s words, “a swamp monster.” I did, in fact, get a Swamp Thing vibe from him. That’s not a bad thing. Just a thing. Either way, you know we haven’t seen the last of him this season.

Seasons one and two were largely held together by Grogu’s story. Mando’s quest to learn his origins, get him back to the Jedi, etc. This season, we don’t have that. So I’m very curious to see what they’re going to do with the Grogu character going forward. As fun as it is to watch him do cute things, there has to be more to him than that.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

The Essential Clone Wars: “Shades of Reason”

09/09/202209/05/2022Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***I must confess that, despite being a huge Star Wars geek, I have yet to see the landmark Clone Wars animated show in its entirety. I’m aiming to rectify that to a large extent here, as we look at pivotal episodes of the series in, “The Essential Clone Wars.”

SERIES: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
EPISODE: S5:E15 – “Shades of Reason”
WITH THE VOICE TALENTS OF: Sam Witwer, Jon Favreau, Anna Graves, Julian Holloway, Clancy Brown
WRITER: Chris Collins
DIRECTOR: Bosco Ng
PREMIERE DATE: January 26, 2013
SYNOPSIS: Maul and Pre Vizsla each jockey for control of Mandalore.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Well of course the bad guys are secretly plotting against each other. It almost wouldn’t be Star Wars if they weren’t. In a way it’s kind of stupid. But it also makes sense. Star Wars shows us that greed and a lust for power, i.e. the dark side, are all-consuming. And once you start down that path, you can never have enough…

Pre Vizsla gets in front of the crowd and says that Death Watch is here to save them from the gangsters. The crowd buys into what he says very quickly, despite the group ominously having the word “death” in its name. Not exactly easy from a marketing standpoint, is it? You’d think the Empire would have run into the same thing with the Death Star.

One of the things that interests me about this episode is that none of our heroes are in it. There’s no Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, Yoda, etc. Not every show can pull that off. It’s a credit to the quality of the writing and the patience said writers have in crafting this story.

The animators did a great job with Satine’s face in this episode. You can feel her worry, despair, even pain at the situation she and her people find themselves in.

Pretty epic fight between Maul and Vizsla (shown above). Maybe my favorite one-on-one confrontation of the entire series thus far.

Ultimately, Maul decapitates Vizsla with the Darksaber and takes his spot as leader of Death Watch. The whole “he who holds the Darksaber rules Mandalore” thing is obviously what they’re preparing to invoke between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan as head toward season three of The Mandalorian. This was a handy episode to watch in that respect.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.