Well, that was far and away the best episode of this season of The Mandalorian, and it is a tad worrisome that such a strong episode relied very little on any of the Mandalorians (although, there was a nice bookend of scenes that were the strongest outing we’ve had from Mando in a story and dialogue perspective this season) and so much on Doctor Pershing and the remnants of the Empire. But, as we saw with Andor, perhaps what a Star Wars series needs to truly shine in all areas is some element of spycraft to keep the audience guessing.
Because what made this episode such a strong, standout piece of television was the Pershing plot, as it showed us a number of key things that we couldn’t learn simply by following Grogu and Din on their journey throughout the galaxy. First, we learn that the New Republic has opted for the reintegration approach to lower-level former Imperial members, which is all well and good if you have the knowledge to determine just who might be low level and who might actually still be working to do the bidding of their possibly still incarcerated boss Moff Gideon. It seems that the New Republic also isn’t making the best use of their new, re-educated troops’ knowledge bases, as evidenced by them not allowing Pershing to take the Imperial tech and help them repurpose it to better serve the Republic. If there’s a theme we’ve seen running through Andor and now The Mandalorian, it’s that bureaucracy is the choke point for society. In Andor, we see how it stymies the Empire from being able to fully snuff out the nascent Rebellion in time and here we see the Republic destroying technology – while not effectively using their new workers – and limiting their ability to grow in strength. It should also be noted that those rich people on Coruscant seemed pretty flippant towards the New Republic – they don’t care who’s in charge so long as they don’t have to worry about their fortunes. Sounds like something we’ve heard before in our real world, no?
From these brief snippets, we also learn that the intelligence community within Coruscant is, shall we say, lacking. Trusting Elia (a great Katy O’Brian, who is having a heck of a month between this and Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania) to turn in Pershing – after she fully set him up – was a massive error in judgement. She presumably played the “I was just following orders” card and was allowed more latitude than she should have been and here we are, with her taking steps to fully cook Pershing’s mind so that he can never tell anyone else just what he was doing with his cloning research.* I have to hand it to her – and presumably Moff Gideon, who must still be pulling strings from wherever he is being kept – she was flawless in her execution. And she still gets to remain free and continue her machinations on behalf of the Empire. If you were wondering how the First Order was able to rise up, well, this is the first indication as to what might have helped it begin and grow: former Imperial troops allowed to return to society while the New Republic failed to offer effective oversight to their activities.
*Much speculation has been made regarding just what Pershing was working on that required Grogu’s blood. One of the leading rumors is that it has something to do with the Palpatine cloning program, since that was one of the major plot holes in the last trilogy (and, frankly, one of the dumbest plot points in the whole trilogy). How would the Republic not catch wind of it? Well, it could be that one of the key cogs in that machine had his mind flayed by an Imperial spy, allowing that information – which he would have likely provided freely at some point – to be lost. After all, to go to such lengths to neutralize Pershing, he would have had to know something huge and potentially horribly damaging, right?
But the most damning thing we learned about the New Republic is how gullible they can be. They are clearly, on the whole, attempting to prove that they aren’t like the Empire. They are trusting, they are caring, they want people to feel safe, supported, and understand that this new world order wants to help them and not hurt them. They want everyone – even those who fought against them – to buy into this new time of peace and prosperity. And that is a major problem. It’s the scorpion and the fox – the scorpion cannot change its nature. And while I’m sure there are a number of Imperial grunts who genuinely didn’t buy into the propaganda and are thrilled to get out, there are likely more than enough true believers in their ranks to create trouble. And this appeasement plan is going to allow those individuals to grow in strength and number – especially if the New Republic isn’t using their new labor force to their full capacity. Pershing might have had good intentions in what he was trying to do, but there will be others like him who get mixed up with the wrong people and become liabilities. We know the New Republic will ultimately fall, and we can see the cracks already present in the foundation.
Over in the Mandalorian side of the action, we get the further education of Bo-Katan in the Old Ways, as she is invited to join the sect alongside Din. It’s an interesting moment – and one where I wish we could have seen Bo’s face. For someone who was so lost and alone a few episodes ago, ready to sit in her empty castle and stew over her fate, this is quite the turn of events. She’s found a large group of Mandalorians. She has the dark saber nearby. She might have an ally in the Blacksmith, who doesn’t seem to trust Din all that much. This might just be her chance to snag that saber and declare her birth right and retake Mandalore. Just saying, Bo-Katan is nothing if not an opportunist. And this, while a lovely moment for her to be among her people once more, could be the perfect chance for her to take back what she thinks is hers. At least that’s what I would do if I wanted to create a compelling television show. We’ll see next week.
-
Acting
-
Writing
-
Direction
