The Mandalorian (Season 3) Episode 1: This is Pedro Pascal’s world, and we are living in it. With the absolutely deserving, surging popularity of HBO’s “The Last of Us,”; the already famous Chilean actor has become the cake everybody wants a piece of. The netizens call him daddy, and the man delightfully acknowledges it.
With the return of Disney Plus’s “The Mandalorian,” Pedro Pascal’s supremacy has only gathered further strength. And if things could not get more adorable, our man is not only playing the lead in two of the most popular shows at the same time but in both the shows, his main purpose happens to be protecting a special child. I guess we can all agree upon the fact that “the force is very strong with” Pascal at the moment.
The original trilogy, i.e., IV-VI, “The Mandalorian,” is probably the most accepted product from the “Star Wars” franchise to date. The Jon Favreau created space-western, where directors like Taika Waititi and Rick Famuyiwa have worked, has received love from both Critics and the audience.
The show’s last episode (Chapter 16) came two years ago. That particular episode created a huge storm by surprisingly bringing the most popular Star Wars character ever into the fold and ensuring it is indeed Pedro Pascal’s beautiful face under the helmet.
A lot, by which I mean a lot of underwhelming spin-off shows, along with the unrelated but relentlessly fascinating “Andor,” has happened since then. And now we are here, with a brand-new episode of the beloved show which perfectly sets the course for a new adventure for Din Djarin, aka Mando and (surprise, surprise) Grogu.
The Mandalorian – Chapter 17 (Season 3, Episode 1) Recap:
We begin with our in-house zealots. Led by “The Armourer,” the Children of the Watch are busy doing the christening (at least that’s what I’m going to call this) of a kid. You get your first-hand experience of “you can never take your helmet off” hogwash as The Armourer puts the helmet on the kid by herself. Everything is going fine until a giant crocodile attacks them.
All the Mandalorians, including the fresh one, fight the creature to the best of their abilities. Quick reminder for you; these are the Mandalorians who survived the Moff Gideon attack last season, and together, they are fighting really well. Despite all their collective effort, the creature continues to wreak havoc and refuses to be tamed until Din and Grogu appear out of nowhere in their ship and save the day.
I’m sure many of you were simultaneously confused about seeing Din and Grogu together again. The confusion is because, at the end of last season, Grogu took off with none other than Luke Skywalker to learn the Jedi ways of life, as he should. Then how come these two are together again? Even our old friend Greef Karga (played by the ever-so-charming Carl Weathers) asks the same thing to Din in the episode.
So here’s what happened. After Grogu went away with Luke, Din eventually went to visit him. Upon Din’s insistence, Grogu was given a choice by Luke. And as you can expect, he picked Beskar steal over lightsaber; because no force could take Grogu away from Din. So they are together again, ready for whatever comes next. Now, this whole thing was covered in the spin-off series “The Book of Boba Fett,” in case you want to check it out in detail. Grogu, Din, and Luke all appeared in substantial quantities.
Back to the present. The Armourer has denounced Din from the clan as he committed the gravest of sins by taking his helmet off on his own. The only way to wash the “sin” off is to bathe in the water under the mines of Mandalore, but that is impossible as the planet of Mandalore is completely destroyed, and there is nothing but wreckage. But Din still wants a go at it, to which The Armourer agrees.
An old friend
Who else but Greef Karga? As I have already mentioned about his appearance in the article, Greef Karga is now the high magistrate of the city of Nevarro on the planet of the same name. Under Katha’s regime, the city has really prospered, which we can witness. This is Din and Grogu’s immediate destination, and Din wants a droid from Karga to help him explore The Mandalore. Karga does offer him to settle down in Nevarro, but Din declines.
The droid is not any random droid, but IG-11, voiced by none other than Taika Waititi, who even got an Emmy nomination for the brilliant voice work. In case you are wondering, yes, this is the same bounty-hunter droid that tried to kill Grogu in the series’s pilot episode. Upon Din reviving him, he still tries to do the same until getting crushed by another droid who works for Karga.
With Karga’s guidance, Din seeks help from the Anzellan people, who are sort of experts in these matters. But they ask for a certain part without which revival of the IG-11 is impossible. Din promises to bring that part.
Pirate trouble
Meanwhile, a pirate named Vane and three other pirates step into Nevarro and start to create a potential ruckus. These pirates are there with the blessings of pirate King Gorian Shard, who has played a significant financial role in Nevarro’s recent development. But Karga is not a man to mess with. So a fight breaks out, and Karga teaches these men a lesson. Din is not too far behind as he intervenes and quickly blasts four of Vane’s men.
But actions do have consequences. Right after leaving Nevarro, Din and Grogu find themselves ambushed by Vane and other pirates. Din handles them without difficulty while racing through an asteroid field. But eventually, he reaches King Shard with several other pirates pointing guns toward them.
The Mandalorian – Chapter 17 (Season 3, Episode 1) Ending, Explained:
Just when you are thinking about what happens to Din if he indeed gets caught by the pirates and particularly getting worried about Grogu, our favorite duo flies away in a flash, right above the nose of Shard’s ship. The pirate problem is fixed, at least for now.
Din and Grogu’s next destination is planet Kalevala, a planet in the Mandalorian system. The rain-soaked planet emits a dark and intense vibe which further intensifies when you get a look at the Mandalorian castle in it.
The duo walks into the castle, but it is not empty. Our old friend, the royal Mandalorian, Bo-Katan, is sitting on the throne, who gets kind of surprised seeing the duo, as you would expect. Din tells her about his latest quest of finding atonement for himself and seeks help. But this Bo-Katan is tired and dejected and without her fleet. She dismisses Din and tells him that there is nothing in Mandalore and that the entire story is pretty much fake. Din, however, refuses to believe, and he still wants to go on.
Will Din be able to atone for his sin?
We are going to find that over the course of the next seven weeks, which are going to be filled with crazy adventures and side quests, which I can tell from the first episode. There will be surprises as well and returns of other fan favorites; at least, that is what I am counting on. For now, signing off here with the hope of this article clearing all your doubts.