I have been apart of the Star Wars fandom ever since I was a child. I was introduced to the series ( and really started paying attention) when the prequels started. I was born in 95, so Episode 1 was really the only one I was old enough to start actually sitting down and paying attention to.
From there my love for the series waivered a bit over the years. I was too young and the series was a bit too slow for my idiot kid brain to follow. But I started loving the series as I started to get more into the games. One of these being Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. The game had you playing as the incredibly awesome Jango Fett. I loved this game and it's no secret that Bounty Hunters in this series are one of the coolest things.
So it should be no surprise that I am enjoying The Mandalorian quite a lot. The series had a very strong opening. We see The Mandalorian, played by the incredibly talented Pablo Pascal ( Obyern Martell in Game of Thrones ) doing a few jobs that are easy work for him. He returns his bounty to the guild and accepts his payment, complaining about how slow things have been and how he needs a high profile job. The guild master, played by Carl Weathers, gives him a secret job - no tracking device and the client wants to meet The Mandalorian directly.
He travels to where the client is and finds that he is an Imperial from the long dead Empire, guarded by several Stormtroopers. He accepts the job, being only told that the target is 50 years old and his approximate location. The payment? A whole lot of Beskar, a very strong metal that Mandalorians make their armor out of. (If memory serves me right, Beskar has defended against light sabers in the extended universe.) The Mandalorian sets off to find the target. He lands on the planet and gets some help from a local resident- a peaceful farmer who lives in isolation, played by Nick Nolte, who agrees to help the Mandalorian travel the planet in exchange for clearing out a mercenary encampment. As fate would have it, this encampment is where the target is.
The Mandalorian travels to the merc camp and begins to plan his attack. Before he can do anything, an IG droid arrives to claim the target. The droid was sent by the guild and begins to fight the swarm of mercenaries. The Mandalorian steps in and the two make a quick partnership - agreeing to split the reward. After a long shoot out, the two locate the target inside a building. Enter Baby Yoda. The newest and cutest thing in media. The IG droid prepares to execute the baby but The Mandalorian kills the droid before he gets the chance.
The Mandalorian takes Baby Yoda back to the client and gets his payment. Before he leaves, the Mandalorian questions why the client wants the baby. Without getting an answer, he is turned away and returns back to his Mandalorian tribe. On this planet, there is a small, secret tribe of Mandalorians that are still living to the old code. Once there, he has a forge master make him new, impressive Beskar armor. He then returns to the guild master, who also cannot answer why the client wants the baby. The Mandalorian takes a new job and prepares to leave. Before he takes off, his conscience and honor get the better of him and he decides to save the baby. He shoots up the Imperial hideout and rescues Baby Yoda. The guild tries to stop him, knowing that they won't be able to recover from this betrayal. The Mandalorian is pinned down but is saved by his tribe, who share the same code of honor. The Mandalorian is able to flee and begins trying to live his life while protecting the baby.
So that's the basic plot - nothing terribly new but still incredibly enjoyable. The first 3 episodes are excellent, showing all that I summarized above. The action in these episodes is incredible, the acting is fun, and the lore is interesting. One of my favorite things is that the Mandalorian is not made out to be an unstoppable killing machine. He gets beat down and hurt constantly. He never feels like a Gary Sue.
An unfortunate blemish on this series is the next 3 episodes after the intro. They feel very much like side quests. We see the Mandalorian travel to a few different planets, do a few jobs and tries to find a good place to leave the baby. It's a divergence from the main plot - why do they want the baby? What did they plan on doing with him? Who is the Imperial? We don't even get any mention of these questions while the Mandalorian tries to survive. The characters he meets feel a bit inconsequential. We see a few come back once we get back to the main plot, but the others just feel... pointless. Now, with all of that said, I still generally enjoyed these episodes. I was able to shut my brain off for the most part and just enjoy what I was seeing. I would've preferred a direct continuation of the story, but didn't hate this filler - for what it's worth.
At the time of writing this, I still have to watch the final two episodes but I'm confident in giving this series an 8/10. Are there some complaints you could make about it? Sure. But ultimately, I still had fun watching each episodes and seeing more of this slice of the series the Mandalorian calls home. I would absolutely recommend watching it if you are a fan of star wars and the "battle harden hero befriends and protects the cute, defenseless child" genre. I enjoyed it and I believe you will as well.
What did you think of the Mandalorian? Did you enjoy it as much as I did? Do you have some of the same complaints? Let me know in the comment section and be sure to subscribe to the blog to get email updates. Thanks for reading and as always, good night and joy be with you all.
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