Headscratchers / The Mandalorian

New entries on the bottom. Remember that headscratchers pages are spoilers off.

Mount

• Why did the Mandalorian need a Blurrg mount? Despite what Kuiil said, none of the terrain he traversed was impossible to walk over, all it did was get him there faster than walking.
  • Kuiil was probably yanking his chain for his own amusement.
  • While it may not have been necessary per se, it did help considerably in cutting down the travel time and limiting the exposure to the elements.
  • It's possible that the environment has some unseen element like unusual magnetic signatures or radiation, that would have damaged or destroyed more high-tech methods of travel.
  • They can jump over all those little canyons. On his way back he had to thread the whole maze.
  • Kuiil also likes to invoke his will on others as a rule, probably owing to his later-revealed history of being a freed slave. Not to mention that since Mando unwittingly helped Kuiil catch the two Blurrg, this was Blurrg's way of repaying what he saw as a debt, whether Mando wanted it or not.

Dead or alive

• The Mandalorian was told to bring the target in alive, if possible. IG-11 says the assignment was for termination specifically. Why such a discrepancy?
  • There may be multiple bounties in play. The Mandalorian didn't exactly get his bounty through conventional means, so it's not out of the question for multiple agendas to be clashing against one another.
  • The above is especially likely since neither of them were told by the Guild that another hunter was tracking the bounty.
  • The multiple-bounties theory is further supported by the fact that the Trandoshan who ambush the Mandalorian after he picks up the target also have a tracker, and one of them was obviously trying to kill the asset.
  • The Mandalorian's employers and his guild contact both made it clear that the Imperials are not working through the regular guild. Their competitors apparently are operating through the guild and want the "asset" dead.
  • The Client very clearly wants the Bounty dead, but is afraid of potential bounty hunters having empathy for it, thus he only gives the info that it's 50 years old, and only suggesting to a flesh and blood bounty hunter like the Mandalorian that termination is acceptable. An assassin droid has no such compunctions however, and thus the Client would have no problem just requesting IG-11 to terminate the Bounty on site.
• In the season 1 finale we find out that the Client was working for Moff Gideon, who definitely wants the child alive. So why would the Client ask some bounty hunters to kill the child? Wouldn't that anger Gideon, who (as we see) is a textbook case of Bad Boss, prone to killing underlings who have failed him?
  • Who is to say the Client hired all of those bounty hunters too? Perhaps they were hired by rival Moffs who aren't interested in the Child but don't want Gideon to get it either.
  • Note that in the overheard conversation between the Client and Pershing in Chapter 3, the Client explicitly wants Grogu dead while Pershing says that Gideon wants him alive. The Client is almost certainly working against Gideon, despite ostensibly working for him. Likely he's working for another Imperial Moff, and that's why Gideon kills him later on at the end of the first season.

Aging

• If Yoda's species physically mature that slowly for a 50 year old one to still be a baby, wouldn't Yoda himself being 900 years old make him a teenager rather then an old man? Or was he counting in his own species's years?
  • The target could have been in stasis for some time, or possibly is only masquerading as a child.
  • Equally plausible, Yoda's species could have evolved to have a prolonged infancy and a (relatively) much shorter childhood and/or adolescence, in which they are still a baby by fifty but a full-grown adult by, say, one hundred.
  • It could be that Yoda was using his home planet's orbit, rather than a Standard Galactic Year.
  • The child was acting like a toddler, not an infant. It was able to walk, feed itself, and recognize friend from foe. This would put them at the equivalent of 2-3 human years, possibly as much as 4 if they didn't have parents around to do standard developmental things. That would put Yoda's 900 years as the equivalent of 72 human years, right on an average lifespan especially considering the amount of time Yoda spent in war.
  • As IG-11 says, species age differently, and this specific species has a long infancy, but a longer adulthood.
  • Yoda tells Luke that he has trained Jedi for 800 years, so he started training others when he was around 100. If 50 years old is essentially a toddler, then wouldn't Yoda at 100 years old still look like a child, and possibly act like one, too?
  • So a youngling then?
  • Dagobah is a swamp world with no signs of civilization. This also means he does not have access to any medical technology. Naturally his life expectancy would be lowered significantlly.
    • Adding to that, Dagobah is said to be heavily mired in the Dark Side, which, depending on source, is somewhat anathema to living things. He may have basically been hiding out in an area comparable to an exclusion zone near radiation.
  • For comparison with a different series: in Dragaera, one of the races has a life expectancy of 2-3 thousand years (with almost-standard humans present and a life-span up to about 70-80 years, so it isn't just calender); a few of the under-100's are mentioned to be children or "play-group" aged, but still can use sorcery, carry bladed weapons, get into duels, have political discussions with their elders ... So it may be a developmental thing.

Knife kill

• Even held mostly motionless by the target's Force grab, how exactly was the Mandalorian able to kill the guardian of the egg with a single stab from a blade maybe eight inches long? It'd be like trying to take down an elephant with a chef's knife.
  • "Not everybody keeps their genitals in the same place, Captain."
  • He looked like he stabbed it in its neck, so he probably severed a major artery. That, and/either, the kid unintentionally caused quite a lot of internal injuries just using the Force to lift it. Or, caused it so much stress that it was practically dead by the time Mando stabbed the beast.
  • The knife was also a vibroblade, so that vibration may have inflicted even further damage than just a plain old knife would.
  • I choose to believe it was also coated in an extremely virulent neurotoxin like Chrollo Lucilfer's Ben's Knife in HxH ("0.25 milligrams is enough to kill a whale").
• The Armorer seemed to recognize the species of animal when the Mandalorian mentions it. It could be that the spot he stabbed it in severed something vital like a major nerve or secondary brain. Elephants are notoriously hard to kill if you just shoot them randomly. However, if you shoot them between the eyes as if you are trying to sever an invisible bar stretching between their ear holes, you can kill them instantly by destroying their brain. The Mando may just have hit a small weak spot that he knew about in this species that is unlikely to be hit accidentally.

Helmets

• Chapter 3 implies that true Mandalorians never remove their helmets. The blacksmith says "Have you ever removed your helmet?" and the Mandalorian says "No." But we've seen Mandalorians like Sabine Wren remove their helmets all the time.
  • It could be that different "tribes" have different variations on certain cultural rules, with some being more strict than others and vice versa.
  • She wouldn't be the first revolutionary to reject the social norms of her people with regard to headwear.
  • Also remember this is a splinter faction that exists well over a decade after we last saw any of those Mandalorians in Rebels, after something called "The Great Purge", that feels extremely strongly about keeping their cultural traditions both secret and safe as a result.
  • Sabine struggles with her Mandalorian identity and iirc she does not take her helmet off when not a) required by her mission in some way or b) she's around "family" (Ezra, Kanan, Zeb, Hera, Chopper and some other comrades or her Mandalorian family)
• It's later clarified that they never remove their helmets in front of others. For speculation on this, see the Fridge page.
• "The Heiress" confirms that Djarin is part of an ultra-orthodox sect that rigidly adheres to "The Way" — or, at least, what they consider to be The Way.

Why do the Mandalorians live in secret?

• In Chapter 3, it's said that Mandalorians can only go above ground one at a time. They were persecuted by the Empire but the Empire is gone now. So why do they still have to hide?
  • They're probably just too weak to fend off a large scale invasion on their own, and too prideful to ask the New Republic or other good guys for help. The Mandalorians seem to be regarded as legendary warriors and craftsmen, so some of the nastier factions in the galaxy (the Imperial Remnant, the Hutts etc.) might seek to conquer and exploit them if they came out of hiding.
  • Even a small ingot of the beskar steel used in Mandalorian armor is apparently worth a fortune. A small, isolated enclave of Mandalorians represents a potential treasure trove for anybody willing to try their luck. They might be able to win in an even fight but what if the attackers bomb the enclave and just pick through the rubble for the beskar? Far better to hide their locations so the foundlings and Armorer, a likely irreplaceable craftswoman, are not endangered.
  • They probably aren't trusted by any faction either. They fought for the Republic, rebel factions (Darth Maul's cabal), and the Empire. In fact, by tradition, the leader of some of the more extreme elements can be challenged to a duel and be usurped if they lose. It's probably hard to trust a society who might ally with you one day and then the next day their leader is killed in a duel and the new leader declares war on you.
  • After the Covert reveals itself in Chapter 3, they are wiped out by Gideon's Imperial troops some time later, which shows exactly why they were kept hidden.

The jetpack

• Why wouldn't the Mandalorian have one? It's not like they're super-rare - the entire coven shows up wearing them, and yet our hero doesn't have one, even when going on dangerous missions where it would most certainly be useful numerous times.
  • When the show begins, the Mandalorian only seems to have one armor "piece" made of Beskar: his helmet. And each time he goes to the Armorer, he gets new additions which apparently require a small fortune's worth of the metal. Since Rebels previously established that Mandalorian beskar armor is passed down among families, it seems likely something happened in the Mandalorian's past that left him with just the helmet as a legacy. So he may have been trying to rebuild the rest of the almost blaster-proof armor before he starts "accessorizing" with something like a jetpack.
  • The Mandalorian is a foundling; based on his memories, he was adopted into the Mandalorian culture rather than a born member. As such there was no armor for him to inherit. Things such as the whistling birds and jetpack most likely require beskar steel and with the Empire having seized so much during the Purge there's likely not enough to craft him a jetpack.
  • He probably can't afford one. He seems to be scraping by, considering one of the bounties he was offered was barely enough to cover fuel costs.
  • There's probably an element of what gear you've "earned" as well. Sabine was from a noble family and forged her Beskar armor with them, and she didn't even start Rebels with a set of bracers much less a jetpack.
  • Minor note, not all of the Mandalorians had jetpacks during that scene. You can see several of them coming in on foot.
  • Confirmed in the season finale: jetpack usage is known as 'The Way of the Phoenix' and is something Mandalorians have to work their way up to.
  • It also makes sense that not all Mandalorians would be ready for a Jetpack. There's not a lot of cover in the air, and someone that doesn't know how to get the most out of their Jetpack would be about as hard to shoot as skeet.
  • Plus learning to use a jetpack is a very unique skill, so learning to not only FLY correctly, but also FIGHT while flying is probably INSANELY difficult, coordination wise. Not only do you have to manage aiming and firing a blaster, but you're also having to make micro corrections to your balance and flight direction while doing so.
  • Also, it's worth noting that while Mando does not have a jetpack, he does have a starship, itself a rare enough possession to have. So it's possible that he opted to get that instead, given that it increased his ability to earn bounties to support the clan, since it doesn't seem like any of the other Mandalorians can exactly go out and get jobs while keeping their settlement secret.

They All Have One

• After Mando returns with his bounty Greef Karga reveals that he gave pretty much every bounty hunter on the planet, and everyone in the bar a tracking dongle for the child. Did he also send all of them to the Imperials to get the job directly, as he did Mando, or was that special treatment for his favorite bounty hunter?
  • I think there was two things going. The Mando got an actual contract (with down payment) personally, while there was an open bounty in addition to that as a just in case measure. With Greef flashing two ingots of beskar as great wealth, I doubt the Client was handing out ingot after ingot for each of them, but he probably was happy to hand over a box of fobs for anyone willing to have a go at it. Most seem to have gotten a hold of one and then chickened out, but it hardly put him out any.
  • Kuiil outright says that bounty hunters and mercenaries have been going after Grogu for so long that the valley is practically a warzone. So it's fair to assume that while everyone got a tracking fob, and a lot of them still hadn't decided to go after the bounty, a lot more had already taken a swing at it either died or were driven off in the process. It wouldn't be surprising if quite a few of the bounty hunters in the guild house had gotten as far as Din did and then chickened out when they saw a couple of platoons' worth of heavily-armed mercs protecting the Child. It's notable that the group of Trandoshans who ambushed Din waited until after he had killed all the mercs and was alone.

Lone Woman who knows how to Fight does Nothing?

• So in Episode 4, Mando meets a village being harassed by raiders and just before the training montage, he and Cara ask if anyone there know how to fight. One woman, the mother, reveals she has experience. Um, OK, if so then how come she didn't teach the others how to defend their village? I can buy that they don't exactly have military/Mandalorian-grade weaponry lying around but c'mon! She just sat there and let her home be continuously attacked?
  • To be precise, her experience was as a markswoman. The episode implies that almost all of the guns the villagers used in the fight were provided by the Mandalorian. A single individual would not be able to do much against a walker or a gang of raider without additional firepower.
  • It's not clear whether the attack we see is the first or the fiftieth. She certainly reacts like a scared mother who nonetheless knows how to keep her kid safe.
  • Just because you are a good shot, doesn't mean you can fight in a battle. There's a lot of psychological factors. Even if it turns out she was also a soldier at some point, she seems to be as dirt poor as everyone else and wouldn't be able to afford weapons for everyone. On top of that, even if we do assume she was a soldier, she may have just been some random infantryman. She may have experience with fighting, but not with traps and fortifications at least not on the level of the Special Forces veteran, Cara.
  • In addition, training the villagers without the adequate weapons could've done more harm than good. They might've decided that they can take the bandits now and would've been slaughtered.
  • Finally, there are a lot of leadership and training principles to training. The US army and Marine Corps have dedicated specialist that train troops. They have to psychologically break people to give them a chance to resist panic in a combat situation (many of the best trained fighters still tend to panic their first fight and only survive because they break and fall back on training). She's not a leader and she probably has no training in, well, training people. Many drill sergeants and drill instructors are fired because they break under the pressure of training to train recruits or get power trips and go too far in harassing their trainees. Even if she was all of those things, a former military drill instructor with leadership skills, I doubt she's willing to subject her own village to that. A recruit is almost supposed to hate their trainer, but respect them and fall them.
  • Is it that she knew how to fight, or just had experience plinking around with dad's blaster? Some people have better hand-eye coordination and are naturally good shots (consider the case of Sgt Alvin York, a crack marksman whose main training was that he was a hunter prior to WW1), while others are never going to be very good shots no matter how much training they go through. Sometimes someone just picks up a new weapon and it feels perfectly natural to them, and in those cases they might be a very good shot indeed right out of the box.
  • Also, there's knowing how to FIGHT, and knowing how to fight as a unit. She may be a crack shot with a blaster, but not be well versed in operating as a cohesive unit, with tactics, how to fight as a team with others. Mando, on the other hand, is trained to work with others, fight as a unit, and operate in tandem with support.
  • It's also possible that while she knows how to shoot, she wasn't trained as a soldier. She may have simply been a taught as a hunter. Knowledge of hunting or shooting is a far cry from being able to educate and organize a town to fend off raiders with a mechanized walker in support. It's also important to remember that the town was so poor that none of them seemed to own a blaster or any other weapons for self defense. Din could tell just by glancing at the bag of credits they offered that the village couldn't afford to hire a single mercenary. You can't train someone to fight if they can't even afford access to basic weaponry.

Epic Spot Check Fail

• Quinn has pretty form-fitting clothing, so how the hell did Mando manage to plant the beacon on him without him noticing? Especially since the thing is also beeping all the time!
  • He offers his hands to be cuffed to the Mando while talking him down from shooting him, so he was probably restrained most of the way back, and not exactly comfortably. He may have even been stunned (it hasn't been shown if the Mando's blaster has that setting, but he could have also just decked him), given he wasn't in the cockpit or with the Mando when he shot Zero. Either way, it could have been planted during the cuffing, or a pat-down. It looked to me like it was between his belt and pants, which, while not entirely discreet, could have gone unnoticed if he got used to the pressure without being able to check. The beeping seemed to have stopped for a bit, so the Mando might have set it on a timer to reactivate after he left to allow it to go further unnoticed. That's my thoughts on how to justify it at least, it does seem a bit Hammerspacey even with all the attempts to fill in the hole.
  • Rewatching the episode, the beacon device is no thicker or bulkier than a cellphone. How many times have you forgotten you had your phone in your pocket? It would be pretty easy to slip into someone's belt or waistband without them noticing, especially in the heat of the moment. My take was that the Mandalorian figured out how to deactivate the beacon while still on the transport (otherwise, given the timing stated, it doesn't seem like there was any way the New Republic fighters would not have arrived and blasted everyone while they were still onboard), then, just as they landed back on the station, slipped it into the back of Qin's belt and reactivated it. Then the New Republic strike team reacquired the beacon signal, jumped to hyperspace again, and this time tracked the beacon to its location, with the results we saw.
  • It should also be noted that Quinn was distracted when he got off Din's ship, and the moment things started to settle down and Din was leaving, Quinn found the tracker on him. Din probably slipped it into his pocket or belt while they were at the ramp, and Quinn felt it when he no longer was distracted. The tracker didn't need to go undetected forever, just long enough for Din to covertly ditch it on the station and get out of there before the New Republic arrived.

Tracking

• How exactly do the tracking fobs work? If it's something implanted couldn't it be removed? Or is it tracking some sort of biometric data in which case wouldn't it have some sort of range limit?
  • I don't think it's been explained outright but it does appear to be some sort of biometric tracking. In Chapter 4, dialog seems to imply that hunter was drawn to the world by the fuss fighting off the bandits stirred up. Then once arriving on-planet the tracking fob is close enough to home in on the asset.
  • It might be somehow related to the Chain Codes everyone has. It's not really explained how one gets a Chain Code, but it is implied to be hard to get a new one, hence Cara's hesitation to go anywhere near the New Republic given her status as a deserter. So maybe the biometric data is used to generate the chain code, like a data hash based on their genetic code.
  • It is explicitly said that the last four digits of the chain code are the target's age, and the Client refused to give out the rest of it. That implies it likely is genetic and the fob is coded toward the target's biology.
  • Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett implies that it does indeed track the target's DNA and biology, since Din points the fob he's carrying at a target and it flashes to indicate he's the target.

The Jedi

• How come the Jedi are Shrouded in Myth barely a generation after their downfall? Mando's parents were killed during the Clone Wars, and Greef Karga is old enough to have been already an adult during the time of the Republic.
  • The Empire was quick to destroy all records of the Jedi, and discourage any mention of the Jedi among the Empire's subjects. Palpatine wanted the Force to be an unknown, so that he would be the only one to be able to use it, and anyone else with the potential to do so would be under his complete control.
  • Given the Jedi didn't even have the numbers to put one Jedi on each of the Republic's member planets, and only ventured out in small groups for specific missions outside of the Clone Wars, they were Shrouded in Myth even during the peak of their power. While many remember the group existing, their powers were widely regarded as overblown or fabricated entirely by most who hadn't directly interacted with them. The Armorer presumably heard of the Jedi during her earlier life, but only has the old legends to reliably gauge their abilities and relevance, and the Mandalorian himself probably hasn't even heard the group mentioned except in passing. Greef might not have even heard of the Jedi at all if he lived in the Outer Rim where even seeing just an inhabitant of the Core Worlds would be a rarity.
  • It pays to remember that, even at the peak of their power, the Jedi numbered only around 10,000 members. In a galaxy of trillions, the vast majority probably would never even be in proximity of one.
  • The Mandalorian and Greef not knowing who the Jedi are is understandable. But given that Cara was a Rebel Shock Trooper, she probably knows who Luke Skywalker is, which makes her lack of knowledge regarding the Jedi even more baffling.
  • I doubt it. Being a soldier doesn't mean you know in-depth details into the life of one of your commanders. Plus, her being a soldier doesn't mean she bunked in the same encampment as Luke and Friends. It's wholly possible she was in a different Rebel cell and the most she knows about Luke is that he's a senior commander.
  • While that may be the case, Luke is also a major hero and legend of the Rebel Alliance, likely a major public figure in the New Republic, (by being Leia's brother, if nothing else) and we know from the new Expanded Universe that the Imperials recognized his X-wing at the Battle of Jakku by sight, and had a mass Oh, Crap! when they realized Luke himself was joining the battle. And remember, while Jakku may be an even more remote backwater than Tatooine, even Rey had heard of the stories surrounding Luke. So stories about him are almost certain to have filtered down through the ranks if for no other reason than as propaganda, boosting morale, and simply the sort of legends soldiers are prone to spread ("I know a guy in B Company who heard it from a gunner on Home One who was there, and watched Skywalker pull a Star Destroyer out of orbit with his mind!"). Also consider that the Rebellion openly used "May the Force be with you/us" as a battle or rallying cry of sorts, so on that merit alone it's reasonable that Cara would at least know of the Force if not exactly what it is, to the point she could at the very least put two and two together during their conversation with the Armorer. It's as easy as:
    Cara: This sounds like something my old platoon leader said about General Skywalker...
  • This series only takes place shortly after the fall of the Empire. Rumors haven't have a chance to really get around yet, and the New Republic certainly hasn't had a chance to counter decades of Empire propaganda. Cara has definitely heard of the Force, but probably in no context besides "vague god-thing that is apparently on our side." You'll note the Armorer never mentions the Force, just that the old songs speak of a group of sorcerers who fought the Mandalorians.
  • I think you're seriously underestimating just how fast such stories can develop and spread. Luke was a major figure in the Empire's fall. His destruction of the Death Star alone would have made him an overnight hero to the Alliance. If how war heroes were treated during World War II is any indication, the Alliance would have been plastering his face all over propaganda posters for recruiting drives and fishing for capital (consider how men like Basilone and Boyington were used by newspapers for selling War Bonds).
  • Even among the rebels, it's very likely Luke was more well known as a fighter pilot and a general than as a Jedi. He didn't exactly show off his Force powers in noticeable ways during major battles. Rey knowing him as a Jedi decades later is probably partially a side-effect of his post-war achievements, trying to restore the order.
  • Another thing is, one of the members of the group is named Paz VIZLA, thus making him related to the leader of Deathwatch who fought against and then was killed by a force user and is also descended from the first Mandalorian Jedi who created the Darksaber which is pretty much the Mandalorian Excalibur. Between that, and the long history of conflicts between the Jedi and Mandalorians, how some of them played a part in Mandalore's fall or resistance, the tribe's reverence for their culture and history it seems farfetched that Mando hasn't heard the word or any recognition of the Force.
  • And at least pre-Empire, the Jedi were well known enough that Anakin identified Qui-Gon as one simply by spotting his lightsaber dangling from his belt.
  • That could also be because he's a child, who probably still loves the stories that paint the mythical Jedi as the guardians of the peace, defenders of justice and the meek, etc. (Think a child recognizing, say, some sort of Sentai hero because they see the morpher. To them, those stories really stick out in their minds)
  • Yeah, I still can't quite buy the whole "shrouded in myth" thing. Yes, most people in the Galaxy won't ever have even seen one in person - but to compare with the real world, I've never seen a Green Beret or a CIA Agent, they might as well be Jedi for some of the mythologising around them, but I still have a decent idea of who they are and what they do. Even if you don't believe in the force, it's still hard to credit that most people won't at least know them as "that creepy special forces cult who are weirdly influential in the Republic/Rebellion"
  • That's not really a good comparison, because unlike in Star Wars, the Green Berets and CIA are publicly known entities who are often portrayed in media and their existence hasn't been aggressively suppressed by a massive fascist state.

Checking the Crash site

• So no one thought to go to the crash site to make sure Moff Gideon was dead?
  • The ship exploded, and they had to clean up the town. They figured he was dead and they had better things to do.
  • Watch the scene again, it did not explode. Its port wing was damaged by explosives, it fell out of the sky, and simply hit the ground with a thud. There was no fireball, no flash of light, no shock wave, and even the closed captions simply say "crashing."
  • TIE fighters are supposedly fragile aren't they? No shields, no life support systems, etc. The odds should be akin to surviving a car crash, except the car is flying through the air. Of course, the heroes probably didn't count on Moff Gideon's personal TIE fighter being different from the run-of-the-mill version.
  • The craft's hull still has to be sturdy enough for the rigors of simply flying, especially in atmosphere at high speeds (it has to be fast enough to escape planetary gravity). As the TIE is a very poorly-designed ship for atmospheric flight and would likely under go significant stress — particularly whenever making atmospheric reentry or under heavy G loads from the maneuvers Gideon puts his fighter through — it would have to make up for it in its structure. So while it wouldn't take much in terms of laser fire to bring one down (keep in mind, Star Wars cannon are probably unleashing more energy in a single bolt than the entire United States produces per year) it would still need to be durable enough to withstand regular operating and maneuvering stresses. Simply from that stand point, the hull would almost certainly be reinforced enough to survive an impact.
  • The characters are aware of the trope that the Big Bad has to survive for next season. Checking the crash site would be counterproductive.
  • Din says in S2 E4: The Siege that they thought Gideon was dead. It's clear that in-universe they considered a TIE crashing at that speed should have been fatal, so there wouldn't have been any need to search the site. Presumably Gideon's personal TIE transport was more durable and better able to protect its pilot.

The new armor will attract a lot of attention

• The Mandalorian gets kitted out with his sexy new shiny Beskar steel armor, with the warning that it will draw lots of unwanted attention. One wonders why he couldn't have taken the basic protection of going over it with a rattle can of green spray paint to make it at least look less ostentatious, as we saw with the Clone Wars-era Mandalorian warriors in the Chapter 8 flashback.
  • Pride and dignity, most likely. He's been fighting his entire life to earn this armor, it's shiny and new, he doesn't want to ruin it. He was warned it would attract attention, so maybe throwing a cloak over it was an option, but again, pride and dignity. As for the Mandalorians who rescued him, those were Death Watch, their own sect. They painted their armor to show loyalty, not to hide.
  • Also, he may want it to gain "character" all its own. Burns and scars from battles he fought, challenges he overcame. So that one day, he can pass along his armor with its story ("You see that blaster scorch there? Got it from stopping an escapee on Oovo IV. And that long scratch? A rancor tried to take a swing at me. Didn't live long enough to try again.")
  • Keep in mind that not all attention is negative. Beskar is flashy, but it is also strong. Someone who might have taken a swing at Din, like the goons in the first chapter, would be less likely to do so in the face of a full suit of blaster-resistant beskar.

Baby Yoda's origin

• What was Baby Yoda doing on Arvala-7? Someone knew what he was capable of and not only kept him hidden away from the Empire (and its remnants), but kept the location heavily guarded. Who was hiding him and why?
  • A different faction of Imperials would be the most likely answer, since there were multiple conflicting orders regarding the disposition of the bounty. Presumably we'll get more details later.

The Empire's manpower problem

• Yes, this is the same empire that coined the You Have Failed Me Trope, but things have changed since then. The Empire in its heyday could afford to execute officers on a whim and drown opposition with sheer numbers because they had an entire galaxy to draw men and materials from. Now the remnants and holdouts need to keep their heads down or risk getting the New Republic's attention. Heck, the client was reduced to hiring bounty hunters ("We don't need their scum!")for a task as crucial as capturing the child rather than doing the dirty work themselves, and the forces they do have appear run down and cobbled together. Having fallen on such hard times, how are they still in a position where they can afford to gun down dozens of men just to "prove a point"?
  • Conspicuous consumption. Gideon would be the kind of dickhead that would chew through a ton of valuable resources just to prove he can.
  • Even if Gideon only commands a small sliver of the former Empire's resources, that could still add up to a lot compared to one town of bounty hunters. Gideon's forces notably have newer armor than the Client's, implying functioning manufacturing and repair facilities. Moffs controlled entire systems; it's entirely possible he has a planet to draw forces from, or at least a sizable fleet. He might also be one of the officers of what would become the First Order, meaning they've already started their mass kidnappings to grow their ranks.
  • Believe it or not canonically this fact is acknowledged. A large part of why the New Republic sprung up so quickly was because the most powerful groups within the Empire almost immediately started killing each other in power struggles over who got to be in charge destroying most of their best equipment in the process. The inability of the Moffs to rule through anything but fear has severely hastened the demise of most of the imperial remnants with the remains being those who fear execution if they try to surrender to the Republic either by their own Moffs or by the Republic itself. That and slave soldiers, conscripts from local planets or kidnapped as children to be raised imperial who have no say in the matter.
  • Gideon killing the Client's men likely wasn't just to prove a point. The Client explicitly went against Gideon's orders when he told Pershing to kill Grogu in the conversation that was overhead in Chapter 3. Those Stormtroopers were likely loyal to the Client and therefore would need to be disposed of regardless.

Fight at the end of the lava cave

• I don't understand why the final fight at the end of the lava cave was supposed to be such a big deal. There were something like eight troopers standing there. That IG robot had gone through much worse without suffering a scratch a couple times in the series already. And if he had to, he could have just thrown that bomb out the cave to kill the troopers.
  • Flanking and proper positioning shouldn't be underestimated. Mando and Cara couldn't break out of the bar they were holed up in until IG-11 blindsided the troopers and threw their formation into chaos. There seemed to be close to a dozen troopers at the tunnel entrance who were too far away to reach by hand (and start a close quarters brawl) yet close enough to pull off several point blank shots. They also had overlapping fields of fire and weren't in any danger of friendly fire (there was an incline toward the magma they would have shot down into rather than across) . In short, fewer numbers can sometimes compensate if they channel/concentrate their fire efficiently enough.
  • Another consideration is mobility. In every other fight, IG-11 was able to run, maneuver, and seek cover. While knee-deep in magma or stuck on a slowly moving barge, he and the others were sitting ducks.
  • As for the bomb, it appears to be fused directly to his frame, and would likely require special instruments to remove. IG-11 explicitly stated that the entire point of the bomb was to prevent capture, so being able to remove and detonate it at whim would have been counterintuitive towards its purpose.
  • Given how safely removing the bomb is exactly what the manufacturers wanted to avoid, it would also be practical (and easy) to rig it with a proximity switch to explode if tampered with as a further deterrent against potential salvagers (which would also explain why Kuiil didn't remove it when he had the chance).

No weapons that can damage the AT-ST?

• Both Cara and Mando make it a point to tell the villagers there aren't any weapons on the planet that can damage the AT-ST...but doesn't the Razor Crest have two large and very powerful cannons that are not for show?
  • It could be that his cannons aren't capable of firing (safely) in atmo. He could also be exaggerating for dramatic effect, and has already written off the Razor Crest either as being too far away to get to, or else that bringing it would be too obvious and the bandits would know about it, hide, and wait for him to have to return to the space port before attacking again.
  • Another thing to consider, The Razor Crest is widely considered to be a clunker of a space ship. Odds are the AT-ST could shoot it out of the sky before they could reasonably get a weapon lock-on to it, give how relatively small the AT-ST is.
  • Strafing ground targets is notoriously difficult and dangerous work in any circumstances, which is why modern air forces have specialized models dedicated to this trade, designed to fly low and slow, heavily armored, and using armor-piercing cannon along with rockets and air-to-ground missiles. Razor Crest, a big, fat, and slow (compared to something like a speeder) ship with only two gun mounts fixed forward, would be an easy target long before Mando could spot an AT-ST hiding in the treeline, and he knows it, which is why he likely didn't even consider the possibility more than a second. In short- wrong tool for the job.
  • Also, Din's whole reason for going to the planet was to lay relatively low. Zipping around with his ship blasting things on the ground is the opposite of laying low.
  • On that note, why didn't they sabotage the AT-ST the first thing once they hit the Raiders camp? Even if they couldn't damage it externally, tossing a bomb inside the thing did a pretty good job, as seen from later on in the episode.
  • They didn't see it until it activated. They arrived at the camp and went into the tent first to plant the bomb, and before they could do anything else they were discovered. It's hard to sabotage something when you don't get a chance to find it.

Fully automated bounty hunting

• Why doesn't the Guild replace all their bounty hunters with IG-series droids? Not only are they incredibly deadly, there's presumably no risk of them betraying you, or asking for more pay, or suddenly developing a conscience. (Unless they're deliberately programmed to be capable of doing those things, which would make even less sense.)
  • From what we see of IG-11 in the first episode, he lacks both creativity or the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. While Mando tries to scope out the place and come up with a plan, the droid just barges in with guns blazing. He gets locked out, flanked by snipers, and pinned down by a turret, and his only recourse is to blow himself up. If Mando hadn't been there to bail him out, IG-11 would have failed several times over.
  • Not to mention that said explosive is just as liable to wipe out a target the client wants alive.
  • From what we see in the first few scenes, most bounties are not epic manhunts or high-profile targets, but bail jumpers and petty offenders; not exactly work that requires an assassin droid with a one-track mind. With such a situational function, it would leave plenty of other work for the small fry.
  • Bounty Hunting also doesn't seem to pay very well, and one would assume that the upkeep and regular maintenance on such a droid would rack up quite a bill. Further compounding the expense is the chance the droid won't return at all (considering the type of dangerous hard bounties it was meant to pursue) meaning you got zero payout from your investment.
  • Bounty hunting isn't just shooting stuff up; man hunts often require sleuthing or investigation, requiring some degree of tact, subtlety, or ingenuity (which droids are infamously lacking in).
  • IG's frequent attempts to blow himself up have a certain Fridge logic; apparently enough models have been salvaged, stolen, and repurposed that the makers considered rigging him with an expensive explosive (and a trigger-happy mindset) to be a wise investment (and even THAT didn't prevent Mando's team from doing just that).
  • Very few legitimate droid manufacturers would ever build an intelligent combat droid either; they have a bad reputation. It's why every single one we've seen has been involved in some sort of criminal enterprise, and most have been stated to be extremely expensive custom builds.
  • The IG droids did not actually have a good track record for loyalty. The IG 88 Droid from the original trilogy killed its makers and even briefly usurped control of the second Death Star, prior to its destruction. Other Assassin Droid models such as Kotor's KH 47 and its variants were also known to go rogue and kill their masters.
  • Season 3 also shows that they don't even manufacture the logic components for IG-11 models anymore, and presumably that applies for other IG-series as well. Hard to replace all of your bounty hunters with assassin droids when no one makes them anymore.

Why did Q9- 0 struggle so much with the Child?

• Why did Q9-0 take so long to decide to kill the Child then spend ages hunting it down? Given that it had faster processing power than regular humans and, as a combat-oriented droid, would have likely had advanced tracking capabilities like the Mandalorian's heat-sensitive vision, theoretically it should have been able to hunt down and kill the Child in short order.
  • Maybe the Child’s force sensitivity interfered with his vision somehow, or his model didn’t have the tracking capabilities Mando armor had/it was malfunctioning or something.
  • Q9-0 may not be a combat-oriented droid with advanced tracking capabilities. He's on the team to do piloting and some computer slicing, not to fight.

So who was Jango Fett, anyway?

• Okay, so - Boba Fett was the "original" Mandalorian. He was then retconned to be a clone of Jango Fett, raised as his son. But who was Jango? Was he actually a Mandalorian? He certainly didn't follow The Way, he walked around Kamino without armor, he let his face be seen by a ton of outsiders; whether he was intended to be "the last of the Mandalorians" or something like that in the film canon, or just a guy who laid his hands on a suit of armor, what is he now? Has he been cosmically retconned by this series into just some mercenary who somehow came across a suit of armor (which sure as heck looked like beskar), and toured the galaxy making a living? Or was he an apostate Mandalorian, who turned his back on The Way? The only thing for certain is that the current mythology has made his character's very existence (and Boba's, after the prequel trilogy gave him an origin story) just that much more confusing. (That is to say, from the point of view of someone who has only the film canon to go by, and not any of the EU materials or the cartoons, which in any case seem to contradict much of the film lore.)
  • The exact details of Jango's relation to Mandalorian culture has not been explained in the new EU. Boba has very little connection to Mandalorian culture, but then he was orphaned at a young age and raised by bounty hunters. And the whole thing with not showing your face is new; earlier EU material (written by one of the key writers and producers of this show) did not have that rule. It's likely a reaction to the Empire hunting them.
  • According to Wookieepedia, Jango claims to have been born on Concord Dawn, though whether this is true or not is yet to be seen. While he wears the armor, the officials on Mandalore essentially deny any sort of connection to Fett, dubbing him as nothing more than a bounty hunter who "somehow stole an artifact from their planet's troubled past".
• As of Chapter 11, this entire entry is Jossed - Mando was raised in a splinter sect of Mandalorians who don't believe in taking off their helmets. Question withdrawn.
• Jango Fett was revealed to be a Foundling, and according to Boba, he fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.
• In Legends canon, Jango Fett was the adopted son of Jaster Mereel, leader of the True Mandalorians (the third faction in the Mandalorian Civil War). While this is no longer canon, Jaster is mentioned in Boba's chain code, so it's close to getting canonized? Jaster, as the leader of the True Mandalorians, was obviously Mandalorian: thus, if Jango was raised by him, he is also Mandalorian.

Cobb Vanth's armor

• In Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, the story of how Cobb Vanth got his armor is different from the show. In the book, he shoots a Mining Collective agent who also wanted the armor before buying it from the Jawas.
  • Either it happened off-screen (it does cut right after he indicates he wants the armor, meaning he could have shot the agent shortly afterwards), or the flashback isn't a 100% accurate event, just being a Broad Strokes depiction of what happened that he's relaying to the Mando. "I bought the armor from Jawas" is a lot shorter than "I got the armor from the Jawas in a short bidding war that I ended by just shooting the other guy" while getting the relevant details across.
  • It seems that Disney canon is fine with allowing hard retcons to itself. Take, for example, the Siege of Mandalore, which had different encounters in the Ahsoka novel and in the Clone Wars, such as the famous "You're only half a Sith" line.
• So Mandalorian armor and tech is notoriously hard to come across, and we see Cobb Vanth fire the rocket launcher twice, once in flashback, and once fighting the Dragon. So where did he get the rocket reload?
  • Rockets aren't exactly hard to manufacture. Strap some kaboom to a rocket motor and there you go. Seriously, during World War II the US Navy and Marines developed the Tiny Tim rocket by literally welding a 500lb bomb to a piece of scrap oil well pipe with a rocket motor stuffed in the back. Even if Cobb's rockets aren't as good as Mandalorian-manufactured ordinance, it wouldn't be too hard for him to procure something that would work.

Killing the Krayt Dragon

• Ok, hindsight 20/20, but how is it possible that no-one thought of doing what Mando did, i.e. put a lot of explosives on a bantha and feeding it to the monster? It's seems like an obvious and expedient solution.
  • They did try staking out banthas to lure it out kill it, but the creature ignored the bantha and went for the hapless Sand Person who staked it out as he ran away. Check the thirty minute mark of the episode.
  • And if you're thinking about the townsfolk pulling this trick, it might be partly because it's really unsafe to set off a lot of explosives so close to town. It seems as if the dragon's appearances are random; you wouldn't want to leave a bantha with a lot of live explosives loaded on it waiting for the dragon, then hope it went for the bait. And the Sandpeople couldn't do it because they lacked the explosives. The team-up was the most practical way to kill it; the Sandpeople know its lair and habits, the townsfolk supply the kaboom.
• The Marshall dismisses Mando's idea of using the Razor Crest, because the dragon will "sense the vibration and stay underground". Ok, first of all, the ship didn't need to stay airborne to fire, did it? It needed to "pass above it" even less, since the guns can shoot from afar. Second, what? It's an underground creature, it has to hunt by reacting to vibrations. Unless it was smart enough to discern the vibrations from the ship, of course. And if the issue is that too strong of vibrations will scare it off, why weren't the villagers using this trait? Like, surround the village with some kind of "thumpers" to keep it away.
  • Different types of vibrations. A creature walking on the sand would be distinct from a hovering ship's steady thrust. And would you want to have your ship grounded in front of that size mouth? The range of ship's weapons is noticeably very short in the Star Wars universe, it's an open question how far one could stand off and hit even a target as big as the dragon.

Why didn't Mando grab his jetpack?

• It's been shown that his Rising Phoenix jetpack can be attached and detached fairly quickly from his armor, yet after taking it off for a moment to talk with Boba he just leaves it lying there on the ground. He then proceeds to run up and down a hill twice in great haste both times, rather than taking a moment to put it on and just fly there in a fraction of the time. It might have even allowed him to rescue Grogu from the Dark Troopers.
  • A good point, but maybe the controls aren't sophisticated enough for such maneuvers?
  • Or maybe he deactivated the pack before setting it down as part of "disarming" himself while de-escalating the confrontation with Fett.
  • With all that was going on at the moment (Grogu doing whatever he was doing on the stone, trying to negotiate with two bounty hunters before suddenly teaming up with them to stop the Imperials attacking them), I think it's just a matter of being so overwhelmed and flustered that Mando forgot about it. Either that, or maybe he subconsciously thought that trying to put it back on would take too much time or something. Either way, it was a fatal mistake.
  • Another thing to consider; there is no cover in the air. The stormtroopers could have concentrated all their firepower on him simultaneously if he tried to engage them from on high (you want to keep your head down in a war zone). The dropships were also armed with cannons that could blast him out of the sky if they'd seen him. Fett was able to get away with it because Din and Fennec were occupying everyone's attention, but Din may have just deemed it too dangerous.
  • This would be a good point, except that almost immediately afterwards Din acts AS the cover for Fennec with his beskar armor, absorbing a truly ridiculous amount of blaster fire and coming out unscathed. He wouldn't need cover in the air, he's already wearing it.
  • While Din's armor is resistant to blaster fire, his jetpack, which is a much more complicated piece of kit, probably isn't something he wants to get hit by blaster fire. One lucky shot and he'll relive Boba's fate from ROTJ, only instead of landing in a Sarlacc pit, he could end up landing in the middle of a squad of stormtroopers with, at best, broken/bruised ribs that he'll have to fight through or, at worst, a broken neck. Also, Din's probably still learning how to fight with the jet pack. Aside from his first use of it, he's only used it as transport most of the time. The only time he's used his jetpack in battle was with the Krait Dragon, which was just one (extremely large) foe that could only attack from one direction at a time. Here, Din's dealing with a squad of enemies firing from all directions, meaning someone will likely be firing at his back, where his jetpack looks like a nice big weak spot for some lucky Stormtrooper to hit.
  • Who is to say he could have caught the Dark Troopers anyway? Maybe their jets were more efficient (it looked like they could reach the upper atmosphere; well beyond the range of Din's backpack in all likelihood).

Why didn't Mando ask Ahsoka to come with him to Tython?

• As said above, hindsight is 20/20. But didn't he consider that he would be on a Jedi world, where he is unfamiliar with the geography and possible threats? Ahsoka would have had the capacity to do so too, after overthrowing the Magistrate in the previous episode.
  • I think you're forgetting that Ahsoka had her own mission that brought her to Corvus. She didn't just deal with the magistrate for the good of the city, it was because the Magistrate had information about Thrawn. She has her own mission to deal with and has to act on either the information she was given, or the need to find someone else to interrogate, as soon as possible since Thrawn isn't someone you want to leave to do his own thing. As for why Mando didn't ask, he thought he could handle it alone, especially since if there were any threats, Ahsoka would have told him, if only for Grogu's sake if nothing else. Mando also doesn't bring people along unless he knows he'll need back-up, has a target he's bringing in or he's doing a job involving other people. Otherwise it's just him and Grogu.

"I want my armor...but only from you."

• If Boba Fett was so desperate to get his armor back, why did he wait until Mando took it from Cobb Vanth before trying to reacquire it? He flat-out states that he knows Cobb Vanth owned it before Din did, and since they were literally on the exact same planet, it would seem much easier to just walk into town and take it from Vanth instead of following Mando through the depths of space...
  • Maybe he'd only just learned that Cobb possessed it recently, and the Marshal dodged a bullet by handing it off to Mando when he did.
  • Or maybe Fett is lying, and it's all a ruse to exploit Mando for something; he wasn't the nicest character in the original trilogy.
  • Heck, he might even be working with Gideon. Fett had no qualms with aiding imperials before, and it would be just like the empire to sacrifice a few dozen Troopers just to sell a deception.
  • Maybe, between the events of Episode VI and this series, Boba has a developed a sense of morality, and he doesn't want to kill innocent people anymore? He knows Cobb wouldn't have given the armor to him voluntarily, nor would the chain code in it mean anything to Cobb, so he would've probably had to kill Cobb to acquire it, which he isn't willing to do. Whereas with Din, he knows he can appeal to the Mandalorian code of honor, and use the chain code to prove the armor is rightfully his.
  • Boba probably had a long recovery time after the Sarlacc, then needed to train to live in the desert. That could have taken the better part of five years, so he only recently learned that his armor was taken by Cobb and then Din.
  • Another possibility is that he knew Cobb was doing some good with it, and was willing to be patient. Once Vanth handed it off to Din, however, Boba knew that he could reclaim it without hurting people.
  • Another possibility is that he was coming up with a way to get it from Vanth, but knew that would be much harder, so when Din got it, he figured he could ask for it and provide Mandalorian-specific information that would, to another Mandalorian, be proof positive of his claim that the armor belongs to him, and thus get it without killing. He knows the chain code, can offer verifiable proof that the armor is his by right as Boba Fett, son of Jango Fett, of Jaster Meerel's faction of Mandalorians, and a true Mandalorian would hand the armor over in a heartbeat. Whereas trying to convince a Tattoine marshal would likely be met with "Very funny, Boba Fett is dead, now leave before I shoot you"
  • Book of Boba Fett answers this. He was delirious after escaping the Sarlacc and thought that his armor was still in the Sarlacc Pit. Until he recruited Fennec and recovered his ship, Fett didn't have the ability to go back and recover it. It was only after killing the Sarlacc and going into its guts did Fett realize it wasn't down there.

Grogu's maturity

• So Grogu started training as a Jedi about 30 years ago? If we assume his species ages roughly 10 times slower than humans (Yoda died of old age when he was 900), that would mean he was about 2 in human years back then. At that age he already had the cognitive skills to start a demanding training, but 30 years later he's about 5 in human years, and he still acts like a toddler and can't speak. How do you reconcile these two facts?
  • We haven't seen much of youngling training. From what we've seen in Attack of the Clones, it seems to be the bare minimum: basic blaster bolt deflection, and those were from kids who were more than 5 human years old. Secondly, Grogu's memories are dark after the Great Jedi Purge, so perhaps trauma has stunted his cognitive development (if there are any psychiatrists who know more, please jump in to this discussion!) Finally, on the Fridge page, it's theorized that Yoda did not die of old age but of stress and trauma (they did the math where 900 years = age 50). So it's not entirely impossible that Grogu's growth is progressing normally but with slight interruptions from what is basically child abuse.
  • Didn't Yoda himself tell Luke that he's old? IIRC, nothing in Return of the Jedi indicates that the cause of his death is anything else than old age, and the puppet even has stereotypical old age signifiers, such as gray hair and lots of wrinkles.
  • People need to remember that Grogu is not human. So trying to compare him to a human toddler doesn't really work, especially since he's shown intelligence and awareness of things that would fly right over the head of a normal toddler.
  • He's also the only child of his species we've ever seen. His species may be inherently strong in the Force; he communicates telepathically with Ahsoka and seemingly with Luke. It's possible that his species communicates primarily through the Force, and learns to talk later when they deal with other species; which might also explain Yoda's idiosyncratic grammar.

War Crimes

• What constitutes a war crime in the Star Wars universe? Going off the Geneva Conventions, we've seen several examples of war crimes being committed all across Star Wars media (i.e., perfidy, attacking medical facilities/personnel, biological warfare, indiscriminate attacks on civilian populaces, torture/inhumane treatment/experimentation of prisoners, etc.), and no one bats an eye. Knowing that the Geneva Conventions are not relevant to Star Wars, what actually is considered a war crime in this universe, especially since Moff Gideon was meant to be executed for war crimes?
  • War crimes are subjective even in real life. It wouldn't be surprising if governing powers interpret the rules according to their own whims or political interests and charge their enemies accordingly.
  • Presumably sane people use the Old Republic's standards on the matter. The Empire and later the First Order have a much more myopic definition; in The Last Jedi Hux claimed that the Resistance were all war criminals for, apparently, the crime of standing up against them.

Face scanner

• What is the point of a facial scanner that allows any outsider - like Din, who presumably has no connection to the Empire - to access confidential, real-time information like the location of a senior officer's ship? Doesn't sound like the most secure encryption system.
  • It's to record who accessed the information. Mayfeld presumably put the right codes into the cylinder, which is why it works at all, but they still need to know who's doing it. In more orderly times, they might have it only respond to faces assigned to that location, but in the chaos Post-Endor things are probably more lax to account for new arrivals showing up from other remnant groups willy-nilly. The fact Mayfeld's old codes still work is proof enough they haven't been updating their security.

Mayfeld's moral myopia

• In chapter 15, Mayfeld snaps and guns down Valin Hess due to a grudge from when said officer needlessly sacrificed imperial lives. Yet less than a few minutes later, Mayfeld himself shoots a container of volatile material, destroying the whole facility and everyone in it, needlessly sacrificing imperial lives. He was already in the clear and further violence was unnecessary, but he essentially made the same decision as the officer (wiping out a settlement for the sake of convenience) with no concern for the collateral damage. Is this a deliberate case of irony? Is Mayfeld simply indifferent towards his own hypocrisy? Or was there mitigating factors that I missed?
  • The officer laid out their plans to use those chemicals to continue bombing civilian targets in a terror campaign to drive people back into the Empire. Mayfeld wasn't blowing up the base to cover their escape, he did it to prevent the Remnant from killing more innocent people. A lot of Imperials died who weren't responsible for the plan, but he likely saw them as guilty by association.
    • Alternatively/Additionally, Mayfield may have seen it more as a case of "Cold Calculus". That while blowing up the facility with everyone in it was bad, leaving it would lead to even more people, many of them totally innocent, being subjected to something he knew was a horrible fate.
  • Also if you read between the lines it seems like the operation Mayfeld served on caused him to start questioning what the Empire was doing. He could accept it that they were being more aggressive because hey the galaxy just came out of a massive civil war that devastated hundreds of words and uncountable communities. The Empire was rough but at least they put an end to droid armies roaming the rim committing small scale genocide and terror bombings on civilian targets. But then The Empire started doing things just as bad to their own people and Mayfeld started question them. It didn't come to fruition until after the disastrous battle that got not only uncountable civilians but his own comrades killed but he turned his back on The Empire in the end.
  • There is also a key moral distinction between killing enemy soldiers and killing your own troops, to say nothing of targeting civilian populations at the same time. Mayfeld is, by this point, a turncoat, which brings it's own ethical baggage, but Hess was a loyal Imperial officer when he ordered the wholesale killing of his own troops. In comparison, Mayfeld, acting as an agent of the New Republic, was in a much less morally questionable situation when he blew up the base, especially knowing what Hess had told him above. Under most circumstances, enemy soldiers would be considered perfectly legal targets, even if not actively taking hostile action, provided they weren't surrendering, taking to lifeboats, or similar specific protected statuses. If anything he did violated the Laws of Armed Conflict, it was doing all of that while wearing an Imperial uniform, which is hardly unheard of among the heroes of this franchise.

Seismic charges instead of guns?

• There's no questioning that the seismic charges are awesome. But wouldn't it be easier for Boba to turn Slave I around and shoot down the TIE fighters with his main guns instead?
  • Turning a ship like Slave 1 a full 180 in atmosphere isn't an easy maneuver, especially with TIE's breathing down your neck. If you're thinking of the stunt Mando pulled on Navarro, that was a) at much higher altitude and b) with a lot more distance between the Razor Crest and the pursuing TIE than between Slave 1 and its pursuers. Also, since the mission's done and Cara and Fennec still need pick-up, Boba has no intention of getting into a drawn out dogfight. Lastly, as his father demonstrated, the Seismic charges are a good way to deal with pursuers. I doubt this is the first time Boba's dealt with anyone chasing him with the same tactic.
  • Next episode shows that the Slave 1's guns can swivel backwards 180 degrees and fire without issue. He was chased by the same number of TIE Fighters in both cases. I can't think of any other reason than pure fanservice and Rule of Cool for him to use a seismic charge.
  • Maybe to discourage further pursuit; we never got a good idea just how many TIE fighters were on the planet, but knew for a fact that there were only two in the space around the cruiser. The seismic charge gave a clear "follow me and die" message to any other fighter in the area.
  • Maybe the Seismic Charges are simply more effective, but he just had the one.
  • The guns can rotate to face behind the ship, but Fett still has to turn the ship to face the guns at a target. It's likely awkward to do so while evading the enemy. Easier to just drop the charge behind the ship, as it will fall into the path of the pursuing enemy fighters.

Announcing that you're coming for Moff Gideon

• While Mando turning Moff Gideon's words back at him with his Badass Boast at the end of the "The Believer" was a cool moment, did it really make any sense at all? Mando had just managed to get Gideon's coordinates from the Imperial compound, with everyone who could've warned Gideon about it ending up dead... So, with the coordinates, he and his crew could've taken Gideon by surprise. Instead, he sends a message to Gideon that lets Gideon know they're coming, which means Gideon can go into hiding, or at least prepare for their attack. Why would Mando announce that he's coming for Gideon instead of going for a surprise attack?
  • Maybe he's only seconds from showing up at his location and wreaking havoc? Or maybe it's a ploy to freak Gideon out, and cause him to make decisions he wouldn't normally make. At any rate, I think that Din telling Moff Gideon what he's up to is some part of gambit that could be revealed in the next episode.
  • No ploy or gambit was seen in the next episode, and Gideon was indeed prepared for the attack. So there's really no good explanation why Mando sent the message to Gideon.
  • Seems like pure Honor Before Reason, honestly. Given his background coming from an ultra-orthodox Mandalorian sect, it may almost be a ritual pre-combat boast to a worthy opponent. As for why he didn't do it to any previous opponents, Moff Gideon may be the first opponent we've seen so far that he considers worthy and Din has had the time to boast at.
  • Honor Before Reason doesn't sound like a good explanation, since earlier in the same episode Mando had already compromised the most sacred rule of his sect (showing his face to strangers) so he could have a chance of saving Grogu. So why would he, after all this, risk his chances of rescuing the kid for reasons of honor?

Here's an idea... lie

• In the final episode of season 2, when Mando attempts to hand over the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. Gideon points out that the saber has to be won in battle and she agrees with him and sees this as a problem. Except Mando made it clear that he couldn't care less about the Darksaber, Mandalore, or who sitting on the throne. I can also make a pretty good guess that Cara or Frennc don't care either. They made it clear that who ever wins doesn't have to kill the current holder. So what's stopping them from just saying that she was the one who defeated Gideon or that she defeated Mando? Or just having a mock fight and have Mando lose?
  • Honor Before Reason.
  • Gideon himself says the weapon isn't important, its story is. While the tale of Sabine coming by the Darksaber, learning its true significance, and then using it to select the next leader of Mandalore is a good story, some half-assed Mando cultist handing it over because he doesn't give a good gorram about Mandalore or Mand'alor does not. While Bo-Katan could lie about how she regained the weapon, it would be a blow her pride could not easily bear, and lies can always come unraveled, making her a less suitable leader than if she didn't have the Darksaber at all. There's also the fact that after the Great Purge, whatever Mandalorians remain are likely demoralized and unwilling to rally again to try and reclaim their home, needing a truly grand motivator in the form of a charismatic leader with a good story behind them. And this all seems to be setting up a major conflict for Season Three, with Din and Bo-Katan having to figure out a way for her to reclaim the Darksaber from him in such a way as will be a good, inspiring story for Mandalorian remnants.
  • There's also the fact that, even if Bo-Katan could convince her allies to lie for her, Gideon would definitely talk. They had already established that taking Gideon in alive was too big an advantage to pass up, so killing him to silence him wasn't an option.
  • The Darksaber cannot be wielded by someone unworthy. It will bring a curse if someone who wields it without earning it. If Bo-Katan just took it without winning it in combat, the Darksaber would know and Mandalore would be cursed.

Darksaber ownership is strange

• So, I understand the cultural need for Bo-Katan to win ownership of the Darksaber in theory. IIRC Maul exploited this back in The Clone Wars to take over the Death Watch. But here's the thing: didn't Sabine just...give it to Bo-Katan in the final season of Rebels? What's the difference now? It'd just another case of another Mandalorian defeating the current wielder of the Darksaber in combat (therefore rightfully gaining ownership), and then giving it to her because they feel she'd be a better ruler. The Mandalorian clans already accepted and acknowledged Bo-Katan, didn't they? Is it because she lost it to Gideon that she can't simply accept it from Din?
  • That seems to be the popular fan interpretation: Although Sabine gave Bo-Katan the Darksaber when Bo proved her leadership skills, the fact that she subsequently lost it again either cast her in a negative light among her surviving subjects, or even if they do still have faith in her Bo lost faith in herself, and that the Great Purge was specifically a result of how she came by the Darksaber. Bo now feels that this time she must win the Darksaber by her own merits.
  • She could even have come to believe that the Great Purge is a form of Laser-Guided Karma, that because she did not earn the weapon in battle as necessary, essentially setting herself up as a leader under false pretenses, that she brought doom upon Mandalore for her arrogance. Thus, if she wants to try again, she must do so in the right way, for the right reasons, from the right foundation.
  • Related to this, it may be that because she was given the Darksaber and didn't win it, not enough people were willing to follow her when she needed them and that is why Mandalore lost the Great Purge; basically enough people (possibly even the Children of the Watch) were unwilling to follow her that they didn't have the force necessary to repel the Empire.
  • This has pretty much been confirmed in The Book of Boba Fett. The Armorer returns, sees Din Djaren wielding the Darksaber, and tells him about the lore surrounding it and how it will bring a curse upon Mandalore if it is wielded by someone unworthy. In the same conversation, she brings up Bo-Katan being gifted the Darksaber instead of winning it in battle and the destruction of Mandalore, saying that they're connected. Bo-Katan probably drew the same conclusion as the Armorer and holds herself responsible for the destruction of Mandalore because she didn't properly earn the Darksaber.
  • Wouldn't Bo-Katan saving Din's life (twice!) in "Mines of Mandalore" satisfy? She not only rescued him, she defeated the creature that captured him.
    • It does. Din uses that exact justification for her to take it in Season 3.
• Actually, the last rightful owner would have been Darth Vader. Sidious unambiguously defeated Maul. Sure he didn't take the saber with him, but it was his. Then Darth Vader killed Sidious before dying himself.
  • Vader didn’t defeat Sidious in honorable combat. It was a sneak attack from behind on somebody who trusted him enough to turn his back, à la Robert Ford killing Jesse James.
• Defeating someone who defeated the Darksaber holder doesn’t necessarily convey ownership unless the intermediate party actually took the Darksaber. Bo-Katan earned it not just because she beat a cyborg who beat Djarin, but because the cyborg took the Darksaber from Djarin after beating him. If the cyborg had left the Darksaber in Djarin’s possession, it’s not clear that Bo-Katan would have earned it by beating the cyborg.

Boba and Fennec reunion

• This might seem like a minor thing, but how did Fennec and Boba meet up with each other after the Season 2 finale went down? Boba just jettisons off into the depths of space and Fennec is stuck on an Imperial ship with several people she's just gotten to know. How would they manage to find each other again?
  • Easy, they just called each other. For the most part, the whole operation went as planned, so there's no reason to expect they would have any trouble. It's not like they were both fugitives or being hunted any more than normal, which would necessitate going into hiding. Presumably after the mission Fennec just told the others "I'm gonna go meet back up with Boba, hope to see you again soon."

Survivors from the first Death Star?

• The Imperial pilot at the beginning of chapter 16 claims to have been on the Death Star when Alderaan was wiped out, but I was under the impression that Vader was the only survivor when it was destroyed. The entire station was locked down tight for security reasons (in Rogue One, the Imperials were willing to devastate an entire hemisphere just to plug a leak) and every imperial ship that fought in the battle of Yavin was a short range fighter. How did the pilot survive?
  • Even with a lockdown, there could still be troop movements on and off it. A lockdown just means they are more controlled than normal. The Star Destroyer which dropped off the prisoners from the capture of Leia's blockade runner could have exchanged crewmembers at the same time they dropped off the prisoners. There is also the possibility that some of those officers who analyzed the data for Tarkin which said there was a risk decided to take independent action in evacuating themselves and used him as the pilot to do so.
  • We also know other officers left the Death Star before its destruction. General Tagge (who tried to warn Tarkin and the rest of his staff about the threat of the Rebellion but got shouted down by Motti) survived the station's destruction, and was the original commander of the fleet hunting the Rebels fleeing Yavin (depicted in the Marvel comics). So clearly there was some exchange of personnel. The pilot in question may even have been ferrying one of these high-ranking officers after Alderaan's destruction.
  • The pilot could be lying to get under Cara's skin. Or he could have been present on the Death Star for the destruction of Alderaan, then sent elsewhere afterward and been nowhere near it when it was destroyed at Yavin. Or perhaps he wasn't assigned to the Death Star, but was merely aboard at that time, perhaps delivering supplies or personnel to the station.
  • The idea that Vader was the only survivor is false under the new canon, as Iden Versio was one of the TIE Pilots that fought the rebels in defense of the station, and by dumb luck had chased the one Y-Wing to survive the battle far enough away from the station that she wasn't vaporized. She simply stole a ship equipped with a hyperdrive from the rebels and returned to Imperial space. It's not impossible the shuttle pilot was another TIE jockey that got lucky.

Why not wait until Kuiil was back on the ship?

• In "The Reckoning", after Greef kills the two guys he'd hired to betray The Mandalorian, they decide to change the plan and send Kuiil back to the Razor Crest with Grogu. Once he was on the ship, he would activate its security system, and nothing would be able to get in. So why didn't they wait until Kuiil was onboard the Razor Crest before proceeding into town? They weren't on a time frame there. The Imperials didn't even know they were coming. Because they didn't wait, the Stormtroopers were able to catch up to Kuiil's bluurg, kill him, and take Grogu.
  • Seeing as though Nevarro is a large, barren planet with molten lava and flying creatures that can sweep a grown man off his feet, one gets the idea that you really don't want to stay out in the open to see if one man got back to the ship okay.

Where does Mando keep getting new Whistling Birds ammo from?

• The Armorer advises Mando to use his Whistling Birds sparingly, for they are rare. He doesn't go back to see her for some time after this, and apparently he's not capable of making Whistling Birds himself. How does he get the ammunition necessary to use it all the time?
  • Maybe he just happened to get a really large amount of Whistling Birds, and is lucky that he hasn't run out yet?
  • I figured he was given quite a bit but by the end of season 2 he may be out. All his gear is what he had on him. He only uses them a handful of times. No point waiting for the coolest moment if it will save your life.

Just Shoot Gideon

• Let's say Luke doesn't show up to save everyone from the Dark Troopers and the heroes get the Bolivian Army Ending Gideon expected. What's stopping them from pulling a Taking You with Me and shooting Gideon in the head? Yeah, they said they wanted to turn him in to the Republic alive, but obviously that's not on the table if they're all gonna die. Gideon seems completely confident he will get out alive until Luke turns up, but his survival is wholly dependent on the heroes allowing it and they'd have no reason to if they were going to die.
  • His overconfidence is his weakness.

How did IG- 11 get to Grogu so quickly?

• In Chapter 8: "Redemption", the two Scout Troopers are waiting outside the city for permission to come in with Grogu. IG-11 somehow managed to get all the way there, on foot, in a very short time. It had taken Djarin, Dune, Kuiil, Karga, and Karga's goons an entire day to travel from the Razor Crest to the outskirts of town on mounts. What gives?
  • Droids don't need to rest and can run at speed without stopping. IG-11 could significantly cut down the time needed to travel that way.

Darksaber vs. Dark Troopers

• This is a What-If scenario, assuming that Luke Skywalker himself never arrives to save the heroes and take Grogu under his wing at the end of Chapter 16: The Rescue. Dark Troopers were proven to be legitimately terrifying, given their sheer power and resistance to blaster fire... however, a lightsaber can easily hack them into pieces. After Din Djarin defeats Moff Gideon in combat (and takes the Darksaber as his own in the process), a platoon of Dark Troopers previously jettisoned into space comes back and marches to the cruiser's bridge. Since Darksaber falls into the same category as any other lightsaber, it would be entirely logical to use it against deadly droids.
• The question is: Why not to use Darksaber against Dark Troopers?
  • Din (or anyone else present) is probably just not a skilled enough swordsman to overcome the entire squadron the way Luke did. The Darksaber might be more effective at penetrating the Dark Trooper's armor than any other weapon they possess, but it still requires the user to get in melee range of Droids with super strength. It's also a weapon Din has no training with whatsoever prior to this point; Bo-Katan might know how to use it but she wouldn't be on the same level as a Jedi. They might could take out a few of them but eventually they'd be overwhelmed. Luke was able to do it because he's an expert on par with or outright superior to Vader at this point in the timeline, and because he has the Force, which allowed him to destroy quite a few of the troopers from range and predict the movements of the ones he did engage in melee.
  • Adding to the above, in The Book of Boba Fett Din is shown struggling with using the Darksaber, saying "It gets heavier with each swing." Meanwhile Moff Gideon has little trouble waving it around with just one hand. It would seem there is some kind of mental component to wielding lightsabers (or just the Darksaber) properly.

Force Abilities Fading Over Time?

• Ahsoka claims that Grogu's Force abilities will fade with time if he's not trained. This... does not seem to track with Luke and Leia, or even Anakin, who were able to call upon the Force even after the point of the time that the Jedi Order would traditionally accept them. Particularly since Yoda and Obi-Wan's original plan was to have one or both of the Skywalker twins be trained one day - if their abilities were meant to fade, that would seem to limit the window of opportunity for even trying to train them to a level where they could stand against Darth Sidious, who was powerful enough that Yoda had to retreat during their fight in the Senate. Not to mention the fact that, since Grogu had apparently been at the Jedi Temple at one point while Ahsoka was still pre-Padawan age, he's had SOME initial training (so much as a relative toddler can receive), and Grogu is still seemingly GROWING in Force abilities, decades after Order 66 had the Temple and the Jedi within burned, it doesn't even seem consistent within JUST The Mandalorian, as a series.
  • Ahsoka says that they will fade, or that they will grow no stronger. A Dark sider with Grogu's abilities isn't really a galactic threat. Anakin was The Chosen One, while Luke and Leia were his children, so if anyone is going to be able to resist their powers atrophying, it's them. And yes, it is possible that someone who the Jedi refuse to teach could learn on their own and become a threat after all... which is a thing that happened several times in the old EU. Once again, the Jedi aren't really intended to be completely right.
  • Force powers seem to be like muscles. If you stop training a muscle, it gets weaker over time.

"The Prisoner" Suicide Beacon?

• In "The Prisoner", the New Republic prison ship equips the one human crewmember with a hand-held tracking beacon that will call in a Republic strike group. When it is actually used the Republic sends three X-Wing fighters which immediately attack the space station they detect the beacon on. They don't seem to make any attempt to determine if the Republic soldier is still alive on the station or who else might be on the station: they just start blasting. So if the New Republic soldier had accidentally activated the beacon while on the prison ship, would the X-Wings have shown up and blown up the ship, killing all of the prisoners and the soldier? Is it basically suicide to activate the beacon?
  • It's a panic button. The response would vary depending on what the Republic team found on arriving. They're not likely to blow up their own ship (and who knows how many prisoners) until they find out what the situation is; on the other hand, if the Razor Crest had still been attached to the ship's hull, they would surely have destroyed it. We can speculate that, when they arrived at the original beacon location, they found a prison ship with its entire crew dead. And when the beacon reappears on an unknown space station which then launches a gunship, the strike team makes the legitimate assumption that this is a hostile target and acts accordingly.

Mos Pelgo’s relations with the Tusken Raiders

• In the “Aftermath” trilogy, the Tuskens had forged a pact with Cobb Vanth to protect Freetown AKA Mos Pelgo. But in “The Marshal”, the citizens of Mos Pelgo (even Vanth himself) treat the Sandpeople with the usual level of disdain, hatred and xenophobia as any other typical resident of Tatooine would. So what happened?
  • Star Wars has always operated on Alpha Canon-Beta Canon rules; if it is on screen then it is Alpha Canon, but if it is only in the books then it is only canon until the screen overrules them and thus is just Beta-Canon. That is what happened. That part of Aftermath was just decanonised in favour of the better screen story.
  • As of [1] S 1 E 6 Mos Pelgo has been renamed to Freetown.

Someone didn't pay attention to history lessons

• When the stormtroopers who work for Gideon see Grogu, why do none of them mention that the baby resembles Yoda? Yoda was a well-known Jedi Master during the Clone Wars, and supplementary materials show that the most prominent Jedi heroes of the war, while vilified, weren't forgotten at all.
  • One, just because one member of a species is a Jedi doesn't mean all members of a species are Jedi and two, stormtroopers didn't fight the Clone Wars. They only came into being after order 66 and Yoda's disappearance.
  • It's also possible those two troopers didn't pay much attention to "ancient history", joining the Imperials/Remnant with little regard for the history of things and more intent on being part of the military.
  • Education standards can vary wildly on Earth within a single country, let alone in a vast galaxy-spanning society with wildly different levels of technology where you can have one world with a city-spanning ecumenopolis and another world having subsistence farmers who don't even own a single blaster. And that's without factoring in Imperial sanitizing of the history curriculum. It is well within the realm of reasonable possibility that these scout troopers came from a world where either the education system was lacking or the Empire suppressed Jedi history, so they wouldn't know of Yoda or his species.

Unchallenged Darksaber

• If Bo-Katan is upset that Din got the Darksaber and took the right to rule Mandalore from her, why doesn’t she just challenge him for it?
  • This was covered in the show in the previous season's finale. Din wouldn't fight if she challenged him, he'd just give it to her. She had it just basically given to her once before and things went to shit. It has to be won, as far as Bo is concerned, in an honest and genuine fight. Din isn't willing to do that, so she is stuck.
  • Din does figure out a workaround in Season 3. He was defeated and captured by a creature while on Mandalore, and the creature took the Darksaber from him. When Bo-Katan came to rescue him, she took the Darksaber from the creature and used it to slay the monster. Therefore, Din lost the Darksaber and Bo-Katan won it legally.

Not Not A Mandalorian

• In the Season 1 episode "Sanctuary", Din claimed that if he took off his helmet in front of anyone he’d never be permitted to wear it again. But despite being banished for that reason, why was Din allowed to keep his armor, his beskar weapons, and even the Darksaber heralded as the right to rule Mandalorians?
  • One possibility is that the Armorer went easy on Din for two reasons. One, he's not technically under her jurisdiction anymore (he's technically the patriarch of Clan Mudhorn). Two, she knows Din, knows that there's a VERY good reason he took off his helmet, and isn't actually banishing him, but rather pushing him out of the nest because she believes he can be more.
  • Any religion with excommunication has very clear tenets for being let back into the faith after expulsion. Mandalorians have been scattered to diaspora and their worlds have been nuked, so maybe the Armorer understands that the rules need to be altered. Maybe in the days of Mandalore's glory, you would have to hand over your armor, because all you'd have to do was take a trip down to the mines and bathe. Now you are traveling to a death world and spelunking through irradiated ruins with all sorts of monsters camped out within - you'll need all your gear to make such a trip even feasible.
  • In Season 3 it is clear that the Armorer, while holding to the ways of the Children of the Watch, is also fully aware that Mandalorians cannot survive and thrive without some degree of change. Much like with real-life religious leaders who have needed to adapt to changes, she's looking for ways to hold to the Creed while still leaving room for change. Letting Din keep his armor, or allowing Bo-Katan to remove her helmet because she "walks in both worlds" (which would allow her an easier time gathering non-CotW Mandalorians) are both indicators that she's trying to balance adaptation and tradition.

Family helmet exception

• I've recently seen two TV Tropes pages that respectively said: "they cannot remove their helmet or armor in the presence of anyone except their immediate family" and "It's also acceptable if the only others around are one's clan." Is that true? I'm almost certain no such thing has been said on the show. It seems to run counter to Din's "no living thing" statement. On the pages where these quotes came from, I edited to remove the family caveat because I assumed it was incorrect. But I've realized maybe I was wrong, so I'd like to check. Is this family exception mentioned in another piece of Mandalorian media? (If so, which sect does it apply to?) Or is it merely a popular headcanon — people extrapolating and assuming that niqabi rules apply to Mandalorians?
  • The assumption that the rules for the CotW taking off their helmets are similar to other religiously mandated headwear seem to be just that - assumptions. That said, they are not unreasonable. The Mandalorians greatly pride strong family structures, both through the gai bal manda and through their trueborn children - therefore, it makes sense that you would be allowed to remove your armor in the presence of your spouse.
  • We know that you are allowed to remove your helmet for things like grooming and eating - this would be one more exception to the rule. Grogu is Din's foundling; It's likely that the thing which got him in trouble was not removing his helmet in front of Grogu, but rather doing so in front of Cara Dune, Fennec, Bo-Katan, Koska, and Luke Skywalker. He took it partly off in front of Grogu "The Siege" without much issue.
  • I wouldn't call those "exceptions". Taking it off alone in no way contradicts "No living thing has seen me without my helmet since I swore the creed." Taking it off in sight of your son does. I don't think they're comparable.
    That said, you're right that there seems to be evidence of some laxity around other Mandalorians—Din eats in front of Grogu in "The Siege" and Bo-Katan in "The Mines of Mandalore", even though it means briefly revealing his chin. This isn't the ultra-orthodox way (in "The Foundling" the coven give each other privacy to eat) but this is an amount of bending the rule that Din seems comfortable with. In contrast, in "Sanctuary" he won't eat in front of Omera, period.
  • It is mentioned in Star Wars: KOTOR 2 during conversation with Mandalorians on the planet Dxun that they do not removed their helmet when around those who aren't in their own clan. if the CotW hold to old ways, then perhaps the Mandalorian culture from KOTOR 2 would be the basis of their tradition.

Count Dooku's Good Publicity

• Why does the commissioner in the Seperatist episode of season 3 think Count Dooku was a visionary who supported democracy, when it's been 5 years since the Galactic Civil War ended and it should've been made public knowledge of Dooku's true objective?
  • In a galaxy as big as this one, even an authoritarian state like the Empire can't spread news everywhere. Even in a world as small as ours, people have differing opinions on historical facts, and that's all that should be said before we start drawing comparisons to real life.
  • I figure his true motives would be lost to the sands of time. The Seperatists were effectively a threat that Palpatine could use as an excuse to build a massive army and eventually convert the Old Republic into his Empire. I doubt he would have ever made Dooku's true motives known and any evidence would be hidden or erased. If there is proof, the New Republic has a mountain of data to sort through.

Bo-Katan not using the Darksaber to cut through the door

• Season 3 Episode 7: When the blast doors shut and Din, Paz etc. are outside: why didn't Bo cut through the door with the Darksaber? She uses it to cut open the rear door, so why not rescue two of the clan's finest warriors first? Sure, her cutting through the rear door instead saved the team, but she couldn't have known that at first.
  • She would slowly have to cut a small hole only one person can get through at a time, while up against enemies who have a blaster literally at Din's neck. By the time she got halfway through they would have shot him and had every weapon lined up on the hole she was cutting.

Phase 3 Dark Troopers in Phase 4 Armor

• Phase 3 Dark Troopers proved to be frighteningly competent against basically anyone short of Luke Skywalker himself with a lightsaber, their only real weaknesses seemingly to be their lack of beskar-strength armor. Many people at the time stated that despite the Dark Troopers prowess and sophistication, even the Imperial Remnants couldn't afford to outfit all of them in beskar, as the main reason why they weren't given it. However, the end of season 3 shows that beskar is easily workable by imperial armorers, to the point that Moff Gideon's Commandos are all but stated to be more expendable than the dark troopers that came before them, appearing in far greater numbers and equipped with inferior equipment and weaponry, on top of being easier to kill by anything short of a lightsaber. (Although Bo Katan's darksaber is able to pierce and kill a few commandos despite their beskar armor, but that's a different question) The question here is why weren't Phase 3 Dark Troopers equipped with such armor if it was apparently feasible for the Empire to do this the entire time, or at the very least, rebuilt after their destruction with the upgraded armor? Moff Gideon claims that the biggest improvement in Phase 4 armor is that "he is in it," yet Doctor Pershing in season 2 explicitly stated that removing the human inside was the final improvement to be made to the dark trooper program. It seems they decided on either making extremely powerful droids without beskar, or classically squishy and inefficient humans with beskar, but never thought to make extremely powerful droids IN beskar. Phase 3 Dark Troopers in beskar seem, on paper, to be some of the deadliest creations in all of Star Wars and would have probably even given Luke a run for his money, let alone the Mandalorians.
  • The A.I. in the Phase 3 Dark Troopers was shown to be a bit shit despite their physical strength. Their entire strategy was in the vein of "punch something until it breaks," even if that thing is a thick blast door or Din's unbreakable beskar helmet. The Dark Trooper shown in "The Rescue" was slamming its fist against Din's helmet for several minutes and never tried anything different even when that clearly wasn't working. There is no sense of creativity or improvisation with the fully droid models, but human pilots can accommodate for such things, similarly to how the clone troopers were able to take down forces of battle droids that outnumbered them by the hundreds. The only real advantage of battle droids is that you don't have to pay or feed them, but are getting a bunch of mindless drones in exchange.
  • As to why the Phase 4 troopers have beskar when their predecessors don't, quite a bit of time has passed between the end of Season 2 and Season 3. The Children of the Watch went from three members to a few dozen, and Grogu clearly spent much more time with Luke than the on-screen time would suggest. Maybe in that time the engineers were able to "crack the code" of beskar armor via new information uncovered on Mandalore, trial and error, or even information given by surviving Imperial Supercommandos.

Lack of Anti-Beskar Weaponry

• Moff Gideon and his Imperial Commandos on Mandalore surely knew they were going to have to fight against Mandalorians at some point, even if they didn't expect them to be a problem quite as fast as they ended up being, yet they were not equipped with any sort of weapons that could reliably punch through beskar as a counter to them, instead being given seemingly standard blasters and told to aim for gaps in the armor. We have seen numerous weapons pose a threat to beskar throughout the series; Apparently sniper blasters at close range can punch through according to Din in Season 1, Disruptor rifles can assumedly just kill whatever they touch, and in the finale, Paz Vizla's (admittedly bulky, though still man-portable) blaster cannon is shown ripping through it like tissue paper, and there are no doubt more heavy weapons that could pose a threat. On top of this, they apparently didn't bother making beskar melee weapons that are explicitly taboo in Mandalorian culture BECAUSE of their ability to punch right through beskar armor. Instead, the commandos that Din fights in the hallway use mostly ineffective shock batons. For many of these weapons, there are either laws or taboos in place that limit their usage amongst most people, but obviously I find it unlikely that Gideon's contingent feel obligated to listen to nor care about such restrictions, yet they still don't bother using anything but standard blasters for the most part. It just seems strange that the Imperial's best plan was to shoot what amounts to peashooters at the Mandalorians and simply hope to get a lucky shot.
  • For the most part, the weapons able to penetrate Beskar are impractical for infantry to carry. Paz's heavy blaster cannon was viable but that was because Paz was a walking refrigerator who could carry it. High-powered sniper rifles are heavy, bulky, and relatively slow-firing. Light blaster rifles are cheap, man-portable, ubiquitous, and can do the job as we see several Mandalorians killed by them. Gideon is completely fine with paying with his own men's lives to overwhelm the Mandalorians; Season 1 already showed that regular Stormtroopers can overwhelm an entire covert of Mandalorians with enough conventional blasters. Gideon likely viewed his Dark Troopers with conventional blasters as good enough to do the job.
  • Cost is another factor. The Remnant is strapped for resources, to the point Gideon has to go cap in hand (while trying to hide how desperate he is, granted) to the other Warlords to get a few TIEs. While the beskar he's outfitting his new Dark Troopers with is probably not expensive (being on Mandalore, where beskar comes from), forging it into workable armor probably is, in addition to adding all the Mandalorian inspired goodies (jetpacks, flamethrowers, whipcords, etc), and cloning all the troops from scratch, apparently with DNA manipulation to make them super-soldiers. After all those costs, outfitting them with bulky, expensive, top-of-the-line weapons may be an expense Gideon can't justify, or perhaps even afford. And enough regular blasters can punch through beskar, we see this on both sides of the big fights at the end of Season 3. If it came down to it, having a few troops armed with heavy armor-piercing weapons or a horde of troops with regular weapons that can punch through if they coordinate, the latter is the better option. Of course, the best option would be to have one "heavy" supported by regulars, but this flies in the face of Imperial combat doctrine: everyone is nothing more than a replaceable peice of the larger war machine. Also, I wouldn't say beskar weapons can "punch right through" beskar armor. They are of similar hardness, and it has always been easier to protect from melee weapons than for melee weapons to pierce armor. Beskar melee weapons might punch through beskar armor, if of the right design in the right circumstance weilded in the right way. . . and that weapon would be inferior to a basic blaster rifle in every other circumstance, troops would be trained for a type of combat that just isn't going to occur anywhere else, and beskar spent on melee weapons is beskar not being spent on armoring more Dark Troopers. Remember, Gideon considered the Mandalorians little more than a minor roadblock on the path to restoring the Empire to power: the Dark Troopers were meant to fight all the threats facing a resurgent Empire, not just Mandalorians.
  • One consideration is that Gideon never planned to fight a large amount of Mandalorians with ground troops. His plan seemed more like "Get them here, then blow their fleets out of the sky with air superiority". The few that WERE there could be dealt with by conventional weaponry (especially since a good chunk of the ones we saw had Covert-acquired scavenged armor).
  • Gideon never planned to fight the collected Mandalorians at all. He expected that the rumors that Mandalore was poisoned would keep them away from his hidden base, and he thought the battle over the dark saber would keep the remaining groups divided into warring factions. To his mind, they were not an imminent threat. Once his force clones were ready, they'd cut through the Mandalorians. He obviously did not expect Din Djarin's covert and the mercs to unite behind Bo Katan, and he absolutely did not expect Axe Woves to successfully crash a Star Destroyer right through his front door.
    • That's not a Star Destroyer.