Din and Bo-Katan are attacked while returning from Mandalore. Meanwhile, Dr. Pershing tries to start over on Coruscant.
Tropes:
- Aerial Canyon Chase: Bo-Katan leads the Interceptors into a canyon, causing some of them to impact the canyon walls while Din flies in behind her to shoot more down.
- Almighty Janitor: Despite talking about using his credentials to help the New Republic, Pershing is shoved into an undignified desk job where he can make little use of these skills, which have been outlawed by the New Republic, due to Clone Troopers helping the Empire come into being.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Kane's motivation: is she recovering the research for Gideon (or somebody else) to continue the strand-cast project? Is she ensuring the erasure of anything Pershing knows that could cause Gideon bother? Does she set up and betray Pershing to increase her own standing in the New Republic? A simple case of revenge? All of the above?
- Exactly who sent the massive TIE force to Kalevala is not revealed in this episode, and Din and Bo-Katan escape the planet before they can find out. Whoever it is, the sheer size of the strike force leads Bo to speculate that no mere Imperial remnant warlord has that amount of hardware to spend.
- The Amnesty Program referring to its members by numbers. Is it an attempt to help the former Imperial soldiers (who are used to being addressed by their operating numbers on duty) re-acclimate to a free society, or is it a subtle hint that the New Republic isn't much better than the Empire it replaced?
- Rumors that Moff Gideon managed to escape custody or that he was hooked up to a Mind Flayer are mentioned by a couple of the former Imperials at the Amnesty Center, but whether there's any truth to them is never made clear.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: The episode starts with Din and Bo-Katan escaping a flight of Imperial TIE Interceptors, and then after they make a Hyperspeed Escape it jumps to Coruscant to follow Dr. Pershing for the rest of the episode.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The Armorer asks Bo-Katan if she had ever removed her helmet since emerging from the Living Waters of Mandalore. It is there that Bo realizes that she never did, even before Din advised her to keep her helmet on when meeting the Children of the Watch. After being unwittingly accepted into the clan, she looks at the beskar Mythosaur skull ornament in the Armorer's hall and wonders if her encounter with the legendary beast was a sign for her.
- Ascended Meme: It turns out the Dark Side did have cookies, which Pershing and his peers found delicious. They refer to the treats as "travel biscuits" instead of cookies, but the official recipe
uses both terms. - Bioluminescence Is Cool: The Armorer tests Din's sample of the Living Waters by pouring it into her quench tank. The sample reacts and creates a glowing wave, demonstrating to her that it was indeed taken from the mines.
- The Bus Came Back: Pershing and one of the bridge officers from Gideon's cruiser (given the name of Elia Kane) make a return on Coruscant as part of an amnesty program, and the episode largely focuses on them.
- Brainwashing for the Greater Good: The New Republic is shown making use of Mind Flayers — Imperial interrogation machines — to "rehabilitate" former Imperials. The technician claims that using them on a low-power setting only has a calming effect.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Coruscant has some odd names for the days of the week.Kane: Taungsdays, am I right?
- Call-Forward: The dismantling of the Rebel Alliance fleet is mentioned, a nod to the general demilitarization of the New Republic that would ultimately leave them vulnerable to the First Order.
- Conspicuous Consumption: In a post-Endor time period, sending the far superior TIE Interceptors after Bo-Katan instead of run-of-the-mill TIE fighters is enough, in and of itself, to show that whomever sent them has considerable resources, though Bo-Katan has pissed off so many warlords that she isn't especially surprised by the investment. Sending over two dozen of them, plus TIE Bombers is such an extravagant display of irreplaceable hardware that Bo-Katan is at a loss of who could be behind it.
- Continuity Nod:
- Pershing is reintroduced giving a speech in the Opera House on Coruscant that played a crucial role in Revenge of the Sith.
- His speech pays tribute to the Kaminoans and their cloning; the Season 1 finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch introduced a mysterious cloning project on Mount Tantiss on Wayland where Kaminoans who were spared from the genocide of their people were conscripted to, and the human scientists wore the same kind of uniform as Pershing.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Despite Dr. Pershing's sincere desire to live as a law abiding citizen of the New Republic, Kane manipulates him into restarting his research and stealing lab equipment from a decommissioned Imperial Star Destroyer by convincing him his work will benefit the Republic, only to then have him arrested.
- Crapsaccharine World: Oh sure, Coruscant at the start of the New Republic age looks as vibrant as it did in the years before the Republic fell, and they're seemingly making efforts to help those who are in the amnesty program — but it's still nearly as rotten as it was during the Imperial era. The elites still aren't terribly concerned with the wider issues in the galaxy, and an oppressive, invasive bureaucracy is still in place for those that the government is worried about getting out-of-line. And it's all topped off by it being revealed that the New Republic aren't above using a low-level version of the brainwashing that the Empire was fond of, which also calls into question whether or not the other former Imperials who have otherwise acted normal have been subject to this.
- A Day in the Limelight: Din, Bo-Katan, and Grogu only appear in the opening and very end. The rest of the episode focuses on Dr. Pershing's attempt to recover his cloning research.
- Distinction Without a Difference: The technician insists the Mind Flayer is a 602 Mitigator, despite being literally the same device used on a lower setting.
- Dodge by Braking: To get rid of the last of the TIE interceptors chasing her, Bo-Katan does a hard brake by using the mobile wings of her Gauntlet starfighter, thus turning around fully before gunning down the TIE. This makes her ship stall and freefall for a short while, but she recovers control before it hits the sea.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Mind Flayer is a clear allegory for electroshock therapy before the invention of the much safer ECT. The fact that Pershing recognizes it as a torture device may be a reference to how electroshock therapy was originally used to torture patients into "sanity", and later (mostly from the 1940's to 80's) used as a method of punishment for difficult patients. Even in its safer modern version, memory loss is a common side effect.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title of "The Convert" refers to both Pershing, who has come around to wanting to serve the New Republic, albeit with some reservations, and to Bo-Katan, who is welcomed to the Children of the Watch as an impromptu convert to their ways (having bathed in the Living Waters and not removed her helmet since).
- Even Evil Has Standards: When it's revealed Kane was an officer for Gideon, the mood of the other former Imperials present immediately takes a downshift; whether they're putting on an act the same as Kane is left unclear, but it seems Gideon is too much even for some former Imperials.
- Fake Defector: It is heavily implied that Kane isn't a fully rehabilitated member of society in the New Republic.
- Forbidden Fruit: The yellow travel biscuits are used as a metaphor for the seductive sway that the Empire still holds over Pershing, despite his best intentions. Ella Kane uses them as a means to gain Pershing’s trust. After that, Pershing is shown eating a travel biscuit whenever he’s considering restarting his research. Ella Kane is also shown eating the travel biscuits when she is working on Moff Gideon’s behalf.
- Foreshadowing:
- Pershing gives his address on cloning at the Opera House on Coruscant, where Palpatine first told Anakin about how Darth Plageuis found a way to use the Dark Side to cheat death, alluding to how one day (if he hasn't already by this point in the timeline), the Sith Eternal will use cloning to resurrect the deceased Emperor.
- Pershing asks if it is all right to touch Umate and Kane replies that this is not the Empire. Sure enough, a droid swoops in and says Umate is off limits. Later on, Kane and Pershing sneak into a Destroyer with Kane assuring Pershing that it is unguarded only for it to be revealed as a trap that gets Pershing arrested.
- Bo-Katan notes that the TIE squadron is too big to be sent by an Imperial warlord, suggesting that whoever mustered it is much more organized and has reason to want Bo-Katan dead.
- Former Regime Personnel: Like Operation Paperclip, the Amnesty Program reintegrates former Imperials into New Republic government jobs.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: The New Republic tries to suppress research into cloning and genetic engineering, at least when done by ex-Imperials.
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: At low intensity, the Mind Flayer produces feelings of euphoria.
- Given Name Reveal: Dr. Pershing's given name (Penn) and the full name of Moff Gideon's former communications officer (Elia Kane) are revealed when the formally introduce themselves to one another.
- Good Is Not Nice: Similar to how the Rebel Alliance was depicted in Rogue One, it's established here that the New Republic is also engaged in morally dubious activity — in this case, Heel–Face Brainwashing.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After shooting down half a dozen TIE Interceptors through teamwork, clever flying, and luck, Din calls for a retreat when twenty more show up on his sensors. Bo-Katan, furious at the destruction of her castle, only concurs after seeing just how many there are.
- LEGO Genetics: In his speech, Dr. Pershing's research into cloning is described as such: figuring out how to splice genes from different organisms together in order to combine their strengths.
- Lured into a Trap: Elia Kane tricks Dr. Pershing into boarding a decommissioned Star Destroyer and "borrowing" some lab equipment, then sets him up to be arrested as soon as they leave the ship.
- Mirroring Factions: The New Republic is set up as a direct contrast to the Children of the Watch.
- The New Republic government on the surface appears very inviting. It's bright, colorful, and people have plenty to see and do to occupy their time. Even the former Imperials seem to enjoy it. But beneath the surface there are smug elites who don't really see any difference between current life and the time under Imperial rule, casual dismissal of outer rim territories, and a desire to bury their head in the sand in regards to forgetting the past. This leads to a dark turn when it's revealed they are brainwashing former Imperials into compliance and stripping them of their freedom of choice.
- The Children of the Watch on the other hand seem far less inviting. They are dogmatic in their beliefs, and are secluded in harsh living conditions in the outer territories. But beneath the surface, the Watch is fairly reasonable. When Din proves he has been redeemed, he is welcomed back with open arms. When Bo-Katan reveals she too went through the same process, she is also invited into the clan under the condition she never remove her helmet. The important difference is that the Children of the Watch emphasis the freedom of choice, as it is made very clear Bo can come and go as she wishes, which is a far cry from the conditions the former Imperials face in the New Republic.
- The small things show the biggest differences. Former Imperials are stripped of their names and jobs, living in an isolated barracks and working demeaning make-work jobs. Pershing is drawn in by Kane thanks to a gift of travel biscuits, an admittedly crappy but common treat in the empire (think twinkies). By contrast, when Bo-Katan is welcomed into the covert, multiple Children come to her to place a hand on her shoulder in welcome, probably the greatest physical intimacy available to them in armor.
- Musical Spoiler:
- When the amnesty officer who greets Pershing introduces the other members at the table, an ominous musical cue plays at Kane's introduction, suggesting that her presence there is less than benevolent.
- When Pershing potentially returning to the field of cloning is discussed, a sinister low chorus is heard vocalizing. This calls back to not only Revenge of the Sith (which the motif was made for during the opera scene) and The Force Awakens (which repurposed the motif for Snoke), but also "Chapter 12: The Siege" (which played the motif when the Mandalorian and his allies looked at a tank of clone experiment).
- Mythology Gag:
- One of the days of the week in the Galaxy is "Taungsday". In the Legends continuity, the Taung were a group of people who got kicked off pre-Republic Coruscant and eventually wound up on a remote planet which they renamed Mandalore...
- When Pershing tells the Mon Cala technician that Kane led him into a trap, the technician has an odd look on his face.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: It wouldn't be Star Wars without continued comparisons between the Empire and the Third Reich; the Amnesty Program is an obvious reference to Operation: Paperclip (although it turns out the New Republic has no interest in Pershing's field of research).
- No OSHA Compliance:
- Despite the fact that even the technicians operating it acknowledge that the only difference between a Mind Flayer and a 602 Mitigator is the power setting, the fact that it still has a brain-melting power setting with no failsafe to prevent it from being dialed up to the max is an issue. And since they leave Pershing strapped to it completely alone after starting it up, with no-one around to notice or intervene if something goes wrong with the procedure, Kane gets the chance to dial it up just like that.
- Coruscant's passenger trains don't have any walls or floors between carriages, forcing people to perform a nerve-wracking jump if they need to cross for any reason. It seems passengers aren't supposed to move between carriages, as a ticket inspector droid doing so is seen calling a bridge to extend over the gap by pressing buttons on its body, but then this only compounds the problem because the doors between the carriages aren't locked.
- When the air taxi drops Pershing off at his quarters, it pulls up to a simple ledge with no railings preventing people from falling into Coruscant's urban canyons.
- Oh, Crap!: Din and Bo-Katan take out six TIE Interceptors, only for three TIE Bombers to take out her castle. As she turns to destroy them, two full squadrons of Interceptors show up on Din's sensors.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Bo-Katan's encounter with the Mythosaur — a creature she once dismissed as mere religious superstition — has shaken her to the point that she subconsciously never takes off her helmet in the entire episode after emerging from the Living Waters of Mandalore. She herself doesn't seem to fully realize it until the Armorer directly asks her if she has. Basically it was the Inverted Trope of Crisis of Faith — a very secular Mandalorian finding some faith.
- Pet the Dog: Though welcoming Din back into the Children of the Watch counts for its own entry, the Armorer also extends the same privilege to Bo-Katan, since she too bathed in the Living Waters and hasn't removed her helmet since she did so, even though she was never a member in the first place. She even allows Bo to leave whenever she wishes, something she presumably doesn't normally grant to members of the covert (not that they can't leave by becoming apostates, Bo-Katan is just given consideration as a recent convert).
- Shout-Out: Pershing refers to the machine used on former Imperials as a Mind Flayer, though the New Republic interrogators insist on a different name (while admitting it's similar technology).
- Significant Name Shift: After their bonding experience in the mines, and the second teamwork display of shooting down half a dozen TIE Interceptors together, Din calls Bo-Katan "Bo".Din: Bo, we've got company. Bo, listen to me. You have to get out of there.
- Star Scraper: The scale of Coruscant's construction is made apparent here when Kane takes Pershing to see the peak of Mount Umate, the tallest mountain on Coruscant. That is to say, she takes him to a hole in the floor where the peak of the mountain pokes out. It's the only part of Coruscant where the actual surface of the planet is exposed to open air.
- Stealth Pun: Dr. Pershing's given name is revealed to be "Penn", and he's working a tedious desk job — in other words, he's a pen-pusher.
- Stepford Smiler: Possibly with the support group that Pershing and Kane engage with — in light of The Reveal at the end that the New Republic is fine with brainwashing people who cause problems, whether or not the support group are really optimistic about their lot in life can be called into question or if they've been conditioned to be.
- Theme Tune Cameo: While Pershing and Kane are at the fair on Coruscant, a carnival-esque version of March of the Resistance can be heard playing in the background.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Someone sent two full squadrons of TIE Interceptors plus three TIE Bombers to attack a castle with just the one Mandalorian and some servant droids. The ridiculous amount of resources spent on the task clues Bo-Katan in that no mere Imperial warlord could be behind it.
- Thoughtcrime: Though both Pershing and Kane are caught red-handed during their robbery, only Pershing is arrested, suggesting that the entire ordeal was an entrapment meant to test if he had truly broken from his old ways as an Imperial scientist. Essentially, he is really arrested for his lingering interest in his Imperial research, and is subsequently reprogrammed with an invasive mind control machine for it.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Although she's keeping her helmet on the entire time, at the start of the episode, Bo-Katan silently stares at the Living Waters, having seemingly not moved since she rescued Din from the depths. Clearly, seeing the Mythosaur had a powerful impact on her.
- Three-Point Landing: Averted: When Din lands after jumping out of Bo-Katan's ship, he sprawls forward, nearly sliding on his face.
- Uncertain Doom: After she betrays Pershing to the Coruscanti police, Kane sneakily ups the setting on the mind flayer he's placed into; we leave the scene before anything intense happens, but it's not looking likely that Pershing makes it out with his mind whole, if at all. It's also uncertain if Kane will get away with doing so.
- Unnecessarily Creepy Robot: Coruscant's train ticket inspector droids are for some reason skeletal, steel-gray, faceless aside from glowing orange eyes, and speak in low, grating voices.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The episode showcases this side of Pershing in a clearer way than previous seasons. He still doesn't appear to be all that evil a man in general, but he's well aware of his trade's moral ambiguity and struggles with it throughout the episode. Sadly, it's this genuine desire to do good that makes him an easy tool for whatever Kane's goals are.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Elia Kane enticed Dr. Pershing with the idea that he should continue his research so that the New Republic could benefit from it. And then, when they get caught with the equipment he needed, she's revealed to have been working with the police, whom she uses to get him strapped to a mind flayer.
- You Are Number 6: All Imperials in the amnesty program are referred to be letter-number designations. They even use these designations among each other instead of names. This is not dissimilar to how the Empire treats stormtroopers.
- You Can't Go Home Again: The TIE Bombers destroy Bo-Katan's castle on Kalevala and force her to flee with Din.
