Fridge / The Mandalorian

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Fridge Brilliance

General/Series-Wide

• The bells at the end of the theme song sound like a baby mobile or a music box.
• What the hell is up with this new Mandalorian religion with its focus on staying hidden (in The Covert) and always keeping your face covered? Allow me to introduce to you the crypto-Jews and crypto-Muslims of Spain. After Castile and Catalán combined their thrones under Ferdinand and Isabella, they decided to purify their new Christian kingdom by expelling all Muslims and Jews under the Alhambra Decree. You could stay only if you converted to Christianity. Otherwise, you would have to leave with whatever you could carry, and you weren't allowed to take gold or jewelry. Many chose their faith and departed for "home" countries they'd never seen and whose languages they didn't speak. Many more genuinely converted to Christianity. Some, however, feigned conversion and kept practising in secret. The Catholic church at the time considered forced conversions not genuine and thus not subject to the inquisition, by the way, but because these conversos had been offered a choice (an incredibly shitty choice), it was considered a genuine conversion and these conversos and their descendants were the targets of The Spanish Inquisition. In any event, Spain has had its ups and downs, its more or less fundamentalist and even fascist governments, and though today it's quite a bit more liberal than it was even fifty years ago, there are still Jews and Muslims living in hiding, practising what are now centuries-old versions of their faith.
  
  Jon Favreau, whose mother was Jewish and who went to Hebrew school, doubtless knows about these and based the Children of the Watch on them. They were a people living apart from their homeland, feeling persecuted by their government and driven to extremes even in the decades prior to the Purge, and the Purge would have done nothing but confirm their worst fears. They live in hiding, coming out of the Covert one at a time so no one knows their numbers, not even telling outsiders their names, so they're only referred to as "Mandalorian". If there's only one, he cannot possibly be a threat and so will not be hunted down by the Empire or the New Republic. This is The Way.

"Chapter 1: The Mandalorian"

• Mythrol tries to buy his freedom with Imperial credits, only to be ignored both times he tries it. We later find out that Imperial credits are so worthless that the Mandalorian is willing to take half-pay in order to be paid in something else. There's also the matter of "The Great Purge." Either Mando's reluctance is purely mercantile due to the currency's worthlessness or he has a moral objection to using the Empire's currency.
• Mando tells Mythrol that he can bring him in warm or he can bring him in cold. This initially seems to be a death threat, and may well have been intended to come across that way in-universe. However, the reveal that he has a carbonite freezer means that it's possible he was, instead, threatening that fate. It helps show that, while he's certainly determined and a touch ruthless, he's not exactly the heartless killer he might appear.
• Mando hates droids because droids destroyed his village before his tribe found and adopted him. Watching a droid kill a defenseless child is something he personally can't allow.

"Chapter 2: The Child"

• In Episode 1, the Mandalorian never uses his rifle weapon on the job. Episode 2 helps explain this, as the weapon is a powerful 1 shot kill disintegrator. He has to be selective when employing it, as when bounty hunting he probably does not want to accidentally blast a bounty with it. Even if he is allowed to kill a bounty, he still would have to return with proof, which is quite difficult if the target is now ash. Additionally, the weapon is shown to need to be reloaded after every shot, which means it has a low rate of fire. As a long gun it is also impractical in confined areas such as in the village. In the fight alongside IG-11, he had to fight multiple enemies up close, so his blaster pistol was a better choice. In Episode 2, he has more opportunity to engage at range, and faces armoured and tougher targets that his blaster pistol would be unable to take down.
• Fridge Sadness. The mud creature the Mandalorian fought in Episode 2, while vicious, was merely a parent protecting its egg. It does, however, create a parallel the lengths beings are willing to go to to protect their young. In this way, the Mandalorian is no different with his protectiveness over the baby Yoda than the creature trying to protect its baby. It also adds more meaning as the Mandalorian is eventually given a sigil of the Mudhorn when he is officially declared a father for the child. Not only it symbolizes the clan of two's first kill together but also that both are equally protective of each other and would do anything for the other.
• Episode 2 of the show also showed something regarding the Force. The child is shown to be strong with the Force, despite a relatively young age, and almost instinctively uses the Force to levitate the creature. However, the child is then shown immediately collapsing into a deep sleep to recover. This brings up an interesting aspect of the Force the movies didn't really touch upon. No matter how strong a being is with the Force, they are still only a mortal instrument for using the Force. All Jedi recognize the Force as an infinite energy field and Yoda told Luke that things are only as large or heavy as he thinks they are. All true, which is why the Force can lift rocks among other things. The point is while the Force might be infinite, a being's capacity to use it is not. This is why many characters after using it for relatively mundane reasons (Luke lifting his X-wing from the swamp, Yoda catching a falling Senate podium and throwing it aside) are tired afterwards. They still have to exert themselves to use the Force in the first place. So no matter how powerful someone might be with the Force, it is still a trying experience. To put it another way, The Force might be infinite energy but the being wielding it is not. It also links into the ending of The Last Jedi, where Luke used Force Projection to distract Kylo Ren during the Battle of Crait, but the strenuous power caused his death just after.

"Chapter 3: The Sin"

• Why, in Episode 3, did the Mandalorian react so quickly with violence to the Heavy Mando accosting him in the forge? Pay attention to what the Heavy is actually trying to do. He's not simply harassing the Mandalorian, he's gripping the underside of the helmet. And immediately after their scuffle, it's made clear that in this particular clan of Mandos, helmet removal is taken extremely seriously. In effect, the Heavy Mando was trying to claim that the Mandalorian was not actually worthy of the clan; the Mandalorian reacted so violently because it was his duty to prevent this massive insult. If he hadn't been able to prevent it, it would have proved the Heavy's point.
• The Mandalorian's desire to protect the child in Episode 3 may be more than innate morality; his culture considers adoption to be a mark of virtue. Being one such foundling himself, the protagonist would naturally feel societal pressure to induct orphaned or abandoned children into their ranks. This also explains why the rest of the cohort is willing to risk their lives to protect the protagonist. While the Fetts were mere mercenaries, and Death Watch was largely Blood Knights, these Mandalorians have a culture to protect. And a key part of that culture includes both helping each other, and adopting/protecting children.
  • This is also supported in 'The Heiress.' Din was hesitant to let the Child play with other children in a usually peaceful village with no weapons, but he asks another Mandalorian to rescue the child in the heat of battle without hesitation—and as one of Bo-Katan's people immediately dives into the water to save him, it seems even the more lenient mainstream Mandalore culture have "protecting children" as one of the key rules.
  • As well, Boba Fett's relationship to Mandalorian culture is even more tenuous (he only clearly states his father was Mandalorian while having no particular devotion to the Creed himself), but he still decides to help Din rescue the Child after Tython despite being well within his rights to leave.
• In "The Sin", The Imperial official offers Mando a large stash of Beskar Steel as payment for delivering The Child, and makes a remark about how it's good to see once-great things restored to their former place. On the face of it, a fairly heartwarming sentiment, but considering that The Empire is the reason for the Mandalorians' current state, with the steel having been taken by force in the first place, it comes off instead as mockery. Not to mention that the Empire isn't in much better shape at this point, as demonstrated by the Stormtroopers wearing dirty busted up armor while hiding out in a safehouse.
  • It may also hint at him being involved in the First Order, or a precursor to it.
  • Definitely a mockery. "Seeing the natural order restored?" To a hard-line Imperial The Empire is the natural order, and it should be restored. He's using the beskar to illustrate this point. . . beskar that's only in Imperial hands because of the Great Purge that apparently all but annihilated Mandalorian culture. Basically, The Client is saying "It is right and proper that this beskar should be returned to you, as it is right and proper that the Empire which stole it from you and slaughtered your people should be restored, don't you agree?" Essentially, trying to press a "Not So Different" Remark in regards to the Mandalorians and the Empire, despite the latter being directly responsible for the current plight of the former.

"Chapter 4: Sanctuary"

• Omera's backstory is hinted at in a fairly ambiguous manner in the beginning of the episode 'Sanctuary'. During the first raid, running towards the raiders could be written off as a Mama Bear moment as she clearly saw her child was in danger, and her hiding both of them in the pond could simply be realizing that they didn't have time to run and being clever about it. However, when the Mandalorian nearly draws a blaster at the sound of her child, Omera doesn't react at all the way a usual civilian would do—meaning with extreme fear like the doctor on Nevarro. She instead calmly deescalates the situation by explaining to the Mandalorian that Winta isn't a threat until they're both calm. Not to mention she doesn't hold a grudge against a complete stranger who is a hired killer, for drawing a blaster on her child simply because he was startled. The only person who acts that way is the Mandalorian himself when he startles Cara into drawing a blaster on him, she puts her weapon away when she recognizes him, and they're still friends afterward. This not only supports Omera's sharpshooting skills, but it implies that wherever she learned, it wasn't a formal military setting but a very seedy place indeed where people like the Mandalorian are considered "soft" (seeing as she clearly likes him). In fact, this could be the reason Omera offered to let him stay in her barn in the first place—she recognized that he's the honorable sort of mercenary and was least intimidated by letting him stay at her home.

"Chapter 5: The Gunslinger"

• Of course Mos Eisley is a dying town. With Jabba and his entourage dead, the criminal element that kept the Wretched Hive in business no longer has any reason to come to town. It's also probably the reason why the Tusken Raiders are now less hostile towards outsiders. Without Jabba, the citizens, even the farmers can find better jobs and leave Tatooine allowing the Tusken Raiders to take back their territories.
• When the Mandalorian is negotiating the right to cross through their territory with the Tusken Raiders, his words to Toro make it clear he respects and somewhat sympathizes with the Tuskens. This makes sense since they are both cultures whose traditions, way of life, and culture have been impacted negatively by other powers at large (the Empire's "Great Purge" for the Mandalorians and farmers encroaching on their ancestral land for the Tuskens). Additionally, both the Tusken Raiders and Mando's tribe have traditions about not removing garments and head coverings in front of people outside their families. There is also some element of practicality in Mando's respect for the Tuskens. Given that he often ventures far out into the wilderness searching for his targets, and is often alone in doing so, he doesn't have the luxury of picking and choosing his allies. So by maintaining friendly relations with the local natives, he increases his chances for survival when out in the wilderness, and can sometimes, in the case of the residents of Mos Pelgo and the local tribe of Tuskens, act as a mediator in forging a truce.
  • The Tusken grant them passage across their lands... in exchange for a pair of brand new binocs. They live on the desert plains that can stretch for miles, with mountain ranges that can conceal enemies or even blind them to who is across that ridge if you don't have a proper sighting. So the binocs are actually a really expensive toll because it is incredibly valuable for a tribe of nomads who would be cautious of any sighting that isn't Tusken.
• The young wanna-be bounty hunter in Episode 5 comes off as a bit of a try hard. That's because he is... And his "almost but not quite" Han Solo mannerisms are also him trying to exude an air of coolness and failing.
  • The young Corellian's fate is also Fridge Brilliance and Horror mixed together. His goal in life was to have a name, to be known and respected throughout the galaxy (probably like another Corellian who achieved the same^note Han, Wedge, take your pick. Corellians having a habit of ending up famous has been unspoken canon since the 90s). He mentions multiple times that money 'means nothing', so this quest to be famous is his entire motivation. How does his story end? Robbed, stripped and dumped in Beggar's Canyon. He ends up nameless and anonymous in a mass grave on a world that has been stated to be 'furthest from the brightest spot in the galaxy.' Not only did he fail to make his name famous, no one besides the Mandolarian even knew his name. And the Mando isn't the kind to talk...

"Chapter 6: The Prisoner"

• Xi'an from Episode 6 has large, long fangs which may seem like unusual since according to Twi'lek traditions, only men really sharpen their teeth to appear more imposing. But considering the usual fate of a Twi'lek female, it's feasible to think Xi'an did this to avoid the same as well as fit her profession as a fearsome bounty hunter better.
  • Similarly, Mayfeld makes crack to himself about how much Qin seems to care about his sister. Given how most Twi'lek females end up, it's not all that surprising that even males of their own families might view them as commodities to spent as needed.
• The Mandalorian's choice to leave the others in a cell might seem like something an idealistic hero would do but that's not it at all. Most of his life is based on honor and there are two ways to go for a Mandalorian; victory or death. But after seeing this three do some despicable deeds on the job, he probably sees them as unworthy to even deserve a warrior's death and so leaves them to be imprisoned and rot in a New Republic prison. It helps that they mocked his beliefs not long ago which is the catalyst for the Mandalorian's harsh and painful lessons.
  • And then in Season 2, Mayfeld gets released on bond to help with a mission. What is his reward for this? Death. On paper, anyways. After Mayfeld helps Mando get the information he needs to save The Kid and destroys the Imperial refinery, Cara reports his supposed death to the New Republic authorities and Mayfeld takes off, allowed to start a new life free of his old sins.
• Mayfeld's crack about the Mandolorian being a Gungan is more than a potential jab at Jar Jar; Since he's a former Imperial, it's entirely likely Mayfeld bought into some of the Empire's Fantastic Racism.
• Comparing the Razor Crest to a Canto Bight slot machine may be more apt than it seems at first. Canto Bight runs on war profiteering and weapons manufacturers. The Empire has been defeated and the New Republic is in control, while the First Order is not yet in the open, if it exists yet at all. This is a time between wars, so a place that depends on them has probably fallen on hard times, likely including their slot machines no longer getting the best maintenance.
• The New Republic X-Wing pilots who take out Ran's base arrive, take quick stock of the situation (the distress beacon from the prison ship on a base now launching a gunship) and react like stereotypical cops opening fire on a suspect. Which is pretty much what their role in the whole thing was. Their bored reactions to the unfolding situation echoes Cara's attitude about postwar service in the Republic after the excitement of the Galactic Civil War.
  • They also don't notice (or care) about the Razor Crest. It's a blind spot in more ways than one. Seeing some jalopy running away from a more obvious threat is not something they need to deal with.
  • And as we later see the next time we run into one of the pilots, they did take note of the Razor Crest, especially after reviewing the logs on the prison ship.

"Chapter 7: The Reckoning"

• It may seem like the Child was just messing with the controls since there was no one there to keep an eye on him. However, he is smarter than he looks and he probably realized they were headed towards a bad situation and was trying to steer them somewhere else. Unfortunately, the Mandalorian nor Cara interpret his intentions as such and thus believe he needs to have someone supervising him a little more often.
• Kuiil is willing to help others, but only on his terms. He also speaks with an air of authority despite being a simple moisture farmer. In The Reckoning, it's revealed that he used to be an Imperial slave; having worked "three human lifetimes" he earned his freedom and became his own master. He's determined to live the rest of his life as just that; so he's willing to help out, but it must always be on his terms.
• Kuill's belief that droids have a capacity to change has precedence to it. Mister Bones serves the Wexley family while R0-GR loyally stands alongside the Freemakers. Interesting fact is that both droids are Separatist droids which the Mando hates.

"Chapter 8: Redemption"

• The Mandalorian refuses to let anyone see him under his armor, even when he's mortally wounded. IG-11 manages to convince him otherwise by stating, through loophole abuse, that he's only never allowed to show his face to another living being. IG-11, being a droid, is not "living" and thus the mandalorian would not be violating his creed. However, the creed also dictates that the Mandalorian is also allowed to show his face to those he considers family. This could be why he was so distraught when IG-11 decides to arm the self destruct bomb; the Mando had come to see IG-11 as family both for caring for the child and by being a legacy of Kuiil (who had given everything for him and the child yet asked nothing in return).
  • IG-11 doubly counts as not living, due to not only being a droid, but also having originally been killed in the first episode before being repaired and reactivated. Though whether this IG-11 is the same as that IG-11 is an interesting question.
• In Episode 8 it is revealed that Cara Dune hails from Alderaan. No wonder she Jumped at the Call when it came to fighting the Empire and no wonder that simply "going back home" was no option for her when the war was over.
• When the Imperial remnant gets tipped off to the location of the Covert, the protagonist comes back in Episode 8 to find that the Covert have all been slaughtered having apparently killed negligible numbers of Imperials in turn. At first, this seems odd, as the Mandalorians are a Badass Crew that had just proved their chops against the bounty hunters, while the Stormtroopers are the mookiest of mooks. Then you remember- there's only one entrance into the Coverts' hideout, from which nearly everything in it is immediately accessible, and most of the rooms are sectioned off. The Stormtroopers probably just took fusion torches to the door, set up E-Webs at the only chokepoint, and then tossed a bunch of thermal detonators in before calling it a day.
• Back in Episode 3, Pershing is overheard quibbling with The Client that "he definitely wanted it alive!" It seems likely that the Client demanded the Child's execution behind Pershing's back, hence all the other bounty hunters gunning for the kid with lethal force. The "him" was probably Moff Gideon. One more reason for Gideon to execute the Client with no warning, then: punishment for trying to get his prize killed.
• The two Scout Troopers bantering and passing the time while waiting for orders calls to mind various Real Life low-ranking grunts dealing with the Hurry-up-and-wait reality of military service. Their blasé attitude towards Gideon casually killing his own men double as a dose of Fridge Horror for what service in the Empire is like.
• It's no surprise that the Armorer is able to use her tools so effectively as melee weapons, given that the furnace she works with is hot enough to quickly melt Beskar steel, and her tools are depicted as easily capable of reaching through the flames unharmed, in addition to being able to shape the famously strong alloy. When used against the Storm Troopers, the plasteel used for the Storm Trooper armor shatters like clay before her hammer blows.
  • This also explains her insistence on staying at the Cohort until her work is complete. That furnace and her forging tools can not be easy to come by or replace if she abandons it. That equipment is possibly more valuable to her than her own armor.
  • Note that the pile of beskar armor is gone the next time we see that location, and the people there certainly don't seem to have gotten rich selling it. The Armorer seems to have succeeded in her goal of reclaiming all that beskar before departing the covert. The armor being neatly piled in waiting for her to melt down, with no sign of dead Mandalorians or storm troopers, may mean that she is the last survivor of a great battle, the only one left on either side to reclaim it. This likely isn't the first team of stormtroopers she's fought off single-handed since then, either.
• The Mandalorian and his party have to take a ferry through a deadly river to escape Gideon's men, and realize only after committing to the voyage that death is waiting for them at the other end. So basically they're paying The Ferryman to get them across the River Styx. Cara, upon realizing this, first tries to argue with the Ferryman (well, Ferrydroid), then straight up kills the droid in hopes of avoiding their fate. In the end, IG-11 pays the fare to get them to safety.
  • The Ferryman imagery is alluded to all the way back in the first episode, with The Mandalorian flipping credit chits (not unlike coins) to the hooded and shrouded Kubaz who summons ferries via his flute.
• IG-11's death also ties into the rule that no living being can see a Mandalorian unmasked.
• The full reveal of Din Djarin's past reveals why he was compelled to protect and care for the child; when he was a kid, his parents hid him in a cellar during a separatist droid assault. His parents were presumably killed and a B2 Battle droid found him. Just as it was about to kill him, a Mandalorian of the Fighting Corps showed up and headshotted it. When Din found the Child, this was the same situation; IG-11 was ready to shoot the orphan right then and there and Din realised he was that Fighting Corps Mando. This may have also contributed to his particular hatred of IG-11 initially at Kuiil's homestead; the parallels between IG-11 at the time and the B2 Droid hit way too close to home.
• Moff Gideon is revealed to have the Darksaber. Since he was noted to be the main Imperial in charge of the Great Purge, of course he kept their coolest weapon as a personal prize when looting the planet. His whole Darth Vader clone aesthetic is not an accident, either, as he's clearly interested in the Child for his relation to the Force.
  • That last bit is confirmed in Episode 12, revealing that the Child is wanted for Gideon's experiments specifically for the high "M-count" in his blood — and that "M" definitely stands for "Midi-chlorians".
  • As we also see, he's a TIE Fighter Pilot, and Imperial pilots wear black armor which looks similar to Darth Vader's. So not only does he invoke the aesthetic of the Dark Lord of the Sith, but also invokes the visual of a pilot wearing his flight suit all the time as a status symbol.
• Why does the AT-ST in Episode 4 have red viewports? It's military night lighting. The human eye is less sensitive to longer wavelengths, so red light is chosen to preserve the night vision of vehicle crews while still allowing them to still see their instrument panels. Presumably for these humanoids their eyes work on similar principles.

• Tatooine's distinctive architecture makes a bit more sense after seeing Mos Pelgo. All the buildings are on risers suggesting they are some kind of polymer prefab. Which makes more sense than traditional architecture on relatively recently colonized world.
• Cobb Vanth remarks on the random chance that the only thing he was able to get away with when he fled Mos Pelgo was a stolen camtono full of valuable crystals, which ended up not only earning him water from the Jawas, but also allowed him to trade for the armor he used to free the town. Almost as if some great unifying and balance-seeking force guided him to grab it, leading to both Mos Pelgo and the Tusken camp being saved.
• The Krayt Dragon's acidic spit is able to instantly dissolve organic flesh yet Mando survives the trip into the dragon's stomach unharmed due to his Mandalorian armor. It serves as a prelude to the Wham Shot of Boba Fett in the last scene since if the armor can withstand the highly corrosive acid of a Krayt Dragon, then it should have no problem keeping Boba intact from the thousand-year slow digestion acids of the Sarlacc.
• How do the New Republic fighter pilots find the Razor Crest just in time to save them from the krykna? During the retreat from the cave, Mando set off explosives, which along with the giant cave spider stomping around, may have gotten the pilots' attention if they were still searching the canyons around where they last saw them.
• The New Republic pilots refusing to help Mando repair his ship could be seen as pettiness over him not cooperating with them earlier, or just something as simple as the fact that there was still a warrant out for his arrest and the sooner they were gone the easier it would be for them to claim they didn't find him.
  • Could be they take offense to him trying to bribe them with the three bounties.
• During their assault on the Imperial transport, Din isn't quite in sync with Bo-Katan's team, seeming to stumble slightly to keep up with them as they move from cover to fighting in the open to cover again. This makes sense as he hasn't been with that crew for very long, and isn't used to operating as part of such a precisely-timed squad. That said, when they get pinned down in the hallway, Din has them lay down cover fire as he rushes the Imperials in the open, using his armor to tank damage until he's close enough to throw grenades. This reflects their different backgrounds as a fighting team vs a solo bounty hunter.
  • Other cues about the differences between the two groups include the different styles of armor (Din's armor is undecorated, save for his pauldron flash, while the Nite Owls' armor is more brightly colored and stylized). All of this in addition to the aforementioned lack of taboo against removing armor among the Nite Owls.
  • On that note- it seems that no-one in the Covert decorated their armor compared to Bo-Katan's crew. Possible reason? Not enough privacy in their underground warren to spend that much time with one's armor and helmet off painting elaborate designs on it.
• Moff Gideon's flagship appears to be a modified Arquittens-class cruiser rather than the usual Imperial Star Destroyer. This makes sense because most of the larger Imperial ships were destroyed at Jakku. Any surviving Star Destroyers would likely be too difficult for Gideon's remnant faction to maintain with their limited resources. A smaller ship also allows Gideon to more easily stay under the New Republic's radar.
• The Magistrate being able to stand up to Ahsoka with a staff/spear makes sense once it's revealed that her 'master' is Grand Admiral Thrawn, who trained extensively in martial arts and of whom has an extensive history working with (and fighting) Jedi.
• Ahsoka not denying herself as a Jedi, despite being a light-sided Force wielder who follows their ideals, means more than just preventing Continuity Lockout with viewers unfamiliar with her journey who'd be confused if she did this. With the Jedi Order basically fallen apart and its members driven to near-extinction for some time, the line dictating what does and doesn't make one a Jedi has become blurrier, something Ahsoka may have come to realize.
• It would seem unusual that Ahsoka wouldn't suggest that Mando send Grogu to Luke Skywalker, seeing that he did save the galaxy and all. But there's a lot of logistical issues with doing that:
  • First, Mando is clearly not the biggest fan of the New Republic, and considering how big of a name Luke Skywalker is, he's deep in their territory. Going there to find him would be difficult, if not impossible, since nobody would want a bounty hunter going anywhere near the man who defeated the Empire. Even if he wasn't saddled with his reputation, he would still have to find Luke, and post-Endor escapades show him as tracking down Palpatine's old storehouses for Sith artifacts. Mando may be a good tracker, but he clearly had a great deal of difficulty finding Ahsoka. Luke would just be even harder.
  • Additionally, Ahsoka may know who Luke is, but she also knows that he's Vader's son. She won't train Grogu simply because he's too emotionally attached to his adoptive father, and witnessed firsthand what too strong an emotions will do to a Jedi. Unfortunately, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Luke, as he's just as emotionally troubled, if not more so, than his father, and almost gave into the dark side multiple times over. Even if Luke is more mature than he once was, Ahsoka is likely worried that things would turn out no different under his guidance (and considering what happens to his own nephew down the line, her fears may not be entirely unfounded).
  • And, of course, there's the fact that Luke, being an extremely high-profile figure, naturally attracts trouble. Mando is in over his head as it is, having to fight off strange monsters and groups of mercenaries every other day. Teaming up with a guy who literally gets jumped by military units on a consistent basis, to say nothing of the other Darksiders still out there, would just paint an even bigger target on his back, which he's not really keen on doing.
  • Finally, her advice to take Grogu to Tython and let him call out for a potential teacher may be a roundabout way of getting him to Luke. If the Force wants Luke to find and train Grogu, that's what will happen. If the Force has a different Master in mind, that's who will find him. And that's exactly what ends up happening, as Luke comes by to get Grogu.
  • Another thing is this: Luke is just as strong as a Jedi because of his emotional connections to Han, Leia and his friends. Since Grogu has an emotional attachment to Mando, it'd make sense to have someone who has been training as a Jedi but not cutting himself off of the "emotional connections" like Jedis of old. He may be the only other Jedi who clearly knows how to train another potential Jedi who now has emotional attachment to someone else. Ahsoka, however, knows she can't train Grogu because she was trained in the old ways of the Jedi, even with her becoming a gray Jedi. She is acknowledging she's not able to train Grogu because he needs someone who understands him and his emotional connections, which Luke would be able to relate to.
  • Also, let’s not forget, during the Mortis Arc, The Son tells Ahsoka “There is a wildness to you, young one. Seeds of the dark side planted by your master... You may never see your future if you remain his student.” meaning she is probably afraid of those “seeds of the dark side” spreading to him, which she pretty much almost explicitly states.
  • A completely different possibility is that after Ezra saved her from Vader, he returned her to the pyramid not shortly after the time he grabbed her from, but at the time he'd been in before he grabbed her, just a short time before Ezra disappeared. After getting out of the pyramid and finding her way to Lothal, enough time could have passed that Ezra had already disappeared with Thawn, and she set out immediately to find him. This would explain why she wasn't present for the main rebellion, and maybe she just doesn't know about Luke, or doesn't trust the stories.
• Gideon's cruiser was able to destroy the Razorcrest so easily but allowing the Slave 1 to get that close without return fire is because there is a homing beacon attached to the Crest. Gideon probably realized that shooting the Slave 1 would be pointless.
• Fennec Shand rolls a boulder to crush the Stormtroopers in front of her. Ming-Na Wen in another role beats an enemy army in a similar fashion, but on a much larger scale.
• Now with the full truth of both Boba and Jango being "True Mandalorians" reveled at long last, it's quite clear why Prime Minister Almec hid the truth behind it. Jango himself fought in the Mandalorian Civil War, which was fought specifically in opposition to Duchess Satine's pacifist rule (and in turn, led to the foundation of Death Watch years later). Since Satine was opposed to the warrior ways of Mandalore, it's easy to assume Jango was on the side of the opposition; a side of which that Almec, corrupt as he is, was never a part of. Thus, denying Jango as a "true" Mandalorian was simply his official punishment for siding against the government.
  • Almec would also be the type to look down on foundlings for not being Mandalorian by blood.
• It seems rather odd that Boba is ready to help Din despite being antagonistic towards him at the start. However, it makes sense that Boba might have saw that Din and Grogu are very much like his father and himself; a Mandalorian and a Foundling. Not to mention that given how his father has been taken away from him, Boba might have felt responsible for doing that to the two and wants to make amend a mistake that shouldn't have happened.
• Throughout the second season, there has been a theme of Mando running into other folks in Mandalorian armor and debating what it means to be a "real" Mandalorian and what that means in regards to the armor.
  • At first we have a clear-cut example of not being one: Cobb Vanth, a frontier sheriff who wears a set of Mandalorian armor he bought. Despite using it very effectively, he claims no Mandalorian association and freely parts with it in return for Mando's help protecting his settlement.
  • Next, we meet Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls. Born and raised in mainstream Mandalorian culture, but not sharing many of the beliefs or norms of the Children of the Watch subculture that Mando was raised in. For one thing, they freely doff their helmets in front of others if they are not in immediate danger.
  • Then we meet Boba Fett. Being orphaned during the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Boba mostly wasn't raised in the culture, and makes no claims to it, referring to himself as "just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe." Regardless, he has a legitimate claim to his father's armor, though it seems others like Din don't necessarily agree about that.
  • During their infiltration of the Imperial refinery, Mayfeld collectively refers to Mandalorians as "you people", evidently ignorant or apathetic in regards to the fractured nature of Mandalorian culture, and points out that even Mando is willing to doff his armor around others if the stakes are high enough. The same story reveals that the Imperials are no less fractured when Mayfeld encounters his former superior officer and shoots him dead in retaliation for the actions he took during Operation Cinder, and of course that even Mando will violate the taboo of unmasking himself around others if it means saving the Child.
  • "The Believer" seems like an odd title for an episode that centers around Din apparently going against his Mandalorian beliefs and removing his helmet in front of others to save Grogu. But Din's Mandalorian covert also places great importance in the protection of foundlings like Grogu—"The foundlings are the future." Din's ultimate Conflicting Loyalty wasn't about breaking his Mandalorian beliefs, it was about Din deciding which of his beliefs was most important: the concealment of his face or the protection of foundlings. And Din chose his foundling.
  • "The Rescue" presents another variation: Moff Gideon claims that by wielding the Darksaber, he is Mandalore, the rightful ruler of all Mandalorians, despite having no cultural ties whatsoever. Which complicates Din's working relationship with Bo-Katan when Din defeats and disarms Gideon, not knowing the significance of the weapon.
• We are introduced to Mayfeld's old commander, Valin Hess, who instead of the typical Evil Brit accent speaks with an aristocratic Southern accent, fondly speaking of the good old days of the Empire and how they will rise again, making him a clear analog to a Reconstruction-era former Confederate officer.
  • Given that the Empire takes cues from the Nazis, it's no surprise Valin shares a surname with Rudolf Hess - a leading member of the Nazi Party, third in line after Hitler and Göring.
• How did Mayfeld survive the loss of his entire division on Burnin Konn when Hess ordered an entire city destroyed? His role as a sharpshooter possibly meant he was some distance away, either sniping or scouting in support of the main force.
• Bo-Katan's accusation that Boba does not deserve the armor is because she heard his voice "many times". She most likely thinks Boba is in fact a clonetrooper, not Jango's clone-heir. She might not even be aware that Jango had a clone-son of his own and thinks Boba is just an old trooper scavenging Jango's armor.
  • Alternatively, she knows exactly who Boba is (he WAS once one of the most notorious bounty hunters in the galaxy, and her line "not all Mandalorians are bounty hunters" lends credence to this), but still thinks he doesn't deserve the armor because he was a clone who wasn't raised in the Mandalorian way. The Mandalore government's previous declaration that Jango wasn't a true Mandalorian probably didn't help improve her image of the Fetts either.
• For someone keen on reuniting Mandalore, Bo-Katan seems short on allies. While the fact Mandalore suffered heavily during their purge plays a major factor, the fact Bo-Katan keeps finding things to accuse others of not being “True Mandalorians” probably isn’t helping her case. (Even Din was willing to give back Jango's armor to Boba when he saw his chain code. Would Bo-Katan have done the same?)
• Canon Phase 3 Dark Troopers are all droids, unlike their Legends counterparts which were humans wearing powered suits of armor. The decision to use droids instead of humans makes a lot of sense, because Gideon's Imperial Remnant lacks the extensive manpower of the old Galactic Empire.
• One might wonder why Boba Fett doesn't return to Moff Gideon's ship once the infiltration turns into an assault – but from a screenwriting perspective, Boba is tough to write around Luke Skywalker's cameo. After all, the last time these two saw each other at the Great Pit of Carkoon, they didn't part on friendly terms. And that's just for the movies; if you dig deeper into canon, Boba Fett was also the one to hunt down Luke and learn his name after the young Jedi wannabe destroyed the Death Star.
  • Additionally, Boba didn't exactly get on well with Bo-Katan's crew either. If anything, his job would probably be to come back and try to extract them if they had to bug out.
  • Adding to the above, Boba is aware that he's only just gotten his armor back, and isn't back to 100% fighting capacity. He's much better suited to hang back and provide fighter support, rather than joining a frontal assault where he's more likely to become a possible liability and slow the others down.
• Din's Whistling Birds have little to no effect on the Dark Trooper he fights, despite being armor piercing micro missiles. This is because the Whistling Birds are primarily designed to fight organic targets, by homing in on vital spots of the body. Therefore they'd be poorly suited for fighting a droid. This also applies to many of the other traditional Mandalorian weapons like the flamethrower, which were adopted to counter their ancient Jedi foes. It just goes to show that in spite of their impressive arsenal, Mandalorians can still suffer from Crippling Overspecialization.
• Din and Bo-Katan end up in an unexpected conflict after Din defeats Gideon because she never told Din about the significance of the Darksaber. She did say that Gideon must surrender to her, but she never explained why. Was this an oversight on her part because she assumed any Mandalorian would know about the Darksaber? Or an omission because she didn't want Din to threaten her claim to the throne?
• The unexpected arrival of Luke Skywalker at the end of the fighting on Gideon's flagship, and Gideon's reaction to it, calls to mind something Din suggested in "The Jedi:" A Jedi working with Mandalorians? Nobody would see it coming. Of course Gideon wouldn't expect that kind of cavalry arriving to pull Din's bacon out of the fire. His arrogance about "knowing everything" only left that blindspot more solidly in place, because of course he knows they'd never work together.
  • There's another good reason for Gideon's reaction — Luke most likely didn't reveal the full truth about his father's redemption so, as far as anyone knows, Luke entered Death Star II as the captive of Darth Vader and the Emperor. A fight broke out, and only Luke walked away unscathed, even dragging out Darth Vader's body. And now he's here, tearing through Gideon's precious Dark Troopers like they're just Mark I Battle Droids. As far as Gideon knows, Luke Skywalker is utterly unstoppable.
• Moff Gideon attacking Din Djarin's armored jetpack with the Darksaber seems misguided at first, considering that it's been established that beskar is able to withstand a lightsaber, but judging by how much he seemed to be enjoying watching Bo-Katan react to Din being the new owner of the Darksaber, it's possible that this was the outcome Gideon had planned for. Aiming for a beskar-armored part of Din's body makes no sense unless he was trying to goad Din into a fight. If Gideon wins, that's one less thorn in his side, but if Din wins, it not only makes Din the new rightful owner of the Darksaber, but it also denies Bo-Katan the chance to claim it for herself (unless she challenges Din). His gloating only served to rub salt into the wound.
  • Beskar armoring also seems nonstandard to jetpacks (as demonstrated in Season 7 of The Clone Wars), so Gideon may have thought he was attacking a weak point on Din's body. Perhaps an early sign that he doesn't actually know everything.
• The Dark Trooper Din fights is formidable, but without it's blaster rifle it just resorts to mindlessly bashing against him with it's fists, not even noticing now ineffective doing so against his Beskar helmet when it's braced up against a wall is, nor simply releasing the other Dark Troopers to assist. Later, two of them do the same to the blast doors blocking passage to the bridge, when simply prying them open would have been significantly faster. This is completely in line with the general Empire mentality of overwhelming force demonstrated in the Original Trilogy and elsewhere over actual strategy and tactics. Gideon created powerful battle droids to supplement his forces and "remove the weakness of the body" from his troops, but neglected to give them any real programming in strategy or tactics. They were so focused on removing any weakness of the body that they forgot to account for weakness of the mind, which would have made them much MUCH more dangerous.
  • Which also makes a certain doctrinal sense, if you recall that the Galactic Empire is descended from the Galactic Republic, which fought a lengthy and costly war against the CIS and their droid army. It's possible that there is a strong stigma against droids that are more capable than they "need" to be. For that matter, there might be an idea that capable troops don't "need" to be smart, only strong and tenacious, which would be truly ironic given the reason the Republic opted for a Clone army vs a Droid army in the first place. So rather than recruit and train better troops, or develop smarter battle droids, the Remnant simply opted for a very small force of very tough-but-dumb droid troops.
• Bo-Katan makes some pretty condescending remarks when she meets Boba and Din about being bounty hunters. This come off as rather harsh since Bounty Hunting (and other mercenary work) are some of the few jobs a Proud Warrior Race can get (though obviously this isn’t the same for everyone). Her attitude towards bounty hunters makes sense since she was born a Noble and joined Death Watch, neither of which meant she was short of cash or actually worked to make ends meet. What she sees as a “higher calling” isn’t realistic for most surviving Mandalorians, which along with losing the Darksaber and control of the different Mandalorian clans, probably is a contributing factor as to why so few joined her after the purge.
• Bo’s change in attitude towards being given the Darksaber, and Gideon’s gleeful gloating about how she must claim it in combat has another layer to it than expected - because not only did Sabine give Bo-Katan the saber instead of losing it to her, but technically, Sabine herself didn’t “earn” it… until she defeated Gar Saxon in combat. So, not only was Bo herself not a “legitimate” claimant to the Darksaber, but the person who gave it to her remained a more legitimate claimant, even if she didn’t want it. That extra bit of complication likely only further weakened Bo’s position.
  • The Book of Boba Fett reveals that there's a prophecy which says that Mandalore will be cursed if the Darksaber is wielded by someone unworthy. Bo-Katan was gifted the Darksaber instead of winning it in battle, and then the Empire bombed the hell out of Mandalore. Bo-Katan probably blames herself because she didn't rightfully earn the Darksaber, which is why she can't let Din simply give it to her.
• Many fans originally felt that Ahsoka didn't look right in live action, due to her lekku (the head tendrils) being shorter than the animated version. However, there is an explanation as to why they don't look longer or why Ahsoka looks slightly different than her animated counterpart: the animated series have stylistically altered characters to make them look different. Anakin and Obi-Wan look similar but different from their live action counterparts. Count Dooku is a great example of the stylistic alterations, as his face appears longer in comparison to his live action counterpart. So, seeing that live action characters go into a stylistic visual "upgrade" for the animated series, it'd make sense that if an animated character is going into a live action series would have a stylistic "downgrade". Bo-Kataan and her armor also has this stylistic "downgrade", looking slightly different than they do in the animated series. There's also a very pragmatic reason for shortening Ahsoka's lekku: they would have gotten in the way.
• Of course Ahsoka's first scene is very similar to Anakin's last scene in Rogue One as Darth Vader. She used to be his Padawan, and probably had adopted some traits of his fighting style.
  • And then the son of Vader pulls a similar attack in "The Rescue". Like father, like son.
• Possessing the Darksaber marks one as the rightful ruler of the Mandalorians, but only if it was rightfully earned by victory in combat over a previous holder. That said, it has been shown that possessing the Darksaber clearly doesn't grant the holder any loyalty from Mandalorians at large. Certainly Bo-Katan wasn't inclined to recognize Moff Gideon's claim, and Paz Vizla almost immediately challenged Din Djarin for it upon learning he had it. If someone isn't already recognized as a worthy ruler by other Mandalorians, they will be doomed to spend their time fighting challengers rather than leading anything.
• What the hell is up with the Mandalorians, their insistence on hiding underground, never removing their helmets? Paz Vizla implies in the third episode of the first season, that this is driven by The Purge, when the Empire destroyed Mandalore, but Din was brought in as a Foundling during the Clone Wars, and The Way was already in place. At that time, the Mandalorian culture had converted to fairly extreme pacifism, so the Children of the Watch would be viewed as extreme cultists unwelcome on Mandalore, forced off-world... into a galaxy that has tens of thousands of years of memories of a violently expansionist Mandalorian empire. And without an empire to defend them, they were forced underground, forced to hide their numbers so they'd be seen as individual bounty hunters and not a despised immigrant community. The helmets? So no one can identify different Mandalorians and thus determine their true numbers. Is this still necessary in the wake of the Mandalorian rebellion and The Purge? Who knows? At this point, like Jews forced to fake a conversion by a dominant religion, who maintain the public lie even when they've escaped that persecution, tradition maintains itself.
• The mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has two versions of the Mandalorian character; one with his early, beat up armor, the other with his shiny Beskar armor. The early version is a bounty hunter, the latter is not. Why? Because as soon as he got his Beskar armor, he broke the Guild Code rescuing Grogu and is no longer a bounty hunter.
• The sect of the Children of the Watch is a result of the Shadow Conspiracy Saga from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Maul empowers Death Watch to take over Mandalore (returning it to the warrior roots we saw in Star Wars Rebels), then kills Pre Vizsla and claims the Darksaber and the leadership of Death Watch and Mandalore. Bo Katan and her Nite Owls defect, wishing to maintain a pure Mandalore and refusing the leadership of a foreigner. Death Watch embraced the acceptance of outsiders and transformed being a Mandalorian into being a pure follower of a creed rather than a nationality.
• Bib Fortuna's obese appearance in the second season finale is more than just letting himself go after taking command of Jabba's empire. On the Twi'lek homeworld Ryloth, food is known to be scarce and Twi'lek's are actually a race of Big Eaters who rarely refuse offered food. If a Twi'lek is shown to be fat, that means to his kind he has a lot of money and power in order to be able to get food, to them, Bib is amongst the richest and most powerful of his kind due to his girth.
• In "The Apostate," we see the Children of the Watch has grown greatly, with many warriors in their ranks. It's possible that many are Bo Katan's former followers, having abandoned her after she failed to claim the Darksaber.
• From a narrative standpoint, it was important that we first saw Boba Fett without his armor, to establish how capable and intimidating he was. If he had the armor from the word go, then his badassery could just be because he has a cool set of armor decked out in weapons. Instead, by having him sniping Storm Troopers and then stalking in close to begin taking them down with brutal close-quarters takedowns, we establish that it's not the armor that makes him (and Mandalorians in general) dangerous, but rather that he is a badass on his own terms.
• "The Mines of Mandalore" not only sees Bo-Katan get a Symbolic Baptism by diving into the Living Waters of Mandalore to rescue Din, but also claim the Darksaber in battle (from the cyborg that took it from Din after trapping him). The story is as much about her redemption as it is his. Interestingly enough, she doesn't try to keep the Darksaber, instead returning it to Din without mentioning that she'd rightfully won it. Whether this means she thinks she is ultimately unworthy to lead her people or something else is yet to be seen.
• In "The Convert", when Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane are in the botanical gardens, him attempting to touch the peak of Umate at Elia's encouragement and getting scolded for it is humorous. But in light of Elia's betrayal, the scene not only foreshadows Pershing getting in trouble with the New Republic, but was likely an example of Elia testing whether Pershing was gullible enough to go with her to the junkyard — he expresses a desire to do something forbidden, she encourages it, saying he needs to loosen up, and he does it.
• The droid who interviews Dr. Pershing as part of his Amnesty Program. We've seen droids of a wide variety of sophistication in Star Wars, and at times interacting with a droid is no different than interacting with a person. Yet this droid has only a token effort to be humanoid, appears installed into its interview room, it's voice an emulation of human pleasantness devoid of any actual human warmth. It is a piece of equipment, not so different from an automated telemarketer call you might get today. . . implying the New Republic doesn't consider Amnesty Program attendees important enough to send an actual person to talk to them. Combined with the apparently enforced uniforms that identify them as former Imperials, the separate housing, and it all builds an unpleasant picture of how the New Republic really feels about turncoat Imps.
  • A throwaway line mentions that Pershing wants to do some cloning for harmless recreational use, but the droid tells him that any type of cloning, even if it's something that could help people, is forbidden under the Coruscant Accords. Sounds harsh...until one remembers that the Clone Troopers of the Republic and early Empire were created by this method during Palpatine's plan to eradicate the Jedi and create the Empire, as well as the Advanced Science Division's actions during Star Wars: The Bad Batch, such as cloning the Zillo Beast and using disobedient Clone Troopers as guinea pigs. It wouldn't be a stretch that the Accords are one of the "good reforms" Mon Mothma did to erase Palpatine's hard work when becoming Chancellor of the New Republic, since the Clones were essential in creating Palpatine's Empire.
• The Armorer orders Bo-Katan to remove her helmet (in violation of the Children of the Watch's beliefs), and then endorses her as the leader to unite the different Mandalorian clans. Why? Because Bo-Katan has proven herself to be a true Mandalorian via deed rather than creed. She helped Din earn his place back in the order by guiding him and Grogu through the Mines of Mandalore, she was baptized in the Living Waters, not out of self-interest but to save her comrade, and in the process witnessed a live mythosaur, voluntarily led the effort to save Paz's son, and then led the attack to defeat the pirates attacking Nevarro. At no point did she do any of this while seeking to secure her past position as heir to the ruling family, but instead to help others. All the Children of the Watch's code of behavior would do is restrain her and make it more difficult for her to reach out to other clans and unite them to their cause.
  • Ultimately, what the Mandalorians need isn't to unite everyone under a single set of beliefs, but to find common ground despite the differences that have divided Mandalorian society for years. Bo-Katan's actions proved to the Armorer that their way was not the only Way.
• Shrewd viewers may notice an inconsistency in Chapter 22: The nanodroid-induced "malfunctions" are stated to only have occurred in droids who imbibed from a particular batch of nepenthe (droid drink), however at the end the villain claims that by pressing his Big Red Button he can cause every single droid in Plazir-15 to go berserk. Even shrewder viewers may realize the reason for this, which is implied but never explicitly stated- that particular batch of nepenthe was exposed to conditions that damaged the nanomachines within, leaving them prone to spontaneous activation. In this way, the "malfunctions" were actual malfunctions, albeit of nanodroids rather than regular droids.
• Dutchess and Captain Bombadier needed Din and Bo-Katan to handle their droid problem, when some viewers were confused why they didn't ask the Mandalorian mercenaries outside to step in. Well, as the rules state, "no standing army may enter our walls" - the fleet's numbers were numerous enough to count as a small army, and that would've gotten the two of them (still being on parole) in trouble regardless of the fleet's members being Mandalorian. Meanwhile, Din and Bo-Katan are two people who just happen to be Mandalorian, which allowed them to bypass both rules.
• As of Season 3, there's an interesting bit of Mirroring Factions between Mandalorians and Jedi. We're introduced to Din's group of Mandalorians, the Children of the Watch, with their dogmatic and strict rules and strictures. "This is the Way." In The Book of Boba Fett, we catch up with Grogu getting Jedi training from Luke, and see Luke is starting to embrace the dogmatic and strict rules and strictures of the old Jedi Order, telling Grogu he must renounce his attachments to Din to continue as a Jedi, and when Grogu refuses, sending Grogu back to Din. That insistence on lack of attachment led to Anakin's fall when he couldn't let go of his attachments, yet allowed Luke to defeat Darth Vader by redeeming Anakin Skywalker through those very same attachments. Come Season 3, the Armorer has permitted Bo-Katan to live as a Child of the Watch for a time, then given her permission to ignore their rules as she sees fit, to instead be a bridge to unite all Mandalorians. Luke's insistence on clinging to the ways of the Old Order ultimately leads to his Order failing in the same way, while the Armorer — possibly while having absolutely no idea what transpired between Din, Luke, and Grogu or the significance of it — has already come to the conclusion that her Way is not necessarily the only Way.

Fridge Horror

• In "The Reckoning", Kuiil says that he worked "three human lifetimes" in order to be free of indentured servitude. We're lead to assume that he was a slave to the xenophobic Empire, but the Empire was around for less than 25 years —barely one human lifetime. It's a sad reminder that things weren't much better even when there were more than two Jedi around.
• As seen in "Redemption", Moff Gideon is the current holder of the Darksaber, last seen in the hands of Bo-Katan, head of the Rebel cell on Mandalore. Let alone all the ills that implies for the Rebels, the fact that the only event we know of in the Mandalore timeline after Bo-Katan started their uprising against the Empire is the Great Purge of Mandalore, it's almost certain she failed, leading to the massacre and scattering of her people.
  • Although Bo-Katan is revealed to be alive, she calls herself the last of her line, which implies that the rest of Clan Kryze was destroyed in the Great Purge.
• It's never shown exactly how Gideon's forces managed to kill so many Mandalorians on Navaro. However the presence of at least one flame trooper amongst his forces raises the disturbing possibility that most of them were burned alive in their underground hideout. Not even Beskar can prevent someone from cooking in their armor. Given that Moff Gideon was a veteran of the Mandalorian Purges, he's likely very familiar with weapons and tactics that negate the Mandalorians' usual advantages.
• Sabine leaving with Ahsoka to find Ezra becomes Harsher in Hindsight when you realize either this means Sabine left unaware of what would soon happen to Mandalore or she left believing that there was nothing more she could do for Mandalore after the Purge.
  • On a more personal level, it's also possible that she left because the rest of her family and Clan Wren were wiped out in the Purge and there was nothing left for her to go back to after the war.
    • Sadly confirmed during Ahsoka, since Clan Wren was killed by Gideon and his forces...around the end of the Galactic Civil War.
• Some fans did the math on the Child being 50 years old, and discovered that (assuming a direct ratio to humans is applicable) Yoda may have not even been halfway through his species’ natural lifespan at 900. This speaks very harshly to how badly the destruction of the Jedi affected him, even saying he’d “earned” finding peace in death.
  • Different species don't have the same life cycles. Dogs and cats, for example, pass through "childhood" and "adolescence" within a year or two, then spend the remaining decade or two of their life in adulthood and senescence. Check out various "how old is my pet in human years" calculators and you'll see that they have different multipliers for different ages. No reason to believe that a species could have an extended infancy/childhood followed by a long adulthood whereby 900 is the expected age at death. TLDR: it's science fantasy, things are allowed to be weird.
• Depending on when he was smuggled out of the temple on Coruscant, Grogu may have witnessed Anakin massacring his classmates.
• The most likely reason why Grogu went through so many masters during his time in the temple is because they died on the battlefields of the Clone Wars.
  • The actual explanation is probably far simpler – before being assigned as padawans to a specific master, young children at the Jedi Temple were tutored by a multitude of Jedi, commune-style. See, for instance, the kids being taught by Master Yoda in Episode II.
• The end of "The Tragedy" is bad enough, but Gideon's pleased expression as Grogu tosses his stormtroopers around with the Force makes it even creepier — he's making him use Dark Side powers to defend himself. And we all know how addictive the Dark Side can be...
• In order to find Gideon’s location, Din was forced to do a facial scan in an imperial computer. If someone like Gideon were to go through the files of what happened at that base, they could have a picture of his face.
• That seems unlikely. To most anyone, some Imperial rando scanned his face. There's no way for Gideon to put the face to the helmet.
  • Fortunately, the machine was likely destroyed when Mayfeld blew the facility up. Even if backup files exist, it's possible that Moff Gideon may not be able to get ahold of them. Plus, any personnel who could describe him to Gideon are dead, also thanks to Mayfeld.
• R2-D2 followed behind Luke after he destroyed a small army of Dark Troopers, often in very violent ways. While the carnage is acceptable for the viewers because they're just droids, R2 himself might be upset with how Luke dealt with them; cutting them in half, decapitating them, and crushing one like a soda can. Imagine if Luke did the same thing to a small army of biological storm troopers, their severed heads and limbs all over the place.
  • Unlikely, R2 is a veteran of the Clone Wars, and unlike C3-P0, he never had his memory wiped, it's far from the first time he'll have witnessed droids be mercilessly cut down by a Jedi. It may even have made him nostalgic.
• Grogu left with Luke and R2-D2 at the end of Season 2. If he stays with him, it's possible he may die in 19 years, when Luke's nephew, Ben, and the Knights of Ren destroy the New Jedi Order and their temple.
  • And even if he survives, that would be the second time he experiences the destruction of a place where he was supposed to be safe.
  • If they don't release a comic demonstrating that Grogu matured in the force and left before Ben went dark, I will straight up murder a Jedi Temple full of younglings.
  • Grogu's presence at the Jedi Temple harbors another dark secret. Remember when Luke promises that he will protect the child with his life? Well, we know he took in quite a few students to rebuild the Jedi Order, and they all fell before Kylo Ren's hands. Even if Grogu wasn't among them, Luke's infamous cynical turn in The Last Jedi wasn't just because his actions led to his nephew destroying everything he had built and giving rise to the First Order; his actions led him to fail in his promise to keep the students safe. The Great Luke Skywalker caused so many deaths, and failed to hold so many promises to parents who now have to deal with this legend being responsible for their children no longer being amongst the living. And if Grogu was among Kylo's victims, then Luke was pretty darn lucky that Din never found him, because knowing Din, he would have been pissed. Jedi or no Jedi, he would have ended Luke right there and then had he found him.
  • Although it's also possible that Grogu will similarly part ways with the Order, much like Ahsoka Tano did, and find his own way elsewhere.
  • Ultimately resolved by The Book of Boba Fett. Luke tells him that he must forsake his attachment to the Mandalorian to proceed in his Jedi training, and he elects to part ways with the Jedi for good and return to Mando's side.
• Mayfield's role as a Sharpshooter may have saved him from the massacre that was Operation Cinder, but it also means that he watched all of his comrades die horrifically, with absolutely nothing he could do about it. No wonder he deserted.
• Just what would’ve happened if Boba Fett had joined in the rescue of Grogu and saw Luke Skywalker again? The two are obviously bitter enemies, having fought multiple times. If Boba was on the bridge things may have not gone as smoothly as they did.
  • Why would that be the case? Luke knew Fett was a bounty hunter, who completed his task several years prior.
  • Apparently they've encountered each other in previous situations but ultimately nothing personal. Easy enough to bury the hatchet as they are both men with cool minds now.
  • Exactly. All that would’ve happened was a mild tense moment before Luke/Boba/Mando cleared things up and it’s back to the mission.
• Mandalore was not exactly in a great state in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, being mostly a barren desert with domed cities scattered across the planet's surface. And those cities were wrecked when civil war broke in the final days of the Clone Wars. But even after that, it's still considered to be habitable if not functional planet even in the early days of the Empire. So what exactly did the Empire do to Mandalore that caused many Mandalorians to refer the planet as a cursed place, and what did Boba mean by Mandalore being "glassed" during the Purge?
  • We find out in a flashback in The Book of Boba Fett: Fleets of Imperial bombers dropped high-yield bombs on Mandalorian cities, flattening them before sending in battle droids to finish off any survivors.
• Hey wait a second, they build underground on Tatooine because it's cooler. The Larses had a pretty well sized house under that dome on the surface. How much damage did the krayt dragon rolling through town do that we didn't see.
• Grogu looks very scared when he sees the Stormtroopers in Chapter 3. The Reveal that he survived Order 66 explains why: they look like the Clone Troopers who destroyed the Jedi and nearly killed him.
• The Krayt Dragon attack in "The Marshal" seems bad enough but we only see the surface. Consider that people on Tatooine build structures underground.
• In The Book of Boba Fett S1E5 "Return of the Mandalorian", Din Djarin learns that the Armorer and Paz Viszla are the only other survivors from their Mandalorian tribe on Nevarro after they were attacked by Moff Gideon's Imperial soldiers. When Din first visited the tribe covert in The Mandalorian S1E1 "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian", there were children playing in the covert. The Imperials killed Mandalorian children.
  • Not necessarily, the dialogue makes it sound like the Mandalorians willingly gave up their helmets and left covertly. The issue is that for this sect of Mandos, dying and giving up your helmet is basically the same thing. They are now dead to the culture that raised them.
  • Considering the amount of covert seen the baptism scene in the recent season, clearly what was shown in the first episode was a small percentage of how big the covert really is. And much like Din regularly does, there’s a good chance that most of the covert were off planet and that the place we see was a base for the covert. Seeing that the covert came to Din’s aid, they knew the covert would have to be moved and may have gotten the foundlings off planet first and the amount of armor seen are from those who weren’t able to make it (and may have sacrificed themselves to be able to insure the covert remained safe). Essentially, what you see are a small fraction of the actual covert and they died to insure the covert continued to exist (and the reason for why The Armorer and Paz are the only two seen in The Book of Boba Fett’s Mando episode because the rest of the covert were out in the sector looking for a new place to set up the covert’s base, which they finally found before the baptism scene in Season 3).
• We revisit Sorgan in Poe Dameron: Free Fall, which takes place nine years after The Mandalorian, where the Spice Runners of Kijimi use as a "base of operations". So, is that small village still there? Or did the Spice Runners wipe them out? Or are they on opposite sides of the planet?
• In Episode 19, "The Convert," we are introduced to the "Amnesty Program" which takes former imperials and grants them clemency in exchange for helping deconstruct old imperial equipment. However, the entire program just feels somewhat off; everyone is overly cheerful, including Pershing's supervisor, and everyone insists what they're doing is for the good of the New Republic, and they also have a droid interviewer who asks questions that appear to try and weed out anyone experiencing anti-republic thoughts. And this is all before we learn they have a brainwashing machine to keep people in line. Considering how friendly everyone is to the point they embrace their designated and dehumanising "names" (they're given designated numbers as if they were droids or clones) and considering Pershing keeps touching his ear like something has been itching there (not necessarily just because of his ear injury from his previous appearance) as well as Kane telling the Republic officers that Pershing has "relapsed" one may wonder if there's really any "program" at all and these former imperials haven't all just been brainwashed into doing the New Republic's bidding.
• "The Convert" in general uses the Coruscant setting to make it clear how the New Republic was so powerless to resist the First Order, with Leia Organa being able to only muster a small fighting force while the First Order quickly amassed a huge fleet. This is the same society that cheerfully upheld the inept Old Republic and the totalitarian Empire, with the citizens of the more powerful worlds perfectly comfortable looking the other way as long as they were comfortable and not forced to face the cruelties of the galaxy. They didn't give Leia more support in resisting the First Order because they just didn't care.
• Initially, the support group of Amnesty Program applicants seem like perfectly normal people trying to atone for their mistakes and work toward a better cause. Then, at the end of the episode, we find out that the New Republic is using a device referred to as the Mind Flayer to "correct" certain people who cause problems, raising a concerning question... Just how many people in that support group at the start of the episode were brainwashed?
• The fact that Elia Kane is not suspected of any wrongdoing, despite being at the scene of Pershing's crime of having stolen Imperial equipment to use for illegal experiments and also being subject the Amnesty Program's curfew and boundaries, suggests a few uncomfortable thoughts about how law enforcement works throughout the New Republic. That Kane manipulated Pershing into his actions in a blatant case of entrapment is never discussed. Worst of all is the fact that Pershing isn't even allowed to submit a statement before being strapped into a literal brainwashing machine, just on Kane's say so, and the officers even leave her in the room alone with the controls for said brainwashing device. Even if she had been working under cover for the security forces the whole time, the fact that she was a former Imperial officer herself and could easily have ulterior motives never even occurs to the officers who take them into custody. How many other citizens have been wrongly accused and sentenced without trial just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? And this is supposed to be the Empire's Good Counterpart government.
• "Guns For Hire" reminds the audience that droids are essentially a slave race created to serve the organics of the Galaxy. They claim (to two heavily-armed organics, natch) that they are fine with this arrangement because the alternative is being scrapped and replaced with organic laborers doing the same work. The only saving grace is that they are evidently heavily over-engineered for the tasks given, meaning the work is much easier for droids than it would be for organics.
  • The episode also shows us what a B2 Super Battle Droid can do when properly motivated (or programmed). The one Din and Bo-Katan pursue is shown to be nearly as fast as a Commando Droid and strong enough to rip light posts from the ground. As easily the second most numerous Droid in the CIS military, they were woefully under-utilized, and one shudders to think of how much damage they could've inflicted in the Clone Wars had they been used to their full potential.

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