Topic: The Mandalorian --- *potential spoilers*

[Calamity]

It’s definitely a possibility. 

Personally, if they’re going to do this I’d prefer it if they give these different stories their own shows rather than trying to cram it all under one umbrella.  The Mandalorian works because it’s a simple and concise story.  Whilst I’m dying to see these other stories, let’s give them proper room to breath.

Plus, bonus, if any of them turn out to be crap, they can be safely ‘contained’ lol.

[magenb]

Personally, if they’re going to do this I’d prefer it if they give these different stories their own shows rather than trying to cram it all under one umbrella. 

Yeah spot on, the show is barely long enough for any character development for mando, let alone any one else..

[Wyddr]

That was my initial suspicion about Bo-Katan, yeah - spin off.

But I hate it when shows do that. It's like you can see the manicured hand of the marketing department intruding into frame. The show is called THE MANDALORIAN, so just have it be about THE MANDALORIAN.

That said, I did enjoy "The Jedi" more than most recent episodes. Had a good mix of Spaghetti Western and Samurai movie vibes. The Thrawn reference was EYE ROLL but, fine.

I hope the cameos are over. Play that ep back in your head except have Mando do the whole assault w/o Ahsoka and think of how much cooler that would have been.

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

I hope the cameos are over. Play that ep back in your head except have Mando do the whole assault w/o Ahsoka and think of how much cooler that would have been.

I'm a sucker for the intertwining of Star Wars stories and characters, so I don't think it would have been better without Ashoka.  But that's just me.

The Thrawn reference was EYE ROLL but, fine.

It was actually that reference that started me thinking about these cameos being the launching point for spin-offs.  At the end of Rebels, Ashoka and Sabine were continuing the search for Ezra after the Rebellion.  The last Ezra was seen was onboard Thrawn's Star Destroyer using the Purrgil to pull it into hyperspace.

So Ashoka asking where Thrawn is was more of an indicator that she is still searching for Ezra.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Maybe? I could see it with Ahsoka, certainly. I mean... Ahsoka vs. Thrawn? That's probably going to get a lord of SW folks chomping at the bits (not all of them in the right way, admittedly)

But is Bo really that popular? And does it make sense to have a story about reclaiming Mandalore without the Mandalorian? This proposition seems a little more sketchy to me.


In other news, I *really* disliked that Baby Yoda turned out to be *from* Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. I would've much more preferred him to just be some random yoda-species kid caught out in the wide world.

[Wyddr]

So Ashoka asking where Thrawn is was more of an indicator that she is still searching for Ezra.

This is pretty much a direct indicator of why I didn't like it. Ezra and Thrawn have nothing whatsoever to do with the Mandalorian, and so I don't like the idea of it being dangled in front of us when the story in this specific show has no skin in the game.

To take a separate example of a series that did this "weaving together thing well," let's consider the MCU. In every instance in every movie, the focus and the agency is given to the main characters in the movie in question. Any references to other characters in other films were one-offs without major implications OR were presented after the credits were over, in a kind of coda that had implications for the larger series. In other words, if you watched Guardians of the Galaxy and no other Marvel movies, it made perfect sense and was satisfying on its own. Same with every single other Marvel movie with the exception of Infinity War/Endgame, but those were sequels to dozens of other movies collectively, so they get a pass.

The Mandalorian, on the other hand, has twice now taken its main character and given him second-billing to a character from a different property that, if you hadn't previous knowledge of them, leaves you out of the story. I consider that poor storytelling, full stop, and I find it distracting and irritating.

I realize I've said this several times now, so I'll stop with it, but it's a standing criticism: I don't like it when this is done this way anywhere and for any reason, let alone Star Wars. I didn't even like it when the Globetrotters and Batman and Robin were on Scooby Doo. 

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

Wyddr, I know you're not a fan of them bringing old characters into the show, but...


It's snaking on a plane BOBA FETT!!!!!!
In a single scene, he showed off the bad-ass that we always knew he was; which was more than we saw in Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Attack of the Clone (with Jango).

*** Note:  Slight chance of fangirlling may be occuring.

[The GrimSqueaker]

We did kind of know he'd be popping in since the start of the season though so this shouldn't be a surprise. Alas, there goes the economy ship and I've never been a fan of Slave 1.

Edit:  Boba Fett Destroy Two Troop Transport Ship With One Rocket Scene | The

[Sir_Godspeed]

This was a lot of fun.

I can nitpick later, as of now I'm just gonna stew in enjoyment.

[Wyddr]

Haven't seen the episode yet (maybe will by tomorrow night or so). My primary hope is that Mando gets to be in the driver's seat for the episode rather than riding shotgun.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Yeeeeeah, you might be disappointed then.

[The GrimSqueaker]

There's a large Idiot Ball quotient.

[Wyddr]

I'm getting a little tired of the episodes where there's a single extended firefight and nothing else. When that ended I was like "wait...really?"

Boba Fett was fine. It still felt like the episode was more interested in him than Mando, but Mando did things, at least.

[Sir_Godspeed]

It's very difficult to introduce Boba Fett (his cameo in ep.1 doesn't really count as a character moment) without getting lost in showing him off, imho. He is a character of some repute.

It would be nice if the episodes were longer though.


On a sidenote, the whole idea of "there's a temple on Tython where you can page Jedi about any force user you find" was such a massive ass-pull that also somehow kinda feels underwhelming for Tython based on how it's presented in the old EU. But then the new canon seems to push a more low-key, "naturalistic" style of Jedi relics and the like, so it might be consistent.

[Wyddr]

It's very difficult to introduce Boba Fett (his cameo in ep.1 doesn't really count as a character moment) without getting lost in showing him off, imho. He is a character of some repute.

It is really not that hard. The Empire Strikes Back did it just fine. 

[Calamity]

I still have just one gripe...the incompetence of stormtroopers continues to annoy me.

[Wyddr]

I still have just one gripe...the incompetence of stormtroopers continues to annoy me.

I have a raft of gripes. I honestly think I'm starting to dislike this show, which is a shame, as I enjoyed the first season so much. Nothing that made the first season charming is present in this season, though. Even the Child/Grogu is passe at this point.

I mean, there's just so much wrong with the arc this season and with the writing in general, but nobody seems to notice because they keep carting out everyone's favorite characters from ages past for essentially a martial arts demonstration. Boba Fett as a secondary character has some potential, I'll grant, but if these last three episodes are any indication, this is going to go from a "Bad but Fun" show to a "Just Plain Bad Show" by the end of this season. There's only so many cameos you can pull out before everyone notices there's nothing going on behind the curtain.

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

It's very difficult to introduce Boba Fett (his cameo in ep.1 doesn't really count as a character moment) without getting lost in showing him off, imho. He is a character of some repute.

It is really not that hard. The Empire Strikes Back did it just fine. 

Did it, though?  Realistically, if you look back at ESB, what did Boba Fett actually do?

- Look bad ass?  Check...
- Have a couple bad ass lines?  Check...
- Tell the Empire where to find the Falcon?  Check...
- Have aim as bad as the Storm Troopers (you could argue that he wasn't trying to hit Luke, but that's besides the point)?  Ummmm, check?

Throw in Return of the Jedi for good measure:
- Stand around looking imposing?  Check...
- Get tied up by his own cable?  check...
- Get taken out of the fight like a little be-atch by Han randomly smacking his jetpack?  Sigh... check...


Boba Fett had more life brought to his character (canonically speaking) in The Clone Wars than he did in the original trilogy.  As a young teenager, he was the leader for a group of bounty hunters that included the likes of Bossk and Dengar.

Fett had such a build up of expectations since 1980 because of the EU that if they hadn't shown him being a bad-ass, they would have upset a lot more people.

I know you're not a fan of all of the fan service being done in this show, but that is what Star Wars is.  After the original trilogy, it has always been geared towards fans by having the interconnected stories.

I still say that it is too early to pass judgement on the season because of the past three episodes.  From the way the last episode ended, I think Fett and his sniper chick are going to be major characters for the remainder of the season.

[Wyddr]

It's true: since the original series, there's been only 2 movies I've liked much and this is/was the only show I've been interested in.

I've already explained the difference between referencing/acknowledging other things in-universe and having those things steal the spotlight, so I'll decline to re-hash the argument.

I'm standing by my prediction. This show takes a nose dive. It's substituting glitz for storytelling (just like the prequels, just like the sequels) and that's gonna wear thin unless they course correct. I don't think they will, either, because the writers, like you, seem to think "that's what Star Wars is."

And maybe they're right! That just doesn't speak well of Star Wars.

[Sir_Godspeed]

It's very difficult to introduce Boba Fett (his cameo in ep.1 doesn't really count as a character moment) without getting lost in showing him off, imho. He is a character of some repute.

It is really not that hard. The Empire Strikes Back did it just fine. 

That's the entire point. He was *not* a character of some repute back then, he was a literal nobody, basically an extra.

Over the 40 years since, he's amassed a ton of mythology and fan appeal, mythology and fan appeal which was *directly* reponsible for this very show existing in the first place.

Now, obviously, you can make fun of that. I've seen tons of sketches and riffs that point out that Boba does beslubber all in the OT and basically only exists in nerds' imaginations and expanded universe novels and somethingsomething manbaby whatever, and that only dorks care. And I get it, that's a valid point, but in a series that exists because LucasArts decided to use that Ye Olden Times fan appeal to build a mythology on him, introducing him as a character becomes something of a "thing", whether you personally like it or not.

At this point, there are so many different ideas of what Star Wars "is" and I've basically dropped out of that conversation because it inevitably escalates to involve way more brainspace that Star Wars deserves, so I'll leave that to others.

I'm having fun so far, but my favorite episodes were definitely the three first ones in season 1. It's debatable whether the series could've continued like that, though. And I am happy for those people who've waited a long time to see their personal faves get the live action screen treatment they hoped for, imho. So, eh, you know, you win some you lose some I guess.