Spoilers The Mandalorian | Disney+ | Streaming Nov. 12

[Reverend]

Who gets to call themselves Mandalorian seems to be a matter of perspective, even in-universe.
This cult seems to follow an ancient creed which says "Mandalorian = Anyone sworn to The Creed of The Mandalore."
The government of Mandalore under Satine (and probably under the Empire too) obviously didn't hold this view and took the position "Mandalorian = Citizen of Mandalore or one or it's protectorates."
Death Watch's thing was less about following "The Creed" and more about using it's trappings to regain power for the warrior caste, presumably putting the workers and merchants back as helots where they belong, because that's how a warrior culture do.

We don't yet know what the deal is with the Fetts. They could just be wearing the armour and weaponry of a Mandalorian Supercommando simply because it's the best armour and weaponry around and it's distinctive enough to instantly give cred to anyone wearing it.

 

[David cgc]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that more people would've ever so much as heard the word "Jedi" than the armorer. Cara definitely seems like a stretch, since Luke would've almost certainly been a propaganda poster boy for the Rebellion from day one, and, as said, discussions of the Force and the glory days of the Republic would've been common (in R1, Cassian knows enough of the Jedi to ask if Chirrut is one after he seems him fight without being able to see). We know from "Bloodline" that by ~24 years after Endor, it was common knowledge that Luke was a Jedi and Leia was his sister, and by the ST, Rey not only knew the story of Luke Skywalker, but knew that he defeated the Emperor by convincing Darth Vader to renounce evil (AFAIK, it's unclear if in BL, people knew Luke and Leia were Anakin's children, but the public was definitely unaware they were Vader's, so Luke must've kept the family connection private when telling the story of Vader's redemption).

It's also surprising the armorer would only know about the Jedi as ancient history, since her horns suggest she was up to her eyeballs in Maul's machinations during the war (or she inherited the helmet from someone who was).

I will note that "Alphabet Squadron" had a scene where some characters raised under the Empire talked about the historical erasure of the Jedi, an older character specifically pointing out it was a common experience for people around Luke's age to have been taught in school that the Jedi were an ancient fairytale, but to occasionally hear from older people that the Jedi were traitors who got what they deserved, and that it seemed odd they'd talk about it like it was a personal betrayal when Jedi were long gone.

On the other hand, it's equally odd, in the same way, the Din made a big deal that the only way Gideon could possibly know his name is if he had access to adoption records, and that no one had called him that since he was inducted as a Mandalorian, only for the armorer, who wasn't involved in this conversation, to call him by name later on. So she knows it, she doesn't think it's a taboo to address him that way, and it seems wildly impractical for the Mandalorians not to refer to each other by name among themselves. I suppose Din could've meant no non-Mandalorian had called him by name since he was a child, but IIRC that's not how he phrased it.

 

[Mage]

Jango wore the trappings of a Mandalorian, but was not considered one by Mandalore. Din is a Mandalorian in that he was taken in and raised as one. "Mandalorian" is a culture as well as (multiple) species.

...I think that's right. A SW expert will correct me real soon if not.

That's the basics of it I think. From what I remember anyway. Might be wrong.

 

[fireproof78]

While your point is good in principle I have to ask, have you seen Star Wars?

Ocean Planet. Desert Planet. Jungle Moon. They do monolithic, it's kind of their thing.

I'm aware. But, there can be expansion is all I'm saying, especially in culture. Assuming that one look is an entire culture is, well, stereotyping.

 

[Jaster]

Am I the only one who felt bothered that we saw Mando with his helmet off?

Nothing against Pedro Pascal or his face, but I felt it took something away from his mythos by doing that.

 

[Reverend]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that more people would've ever so much as heard the word "Jedi" than the armorer.

It's also surprising the armorer would only know about the Jedi as ancient history, since her horns suggest she was up to her eyeballs in Maul's machinations during the war (or she inherited the helmet from someone who was).

Both of these statements seem to make fundamental assumptions that aren't necessarily supported by the text.
At no point following the Armourer's explanation does anyone exclaim "Jedi? Never heard of them!" In fact nobody seems to say anything in direct response to this point, so their thoughts on this are their own.
They may indeed have heard of Jedi; but what they've heard and how much attention they paid, let alone how much of it they believed is an equally open question.

There is however clearly a gap of knowledge between whatever they may or may not have heard and what they saw, so that they didn't make the connection between "probably mythical groups of laser sword wielding religious fanatics" and "little green thing that can strangle you with a gesture". It's a big galaxy and there's bound to be all types of stories, most of which is probably BS and regarded as such, just as any rational person might regard stories of UFO abductions, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. That's a long way of saying that while people may have heard of Jedi, what they've heard might not necessarily be accurate, which is plenty to muddy the waters.

All we know for sure in these scenes is that a creature that can move object with it's mind is not something they've ever experienced before and they reacted just as any person in our world would. Hearing stories of magic and mysticism is a far cry from experiencing it first hand. I know if I came across a cat that turns into Maggie Smith or an ambulatory confection that makes a break for freedom my first thought wouldn't be "I've heard of Harry Potter, so I know exactly what this is all about!" it'd be more along the lines of "who the hell spiked me, and with what!?"

 

[Saul]

Am I the only one who felt bothered that we saw Mando with his helmet off?

Nothing against Pedro Pascal or his face, but I felt it took something away from his mythos by doing that.

Kinda, I didn't think it added anything to the character. Maybe if they had done it the final season with the last episode? A bit like Darth Vader.
I do feel it took something away from the character. I was like "oh, it's just some guy". I think they did it a bit too early.

 

[Reverend]

I think "oh, it's just some guy" is exactly the response they were going for. Not like it comes out of nowhere either; it's the culmination of everything we've seen him do over the past 8 episodes. He's not some hyper-capable indestructible warrior demi-god, he's just a guy who gets knocked down, hit, shot, dragged through mud and suffers all the petty indignities that an actual bounty hunter would.

It's a moment of true vulnerability and it comes at the only moment in the story that it could have. He's at his lowest point, reliving his childhood trauma with a killer droid standing over him. The helmet is his last line of defence, physically and emotionally. He has to overcome his greatest fear by entrusting his life to the thing he hates the most, the embodiment of who he used to be and everything that was taken from him.
Only then can he get back up and triumph over his foe. It's the same classic hero's journey stuff that's been baked into the DNA of Star Wars from the very outset.

 

[Shawnster]

Please tag that spoiler. The Tag for this thread is only for this show, not the entire franchise.

Sorry, my bad. Glad to see it was fixed.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

 

[Reverend]

Clearly the Bondsman Guild has him pushing too many holopencils...

 

[Noname Given]

Baby Yoda [Translated from Yodaese]: "Greef, you son of a bitch!"

 

[Amos]

Baby Yoda [Translated from Yodaese]: "Greef, you son of a bitch!"

[In Yoda voice] The matter, what it? Too many pencils the Guild having you push, hmm?

 

[plynch]

I enjoy this show far better than the movies.

I actually cared more about the damn droid this ep more than anyone in the final trilogy.

To the poster way above (like 3 pages, and can't find it), death was real and final for two characters I liked and cared about. I wasn't entirely sure Mando wasn't gonna bite it, there, and take the series a new direction for S2, kinda like Lorca, who was pretty big in Trek: DSC.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I can't believe how much I liked and cared for an Uggnaught. I mean I really liked him.

 

[Amos]

I enjoy this show far better than the movies.

I actually cared more about the damn droid this ep more than anyone in the final trilogy.

This...

 

[JD]

Bob Iger has said the Disney+ Star Wars series could lead to their own movies. I would definitely be up for a Mandalorian movie.

 

[kitik]

The second wave of Mandalorian Pop figures have been announced. They're making quite a few!
(Wave 1 was Mando, Cara, Kuiil, and IG-11)
(plus they already announced a few weeks ago that The Child and a super-sized version of The Child was coming)

The Client, Greef Karga, Heavy Infantry Mandalorian, Offworld Jawa, The Armorer, Covert Mandalorian, The Mandalorian, Incinerator Stormtrooper, Q9-Zero, and deluxe Mandalorian on Blurrg


Also, tons of exclusives:
2-pack of Mandalorian and IG-11 for Barnes and Noble (looks like wave 1 versions to me, but I'm no expert)

Spoiler: pic

Death Watch Mandalorian at Gamestop:

Mandalorian with flame at Target
Trandoshan Thug at Walgreens
Mandalorian with Beskar Armor at Amazon (seems to just be a shiny version of The Mandalorian from Wave 2???)

Spoiler: more pics of those 3 exclusives

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Not generally a fan of Funko/Pop style figures but I like the one on the blurrg(sp?).

 

[JD]

I think this from Io9's Rob Bricken does a pretty good job of explaining what makes The Mandalorian so great.