The latest episode of The Mandalorian on Disney+ channels Game of Thrones, and features a surprising redemption arc.
Following last week's Coruscant capers in The Convert, which potentially ties into Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, The Foundling briskly explores Grogu's past as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) go in pursuit of dragons in an adventure worthy of Classic Star Wars comics strips.
Grogu experiences a flashback to Order 66 from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and his surprising saviour is finally revealed. No, it's not Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) saving Baby Yoda from 501st Legion clone troopers, led by Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen), as they storm the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, it's Ahmed Best!
Best is perhaps infamously known for playing Jar Jar Binks in George Lucas' prequel trilogy. Here, Best is playing Jedi Master Kelleran Beq and it's a joy to behold as he valiantly battles clone troopers and escapes from Coruscant with Grogu.
I hope we see Beq again.
The Mandalorian is tantamount to Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Dave Filoni (Star Wars Rebels) unleashing the contents of a mythological toy box with the power of Epic Games' Unreal Engine. It’s film school for geeks with knowing nods to spaghetti western and tech noir genres.
More galactic joy ride than a deep character-driven rumination on love and loss like Pascal’s other hit television series, The Last of Us. And I’m fine with that.
In related news on Disney+. Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two follows Omega and Clone Force 99 as Filoni's animated spin-off series continues to explore events between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope with the maturity of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
Are you watching The Mandalorian on Disney+? Let me know in the comments below.
I am enjoying it. It is a return to Hero's Journey story telling which has powered narrative since the dawn of humankind. All major characters are on a growth path, there are mentors and wise men, the baddies are nuanced, there are quests and it's all about coming of age in a community based on ancient rituals and rites of passage. Things that are on the verge of being overrun by the avalanche of numbing, deafening action-shlock that tries to out-kill and out-evil each instance of super-hero shenianigans with more eye-candy, gore and woke retconning of classic tropes. Well done, Jon and Dave.
ReplyDeleteThe 'space dragons' are a knowing nod to the animated short that introduced US-only audiences to Boba Fett in the Star Wars Holiday Special!
Delete