I loved when Pershing, strapped to the table, tells the doctors that “it was a trap” and then it cuts to the Calamari. Lol

Elia Kane was the fishiest thing about this whole episode, including the two Mon Calamari who had speaking roles

The scene with the mind flayer freaked me out. It tells me that Palpatine's ways are not gone from society yet. Especially since they never call Pershing by name, but by code

SHE LITERALLY LURED HIM TO THE DARK SIDE WITH COOKIES!! … I mean biscuits… but seriously, I’ve been wanting to know more about Persching since season 1 but I never dared dream he’d get his own episode! And holy crap… he went on an entire fallen hero’s journey. He had a desire to use his power to do good, but knew the danger it could do in the wrong hands, he’s then tempted by Elia Kane who convinces him he’a doing the right thing, and surprise surprise she’s playing the role of Palpatine and tricked him into making a deal with the devil… and damnit I wanted to believe she too was someone who had no choice in following the Empire but damn… she’s bad news. 😬

I’m glad we’re getting all the world building around the new republic, as it gives a lot of context to the rise of the first order by the time of the sequel trilogy.

Loved how the prank on the peak of Umate was basically the whole point of the episode, "You knew that was gonna happen, didn´t you?"

My favorite part was Pershing going "It was a trap!" and the Calamari looking like "Oh, you did not just say that to me! That's so offensive!"

It's extremely frustrating, in a good way, to see the New Republic failing to live up to the Rebellion's dreams of a reformed galactic government. However, it is realistic to real word revolutions, like the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. The war doesn't stop just because an external enemy is gone, there has to be a change in culture.

It wasn't just seeing the mythosaur that affected Bo. When she is sarcastically reading the plaque about the living waters, take a look at how her expression changes when she sees Din step into the water and recite the words. You can tell she's affected by seeing someone take it to heart.

Pershing saying "it's a trap" to a mon calamari made me chuckle a bit 😁

The Coruscant Senators causally joking about the different factions actually reminded me of DJ's conversations with Finn.

This episode was also full of nerdy Easter Eggs and references. The Coruscanti Holographic Zoo of Extinct Animals, that Coruscant wookiepedia article, even the photon fizzles (I couldn't help but smile at the mention of something so obscure from the Droids cartoon) But my favourite had to be the Resistance theme playing in the Plaza. Say what you will about the Sequels, but it was such a nice touch to include it here, as if to remind us what the Resistance would eventually fight for; a beautiful and free galaxy. P.S. It seems that telling a Mon Calamari that it's a trap doesn't work on all of them XD

I never expected that Bo Katan was accepted by Dins covert. I wonder if Bo will use her knowledge of the Mythosaur to betray Din.

The mention of Taungsday is so cool. They made the Taungs canon and hopefully mando laare will be canon too and will be played in future episodes.

My favorite part about star wars right now is getting a wider view of the galaxy. Andor, Bad Batch, and now Mando are exploring the every day person, the ex-imps, the rich. I think it makes the galaxy feel bigger. On screen we used to only see the galaxy revolve around a few characters. CW brought the idea of clones having personalities, Rebels introduced sparks of rebellion outside of the OT cast. Yes they've been exploring this stuff in books and comics for ages, but seeing it on screen is all the better. (Really hope they can bring that type of nuance to Thrawn's character!)

This episode of the mANDORlorian was intense. The Dr. Pershing section of the episode was incredible and I had no clue what Kane's deal. I felt she was manipulative at first, but then thought maybe she's good, and then that twist just hurt me. I'm actually quite fond of Dr. Pershing and hope he survives somehow. I think she is definitely working for Thrawn or Gideon and working to tie up loose ends and get rid of anyone.

So much can be done with Bo Katan joining the Children of the Watch. Does she see it as a new potential army? Is it a true newfound home for her? Will she get in touch with her Death Watch roots? Is she suspicious of them? In this case I think the helmet works in its favor because we are left unsure and curious of her actual feelings and emotions.

I think Bo Katan is happy to be surrounded by Mandalorians again. She was sitting alone in her home alone for a while, a home which is now destroyed. She really doesn't have anywhere else to go (right?), so I think she will use her new position as a way to build herself back up again.

When they walk at monument plaza you can hear a version of “March of the Resistance” from the sequel’s soundtrack

Grogu saying "This is the Way" was amazing

We are starting to have a classic star wars crew here, 2 leads, an alien, and a droid all on one ship together.

I think Bo seeing all the Mandalorians accept her and be a close knit group will help her understand Din more and see why he has not left the group.

I think Bo didn't mention the Mythosaur because she can't believe it. The way she asked Din if he saw it too sounded like it was out of disbelief. As for her joining the Watch, it seems as if she is in a trance almost.

Cara dune: "they'll hook me to mind flayer." Greef karga: "what that was just war time propaganda those aren't real." Dr.pershing: I assure you they are real.

I think those ties belong to Thrawn and he will be revealed as the new “bad guy” who is in charge of Moff Gideon. He was mentioned in the last season so it’s possible he’ll show up here and it would tie in with the Ahsoka show.

I think Bo-Katan keeping the Mythosaur for herself is not out of a lack of trust with Din, but rather her struggling to accept that the legends and traditions that she berates as simply children's stories have some truth in them. Her getting accepted into the Watch also shows us a potential for her realizing that she follows supertitions of her own with the Darksaber, since she technically was part of the purification ritual, but had no part in its symbolism, yet was still accepted as if she had followed the Creed. I believe she'll eventually realize that these empty traditions have only ever held Mandalore back as the season goes on.

First, I'm so glad John William's Resistance theme is canon just like the Imperial March in Rebels haha. The episode does look like Andor, especially when they show a close shot of the houses and buildings, the visuals are neat. Watching this after Andor just makes me think how inexperienced the New Republic is compared to Palpatine's empire. Sidious was a politician master, and he chose the people cautiously to expand and increase his power, but in the end, who are the people behind the new republic? Most of the Rebels had a lot of knowledge in Rebellion leadership and war, but except for the senators of the old republic, where are the mastermind behind the new republic, and also, do they have the know-how to run it? In Andor, I was crossing my fingers every scene there was a rebel in Coruscant, it was like they were being watched all the time, but here, negligence rules in many aspects. The New Republic is the perfect example of an imaginary utopia that is a step to get into a dystopia. I liked the ep a lot.

Bo Katan's sarcasm about the living waters is brilliant. Especially in this episode the "this is the way", then Grogu trying to say it too 😂. I didn't trust the former imperial comms officer at all, but the twist on a twist was clever

I really love the structure of this season so far. Past seasons, this kind of stuff would have been strung out over multiple episodes, but having multiple storylines going on and interconnecting like this makes the show flow so much better.

Loved Dr Pershing just chilling on Coruscant giving a TEDTalk

I got the feeling when he touched his ear that it was a tell he was going to lie. . also, Bo has been adopted by the Watch, just after her other "clan" abandoned her. Can't wait for the next episode!!

I really have high hopes for a Thrawn cameo this season.

Some fun details I noticed: - Pershing's supervisor mentions "Benduday" in their first scene. I imagine there's some historical connection to the Bendu from _Rebels._ - The music playing (in-universe) when Pershing approaches the mountain is a variation of the Resistance leitmotif. Similar to _Rebels_ and _Solo_ using The Imperial March, this presumably means that that music is the New Republic anthem. - The music playing when Pershing and Kane jump off train sounds like it could be the same OST from when Din crashed the Razor Crest into a dock at the start of The Heiress. - Thanks to the brighter lighting, I could see Paz Vizsla's jaw moving as he spoke.

Great episode, OMG. It was a Mando/Andor style sandwich. Elia Kane was also mesmerizing. Theres a scene when she backed into the shadows as she was sharing her story. Reminded me of Palpatine. Trivia: Clone Wars episode Duchess of Mandalore, first showed Monument Park.

Something I'm grateful for the Pershing story is Filoni & Favreau are continuing to explore why the New Republic failed. They're so eager to toss away most Imperial tech, but they're more than willing to keep such barbaric machines like the mind-flayer but give it a softcore rebranding as therapy to former imperials. Are these really the altruistic actions of a government characters like Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewie, Cassian, Mon, and Jyn sacrificed so much to obtain? It's apparent this Imperial Amnesty program is rotten to its core if you can get your mind wiped any time you step out of line or make one minor mistake.

I love that Dr. Pershing's name is literally "Pen Pushing"

Can I just say that it was hilarious and very reminiscent of BSG to see Katee Sackhoff participating in a dogfight all these years later?

Baiting an enemy into a cloud of TIEs is very Thrawn (Rebels failed attack against Lothal)

The way the Interceptors were used to distract Bo from the bombers and then the Bombers were used to lead her to the full squad of Interceptors is a total Thrawn move... reminds me of the Battle of Sluis Van

The SECOND I recognized Kane I just had a horrible feeling in my gut the whole episode and it has yet to leave me. That was so dark, and I felt so bad, and I have so many questions.

I want more A-plot/B-plot Mandalorian episodes like this. It worked so well with covering important elements not directly related to Din Djarin, but are still part of the bigger picture.

I love that Mon Calamari's reaction to Pershing saying it was a trap 😂

The probation droid scene reminds me of Blade Runner 2049. I’m shocked that there are some that didn’t like this episode. I loved it. Was a wet dream of world building for Star Wars outside of a novel finally

Maybe it was just seeing Coruscant, but this episode really felt like an episode of Clone Wats to me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it was just kind of interesting. Also, I think this episode was fine, I think this is the kind of episode that doesn’t seem big now but will have a huge payoff later in the season.

Around 21:50 or so into the episode, you can hear the March of the Resistance in the background, an amazing nod to what is to come later. I love these little musical motifs that the composers put into these shows. A little John Williams never hurts

Easily one of my favourite episodes from ALL seasons. The subtle hints of Elia Kane not being who she’s portraying herself as made the entire plotline so excitingly unsettling. Even though the reintegration of Pershing into the system should be thematically optimistic and hopeful, I as a viewer always felt like something was off, as if bigger schemes are already happening and Pershings naive and limited scientist pov which almost had a narrating role can’t quite see that. This imo just shows how the New Republic is unable to detect the truly evil forces which eventually leads to the rise of the First Order.

This was a really good episode in my opinion, definitely top 3 so far this season!!

I really like episodes like this and the familiarity of them to our society and the political motives at play, even if it's in a galaxy far far away

Did you notice Grogu wanted to say something

This episode was fantastic. I really like seeing Coruscant and the New Republic. Pershing was a very mysterious character in S1&2, so I'm happy we get more scenes with him. Can't wait for Chapter 20!

Something that caught my attention was the Living Water poured out by the Armorer. It was also shown in the very first scene of this season. My question is does she have a stash of Living Water from Mandalore or is she going there still to collect it and was lying about Mandalore mines being destroyed. Doubt that would be a plot point, but would make for an interesting story of why she would lie about it.

I liked how the Mon Calamari doctor reacted to Pershing saying he was trying to do good and that she led him into a trap. Like the Doctor genuinely seemed to falter a bit and empathize with Pershing , as if maybe what he was saying was true. Kind of speaks to the New Republic's current theme of trying to do good but failing by not putting enough effort.

When the doctor looks in the mirror and says “your helping the new republic. It’s the right thing to do”. Reminds me of Ammon Goeth from Schindler’s list when he pardons him self

Definitely one of my favourite Mandalorian episodes, it had probably my favourite starship battle in the Mandalorian, and I loved the entire Pershing storyline (especially the first scene in Amnesty Housing). My only real problems was the bubble reappearing in the N1 at 47:57

I love how in one scene you have someone saying, "Goodness no, how could the New Republic ever use any of this equipment that was once owned by that horrible Empire?!" Then a few minutes later you see that they've repurposed a literal Imperial torture device.

They knew what they were doing with the 'trap' line with a Calamari around lol

Loved the change of pace the episode brought and getting to see Coruscent post empire for the first time in depth! Pershing is an intriguing character and I'm interested in seeing who ordered the attack on Bo's home...

RIP to the droid at Bo's crib 😞

“That’s a Death Star!” “That’s just our Orbital Peace Platform” “It’s a Death Star!!” “It’s a similar device, but at a lower power setting…” “How about I crank this dial back up?!” “…..ok, you got me”

I love the episode! It left me with a lot of questions for the future and many opportunities to speculate on what’s going to happen next. Also, I think we just got the coldest opening yet with that dogfight. But the Dr. Pershing segment is so interesting and a great set-up for the sequel trilogy with the whole cloning stuff, especially with our knowledge now that somehow Palpatine returned in the future. And that ending, why is Bo so sus? Also, Paz Vizsla looks like he is not happy that Din is no longer an apostate and even brought Bo Katan with him.

Here’s an idea: could Kane be an imperial plant meant to make sure the New Republic doesn’t get their hands on potentially valuable officers? Maybe the empire, Gideon, or Thrawn didn’t want the NR to have someone who knows about their cloning experiments, so she sets him and and mind wipes him

Wonder if the "Mines of Mandalore Redemption" is a one time thing or if Din can just keep going back there every time he takes off his helmet in front of someone...?

Man seeing Bo walk into the room with the Armorer with the Mauldalorian spikes … that of all thins is what got me. The pacing of that scene also created kind of a blur and I felt like I was on the same level with Bo.

That episode was creepy as hell. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”- the New Republic is an Orwellian Dystopian nightmare! The story possibilities are endless- with both the Resistance and the First Order now having a whole new depth of context as to how and why they exist. STAR WARS lives (and thrives)!

I did just found poetic the fact that Bo Katan did found a group of mandalorians not fighting each other

"That's a big-ass neurolyzer!" -- Agent J. Also Dr. Pershing. 😁 Din has the Darksaber, Bo will ride the mythosaur, and both will co-rule Mandolore and pursue whoever the big-bad of this season is....

Days of the week in Star Wars 1. Primeday - 1st day of the week 2. Centaxday - one of the moons 3. Taungsday - from a native species 4. Zhellday - from its native humans 5. Benduday - Dai-Bendu (proto-Jedi)

Love the paralell to Operation Paperclip, that's one example of why this is the best Star Wars channel on youtube.

My favorite little detail was an in-universe version of “March of the Resistance” from The Force Awakens playing at the plaza. Makes you wonder if that Oma Tres guy on Kijimi has anything to do with it ;)

While the writing and direction wasn't as sharp as Andor's in terms of handling different characters in a same episode, I liked that Pershing and the comm officer got quite a lengthy screentime. It's always a good thing when antagonists get some spotlight. And Bo-Katan continues to be such a delight of a character. She's the show stealer of this season.

The capital at this time was Chandrila, so I thought Hosnian Prime would have been a stretch

some really nice looking background mando's today, one had a clone wars style pauldron, another (maybe the same one?) had really nice mauldalorian coloring, nice mix of black and maroon. plus that mind flayer totally looks like what they were using on crosshair to increase his chip's function

In addition to the March of the Resistance theme, you can also hear a bit of music from Jabba's palace when they're about to use the mind flayer on Pershing. It must be soothing music to help you feel at ease, even though most of us know the palace wasn't much of a soothing place. 😂

I agree. I really liked the episode but felt bad for Pershing. He did seem really sincere, even his mom stories, and like he was dazzled by the resources he had under the Empire. He did help save Grogu after all. You really wonder what Kane was trying to accomplish too. I was sure she was going to nab him to start up his research again for some part of the Remnant. And man, NR security is the worst! The mismatch between everyone's friendliness and even the people using numbers to refer to others was really jarring too, intentionally. Using a droid to ask significant psychological questions, so dumb. It was like they just didn't have the resources to actually assign competent overseers and some administrator just checked a box on rehabilitation checklist without trying to do a meaningfully good job.

During the monument plaza scene, a fairground-like rendition of the Resistance theme from The Force Awakens was playing

Dr Pershing in the mind flayer was pretty refreshing. A person losing their mind and knowing it's about to happen is the kinda scary sci-fi stuff I want to see more of in star wars.

When I first saw the scene where The Armorer welcomed Bo-Katan into the Children I was kinda confused, but then it clicked! It makes souch sense! The storytelling potential of Bo being a member of the Children is inmense! It's practically impossible to know how it will play out!

I really love seeing the New Republic. How one civilization goes out of fascism and tries to become a democracy. It's very interesting. And I loved the Taung being mentioned there. My favorite obscure species in the Star Wars universe.

When Kane and Pershing are at the festival and talking about the mountain, you can hear a carnival rendition of "March of the Resistance" from The Force Awakens

shoot, shoot, shoot, I wasn't expecting Mando to keep the same level as Andor, but my brother in the force, this episode really got me plastered on the seat without blinking once, it was an hour, content wise were like 2 but it felt like it went in less than half an hour, I mean, I am a sucker to all of these political and spy like drama, and how they fleshed out the world especially now that we are in the new republic era, man ohmigosh this episode was peak tbh I am so looking forward what comes next and ofc, when I say all those Tie Interceptors I also though, well, well, well, who else would be so invested in having so many Ties, maybe not Defenders but still the closest thing to them the Interceptors, and I also thinking that our frined the Grand Admiral would be involved into hunting some Mandalorians but yeah I am so hyped to see what's coming next episode, what a ride man

I was thrilled to have a Pershing's Day Off tour around coruscant. I feel like we never get any world building for it despite the large role it's played throughout the star war

Did anyone else catched the "resistance" theme played like a fun song while they were eating ice cream and cooking at the mountaintop?

Seeing a TIE Interceptor again was awesome those ships are so cool and I am now curious to know where they came from. I thought all the stuff with Mando was cool and I wonder what Bo is playing at with not saying anything about the Mythosaur. That being said, I am very torn on the Pershing story. I thought it was great seeing more of Coruscant but overall something about the way it was filmed took me out. It dragged a little too hard and took too long to get to the point I felt. At the same time it might have just been better to end off the episode with that then put it in the middle of the Mando plot line, weird editing choice. Personally I don't think this is one of the best overall Mando episodes in the series and I hope it pays off for what's to come.

Great episode of The ManAndorlorian

Two things: Infrastructure is morally neutral. It is a tool like knowledge. It can be geared towards good or evil depending on who's using it. I was really thrilled with the mention of Taungsday. I had not heard of it before, but I feel that it is hugely important to mention that the Taung were the original species of Mandalorian and originated on Coruscant before being driven from that world and forging a new home on what would become Manda'yaim (Home of the Mand'alor) or simply Mandalore, named after their leader at the time, Mand'alor the First.

What if Bo is unsure if she really saw a Mythasaur and asked Din did he see anything in hopes he will confirm or disavow what she's not sure of. Just like pilots are reluctant to report a UFO unless collaberated by someone else. OR more likely she plans to return, tame and eventually ride the now Truthasaur without the competition of Din.

At first I was surprised by the fact that we seemed to be getting an episode on the doctor but it drew me in. All of it gave me andor vibes with the political nature of it . And those rich people in the beginning, their comment about how they couldn’t keep track reminded me a lot of how in most Star Wars comics and books we see palpatine doesn’t change much on coruscant. Life for these people, the rich doesn’t change no matter the system. I also like how the moon calamari doctor is basically like “oh no don’t worry it’s nothing like the empires torture device.why we gave it a much more pleasant name. Don’t you worry.” It makes sense cause the new republic is still new. They can’t just get rid of all the empires systems. Oh sure they can slap a fresh coat of paint and make some big symbolic gestures but the groundwork of it all, the actual systems that keep things running that’s gonna take some time to change. I really loved this episode and did not expect it from the mandalorian. Anyway just want to say I’m a recent fan and I love your videos.

On the mind-flayer still having the "11" setting; as a software developer, I can see how this conversation would go down: "Sure, we can reset the values, scale the whole thing down... that'll take about a week to finish, a week for testing, a week to get a production patch... probably a month overall and tens of thousands of credits to update all the machines... or we can just not turn the dial up!" Management will take the later every time.

Im dying for the possible beef between Bo and The Armourer. If its true The Armourer was allied with Maul (like the spikes on her helmet would suggest) it could be interesting to see if it ever gets brought up and theres conflict there.

One deep lore piece that I loved about this episode was that the bombing of Mandalore opened up new caves/areas below the surface. In one of the Boba Fett based stories (I believe written by Karen Traviss) he finds out that the imperial bombing opened up the crust and revealed new Beskar deposits which he then used to help kickstart the Mandalorian society/economy. I wonder if something similar is going to happen here... HYPE

This episode is…weird. Absolutely great Mando sequences at the beginning and at the end, but switching to slow drama and smaller tones away from that for most of the episode, with Pershing trying to eke out a life and just getting “Reqiuem of a Dream” mind fried, felt off. (Like going from fun action blasts to slow Andor drama that I wanted a break from, personally.) But I still really do appreciate the visuals and story bits given to flesh out Coruscant, the New Republic, and post-Empire life, even if the tone/style wasn’t for me. Also, those weirdly colored drinks in lab vials and dry Imperial biscuits will be a odd standout regardless of what I think on the episode tone. Also also, I do wonder if Bo-Katan is still planning to go against Din. She still kept the Mythosaur reveal to herself, so I wonder if she’s gonna use that and her place within the Watch to garner followers to support her cause to regain her status as leader of Mandalore again.

Small moment but I had a lil' thrill when Bo Katan was referred to as "Nite Owl"

I might be wrong but I think that’s the most TIE interceptors we’ve seen in a single place, which is pretty cool, those ships were much less common than standard TIEs and were usually only used in special cases. The fact that whoever owns these interceptors has so many shows that they clearly have quite a formidable military force under their control

It’s definitely interesting seeing how the New Republic’s actions is in a way laying the ground work for the First Order to come into its own it’s like the New Republic doesn’t know how to govern itself while also taking away its ability to properly govern (destroying imperial records instead of using it to help build)

Thrawn will appear in the next episode. Not in person but someone will mention him. His great reveal will be in the last episode of this season.

I hope Bo Katan joins them...I'm more for the "do not remove helmet" faction of Mandalorians. They can still get so much identity while keeping their helmets on. To me, it is more interesting to have them show an increase of faith in their history, much like the jedi/sith faction, as they explore more of their background/religion, than to have everyone be similar. Plus I can see Din really getting everyone on board with not removing his helmet, taming the mythosaur, and wielding the dark saber than not

I like the idea that comm officer is a mole working against new Republic from the inside. I feel bad for Pershing for getting set up. Back to Bo and the Covert, I feel like she is playing her cards close. One thing I think was cool was that Katee finally got a reunion with Jon on screen since TCW.

I love these play by play commentaries! I was a fan of all things Star Wars when I was a kid but more surface- just watching for the enjoyment. Since all these series have come out- I went back and watched all the Star Wars in timeline order with the series mixed in- then the commentaries from this channel added on top??! Mind blown! Thank you for connecting the dots on the things I am still missing- like I knew there was some overlap in the different series in this episode but I missed the Andor connection! Love it!! Thanks!! 😅😅

I didn't make the connection until this morning. But the Dr. Pershin plot this episode was a play on the book 1984. In the book the main character is lured by a women into breaking the rules. It's revealed the room they were meeting in was bugged the whole time and that she's and undercover agent for Big Brother trying to find people that aren't currently breaking the rules but are willing too. The main character gets caught with her and he's taken to a psych-ward/rehabilitation facility. I'm not going to say how he's tortured but Dr. Pershin and the mindflayer is definitely an updated sci-fi version of it. It's interesting to see the writers compare the New Republic to Big Brother instead of the Empire tho.

I think you’ve overlooked a key subtext with the Bo Katan ‘conversion’ on this one Alex! She’s clearly only doing it so she can build a new power base and use them as a stepping stone to get back in power, not because she even remotely believes in the way!