Chapter 20: The Foundling

The first two seasons of the show were amazing. However, this season seems a little lacklustre. Yes, it's developing the Star Wars world and yes, it is adding more lore, but in terms of stakes, plot and emotion there is seemingly nothing. The episodes have been overall enjoyable but I just don't see where they're going. This season could have been so interesting with a mandalorian civil war or a season long story about Din discovering his identity as either a true mandalorian or a new unorthodox mandalorian and fathering Grogu whilst Bo struggles with regaining power on Mandalor. But no, nothing seems to be happening so far and there's only 4 episodes left!

At times, it felt like a bad episode of Power Rangers. All of the depth we've come to know from some of the characters present in this episode went out the window. There isn't too much good I have to say about this one.

This very much felt like the episode earlier in the series with the Krayt dragon but not executed anywhere near as well, and with an exposition from Grogu's past which was almost completely disjointed from the rest of the episode.

Acting was sub-par, clear voice dubs for all of the Mandalorian characters and a script which felt like it came from a high school student made me wonder if I want to continue watching weekly or just wait and see what the consensus is at the end of Season 3.

Overall, this is not what I came to expect from the previous two seasons and really hope that it picks up again with more character development that I actually care about. Or even stakes which actually seem high.

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian brought my love for Star Wars back. Season 2 felt like a fireworks show, with each chapter getting better and better with a grand finale. I don't know what happened after, but from the start of The Book of Boba Fett to Kenobi to Season 3 of The Mandalorian, the quality, the writing, and the greatness of the first 2 Seasons of The Mandalorian have gone away. I was so hyped for the Mandalorian lore in this season, but it's been portrayed terribly. These cosplay Mandalorian extras with spray painted Boba Fett helmets and armor make the Mandalorians look like imbeciles. I was hoping that the Mandalorians would be similar to Jango Fett, Jaster Mereel, the True Mandalorians from the Open Seasons comic books, Gar Saxon, Pre Vizsla, etc. Real Mandalorian warriors who were smart, intimidating, leaders, and actually knew how to use their gear and surroundings. These Mandalorians are like a bunch of inept and incompetent Power Rangers. They remind me of that terrible biker gang from The Book of Boba Fett. So far, Season 3 has felt like something off of the Disney Channel. Grogu does something cute, the Mandalorians fight another creature, Din Djarin plays sidekick to Bo Katan, rinse and repeat. Halfway through, and there's no direction at all. It's just making the decision to bring Grogu back right away look worse and worse. It's getting to the point where they should've finished the series with the Season 2 finale. It was perfection, and now it's being stained. I'm really hoping that it gets better with these last 4 episodes.

After last weeks shift in focus we are back with an episode where our main trio takes center stage! While still feeling like set-up it was an enjoyable episode nonetheless!

I liked Grogus development in the episode, as well as the flashback! It was great too learn more of how he escaped order 66, plus it doesn't hurt too se Jedi's fighting clones! Especially when one of them is played by the guy who portrayed Jar Jar Binks!

I love how we can tell what Grogu is feeling just by looking at his facial expressions, rather than having other characters tell you how he feels! He is becoming more and more his own character!

The main plot, while feeling like a side-quest, was still exciting and worked as a developmemt for Bo Khatan! The episode also ends with a tease that Bo Khatan will play a major role later on!

In some ways it is still a little unclear excactly where this is going, but since these last few episodes where mostly set-up, i hope the next episodes will bring more clarity and pay-off!

It feels like there's a lot waiting for this season. We're already four episodes in, but it doesn't feel like it has set up anything real meaningful yet. The first episode did a great job of providing the season with many ways to go, but the main conflicts still seem to be missing. With this episode, the entirety of the short runtime was spent with the title character as he goes on another adventure, but we also finally see what happened to Grogu on Coruscant. While the answers this episode provided to Grogu's storyline were very satisfying, it lacked entertainment in some other areas.

A lot of the episode is dedicated to a mission to save a young foundling from being eaten by a big bird creature, and that was the least interesting part of the episode. The adventure-of-the-week structure still works, but there are certainly some adventures that are less interesting than others. A lot of the writing didn't quite match up and while the action was cathartic and interesting, a lot of the visuals were incredibly wonky, especially in the environments. However, the episode also provides some answers to Grogu and what happened to him during Order 66, and that part was incredible. Grogu's role in this show is really solidifying itself, and it makes sense why Favreau and crew wanted him brought back as quickly as possible, and his reintroduction in "The Book of Boba Fett" actually had some purpose behind it. At this point, a lot of different angles of Order 66 have been shown, and it's always interesting to see the path that different Jedi take and seeing who survived and who didn't. The Mandalorians are clearly individuals who are not defined by their paths, and by showing snippets of Grogu's path, it's clear that all of it is still very much on his mind, so whether he will ever become a good enough Mandalorian is a question that lingers on everyone's lips. It's great how they're showcasing this divide in someone who cannot use words, and everything with Grogu seems to slowly become the strongest aspect that this show has to offer still.

A lot of "Chapter 20: The Foundling" isn't worth really mentioning, but everything with Grogu is so good that it really elevates the episode's potential. There's a lot still to be discovered in Grogu and a lot of the questions that we all have are sure to be huge drives for the creatives. At least, we hope...