MANDALORIAN Season 3 Episode 7 REVIEW: Was a Great Episode Worth the Wait? | ScreenCrush Rewind

Our Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 Review is here! This episode paid off so many teases and threads from throughout the season: Kane infiltrating the amnesty program, the Mandalorian divides, Moff Gideon's master plan--plus it brought Palleon, Hux, Thrawn, and the Praetorian Guards into the show! But did it justify a season of uneven storytelling?
Thanks for supporting our channel! Check out our MERCH Store Here → screencrushmerch.com/
Go here → screencrush.com/
TikTok → www.tiktok.com/@screencrushnews
Like us → ScreenCrush
Follow us → screencrushnews
Get our newsletter → screencrush.com/newsletter/
Written and Hosted by Ryan Arey ( ryanarey)
Edited by Harriet Lengel-Enright, Randolf Nombrado, and Brianna McLarty
Featuring Colton Ogburn ( ColtonOgburn)
Featuring Bevin bevinbatspice
#Mandalorian #Episode7 #ScrenCrushRewind
All season long we’ve been hearing a lot of pushback about how this season is too conlipcated, or how its suepr weird structure is alienating casual fans. A little later I’m goignt o talk to two of our writers, bevin and colton ogbru to get thier thoughts, but first i want to tell you what i thought od the episode. It was awesome, but I think for a lot of viewers it wasn;t qworth the wait.
Niw like I said, I pretty much loved this while season, but I am easy to please. So far this season my only personal gripes are that gridu and din reunited don another show, and they kind of tossed away a potential storyline when din gave bo katan thew lightsaber.
Bgut you know, this is me critiquing what was not in the show, instead of talking about what WAS in this season. And there is so much here to love. This season widened the scale of the show well beyond din and groiu-which for some people, iss a drawback.
I mean look at everything we’ve gotten-courscant under the new roeublic, pirate ships, the orde 66 flashback, gogu hugging an anzellan [clip]--and in this episode we are not witnessing the rise of the first order. I always hated how the force awakens suddenly introduced a new empire with no good explanation-this line in the opening crawl doens;t count-and now we’re seeing the nits and bolts of this era between the trilogies.
Asnd we’ve learned that all of this is leading up to a feature film by dave filni, culminating these different shows. As a star wars fan, I am in heaven. BUT…
[pee-wee, everyone has a big butt]
We have made a few videos about the blowback this season-which I’ve shared some of those sentiments. The three cloffhangerss fomr lsts eaosn were resolved quickly and quietly-the darksber, grogu’s return, and the consequences for din removing his helmet. And none of these stories were resolve dina particularly satisfying way.
Now, there have been rumors that the higher ups at licasfilm, maybe kathleen kennedy, force djon favreau to reunite din an grifu in the book of boba fett. Normally, I put zero stock in rumors, because it seems like a lot of toxic fans will just always find a reason to hate Kathleen kennedy. But in this case, the rumors seem true to me. M
Favreau is such an expert stoprylteller,I don;t think he waoul have planned this reuinon to happen so quickly. But I ddo believe that disney and lucasfilm would want to kepe grogu on thie mandlorian as long as possible, to sell toys. That might always be why he got his IG-12 mech suit, but I loved the thing so miuch I won;’t want to believe that [yesyesyesyes]
It reminds me a bit of what happened to the show Twin Peaks behind the scenes. David Lynch and Mark Frost created this show with a central mystery, who killed Laura palmer. [clip] And when fans wrote letters to the newtwrok demanding to know who the kilelr was, they forced Lynch to eveal the killer, which completely ruined the show and ratings took a nose dive.
But like I said, let’s look at what we have, instead of what we don't. This season has had some high water marks for the show-heck I didn;t even mention the creepy as hell droid using din djarin for a mad max blood bag.
But the structure of this seaosn, the way these stories were told, has really friustrtayed some casual star wars fans. Remember, like, baseline, people thought this was a space cowboy show with a cute puppet sidekick. A lot of casual fans thought that grgue was literally baby ypda, and didn;t care that this takes place after return of the jedi.
That’s the strtng point for some people on this series. So you need to go slow and spoon feed them information in a consistent way that empashizes what a chacrter wants. If we understand what a character wants, theen we can empathize with them.

[@ScreenCrush]

What did you think of the episode and the season?

[@benjaminmaximusblessmanjr991]

This episode was fantastic easy the best of the season but the whole season has been boring the lizzo jack black episode sucked season 2 & 1 was so good

[@darkstar0554]

Worth the wait.

[@bryanheilman4376]

It was a GREAT awesome, but not worth the wait. The season has been kind of meh....

[@commandZee]

It was one of the best of the series and the best of this season. That being said, I'm frustrated that John and Dave didn't invest more of the season to build the Bo/Mandalor storyline. I agree, maybe it could have been assembled/edited better but this season felt like a clunky attempt at a complex GoT style multi-plot story. Saving the meat and potatoes for the last two episodes reminds me of some of the worst seasons of The Walking Dead.

[@TimTimmay]

I just came here to say, *“EFF U RYAN AREY”* HeavySpoilers made me say it 😂

[@audiiulmer7549]

I feel like the reason Din gave the dark saber up so easily is because it doesn’t mean anything to him or his faction. He sums this up with one line. Why would he resort to fighting a friend for something he doesn’t believe in? I felt that the “loophole” he found makes the most sense when you think of it like that.

[@jeffreycarman2185]

Making sense and being a satisfying conclusion to that story thread are two different things.

[@F-Society-Mr.Robot-]

That was very insightful

[@daprovocateur]

True but there was zero tension between Din and Bo and there should have been if they are “sworn enemies”.

[@StamfordBridge]

He hands it over because doing so DOES MEAN something to him. It is the culmination of his growth beyond narrowness, the growth of his appreciation of Bo and what a truly united Mandalorian world would mean.

[@dankfranco2768]

no they are obviously shoehorning bo katan into frontrunner. this season sucks!!!!!! 7 was the only decent episode. I WATECHED FOR THE MANDOLORIAN AKA DIN fuck all this other bullshit we have to watch to "understand why palpatine comes back." PALPATIJNE COMING BACK WAS THE LAZIEST WRITING AND THE NEW MOVIES SUFFERED FROM POOR WRITING. DONT YOU DARE EXCUSE THESE IDIOTS WHO ARE DESTRYOING STAR WARS AS IT WAS. thye are just bastardizing HEIR TO THE EMPIRE TRILOGY BOOKS. okay my rant is over im just a passionate star wars fan since i was 2 years old and this shit kills me....

[@StamfordBridge]

“I’m fine with them doing what I didn’t expect.” Thank you. This simple statement is what so many Star Wars fans (and other shows’ fans) can’t learn the basic wisdom of.

[@TheTotalRecap]

Thank you

[@aleta5873]

Agreed,

[@StamfordBridge]

@@samanfang5139 Here’s some more condescension for ya: you clearly don’t read much.

[@conflictt3224]

My only issue with the critique of this season being hard to understand is people treating it like this season is all people will have to work with. It's pretty easy to glean most of the important context from what happened in the first 2 seasons. If people watched season 2 and couldn't figure out "Hey, these are different groups that both call themselves Mandalorian but disagree about things" when the Night Owls showed up and went "We are Mandalorians, you're weird for keeping your helmet on." and Din not liking them then. Those hypothetical people you're worried about being confused are kind of stupid, and wouldn't have understood anyway. My 12 year old sister who hasn't watched Rebels or Clone Wars was able to explain to me the general gist of that with just her movie knowledge and having watched Season 1 and 2.

[@davidwindell]

Yes! These critics are COMPLETELY underestimating the intelligence of “normies “. This is Star Wars, not rocket science. I’m not a Star Wars geek, but i immediately understood the importance of the dark saber as a required relic to rule Mandalor. I don’t need to get the Visla family history to understand that. I also knew immediately when Bo and Din met on the boat that her people thought of the Watch as a backwoods cult. They were pretty heavy handed in making that clear. We don’t need the detailed history of Mandalorian civil war to see that the Owls thought Din was a plebe.

[@Jorizzle22]

Exactly! This is the first time I've seen a comment like this and I've been thinking this same thing the whole time. I think they did a great job of laying things out pretty clearly, including the fact the Din was not going to fight Bo for the dark saber.

[@dovthiessen]

My wife is not a Star Wars fan and hasn't seen many of the movies. But she loves The Mandalorian. She understands, like your daughter. I'm a moderate Star Wars fan but my brother has seen all the Clone Wars and Rebels, Bad Batch and he's telling me a lot more back story about this universe. I get it that there is a lot of backstory on Bo-Katan and Ahsoka too. Not necessary to know all that and still enjoy Mando

[@Agentcproductionss]

I swear We don't need everything explained to is like we're 5. Also we're not casuals

[@Lodrik18]

This is a youtube channel that creates content, they have to talk about something? You wont find a video from channels like this that say "nice stuff, next" Its just clickbait, just think about Jack Black in the last episode, nobody had any issue with him and they still made it a point to talk about it...

[@Kalama_Llama_King_Kong]

The thing that excites me about the Mof Gideon storyline is that I think they are setting up Thrawn in a really cool way. I think they are going to show how badass and clever Mof is while magnifying his hubris. Then, when the time is right, they're going to bring Thrawn in and totally alpha Mof; showing us what true genius, badassery looks like.

[@JesseDavis]

The Foundling episode was not a "filler episode" - it was the episode that had Bo gain the respect of the Children of the Watch - without something like that it was just have been her showing up and everyone just follows her "because"

[@KittySneeze]

You’re not wrong, but the way in which that information was delivered was illogical and poorly executed. For example, there’s no reason the flying monster should’ve have eaten the child by the time they get there to rescue him. Moreover, they had a moment in the fireplace scene where there could have been solid character moments, but instead it was used to deliver an unimportant fact about how they eat with their helmet rule. I mean maybe Din and Paz could’ve bonded over both having “kids” put into deadly situations. Even have Bo and Din discuss the importance of not giving up on other Mandos regardless of the danger etc.

[@gregorybeattie]

Also, I think the flying raptor chicks may be a Chekhov's gun... We may find they're all grown up a lot sooner than seems likely 😅

[@noddyninetythree4771]

@@KittySneeze "For example, there’s no reason the flying monster should’ve have eaten the child by the time"... the "flying monster" was a bird and clearly, you know very little about birds and the nature of them feeding their young.

[@noddyninetythree4771]

@@gregorybeattie dood.... they cooked them for the party

[@fizzle7421]

That episode did have a very "filler" feel to it. It reminded me of one piece filler. It did bring everything together by the end though.

[@EverythingAlways]

Hey man, really enjoyed this video and agree in whole with your intro. 👊🏼

[@brian6101]

Bucky Barnes we meet again

[@MiningForPies]

Who’d have thought a series released during lockdown would have higher viewing figures than a series released outside of lockdown. 😮

[@jethrosketch]

Well it makes sense cuz they would have shot everything before the lockdown for the first series... but the latter had to be reworked during the lockdown...

[@shivamarya5225]

@@jethrosketch i think its sarcasm, everyone had way more time during lockdown and people were watching a lot of things

[@beddrunk]

Trueee. That makes sense

[@ABrickinTime]

I could see a similar fate happen to Mof Gideon by Thrawn, like what happened in season 1 with The Client being taken out by Mof Gideon. “There’s always a bigger fish.”

[@jeffreycarman2185]

I was thinking this too. Especially since Gideon seems to be setting himself up to be the next leader of a unified Empire, that can topple the New Republic.

[@BSWVI]

Ooooh!

[@fudalefu1]

I really like the idea of the remnants of the Mandalorians reuniting and fighting off the remnants of the empire, without the galaxy even knowing it.

[@TheGordeaux]

i appreciate your content. but really, why do we care so much about it being "too complicated"? we are nerds... this is the good stuff. i hope they stop listening to this kind of feedback, and just keep going with filoni and the story getting dense and high context.

[@Crustyfart123]

There are a lot of casual fans who watch the mandalorian tho, and they're going heavy on continuing cartoon storylines. They could've done a better job of introducing cartoon stories to casual fans so they know what's going on

[@aliengranpa]

I love the "we are nerds" reasoning, the problem is there are A LOT of non-nerds watching this show that have no idea what's going on...or know how to put 2 and 2 together. They're the ones that scream the loudest online.

[@TheGordeaux]

​@@Crustyfart123 The problems are coming from pandering to mass audience (too much cute grogu, jack black, lizzo, dialogue that over-explains everything, etc) , imo. But yeah, i'm always up for "better" story telling prowess. We really need George back.... but I'm happy to be enjoying this season and super excited for Ahsoka and more Tales of the Jedi.

[@mitsuzune]

@@TheGordeaux I don’t think George would help much the prequels are pretty bad writing, but yeah most of the problems with this season is pandering to non Star Wars fans

[@TheGordeaux]

@@mitsuzune i love the prequels so much. george's vision of the sw universe is what intrigues me the most. i would love more than anything a version of his sequel trilogy with the midichlorians etc etc...

[@jazolisauce5374]

I honestly watch the BoB as another season of Mandalorian. Bobba is a Mandalorian, and I love the Mandalorian stories in the Clone Wars and Rebels.

[@nailinthefashion]

I think that's how it's supposed to be viewed and exactly why they wanted to confirm Grogu would be involved etcetc. All of this is connected and part of this Mandalorian saga. It's a beautiful era to be a deep fan tbh. Going back and watching Rebels has been incredible waiting for new episodes each week

[@galvanizedgnome]

It was garbage. Mando bends the knee to feminism, they absurdly kill Pas Vesla, it was lame

[@wheattoast1971]

Valid. I thought that Boba Fett would be brought in this episode. Imagine if Mando is kept with Moff Gideon and sent into hyperspace. Boba is brought in to help find Mando from his previous promise to guarantee his and Grogu’s protection. That is how we get Boba Fett Season 2. So in the trailer when we hear “You are as his father, a clan of 2,” she is talking to Boba Fett. That’s unlikely, but that could be cool. But also if they do a Boba Fett Season 2, I want it to actually have crime politics. Not the bs that Season 1 had.

[@jmejmzzz]

Brilliantly stated!☆♡☆ .. same for me, Boba was just a Mando Mini-series😊

[@5353Jumper]

I basically call Book of Bobba as Mandalorian season 2.5. Not really sure if I want Ashoka to be Mandalorian season 3.5 or not. Her character just deserves way more self agency. But really we all know the entire "Mandoverse" needs to end in a tragedy with Thrawn defeating or banishing most of our characters. And then Snoke defeating or banishing Thrawn somehow.

[@lewdini]

Enjoyed every episode so far. Love the variety of episodes and the exploration of the mandalorian culture.

[@NoraHelmer023]

The comment about how it would have been fine (and it seems like the original plan) to have Din and Grogu separated until an eventual movie doesn’t sit well with me: the found family father-son bonding is the heart of the show, the source of nearly all happy moments amid the drama and a human touch to all the greater political drama. I get how the reunion was not meant for TBOBF, but I’m not here to tread water until some movie that hasn’t even been written yet. I am just a casual, though. (I’m a Trekkie who just happened to fall in love with the Din-Grogu interactions.)

[@jeffjeezy7170]

They made a point to have Din Jarin pledge his allegiance to Bo Katan, if the Armorer betrays everyone, Din will no longer have a home with his old crew (possibly why they killed Paz off) then Din will ditch the "way" and remove his helmet. Pedro Pascal...happy.

[@zechrojas2202]

I truly hope that's the case, because if they have him remove his helmet again, it's not going to mean as much if he finds a way to redeem himself and be just another zealot. His character needs some development.

[@jeffjeezy7170]

@Zech Rojas Din said in that moment, to Bo Katan, something along the lines of "what means the most to me is honor and keeping your word" or something like that, so he would not stand for the Armorer betraying him. We don't know anyone in that group well, other than the Armorer and Paz, with no Paz and a betrayal of the Armorer, it seems possible

[@CharlotteV3D]

I kind of expect Gideon to humiliate him by doing a public forced helmet removal, and then Din being broken would be more prone to question the roots of his believes, and then TADAAA Bo would show up and give him the pep talk he needs, and he could then decide to walk her way and then we end with a happy Pedro.

[@jeffreycarman2185]

8:27 I thought that as well. It was weird that the whole reason they went to help out Nevarro was to have a place where they could live freely, but then they have just a few hours there before The Armorer tells Bo Katan to gather the Night Owls so they could retake Mandalore. That really felt weird watching the show serially and it would feel even more rushed if I were binging the show.

[@BSWVI]

Mandalore wouldn't be built in a day! My sense is that they need a base while restoring Mandalore. It's certainly not - as far as they knew - immediately easily habitable

[@ianmackenzie8027]

Yeah just like the comment said, they’re still going to be living on Nevaerro for many years, but the process of rebuilding it and making it habitable is starting. They can’t just build base on it now and go to sleep because there’s still a bunch of threats , god there’s still some sort of nuclear storm surrounding it which blocks all communication

[@bakenator7420]

Her opinion at this point is useless and means nothing. She doesn't even seem to know the lore behind anything and is just looking for a cash grab. Yes she's has decent point but listen to everything she says...even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[@RedSonya4]

LOVING season 3. I love this show, every episode.

[@eojossur4010]

I think….1) the armorer is the spy. Because of this it undermines the faction’s beliefs. So the helmets come off. 2) Gideon is taken out by Thrawn because Gideon is trying to undermine him. 3) the dark Jedi’s from Ashoka take out Gideon. 4) The Mandolorians escape Thrawn with Din.

[@dlg7842]

I think was season was good, but the story needed to be tighter. Connecting the characters and storylines and actually having a successful climax by introducing Moff Gideon. Even Paz Vizsla death didn’t give me the sadness I wanted to feel.

[@jeffreycarman2185]

For me, Paz’ death wasn’t sad because it is the dream death for a warrior zealot like him. He took out dozens of the enemy and died with his helmet on.

[@annscholl2066]

I like the comment about being surprised. This is what I like about this season - the obvious is not so and this series is great at keeping us guessing. The first series took off because of the surprise of "Baby Yoda". Kenobi chatted too much about the plot, which I think took away a bit of enjoyment of what was a pretty good show, so surprises and misdirection are good. I also love the commentary about the viewership . The latest ones show it had over 1 billion minutes watched. The latest numbers, which were midMarch, putting it at #3 the top Disney + rating and only one of two Disney + in the top ten. And that's with Disney + kids cartoons that kids rewatch constantly. I'm hoping you'll the Thrawn video up soon...loved the idea that Thrawn shows up to kill Gideon.

[@skullbook1053]

I keep hearing about the reaction to this season by "casual fans." So FYI. I recently talked to a friend who's a casual fan. She's seen the movies once each, knows nothing about the animation or the comics or Legends, and had never heard of the Mandalorians before "The Mandalorian." She's so excited about this season, she told me she finally understands why people go to Star Wars conventions, and actually wants to go to one now. Because I keep seeing commentary about this season, I asked if she had any trouble following the lore or Bo-Katan's history, and she thought it was perfectly clear! And has no problem with it being Din's show, but spending time with the larger culture and with Bo-Katan, who she loves. So, just throwing that out there.

[@zechrojas2202]

That's funny because I have friends who are casual fans who never watched the Clone Wars or Rebels and think this season is a mess. To them they don't have much invested in the character of Bo Katan, as much as we who know the lore.

[@andrewshandle]

@@zechrojas2202 This has been my experience as well, for example the Pershing episode was a huge whiff for my friends. The series has already showed that the New Republic is not equipped to handle governing the Galaxy, it didn't really need to spend so much time dealing with Pershing and the Amnesty program in an 8 episode season...especially since that episode starts with a really cool dogfight it then just pulls the rug out from under the viewer to focus on politics.

[@the_guy-1995]

Personally im loving this series of mando, im eating that plot up like fish fingers and custard, I helps that Bo Katan is one of my favourite star wars characters period and I've always just been a big fan of the mandalorians and their culture and history as a whole On top of that I'm loving the bigger picture take shape with the eventual return of thrawn one of if not the best star wars villain ever

[@Dekulink303]

Oh God not fish fingers lol

[@taraoakes6674]

Love your jumping genres there. “fish finger and custard”

[@ethanthorn6678]

I think the biggest flaw is that Din's faction of Mandalorians that follow the way do not have any history prior to this series, other than the fact that some of its members have some connection to Death Watch. The Nite Owls and Axe Wolves followers have their history, intentions, and ideals clearly mapped out in past episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels, while we don't know what drove them to such odds with the Followers of The Way, or what they were up to for all these years

[@Bryan-dr5qy]

With what Ryan said with people waiting to binge the season, I feel the same for the Sequel Trilogy (hot take I know). That is a case where speculation did cause people to judge a lot of it for what it wasn't instead of what it was trying to do.

[@jabon13]

One of the scenes I think will happen is that we’ll see the Mandalorian fleet in trouble and would be saved by the New Republic squadron come in last minute to investigate Mandalorian tie to Gidian rescue and save the fleet.

[@gr8tbigtreehugger]

Great panel! Love everyone's passion and constructiveness!

[@murrayburke7746]

You always provide insightful critique. Say “hi” to Doug. As I posted on your commentary two episodes ago, many people have lost their patience for long-form storytelling. This seems more true among those who are deeply invested in the StarWars books, comics, shows and films. They want it to go the way they think it ought to go. You overestimate many casual viewers’ need to know everything all at once. I am an O.G. episode one theater goer before we knew there was more coming. I have never read a StarWar book or comic. Perhaps older generations (boomers, Gen-X) have greater patience for storytelling in long form. We’ve not been conditioned for instant gratification by Vines (RIP) and TikTok. IMHO the most recent episode paid off in the manner I anticipated in my post two episodes ago. All the pieces are beginning to fit in place. Lots of “aha” moments. It makes the series worth rewatching…to see how everything was laid out, with clues hidden in plain sight. Those with chronic impatience deny themselves a lot of enjoyment along the way. It’s why people went back to rewatch Pulp Fiction.

[@j3ffm1s7r0]

Regarding returning Grogu early, I feel like the rumor is legitimate, because personally, I can see the majority of Grogu scenes throughout the season being replaced by K-11 or another droid. I can’t think of one scene in particular where I’m like “ OK yes this was written for Grogu”

[@BluishGnome]

Wait, what is this? Ryan being critical of a show? Color me impressed. I wish he would do this more often.

[@FelixTruvere]

I appreciate your positivity. I enjoy seeing 100 things I missed, correlations I would’ve never thought of, honest to God things that blow my mind that you must have some fantastic team working on. Every critic out there bashing this season must not watch your videos as competitors because if they did, they would really enjoy the season much more. I genuinely love your content on the Mandalorian. Thank you for complimenting everything you analyze & making this so much more fun for me.

[@slevinslevin5700]

This channel is great well done everyone involved

[@pyromd69]

Something to consider when it comes to Book of Boba Fett & Mandalorian season 3 with the "off feeling" plot points is that the Firing of Gina/cancellation of Rangers of the New Republic it tore up the planned plot of the timeline causing many of the issues some overly vocal "fans" have, it would cause many plot point to shift between BoBF & season 3 that should have had a separate show to detail/expand the world/period Filoni is creating

[@porksmush]

I think the Mythosaur rises up from the depths and takes out a huge majority of Gideons base, troops, ships, etc. in episode 8 and Din and Bo fight off Gideon and one of them gets killed and either they end up killing Gideon or maybe... just maybe Thrawn shows up and mercs Gideon himself. Seeing as they just announced who will play live action Thrawn a week ago, maybe it was to get us hyped for Ashoka but also maybe it was a hint/hidden easter egg for the finale of The Mandalorian S3.

[@therestingrancor8259]

I don't mind the show shifting to Bo. Din will be there, right by her side, (if & when they rescue him from Gideon). Grogus story won't really kick off until he is a little older. He has a couple hundred yrs, (force willing), for Grogu to come into his own❤.

[@CT-mb4uq]

When you said “all self-contained episodes that tie together”, all I could think was that the purpose of the foundling episode was to explain how the children of the watch got the birds that they served to the night owls😅😂

[@arthuratkins5902]

The idea that Grogu wasn’t intended to be in it makes sense with the way he always gets handed off.

[@SugarRushTimes2030-gs3qp]

I imagine Grogu killing Moff Gideon with the Force to save his Dad, which would leave speculation if Grogu is starting down the dark path

[@cedriceric9730]

No , refusing to use the force to kill Gideon save his dad would guarantee his turn to the dark side, That was the yodas Jedi orders worst mistake , all they had to to was save Anakin's mom legally since he already had a connection to her .... They deserved what happened to them , they sharpened the spear for their own backs Grogu , he would blame the light side for making him weak at a critical moment especially when in the guilty confusion of losing his dad

[@Talen1976]

For supposedly being badasses, the Mandalorians do some mind-boggling things. First, a few episodes ago, one of the Foundlings gets taken by the flying creature. If that wasn't bad enough, they mentioned that it happened many times before. But even worse: the Mandalorians return to their homeworld that's supposedly a barren wasteland... yet when they chase the Imperials, which was CLEARLY a trap, not even one Mandalorian bothered to wonder "Why is this newly constructed metal hallway here?" ?!?!

[@MrMuttenchop]

You're doing so much content on this season, and I keep watching it all.

[@Drew914]

Thanks for the constructive and well thought out critique. While not better than most of the last two seasons, there have been many enjoyable moments in this season, and I am definitely eager to see what's next.

[@adamsagehorn3520]

The solution to the weaker episodes of the season is not addition by subtraction and combining episode stories into longer episodes but a need for addition through addition. The Foundling could be improved by adding more content for instance on Grogru training and each training excercise triggers more memories from his past. And Guns for Hire is a mess. It is essentially three episodes cut up into bite size pieces. But I would do one episode where Bo and Din are tracking Axe and following him and his crew as they go about tracking the Mon Calamari prince until they locate them. Make it an adventure. Then a whole episode done in the Detective Noir fashion where in order to gain access to Axe, Bo and Din have a longer more dramatic detective story with a twist or two... (It was Lizzo all along). Then an episode where the politics of the Mandoloria is played out. Maybe Axe challenges Din for the Saber then Bo must challenge Axe instead of Bo getting it through Din playing lawyer. This is the fault of having 8 episodes. Just do 12. Dave Filoni is used to writing stories for longer seasons like from 12 to 24 episodes which is fine for world building episodes that still push characters, plot, and themes forward.

[@jordannorah9521]

I like how they went to classic star wars with the huge ship convoys I wish they would have had like a battle when the armorer was leaving

[@arisenpai]

25:53 you can tell that came from the heart man. So wholesome.

[@guatechapin22]

Ryan made a great point about not hating something for too long. Especially when it comes to Star Wars you end up missing what you once hated.

[@masterjiraiya224]

I think a lot of pushback is coming from andor. How great that show was I think they potentially set the bar way too high for any future Disney+ Star Wars show that may be released. I love Mandalorian season 1 and 2. Three has been up and down for me, and in all honesty it was more than cameos, and the way the season was presented, and what I mean by that is in the order of the episodes.

[@greenjebadiah]

I have loved this season. I’m glad grogu and Din are together again, it reminds me of the lone wolf and cub series with a little western flair. The only complaint I have and it’s a small one is how they’re trapped and then cut a hole in a wall to escape. It’s already been done so many times. I mean it’s even been done in this series more than once. I know, it’s like poetry and rhymes and all that, but step it up a little.

[@DayZeroGaming]

Whoever the woman is commentating did a really good job explaining her points and perspective I agree with a majority of what she had to say

[@DangerDude616]

Casual fans have all the information they need. If you have never seen any other Star Wars, you will still understand everything you need to know, just pay attention. So many of the problems I hear people having were totally explained in earlier seasons, people just don't listen to dialogue. Star Wars stories have always been told starting in the middle. You don't ever get the whole story in one sitting, that's what makes it so delicious and addictive. I don't understand why people expect to know everything instantly, it doesn't work like that. I like what Colton said about elements from unliked episodes playing an important role in the overall story. I think this is a super important thing to remember when talking about "filler" episodes.

[@tammerahanes1792]

Moff knows grogu will come after Din and thats why moff captured him. So this episode should be excellent. I want grogu to come after his dad with guns ablazing.💗💙💜😊

[@pyromd69]

*Taika Watiti voice* "YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES..."*Grogu coos*

[@kellyvalence5323]

This has been a question for me. Why capture Din. I like your explanation. My other thoughts have been that Moff wants Luke’s location or maybe to Clone Din

[@tammerahanes1792]

@@kellyvalence5323 because in season 2 moff had grogu andvdin had to rescue grogu.

[@generalkenobi9782]

Anyone else feel like the “filler” part of this season was spliced from the cancelled new republic rangers series to save costs? Not just the Pershing stuff, but they saved Navarro in one episode then IMMEDIATELY leave their new home LOL the inconsistency and pacing feels soo unnatural

[@csxanatos653]

No

[@Everton885]

I think that grogu will wield the dark saber in some way next episode. Using the force through IG-12 he can fight now instead of being a tag along. And the toys of ig12 grogu, and the dark saber or a lightsaber would be amazing to own

[@FeedYourBrainChannel]

To be honest, I thought they were just gonna pull a Duncan Idaho and just leave Paz’s fate ambiguous, implying that he died or something. But they showed him fight until the end of the episode lol.

[@shannonmoorefield6190]

I believe that the Armorer is the spy…. Who else would have forged all the armor. She also got all the remaining Mandalorians in one location. She also left them before the attack happened.

[@5353Jumper]

Except Gideon was surprised her covert took Navarro, and basically defeated his hired pirates. And they are getting their info through spying on the New Republic, not from other sources. I believe the Armorer has history with Gideon for sure, but I do not think she is currently working with him. It is more likely that the Survivor Mandalorians are working with Gideon. Gideon knew all he needed to set the trap for the Mandalorians from spying on the New Republic. The Armorer being a spy would have added nothing to the ambush.

[@bobbyrooney]

I'm still hoping she's the third Kryze sister

[@FallenGemini]

I am thinking it is Axe Woves because the Armorer is too obvious with the shows narrative

[@bobbyrooney]

@@FallenGemini I can see that

[@Codacoli]

If the armorer is a spy why was Moff Gideon surprised about the two tribes coming together? She would have told him, but he didn’t know. The armorer was the one that pushed for a united group and he wants them split. I think you fell for the misdirection.

[@bi-product]

Seeing this in a room full of Star Wars fans at Celebration was genuinely so, so amazing

[@supervega6477]

They do that?

[@ryanmac3134]

1:00 agree with this 1000%, it bothered me so much that we go from the Rebels winning to, all of a sudden it seemed, back on the ropes again? The Empire never apparently being defeated? I’m glad Mando, and some of these other series, are filling in those blanks. It’s just a shame we couldn’t have gotten all this in the movies.

[@Love.Laugh.Lorcana.]

Book of Bo Katan would have been a dope idea instead of butchering boba😂😂😂

[@jeffreycarman2185]

Yes I think they should have had a separate show for Bo Katan.

[@benjaminmaximusblessmanjr991]

Love these screen crush breakdowns

[@alexquesen8944]

loved the episode but thought they missed an opportunity: when Din gets captured Grogu should have run the glass and starting pouding on it while hitting the "NO" button in IG12 - would have broken me up!

[@matthewlandrus4285]

I also thought that Grogu ditched Din a bit too easily. Like, he force choked Cara, levitated the mudhorn, ran to get Bo last time they were on this planet, and just splits this time.

[@lopaka76]

Season 3 is the conclusion to 1 & 2. It is like The Sting, the long (con) overall story arc. Season 4 will be a new start.

[@schools6555]

I'm definitely suspicious of the Armorer. I just think it was awfully convenient that she left the others to take the injured to the fleet just before the "It's A Trap" ambush moment. I hope I'm wrong.

[@Oleus]

Ax Woves is pretty sus too. He fled during the ambush under the pretense they needed reinforcement and he was the one who fought Paz Vizla, a guy that turned out to be a true hero in the end.

[@60degreelobwedge82]

The armourer is the whole reason they are back on Mandalore. Gideon was upset to learn the mandalorians were headed back there. It's definitely not her. She is going to save the day. I think it has to be Axe Woves: he didn't show up to fight Gideon in season 2, he led the mutiny against Bo Katan and took her fleet and turned the army she raised to retake Mandalore into mercenaries, he bailed at first sight of the ambush.

[@nailinthefashion]

​@@60degreelobwedge82 I'm hoping that wasn't part of the plan though. What better way to make it seem like she's on the right side. Spies don't always play everything to their own favor, sometimes they have to have faith in the ambush, to act surprised etc. What I would hate would be her to just take off her helm and swap sides. I need to see her remain a pillar of Mandalorian history, ride or at least see the Mythosaur and make more armor.

[@60degreelobwedge82]

@@Oleus Yes, Axe seems like the one person on the team who is trying to break up the union of the 2 factions. If anyone should be offended by the other, it would be the ultra orthodox children of the watch. Axe was also the first person to remove his helmet in front of them. It was like they had been told not to but he did it anyways to cause tension and others followed. And where was he going for reinforcements? The armorer took the ship, was he going to jetpack all the way back to the cruiser?

[@schools6555]

@@60degreelobwedge82 makes sense l, I hope you're right!

[@WoolyNips]

Kathleen should have been removed after TLJ. The fact she has been able to stay in power for this long after all the mishandling of a multibillion dollar IP, boggles my mind. Just like with sports teams, after a terrible season. They clean house…

[@zechrojas2202]

I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan and I've seen them have bad seasons without cleaning house. Some organizations are just run poorly unfortunately. Disney Star Wars apparently is no exception.

[@ChrisKrumbKrattboiuwu245]

I agree, but at least we have John and Dave🤷.

[@nailinthefashion]

As if most people in Hollywood deserve their position and aren't there bc of influence, power, luck, nepotism etcetc hahahahahahaha Kathleen will stay there til something extreme happens

[@TheQuincyEdwards]

Agreed, but they still made multi-billions off of failures, so there’s no incentive to do better or hire someone else. Failing upwards, so to speak.

[@MiningForPies]

Imagine producing a movie that pulls in $1.3 billion and being called a failure. Have you ever kissed a girl son?

[@tonyhood3617]

Your videos are very helpful as a causal fan of Star Wars...Great work!

[@Goldie_Roger]

4:40 That's why it's better we didn't know. We didn't need tension between Bo and Din. Their relationship is heartwarming because we're seeing it from the perspective of Din Djarin, and he has no anger towards the other Mandalorians. The only tension was when he thought they weren't real Mandalorians and might have stolen their armor by murdering the real Mandalorians (or even if it wasn't murder, he believes only Mandos should be allowed to keep beskar) He takes his creed seriously, but he's never pushed it on others... well, except for the beskar thing.

[@qcrew2938]

Yes Ryan's doing a review!!!! SAID NO ONE EVER

[@KingCobraLolcow]

This season has been really good for me. S1 was a 10/10 s2 9.5/10 and s3 8.4/10

[@lucaskutch9572]

“Beskar golf club”😂😂😂😂😂 I died

[@stephenjones2751]

Fantastic review from all 3 of you !!! One question, What is Ryan drinking from that Huge Mug? It looks like water.........But Is It ?

[@saschaberger3212]

"toxic fans try to find a way to hate K.K." ok bye

[@zechrojas2202]

Exactly. People are acting like we don't have legitimate criticisms about how season 3 and Star Wars overall has been handled.

[@Scrapluv]

@@zechrojas2202 Are you self-describing as a toxic fan? If not, why do you think they are referring to you specifically?

[@saschaberger3212]

@@Scrapluv because every criticism gets depicted as toxic nowadays

[@Scrapluv]

@@saschaberger3212 thats not true. I've seen criticism of projects and Kennedy that have been part of good discussions, and I've seen all the other bad faith takes and garbage. If you've been part of the later, then maybe you might be toxic. There was criticism in this video that you seemed to dismiss.

[@MoviesRemastered]

Too little, too late. I have zero emotion investment in the season by this point.

[@lindajacobs7971]

Always enjoy your videos, loads of information, and love Star Wars, some parts more than others!

[@thomasoverpeck9472]

In Chapter 1 Kuiil tells Din “You are a Mandalorian! Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur. Surely you can ride this young foal.” Foreshadowing?

[@Matt-nw2te]

🤬 casual fans. This season has been epic

[@KadenStaab]

There has to be a balance between making the casuals and diehards happy. Can’t get too complicated for the casuals to stick around but also can’t be too lazy for your diehards that know better. Whether us diehards like it or not we need the casuals to stick around so Disney/Lucas Film continues to give us product.

[@jakevansilfhout5464]

Maybe we'll see Grogu use the darksaber, he could now handle it via IG12. Imagine Grogu sitting on the back of a Mythasaur in his IG12 mech holding the dark saber.

[@johnsechrist1602]

I want Grogu to wield three or four Lightsabers.... "Hello there, Moff Gideon. You have something I want."

[@adamloverin231]

I just like the banter between you three. Hate, love the season, whatever. Watching you guys talk about it was dope. Algorithm up.

[@dudefromtheearth]

I valued this discussion. I felt once this season is all said and done a good rewatch is good for those who have watched every episode each week. I plan to go back to the first season and start from there all the way back to this season. Ryan you definitely made a great point about how Star Wars gets better with time and how we all can find this cool space fantasy actually relatable in some way which is what has made it so special to so many fans.

[@polaroidd1306]

I think it’s the opposite the casual fans love it, it’s the fandom that doesn’t, I liked it

[@BigChadTheMadLad]

Random observation here, Colton looks like one of the Monarch's main henchmen from the Venture Brothers. Season 2 episode 1 you see the henchman without his mask and some reason that's what I see as I watch Colton on screen.

[@murphybegood]

Really heartened to read a lot of comments on the video pushing back at the criticism of season 3.

[@agitadora60]

I've said this in previous videos similar to this one: I'm convinced that this show is not made for casual/first time viewers. Probably accounts for the low viewership. The "Baby Yoda" crowd got bored without the cute puppet and left. This old timer has been enjoying the show immensely.

[@mrvoltar]

I don't think you need to worry about Bo Katan being revealed in this show, she's pretty much become a 'The Mandalorian" character and her origin is really mostly revealed in this show. I think we're more likely to get a Leia cameo than Grogu with a lightsaber, btw.

[@twocool2trip229]

This season made me go start to watch Clone Wars so I can start to understand all of these characters. Brilliant!!

[@SighManP]

I am not a Star Wars nerd - I have not read the books, I never watched Rebels (So I guess I’m a “normie”). But I understand The Mandalorian - and if folks (normies?) don’t understand it then they’re either not paying attention (serves you right for watching a show whilst scrolling instagram) or they’re just thick. Ultimately this discussion should really be a non-question

[@cardyceps7728]

Personally, I was sad from the fact that when they visited that droid bar, Mando didn’t even think of asking these droids for help in finding the missing parts. My dream was for the team to find a deactivated basilisk droid in an old museum on Mandolore and somehow fuse it with IG 11

[@Timkunkle77]

Grogu rides mythosaur. Bo dies. Din picks up darksaber. Gideon has mauls saber. Din fights Gideon with mauls saber.

[@troubleondemand7703]

I think the problem they may have with integrating the episodes into each other by cutting back and forth to the different plot beats of the different factions, is that all the episodes have different directors, which would make it difficult continuity-wise.

[@rezaerfani776]

If it’s true that we will be heart broken, there is only one thing that can do this: Din Djarin dies and/or Grogu’s eyes turn yellow trying to protect Din. Gideon didn’t need another spy to attack the Mandalorians. After the first 10 minutes he expected them.

[@renelimas333]

EXACTLY Ryan we should focus on what this show has given us, expanding Star Wars, making sense of the sequels, the actions scenes and gad damn the vx effects, there is not one single show in marvel, dc, etc. that gives this quality, and yes the script sometimes disappoint but that is when you go so far to notice the mistakes.

[@bradleyjenkins2271]

I always wait for a series to finish to binge I hate cliffhangers mid season it’s infuriating waiting a whole week for more I hope it’s not a bad way to watch it, it’s just how I always watch my things

[@iKingdomTV]

Ryan is my favorite KZbinr, and I understand the movie/filmmaking approach to his thoughts even though I know he loves these shows. However, as another commenter said, we are nerds. We read the legends novels and comics, we’ve been deep diving in Star Wars for decades, and now we have guys who are just like us that grew up in SW and are expanding the story just like we would as kids with creative control. Me and my brother used to imagine what we would do or expand the story in our own minds for after episode 6 and come up with stuff all the time. We’d role play on Star Wars video games as if it was in a different era. So I like the deep context that these shows require us to have for a full viewing experience.

[@ethanthorn6678]

Maybe I'm a more keen Star Wars fan, but for me it was always common knowledge that the division of Mandalorians, from the creation of Death Watch during the Clone Wars until Moff Gideon destroyed Mandalore during the reign of the Empire, was very clear as soon as Bo-Katan, Axe Wolves and Koska Reeves met Din expressed their differences and distaste with him.

[@Katnkits]

I get my background from all you guys to fill me in. I didn’t watch any of the animated shows or Andor. I did listen to the reviews. That’s just me. I still love the show.

[@maleekgeechi7960]

Can't wait to see Bo ride the mythosaur to save Mando n his ppl with the help of Gorgu ❤❤

[@adamlee1821]

Paused at 5 seconds to comment on the title. “Was a Great Episode Worth The Wait”. !!!!!! That is the most glass half empty title I’ve ever read 😂

[@EvolvedWizard]

Who's protecting Plazir-15 and Nevarro now!? Also, I can forgive everything if we can get a flashback scene or three or maybe an episode devoted to Grogu's training with Luke.

[@cheeseburger347]

There’s a cottage industry around criticizing Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney at large. I love ScreenCrush and watch it regularly. While this content is entertaining and fun to discuss, I think studios generally taking advice from “fans” goes terribly because they are fickle and often misdiagnose what makes something good. Whether they are casual or deep fans doesn’t matter. No fan base asked for Andor or micromanaged it via Twitter outrage. The studio just let a great storytelling team run with what they do best and it was freaking amazeballs. It showed a wider group of viewers the deep potential SW continues to have. My parents are total trekkies and know nothing about SW outside the original trilogy and they have been hooked on Mando and Bad Batch. A good story is a good story is a good story regardless of how much someone knows about the lore. This is true in Tolkien, Potter, Dune, Thrones, and so many other fantasy novels. Over analyzing is only fun after the fact. If you over analyze while you watch, it kills all the fun. Sometimes you just have to shut up and listen lol. I hear video essayists and pop journalists discuss this all the time how what they do diminishes their ability to enjoy media (ScreenCrush, Like Stories of Old, Radio 1 Screentime etc). Of course I’m gonna keep watching ScreenCrush but you gotta compartmentalize a lil and enjoy the ride.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

I've enjoyed most of the season, but as much as I like having Grogu, I really would have preferred that he continued his arc of training under Luke. For one thing, it would have given Din a better opportunity to grow into his Mandalorian journey without the crutch of his "cute puppet sidekick". And even more, Grogu going with Luke felt like a great way to expand and connect the different parts of the SW universe, and to better honor the OG characters and give them a place in our current SW.

[@RAKKAR7]

Could have made it more of an adventure for Grogu to get back to Din. Not another storyline where Grogu gets caught but one where there's some obstacles to overcome.

[@jleisner1974]

Using Family Guy to pull a Family Guy was *chef's kiss*