Fans of the TV series in which Pedro Pascal plays a lone wolf traveling through a dangerous landscape with a child with supernatural abilities will be rewarded in the coming weeks. As Pascal’s powerful stint as Joel on HBO’s The Last of Us continues with new weekly episodes, he returns for season 3 of the Disney+ show set to Star Wars galaxy. The latest installment of The Mandalorian coming after its season 2 finale in December 2020. “Chapter 17: The Apostate” featured Din Djarin (Pascal) back with Grogu in a season premiere that did a decent job of getting the ball rolling.
The episode opens with a Mandalorian initiation ceremony. It’s a fascinating look at Mandalorian culture, re-introducing us to the group. Unfortunately, the start is cut short by a giant creature attacking them, and they all have to fight. Din Djarin and Grogu arrive to save the day, which probably has many scratching their heads. Those who watched the season 2 finale remember its emotional ending where Djarin and Grogu part ways, with Grogu to be with Luke Skywalker and learn the ways of the Force. The series culminated in this, with Grogu learning to become a Jedi and parting ways with Djarin.
However, here we are in the next episode, where the two meet again. Those who watch The Book of Boba Fett find out how they get along. However, choosing to change the emotional weight of the end of season 2 to the premiere of season 3, with the gap bridged by a different TV show, was a bad decision. Years from now, when fans have fun The Mandalorian, jumping from seasons 2 to 3 was the most amazing experience. He was gone in season 2 and back in season 3 with no explanation.
Djarin seeks redemption for removing his helmet by traveling to Mandalore and proving the existence of the mines and Living Waters. He reunites with Greef Karga, the new High Magistrate of Navarro, and they deal with some pirates. Djarin asks to resurrect IG-11 (Taika Waititi), the transformed droid who sacrificed himself at the end of season 1. Unfortunately, the attempt goes awry because IG-11 defaults to its original programming and tried to kill Grogu. They brought the remains of IG-11 to the Anzellans, the same species Babu Frik came from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This leads to some hilarious antics with Djarin and Grogu, who are back in full force as an unlikely duo.
This leads to an asteroid field chase sequence between Djarin and some pirates. While the scene is exciting, nothing can reach the height of the asteroid field chase from The Empire is back. There is more fear and tension in that scene, while this scene is fun to watch. Finally, Djarin arrives and meets Bo-Katan, who has no Darksaber and abandons his plans to reclaim Mandalore with his forces dissolved. It’s not fun to see a beloved character in such a low state, but hopefully, the show will take him to more places.
After Bo-Katan tells Djarin the location of the mines, the episode ends on a bad note. This is the weakest of the three season premieres, with the season 1 premiere ending with Grogu’s introduction and the season 2 premiere ending with Boba Fett’s reintroduction. This episode didn’t do much wrong, but it didn’t do anything we haven’t seen before Star Wars. Instead, we have antagonistic pirates, space battles, and stand-offs. While it’s nice to be back in a galaxy far, far away, season 3 needs a more compelling story and hook to keep viewers watching.
SCORE: 6/10
As ComingSoon policy review explains, a score of 6 equals “Decent.” It fails to reach its full potential and is a run-of-the-mill experience.