Thrawn confirmation likely means Ezra is around somewhere, although I expect that will be the plot of Filoni's next show.

Also, there's Cal Kestis and Cere Junda, who are both very easy because their char models are literally just Cameron Monaghan and Debra Wilson.

There is The Bendu (not a Jedi), and very possibly Yaddle (because she peaced out before the Clone Wars). I don't think Quinlan Voss is dead either.

I'm betting on Yaddle, with Tython being the "Yoda" species homeworld. Or maybe no one answers the call. Maybe Grogu chooses to be a Mando.

 

Headpiece gave off a bad cosplay vibe, tbh. And the fighting looked a bit… sluggish, I suppose? But other than that, yeah, she absolutely nailed it performance-wise. A very good (re-)introduction for the character.

And I did indeed spot Morai. But that shot was absolutely set up for it.

Rumour is that R2D2 appears in the background of some concept art as well as in the corresponding shot in the episode, but I haven’t gone back to check that.

 

If they were trying to manipulate me into feeling happy just by mentioning Thrawn, they were successful.

I just have a lot of fun watching this show.

 

The Mandalorian is better at Star Wars than the $200 million/per blockbusters they called sequels. I really hope they keep as much distance from the sequels as possible. I can see them offering a few explanations for things to fill plot holes left in those movies, but I’d rather the Mandalorian just go forward as if it’s the true successor to the original trilogy and prequels.

 

Just finished today's episode, and I really liked it, but I've gotta say. Dawson and lightsabers don't seem to mix very well. Her choreography with the laser swords really didn't do it for me; it was really stilted and awkward and didn't seem to have any kind of flow to it. It just didn't seem like she was at all comfortable with the motions she was trying to perform and it made it kinda painful to watch.

 

Having practiced some saber twirls myself, I can empathize with her. Just doing the ObiAni is really pretty difficult. They're going to need to bring in the big budget melee choreographers from the movies if we're to have more live action shows with sabers.

 

ObiAni spin is very gettable if you have a good long stick. I can't imagine the show didn't have a choreographer who had it down do being able to do it in their sleep.

 

Finally caught up.

theory: thrawn is the big bad of the series.

grogu reaches out.

Erza shows up to train him.

 

Ryan Watson is their lead stunt coordinator / action choreographer. He's great, but he is very much a hand to hand martial artist, with little experience doing saber choreography. He mainly does Kali (which largely explains why Ahsoka is doing overhead and side swings nonstop).

Assistant and second unit choreographers have never done heavy sword focused movies as far as I can tell. Looking at their profiles they are very clearly just Hollywood stunt guys.

Joe Perez did some mo cap for Force Unleased, but it seems like none of them have ever worked on a big Star Wars property until Mando.

I would fully expect them to bring back Nick Gillard for an Ahsoka show, as he penned most of the lightsaber "forms", or at least hire another equivalent swordmaster.

 

Cal Kestis, or Kyle Katarn

 

This is way more research than I would care to put into following a show lol (and I don't even watch this one). I just expected that Disney=money to hire choreographers. Yes, sequels suck but saber swinging looked good, esp in TFA.

 

I’d love Cal, but I think Katarn is too “EU” for mandalorian.

but yeh. Cal or Erza are my bets if they go Jedi right.

one other thing on sabers, the lack of color. They look like white beams rather than blue lightsabers.

 

Ahsoka had white lightsabers in Rebels. I assume she's still using the same ones.

Personally I would prefer if Baby Yoda decided to be a Mando instead.

 

I don't think we'll be seeing Kyle in Mando without first establishing him in another series. Rewriting major legends chars like Kyle and Mara Jade to fit snuggly into disney canon is too big of a task to do in a single episode or two.

Ahsoka's Rebels era sabers are supposed to be white. She purified the crystals in a pair of yellow jedi temple guard sabers. Intended symbolism (i.e. her detachment from the Jedi, and her connection/lifebond to the Daughter).

.... I may or may not have gotten her white saber crystal from Galaxy's Edge. And it may or may not be the coolest thing I've ever owned.

 

Pretty great episode. Only problem I have is the fight choreography was meh and I really don't enjoy Jedi fighting on equal footing with none force users especially one on one.

I get that they want to make vanilla humans relevant but Ahsoka is on Darth Maul level and her not beating the shit out of a regular human with a spear is pretty lame could she not just ragdoll the shit out of her with force powers etc.

Also have only watched parts of Clone Wars but didn't Ahsoka give up on the path of a Jedi yet she did not correct anyone when they called her one.

Have they changed that in Rebels or some crappy tie in book?

 

I somewhat agree with force user vs mook. Ahsoka should dick very nearly everyone at this point, unless she's spent decades on her ass reading and meditating. And she might have! But that's boring. We still need stakes and the stakes of The Mandalorian are very much in the non-galaxy-crusher-more-personal-tier.

As an aside, I can't decide whether or not I love

Spoiler

the name Grogu

or hate it

Also, Rosario Dawson nailed the aesthetic and I'm not mad at all there other than that I wish the 'horns' were bigger. That moment where she made a gesture and a sound with the force to distract the mooks was **chef's kiss**. She was the ghost in the fog and it was beautiful.

And @Arthellion yes.
They're supposed to be white.

 

Rebels era Ahsoka definitely should've wrecked this Elsbeth chick without effort. Perhaps we can chalk it up to honor code and wanting to go easy so she could get her questions answered.

 

Only things that pissed me off was that Mando called lightsabers 'laser swords' and wasn't corrected by Ahsoka. Don't know why Disney wants them called that but it just sounds awful. And I agree on the fight with the magistrate. Should have been a stomp. Perhaps she's limiting her force usage to hide or something, who knows.


Other than that, great episode.

 

I mean, Thrawn being a thing in The Mandalorian is cool, but I'm really curious about the canonization of Tython. There's been a lot of speculation over the past few years about whether or not KotOR and SW:tOR will be canonized or not, and considering how important Tython is to The Old Republic's storyline, I'm curious to see if they start tying the EU lore for the planet into the series. Which would be interesting, 'cause as far as I can remember, Tython's lore from the EU directly contradicts some of the new lore established in the sequel trilogy (mostly about the origins of the Jedi and the location of the "First Jedi Temple").

But I'm prepared to be disappointed in that regard. I was all hyped up a few episodes back when they fought the Krayt Dragon, thinking that they might enter it's lair afterwards and see the Rakatan Star Map off in a dusty corner of the cave or something. Didn't happen, obviously, so I'm trying to be a little more cautious with my optimism.

 

Gosh, you can’t just ask someone why their saber is white.

but interesting and good to know. Still looked more like baseball bats than a lightsaber though.