Disney+’s The Mandalorian is short in length, yet has recaptured the Star Wars mystique and created intrigue as to how Friday’s “Chapter 3” will unfold.
Through two episodes, what we do know is the titular character is a bounty hunter. He’s found an extremely expensive target, but has taken the child under his wing.
“Baby Yoda” is a 50-year-old infant who has Force capabilities shown in last week’s episode, which was certainly awesome. Although we at SNIPdaily have bold predictions for The Mandalorian as a show overall, here are some for this week’s “Chapter 3.”
The Client reveals bounty motives
This doesn’t sound super bold, yet little has been revealed about Werner Herzog’s motives. It’d be good for the show to ramp that momentum up, especially with such short run times.
It’s unclear how Herzog’s Client knew of the existence of Yoda’s species. Why did he initially request the “child” be taken in alive, only to give way to the pragmatic possibility of termination?
What does a bounty hunting overseer want with baby Yoda of a species unidentified? Does he know about the child’s Force sensitivity?
Answers to these questions will arrive in bunches. The story has to move beyond a slow burn at this point. It feels like the Mandalorian will reluctantly return to his client with the baby, more to avoid a bounty being placed on his head than anything else. And also to seek answers.
Sub-predictions for this bit: The Client is on special orders from a yet-to-be-revealed superior who knew Yoda had a child while in exile between Episodes III and IV of the film saga. He was offered a king’s ransom from this mysterious party to track down the son.
Mando meets new mercenaries
Expect Gina Carano’s Cara Dune and Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) to play big parts in this Friday’s entry.
Given her experience as a mixed martial artist, Carano shouldn’t be sidelined much longer. Gideon’s backstory as a former Imperial governor should paint a better picture of where the galaxy is politically.
It’ll be interesting to see what his deal is, because his allegiances could really go anywhere at this point. Check out this quote from Esposito about his character in an Entertainment Weekly feature:
“He’s an Imperial remnant of a very fine officer who then switches to become sort of the guardian of the people…But what does [Moff Gideon] really want? This guy is going to be a big player because he has an idea of how to keep order.”
EW.com
Deborah Chow is directing “Chapter 3” of The Mandalorian. She has director’s credit on the seventh episode as well. Her work on the series earned her the showrunner’s gig for Disney+’s in-development Obi-Wan series.
All this is to say, Chow must have done great work advancing this story to merit such trust. That means key parts of the core cast — along with more of Carl Weathers’ bounty hunter guild leader, Greef Karga — we haven’t seen yet must be introduced in this latest chapter.
Baby Yoda uses the Force again
The Force is strong with this little one. When the Mando was fighting a giant creature in “Chapter 2: The Child,” Baby Yoda used the Force to suspend the attacker and saved Mando’s life.
But the effort took a lot of energy out of our green friend. The baby was fast asleep after those heroic actions. With a little time to rest up, though, Baby Yoda’s Force abilities should be on full display again in Chapter 3.
Those powers raised too many questions that need answering sooner rather than later. Baby Yoda can’t go from insane Force telekinesis to sitting on the sidelines for an entire episode.
To get a little more specific about this projection: Baby Yoda will either aid Mando’s escape from The Client and his underlings, or help the titular character and his allies in a firefight…
Stormtrooper shootout is main set piece
Which brings us to this prediction. Stormtroopers still dressed in Imperial uniform have been lurking.
In the pilot episode, they nearly shot off at the Mandalorian. However, they haven’t seen any real combat action yet. That’s about to change in “Chapter 3.”
Given how tricky the story has been to track so far, it’s bold to say what the climax of the episode will be. Nevertheless, this seems like a fitting way to showcase all the bounty hunter characters being awesome at their jobs.
Plus, the audience can get behind this surge, even from our morally ambiguous protagonist. No one likes the Stormtroopers. They’re still remnants of the Empire and thus are the bad guys.
As was teased at the top of this section: this is another awesome opportunity for Baby Yoda to use the Force.
Cliffhanger: A return to…Dagobah!?
Wait, what?! How awesome would this be? Dagobah is a remote world. It’s not out of the question it’d be somewhat near where Mando has been wandering.
It’s a swampy world shrouded in the Dark Side of the Force — at least in that pit/cave Luke Skywalker enters in The Empire Strikes Back. Dagobah may also be the baby’s home world, if it’s Yoda’s offspring.
This is an ideal spot for the Mandalorian to hide out from Imperialists. What helps, too, is this is a major setting from what’s widely believed to be the best Star Wars movie.
The Mandalorian could capitalize on that good ole’ nostalgia in “Chapter 3” by going here. It’d be a shocking twist to boot, not to mention a potentially illuminating excursion.
Bringing someone of Yoda’s species into this new TV series creates a reason to revisit Dagobah. It’d probably be too dangerous to visit any of the old Jedi digs, and wouldn’t make much sense for Mando to do anyway. Dagobah, on the other hand, seems like a suitable destination for this gritty show.