The Mandalorian, Season 3 – Chapter 17: The Apostate

Luca Fontana

1/3/2023

Translation: Katherine Martin

Precisely two years, two months and 13 days after the last instalment, my episode analyses of The Mandelorian are back with a vengeance. Let’s get the ball rolling with Chapter 17: The Apostate.

First off, let me be clear: this is an episode analysis with spoilers included! After all, I’ll be discussing the episode’s best WTF moments and Easter eggs. With this in mind, make sure you watch «The Mandalorian – Chapter 17: The Apostate» before reading on.

The sound of metal being hammered in the dark. Then flames – blue flames casting their light on the cold rock faces of a cave. Inside the cave, there’s The Armorer, leader of the Tribe, part of the Children of the Watch. With stoic calm, she hammers a piece of metal, carefully holds it into the blue flames, hammers it again, and finally cools it in ritually purified water. Her creation? A new helmet designed to hide a foundling’s face from the eyes of those in the galaxy far, far away, forever. All this to follow the Way of Mand’alor, the orthodox Mandalorians’ moral code.

This is the way.

The Night of a Thousand Tears

Barely two seconds in, the latest chapter of The Mandalorian makes me feel right at home. Unsurprising, seeing as it invites us into a cave on a beach, where the Children of the Watch are initiating new members in a ceremonial ritual. Attendees are few and far between. In fact, the Children are among the survivors of a dying species. The Great Purge left their home planet of Mandalore, desolate and uninhabitable.

The culprit? The Empire, which felt compelled to act when faced with the growing threat posed by the brave, warrior-like Mandalorians. Barely a soul survived the Night of a Thousand Tears. Among those spared were the Children, an orthodox group of religious zealots already hiding on the Mandalore moon of Concordia. What was once a group of outcasts in the days long before Episode IV: A New Hope is all that remains of Mandalore’s indomitable pride nine years after the fall of the Empire.

Back to the episode. The initiation ceremony is disrupted by a giant lizard-like beast. The Mandalorians fight doggedly, but to no avail. The creature is too strong. Fortunately, at that exact moment, the hero of the series shows up: Din Djarin, the apostate, who gives the episode its title. For his N-1 starfighter, the critter is easy prey. Triumphantly, the ship descends to the sound of Ludwig Göransson’s now-iconic music. Accompanying Djin Djarin on board is Grogu, the Force-sensitive child.

Now, the season can truly begin.

A journey into the unknown

The battle lines are quickly drawn: if Din Djarin is to win back his place among the Children, he has to earn it. After all, in Season 2, he removed his helmet in front of other living creatures, revealing his face – a gross violation of the Way of the Mand’alore. He has one way to make amends: on Mandalore, the purportedly contaminated planet. If Djarin manages to bathe in the Living Waters below the Mines of Mandalore, his expulsion from the group will be revoked. Djarin actually has a green crystal inscribed with Mandalorian writing. Salvaged by a traveller who sold it to Jawas, it’s said to have come from the surface of Mandalore. The crystal was then sold on to Djarin.

Could this mean Mandalore isn’t contaminated after all? Bo-Katan Kryze already implied something along these lines in Chapter 11: The Heiress. Heiress to the Mandalore throne, Bo-Katan is one of the few surviving Mandalorians who doesn’t belong to the Children of the Watch. Djarin’s journey continues.

Hyperspace. An alternate dimension that can only be reached by moving through space at the speed of light or faster. Djarin and Grogu do this regularly when they travel the galaxy. But then something out-of-the-ordinary happens.

Something strange.

It was during the High Republic Era about 500 years ago that hyperspace was first explored in order to catalogue the Outer Rim Territories. The thing is, no one understood it. Even later, during the Imperial Era, hyperspace was still considered a mysterious place, where space and time played by incomprehensible rules. The only thing we know with any degree of certainty is that it was the Rakata, a long-extinct ancient species who lived 25,000 years ago, who originally discovered hyperspace. Apparently, they were inspired by creatures so rare that, even today, their existence is considered a fairytale: purrgils. Gigantic and whale-like, these beings had tentacles and a seemingly impossible natural ability to travel through hyperspace.

As Grogu looks out of his dome in the N-1 starfighter, he sees just that in the shimmering blue-white of hyperspace: the dark silhouettes of several purrgils. Holy shit!

What we’re seeing here is probably the beginning of the thread that will accompany us through The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, a series also set to be released this year. Where it’ll lead us? To Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn.

You’ll remember that when the Galactic Empire was at the height of its power just before Episode IV: A New Hope, it was tactical genius Thrawn who was calling the shots militarily, despite the Emperor being the one to rule. In an act of self-sacrifice, Padawan Ezra manages to catapult himself and Thrawn into hyperspace and the Unknown Regions with the help of the purrgils. Ezra and Thrawn have been missing ever since. Years later, when the Empire has fallen and the galaxy seems to have been saved, ex-Jedi Ahsoka and Mandalorian Sabine Wren set off in the direction of the Unknown Regions. Their goal? To find Ezra Bridger and bring him home. This was prompted by Ahsoka finally discovering the first clues hinting at Ezra and Thrawn’s whereabouts in Chapter 13: The Jedi.

That’s the droid I’m looking for

Touchdown on Nevarro. A lot has happened here since the city made its first appearance in Season 1 of The Mandalorian. The run-down, dirty, crumbling buildings are gone; the oppressive Empire defeated. Nevarro is now a resplendent white, with a thriving economy and residents who live comfortable lives. All thanks to Greef Karga, who’s now risen to High Magistrate. Once an agent of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, he used to give out bounties, including to Din Djarin. These days, the two men are fast friends.

But Djarin isn’t here to shoot the breeze about old times. The Mandalorian needs the help of the only droid in the universe he trusts: IG-11. In Season 1, the bounty droid was hired to hunt Grogu. He was then captured and reprogrammed by Kuiil, an Ugnaught who was once a mechanic for the Empire. Instead of killing Grogu, he became his protector. In the end, the droid even sacrificed himself for Djarin and Grogu in Chapter 8: Redemption. On Nevarro itself, in fact. That’s exactly why Djarin is there: to travel to Mandalore with IG-11 – and IG-11 only. Djarin distrusts all other droids; before he made his way to the Children of the Watch as a foundling, his parents were killed by Separatist droids.

The problem is, IG-11 blew himself up during his self-sacrifice. Anzellans, hamster-sized aliens that make particularly good mechanics, are the only ones capable of fixing him. We got our first glimpse of the creatures in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Their lovely little appearance in The Mandalorian, which takes place decades before the feature film, is exceedingly funny. Repairing IG-11, however, requires a spare part that’s no longer made. Djarin moves on, probably filling out his quest log with something along the lines of «Find spare part for IG-11» somewhere between «Go for a dip on Mandalore», «What am I supposed to do with the Darksaber?» and «Get rid of the pirates».

Speaking of pirates…

Yo Ho! A Pirate’s Life for Me!

Of course, things don’t go smoothly on Nevarro either. A group of pirates are stirring up trouble there, led by a Weequay who calls himself Vane. A fitting name, given the most famous pirate in the Star Wars franchise, Hondo Ohnaka, is also a Weequay. He made his first appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, before being given an even more significant role in Star Wars: Rebels. Both animated series were created by The Mandalorian co-writer Dave Filoni. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Hondo Ohnaka were given his live-action debut in this third season.

Correction, 6 March 2023: Vane is, of course, a Nikto, not a Weequay. Thanks @elsilvan :-).

Until that happens, the current pirates are pursuing Din Djarin through the asteroid belt above Nevarro. Not that they stand a chance in their R-41 Starchasers. With his N-1 starfighter, Djarin shoots down one pirate after the other in true Star Wars style. That is, until he’s suddenly confronted with a huge, captured Hammerhead corvette, captained by pirate king Gorian Shard, who looks like a cross between a Swamp Thing from the DC comics and Atroix from Halo.

When I look very closely, however, I think I can make out a Lasat. I’m not certain of it; this would be the first live-action version of a Lasat. Until now, we’ve only seen them in Star Wars: Rebels, most famously represented by Garazeb «Zeb» Orrelios, whose design is rooted in Ralph McQuarrie’s first, very early concept drawings of Chewbacca. So there you have it. What was once meant for Episode IV: A New Hope has ended up in a live-action Star Wars more than 40 years on.

Meanwhile, Djarin escapes the pirate king with ease thanks to his N-1 starfighter. Nevertheless, I highly doubt we’ve seen the last of Gorian Shard.

Queen of my castle

Last stop: Kalevala, a planet in the Mandalore system and home to the ruling house of Kryze, which Bo-Katan, heiress to the throne, is descended from. Djarin is there to join Bo-Katan’s group and help her rebuild Mandalore. Exactly as Bo-Katan had planned in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. All she needed was the legendary Darksaber. Only then would the few remaining Mandalorians scattered throughout the galaxy join her.

Why? Because wielding the Darksaber would make her Mand’alor. Not only is this a legendary figure of the Mandalorian people, but it’s also an awe-inspiring title befitting of a leader of militant Mandalorians. Over a thousand years ago, Tarre Vizsla held it too and was simultaneously the first Mandalorian to be inducted into the Jedi Order. According to legend, it was he who forged the Darksaber: a black-bladed lightsaber filled with dark energy, which can even withstand Jedi lightsabers. The fate of the Mand’alor has been closely intertwined with the Darksaber’s ever since: whoever wields it carries the symbol of Mandalorian power and therefore leads the Mandalorian people.

But Bo-Katan doesn’t have the saber. Din Djarin does. He won it in a duel with the evil imperial Moff Gideon, who seized the weapon during the Great Purge. Of course, Djarin would give the sword to Bo-Katan. If tradition didn’t state that the Darksaber could only be passed on after a duel to the death. So as long as Bo-Katan doesn’t stab Djarin, her brother in arms, in the back, the other Mandalorians won’t follow her. At the same time, Djarin has no interest in leading the Mandalorians because his orthodox clan, of all groups, seems to be the only one that doesn’t give a damn about the Darksaber.

It’s a stalemate. One that leaves Bo-Katan sitting depressed on the throne of House Kryze, with no group for Djarin to join. So for now, he seems to be on his own. Yet again. As they say,

This is the way.

How did you like the first episode? Have I missed any Easter eggs? Let me know in the comments. I’ll be back with an episode analysis of Chapter 18 next Wednesday. I, for one, can hardly wait.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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