Recap and Review of The Mandalorian, S1.E3: Chapter Three “The Sin”

We were spoiled during the first week of The Mandalorian‘s release schedule. Episode one on a Tuesday and episode two on a Friday was a dream compared to the week-long breaks we have between episodes now!

But, at the same time, it gives us a week to circle around our various water coolers and gush about what we saw and speculate about what’s to come. The internet aboundeth with posts making all sorts of guesses concerning the future of the narrative as well as highlighting this or that piece of lore or history.

And we love it all! (Heck, we play along, too.)

Recap of The Mandalorian, S1.E3: Chapter Three “The Sin”

A holo of Greef Carga praises Mando for completing the mission and instructs him to deliver “the quarry” as quickly as possible. During this short exchange, Baby Yoda slides out of its carrier, unscrews a knob, and goes to place it in its mouth. Mando tells it it’s not a toy, grabs it by its collar, and returns it to the carrier.

While we can’t read Mando’s face through that imposing helmet, you get a good read of his tone here: One of doubt and hesitancy.

He hands it over to the Imperials and is rewarded with a handsome haul of beskar steel that feels more like 30 pieces of silver, if you catch my drift. He asks a few prying questions about their plans for the baby, but is met with warnings to forget about the whole ordeal and move on. The beskar he’s paid with is enough to make a full set of armor, he’s told, but:

Finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel.

Mando returns to the armorer who says it’s enough to make a full cuirass (even after some is set aside for the foundlings, of course). A few other Mandalorians pick a fight with Mando because the beskar is spoils of “the great purge;” the reason the Mandalorians now have to stay hidden.

A short scuffle later, the armorer cooly reminds the group of Mandalorian code to which they collectively respond, “This is the way.”

She then whips him up a fancy new set of armor along with an offensive weapon called the “whistling birds.” More like “Chekhov’s gun” as we’ll see them in action shortly! The forging process also brings to Mando’s mind violent scenes from his past as a child again; an interesting juxtaposition of improvements and origin.

Mando catches back up with Greef and just wants his next job–”the further the better”–as he tries to outrun some cognitive dissonance. He asks how many of the other bounty hunters had fobs (answer: all of them) and if Greef knows what the Imperials’ plans for the baby are (answer: nope).

Mando gets as far as his ship before the missing knob, the one Baby Yoda had removed earlier, proves to be the last straw. He returns to the Imperial hideout for some recon, finds the carrier in a dumpster, and overhears them talking about “extracting the necessary materials” from the baby and being done with it.

It is then the Mandalorian’s beskar armor versus the PVC gear of the Stormtroopers (who, I must say, don’t wholly perpetuate their hapless and useless characterization in combat) as Mando infiltrates the base and retrieves Baby Yoda.

When he exits, all of the fobs of the other bounty hunters go live. They all converge on Mando and demand he turn over the baby. Mando’s not having it and a huge firefight breaks out. Just when it looks like Mando will be overrun, a swarm of jetpack-wearing Mandalorians swoop in and start wrecking face!

Mando mentions this move will mean the Mandalorians will have to relocate. The response from his comrades: “This is the way.“

Greef is waiting at Mando’s ship and is summarily shot–but a beskar bar in his vest pocket spares his life (which Mando totally knew about, so I’m calling that an intentional move on his part). He then wishes he had a jetpack and hands Baby Yoda the same knob he’d taken from it at the top of the episode as they fly off into the stars.

Review of The Mandalorian, S1.E3: Chapter Three “The Sin”

Move over “I have spoken;” “This is the way” is here and will definitely be the new hot phrase this week.

And just what is that way? I think we’ve got yet more Mandalorian code and lore to discover–including, perhaps, details of “the great purge.” If nothing else, we learn that while we, as an audience, were aware of the Mandalorian headquarters, it appears to have been a big secret. They’re lying low as a direct result of this purge.

The clan element of the Mandalorians is strengthened and emphasized in a number of ways in this episode–even with the infighting, but most spectacularly with the cavalry rescue at the end. It appears that while Mando may have violated the bounty hunter guild’s codes, nothing he did so angered his Mandalorian brothers. We see which code he values most–and this is highlighted in the conversation with the armorer who asks him questions about his adherence to the Resol’nare.

I don’t know about you, but all of this has me wanting not just more of The Mandalorian, but also more of the Mandalorians.

The line about “extracting the necessary materials” may hint at midi-chlorians: the Force-sensitive materials in our very cells. Who specifically wants them remains to be seen, but why they might is obvious.

What will the fallout be of Mando’s conflict with the bounty hunter guild? Will he have a bounty placed upon his own head? This might make staying under the radar and finding places to retreat a difficulty, but he’s got his clan…and he’ll make another friend or two along the way soon. I mean, Gina Carano is featured on the image for The Mandalorian in the Disney+ app, so they haven’t kept that piece as much as a secret at they did Baby Yoda. IMDB says we’ll meet her next week!

You had to know Baby Yoda wasn’t going anywhere. Part of me wonders if he handed it over just to score the beskar and get armored up before taking Baby Yoda back–all according to plan.

I’m convinced now more than ever that Mando will need a tactical papoose with that carrier in a dumpster on the planet he just fled. He did the one-armed combat thing exceedingly well in this episode, but that can’t and won’t be the pattern for long.

It did strike me as somewhat odd that he delivered Baby Yoda to the Imperials with the carrier’s lid open as he strolled through crowds of people. Does Mando know what he has? Does anyone outside of the Imperials? Time will tell!

The next episode of The Mandalorian drops Friday, November 29th.