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ragnarssons · 2 years ago

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you know, actually delving on youtube on videos of people talking about s3 of the mandalorian, i think i actually narrowed the problem for me? and like how people feel like din and grogu aren’t main characters anymore? because tbh, i’d say no character is actually the main character, just vehicules to the storyline, and that’s where it defeats the purpose of the story to begin with? it’s like how the plot drives the show, rather than the characters driving it. it’s the usual problem of writers wanting to put too much in a season. which happens to a lot of tv shows, and can be course-corrected right the next season, hopefully. because yes, you could argue that din djarin and grogu “took a backseat” this season, “they have no evolution” blah blah... but ignore din and grogu for one second. let’s say that yes, bo katan is the center of the season, the main character. what is her journey? what is emotionally her evolution? we see none of that. she’s taken here and there by the storyline, not even fighting it. like on episode 2 she challenges din on his belief system, still mocks the children of the watch, calling their beliefs “children’s stories”. but then at the end of episode 3 (where we barely see her because it’s the pershing episode), she actually joins the covert and is left like “???” at the end of the episode. yet on episode 4, nope, she doesn’t question it, she doesn’t challenge it, she’s just there, because actually the storyline needs her to blend into this group to actually understand their way of life and vision of the mandalorian culture. she loses her ancestral family home, and at no point does the show explore that, the emotional devastation it probably is for her, to lose what could be her last connection to her family that has been wiped out by the empire, the clone wars, etc. on the clone wars and rebels, bo katan is actually a complex character, being challenged by the storyline, struggling and evolving. on the mandalorian, she’s pretty stale because the storyline needs her to be. she’s passive in her own story, taking the darksaber even tho she has shown no prior sign of wanting it (on s3, i mean), getting back with the night owls even tho they supposedly betrayed her and abandoned her. like... no hard feelings about that? since when? and then you have the armorer. if we’re to believe emily swallow’s interviews from the star wars celebration, her accepting that bo katan walks both ways is actually a true evolution from the armorer. her challenging her views, changing her ways and accepting that mandalorians have different visions of their belief system. yet, on the book of boba fett, the armorer was still head-on saying that mandalore fell because so many mandalorians fell out of the way. so why not actually show this evolution through the season? well because the storyline needs to move forward, and they don’t have time to show it. same goes for din and grogu. we have so little emotional scenes of grogu and din, actually being reunited about what is supposed to be two years, grogu engaging on this path of becoming a mandalorian apprentice, and barely any emotional reward to these storylines. again, because the show doesn’t have time. and that’s what has been bothering me about, again, the two big monsters attacks on the mandalorians, we’ve got stuff being repeated, yet not enough time for rewarding, character-centric moments. again, action, plot, over characters. and that’s saying that, looking back at s3 structural intention. and i don’t know what plot-point i would deem uninteresting or not worthy of being on the show. i actually really loved that episode 6 took time to explore the separatists remnants and this whole political idea of the plazier-15 system, so i wouldn’t throw all the episode to the garbage, just like i loved how the nevarro storyline tied in with greef karga giving refuge to the mandalorians. just like i liked how “the foundling” explored this sense of family and belonging amongst the mandalorians as people, together, rebuilding and working together. just like idc, i loved the criticism of the new republic and the complexity of rebuilding after the damages of the empire, that were shown on episode 3. in universe, all these plot points are important to give depths to the background of the story, and what will ultimately be the setting of not only the mandalorian, but the ahsoka show, and the movie that will follow. i’d argue myself that it also tended to happen on the earlier seasons, but we felt it less because it was just din and grogu, with the occasional recurring characters visiting. but here where the stakes are higher, and the group of characters bigger, we feel it more. we have less din and grogu, because they’re part of an ensemble, but also we have no real character, so it’s like, kinda hard to understand why we don’t have as much din and grogu as before, yknow?? i do think the story wouldn’t have felt that way if the writing had been more challenging with the characters’ inner motivations, and not just din and grogu, but bo katan as well. she would have been a more compelling character to root for for “general audience” (who don’t know her from the clone wars and rebels) when she gets the darksaber at the end of episode 6. and yes, din finding a way to have grogu belong would have been more satisfying had he questioned his faith, their clan among the bigger clans and the future of mandalore etc. could the show still do it on s4? i believe so, but it could have been something for s3 as well. i guess then i’ll circle back to saying that either the episodes needed to be longer, or they needed one to two more episodes to this season, and i feel like it could have been a way better balanced storyline, giving to the characters and the plot real time to shine.

#star wars #the mandalorian #the mandalorian critical #i really DO NOT think that either din djarin #or bo katan #or the armorer #or the mandalorian are OOC #like really not #but it's just that the characters' motives and goals and hopes #aren't fully explored #which is ironic considering it's the season where they're supposed to come together

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mostly-funnytwittertweets · 25 days ago

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