The Mandalorian: Chapter 19

Hello there!

Welcome to my latest episode review for The Mandalorian. The reviews will follow my usual format: an overview of the plot (so be aware, there will be spoilers!), my review of the show, then a few “Moments in canon” – references that link to other media and the galaxy as a whole. Today, we’ll be looking at  Chapter 19: The Convert.

Plot Summary

Bo-Katan Kryze is sat next to the living waters, the surface of which remains still. Din Djarin finally regains consciousness next to her. He notes that the depth caught him out, to which Bo-Katan notes that it did not used to be, and that this is probably due to seismic activity caused by the bombing. She asks him if he saw anything under the water, but he tells her only the side of the cavern.

Returning to Bo’s ship, they begin their return to Kalevala, but come under attack from a squad of TIE Interceptors. While Din uses the ship’s rear cannon to hold off the pursuit, Bo pilots them back to her castle, where Din jumps out in mid-air to reach his N1. Once in his N1, Din attacks the TIEs from behind as they chase Bo, and between them, they successfully destroy all of the fighters. However their joy is short-lived as a trio of TIE Bombers take advantage of their distraction to destroy her castle. Bo chases after them and is able to destroy one, but she is soon forced to turn away as TIE Interceptor reinforcements arrive. Making their way back into space, Din send Bo jump co-ordinates and they jump away to safety.

On Coruscant, Dr Pershing gives a speech to a full crowd and receives many plaudit afterwards from the rich elite. Following his speech, he gets a speeder back to the amnesty housing, where he meets a group of former Imperial officers who are also part of the amnesty program, including Amnesty Officer G68, who he recognises as the comms officer from Moff Gideon’s light cruiser.

Over the following days, Pershing and G68 get to know each other better, and it is during this time that she suggests the idea of him continuing his research, as it could help the New Republic. At his next evaluation, Pershing questions the possibility of doing so, but is informed that cloning and genetic engineering is prohibited under the Coruscant Accords. Disappointed, he speaks with G68, who suggests he do the work anyway in secret. While he shows interest, he backs out when he realises that getting hold of the lab equipment he would need going outside their designated perimeter, which would rsk them being sent back to Reintegration. However he has a change of heart over the next couple of days,helped by realising how much information is being destroyed as part of the decommission despite its potential to help. He eventually plucks up the courage to tell G68 that he is willing to take the risk, and they plan to make their move the next night.

“Take a deep breath, Doc. It’s gonna be fine. Remember why we’re doing this.”

When the time comes, the pair replace their Amnesty Program uniforms with civilian ear and sneak their way onto a train to the disposal yards, where they sneak aboard the remains of a star destroyer. As they make their way through the remains, G68 apologises for never introducing herself in all the time they worked together on Gideon’s ship and though Pershing notes that it just wasn’t how things were done in the Empire, she introduces herself as Elia Kane. Arriving at the ship’s laboratory, Pershing packs the equipment he needs, but as they make their way back through the ship, they find that somebody else is also aboard. Evading whoever it is, they make it off the star destroyer, they are soon stopped by a group of security officers. Pershing is arrested, but Kane is allowed to walk away with the equipment Pershing picked up.

Pershing later finds himself secured to a treatment table in a room, with his head surrounded by what he recognises as a mind flayer. A Mon Calamari technician notes that while the machine looks very similar and uses the same technology, it is a much lower voltages will soothe traumatic memories. Pershing tries to tell them that Kane has set him up, but as she appears to be a model member of the Amnesty Program and has already give her version of events, he is not believed and he begins being given treatment. As all the technicians leave, Kane asks if she can stay and look over Pershing as he is a friend, and they agree, but once they leave the room she turns the voltage of the machine up to maximum.

Din and Bo come out of hyperspace above the planet where Din’s Covert is hidden. As they approach, Din briefs Bo-Katan and suggests that she keep her helmet on to help things go smoothly. Landing nearby the cave network, they are initially refused entry by Paz Vizsla, who does not believe Din saying that he has bathed in the living waters and refuses to believe Bo-Katan as her house also fell from the way, however once Din reveals that he holds a tube containing some of the water, Vizsla relents. Making their way before The Armorer, Din provides her with the tube of water, which she verifies came from the Mines. Din is welcomed back to the Covert and Bo-Katan—who also entered the waters and has not removed her helmet since—is welcomed to the Covert.

Review

Well this certainly wasn’t what I was expecting from todays episode, but I enjoyed what we got. While I’m of course a little disappointed that we didn’t get the Mythosaur today, I actually like the decision as it continues to allow Bo-Katan to grow of her own accord. The fact that she doesn’t tell anyone about what she saw and nobody else saw it gives her the chance to believe that she was seeing things as for someone who has lost the belief in the old stories, that is easier to believe than the existence of a beast of legend within the Living Waters, while her shock at being accepted into the Covert is going to help continue her redemption by getting back in touch with the old ways, which will likely result in her and Din working together to create a balance of old and new as the season goes on, while the Mythosaur can remain for a triumphant return to Mandalore in the future.

But that was just a small section of the episode, which instead focused mainly on Pershing and Elia Kane. Now first off, I’m glad to see that Kane still has a part to play on the show, as Katy O’Brian really impressed me in season 2 and I felt that so much more could be done with the character. And boy did we get that in this episode. All the way through, I felt confident that we could trust Pershing and that he genuinely did want to continue his work to help, but I couldn’t decide if I fully trusted Kane given her position under Moff Gideon, and the final scenes appeared to prove us right. It was a clever manipulation of Pershing throughout the episode, becoming his friend, seeing his desire to help and pushing that angle.

But what really interested me in this episode was the Amnesty Program. It seems odd for me that the New Republic thinks it’s a good idea to have all of these former Imperials housed together, as it feels like a perfect way for some to start forming a rebellion of their own. But not just that, by having a uniform and identification numbers, it feels like the New Republic, in its attempts to create order as quickly as possible, have actually taken steps that make them surprisingly like the Empire. And the episode even hints to some of their mistakes in the way that they are just casually destroying information and equipment that could be beneficial as they are just looking to demilitarize as soon as possible.

So where do we go from here? I think that Kane is still working for Moff Gideon, either trying to rescue him or find other former Imperials who are still loyal. I imagine this story may take a back seat to Din’s story, perhaps just a scene or 2 each week going forwards, while I also wonder if this is what will lead to Carson Teva’s involvement this season. Whatever happens, I can’t wait to see what comes next!

“Your house has fallen from the Way. You are both apostates.” 

A few final thoughts on the episode:

• Did the writers learn from the criticism of how Din’s story overtook The Book of Boba Fett? The framing of Pershing’s story with Din and Bo-Katan’s story at the start and end of the episode made Pershing’s story still feel like part of this wider story in a way that Din’s story didn’t in The Book of Boba Fett.
• Grogu certainly appears to be becoming more talkative. Will we finally hear him speak Basic before the series ends?
• It was great seeing and hearing more of Coruscant’s background and history. While some of this may have been obvious to some super-fans, it must  have been a real eye-opener to some.
• It’s great to finally be hearing some terms that are common knowledge to many Star Wars fans actually being spoken out loud in Star Wars now. I can’t remember having ever heard “TIE Interceptors” or “Nite Owls” spoken before, and yet hearing them stated felt completely earned and natural

Moments in Canon

• Pershing refers to the Kaminoans when discussing cloning, as they were considered the best cloners in the galaxy.

What did you think of the episode?

Thanks for reading. This is the Way….

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