Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show! I’m your host, Paul, and when the crowd says Bo, select her to be the leader of Mandalore. Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3 is now out, and in this video, we’re breaking down the brand new entry. Filled with Easter eggs, hidden details, and a lot of things that hint towards the future, we’re going to be recapping it all and giving our thoughts on the entry.
Heavy spoilers ahead so if you haven’t had a chance to check it out then check out now. If you enjoy the video, then please hit the thumbs up button and make sure you subscribe to join our hive of scum and villainy. With that out the way, huge thank you for clicking this, now let’s get into The Mandalorian.
Last week, we saw Mando travelling into the mines of Mandalore in order to cleanse himself in the living waters. These mines were something that we’d seen before in the saga, with it being the same area that Ahsoka pursued Darth Maul through.
Upon reaching it a ceremony was carried out that was mirroring the opening ceremony of Season 1 in which a Mandalorian was somewhat baptised
Mando was also going through a sort of baptism in order to wash him of the sin of dishonouring the children of the watch, but when he was pulled under, Bo had to dive in after him.
Down there, she came eye to eye with a Mythosaur, the mythical beast of Mandalore that was long extinct.
It was a great episode…unless you were an IGN reviewer who gave it a 5/10 because they said the scenes were too dark.
The Brightness button is right there, and that takes us into Episode 3.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3 Breakdown
Now we begin with Bo overlooking the waters with Mando at her side. The superstitions of Mandalore were something that she didn’t believe, but after seeing the Mythosaur, she’s beginning to change her mind. However, she thinks that it may have been some kind of hallucination, which is why she questions it. I think deep down she’s starting to go back into the mindset that maybe she is the chosen one again, as only she unleashed the mythical beast that was said to bring with it restoration.
This entry is called the convert and it very much carries this notion to several of the characters. We have Bo converting her beliefs back to following the legends, Mando converts back to not removing his helmet and we also have Dr Pershing who we’ll talk about later on.
Now why is the Mythosaur so important?
Well when the Taung came to Mandalore they discovered a luscious planet that offered new opportunities. Amongst their ranks was Mandalore the Great, and he decided to lead his people against the dominant species of the planet. This was the Mythosaur, a gigantic beast that dwarfed everything else. Mandalore the Great was the first person to best a beast in combat, and after his victory, his people named the planet after him. The mythosaur became the symbol of the Mandalorians, and Mandalore the Great even created his helmet out of the creature’s skull.
This was centuries before Tar Viszla rose up with the Darksaber and taming Mythosaurs became a rite of passage for Mandalorians.
This was in between the civil wars that took place on the planet which we are very much seeing a repeat of here. Mandalore the great united the people, then they fell out and then centuries later Tar Viszla did it too. The Clone Wars saw two sides rise up, and it’s clear from the whole helmet thing that there are two sides once more. I think that The Mandalorian could very well be following in the footsteps of Mandalore the Great and Tar Viszla in that he might unite the people once again all under one roof.
Now The Armourer has mentioned that the re-emergence of mythosaur would usher in new era for the mandalorians which will likely be led by the weilder of the Darksaber. She said that the great beast would emerge from the waters, and we are very
Anyway, that takes us into theory time, theory time, theory time… it’s theory time, goddamn.
So if we look at other episodes in the series, there have been several moments in which Grogu has managed to defeat beasts. We could potentially see this eventually being extended to the Mythosaur as the little guy becomes more powerful. He has stepped away from the Jedi to travel the path of a Mandalorian, and I’d love to see him tame the beast at some point and ride it with Mando.
Mando wielding the dark sabre on top of the beast would be such a cool moment, and I hope that’s what they end up doing in the series. Grogu is part Jedi and part Mandalorian too, so we might be seeing a lot of Tar Viszla in him.
Anyway, that’s a theory time, theory time, ah mih hi coooooo oooo, I see a little silouhetto of a man, ishmilla.
Mando takes a sample of water with him as proof that he was actually there and he’s now back to no longer removing his helmet. This is the way. Now out in space, they’re swarmed by Tie Interceptors, and though we don’t hear what Grogu has to say, he does seemingly forcefully predict their arrival before their arrival.
It leads to a big chase, with Mando using some of Bo’s special features on her gauntlet. Last week we talked about this ship in depth and went over all of it’s artillery including these back firing laser cannons which work really well when being persued. However the interceptors constatly keep out manourvering them because they’re more advanced and agile ships than your typical fighter. At this moment, we don’t learn exactly why they’re in the area, but it’s possible that the imperials have been searching for clues about Gideon’s location. Either that, or they just want to make sure This episode puts a lot of focus on the remnants of the imperials, and I love how early on we’re given the idea that they’re out there still.
Just because Moff Gideon is gone, it doesn’t mean that the rest are and potentially we could be leading to a reveal of Grand Admiral Thrawn who was teased at all the way back in the Ahsoka epsiode.
Mando goes skydiving and manages to make it back to his N-1, which is when he busts out a proton torpedo like what we saw Anakin using at the end of the Phantom Menace. This is such a cool chase scene and the show is really flexing it’s budget here, giving us an amazing battle that goes from space to air, to land and back to air.
The N-1 was designed for dog fights like this, and due to Bo’s knowledge of the planet, they’re able to take them out. We get a great top-gun Maverik-esque turn with her spinning in the air, and it once more hammers home the idea that Bo and Mando work great together as a team.
However, the victory is short lived, with Bos’s castle being destroyed by Tie Bombers. This of course echoes the Night of a Thousand Tears, which saw her other home, the Sunari, destroyed. All the remnants of her royal houses are destroyed and now she’s all that remains of her line. It’s been a pretty brutal journey for her, in all honesty, but she’s now free of the confines of her past and ready to build something new. As more interceptors swarm the area, Mando suggests that they jump somewhere they’ll never be found, which is when we cut to Corsuscant.
Now in the timeline, I believe that we last saw Coruscant during the montage at the end of Return of the Jedi. There were statues being toppled and pulled over which even to this day is often shown in news footage to signify freedom and a bringing down of the old guard.
In more recent shows, we’ve seen exactly what the city was like during its imperial occupation and visited it in both Andor and The Bad Batch. Both had it being somewhere that had the constant eye of the imps looking over everything and thus conversations speaking out against them were often filled with innuendo and suggestions.
Crosshair saw first hand how Commander Cody decided to turn against the Empire, Clones regretted killing the Jedi and wondered why they did it and Andor had a big subplot there with the seeds of the rebellion.
This paints the city in a new light, with it once more being a glistening capital in the galaxy that is now no longer under imperial rule. It’s great seeing it like this once more, and the colour is back in the surroundings where it was almost completely stripped out during the imperial occupation.
The Imperials very much used the colours black, white, and grey throughout everything, and this translated into their uniforms too. However just as we saw how colour slowly got integrated into the bad batches uniforms after they left we see how that has happened in the surroudings of the planet too.
We go to see Dr. Pershing give a speech, and we discover that he’s been given a second chance in the amnesty programme of The New Republic. This is somewhat similar to the real-life Operation Paperclip, in which Nazi scientists were given jobs in the US. Werner Von Braun was famously part of this, and Lucasfilm will be tackling this idea again in the upcoming Indiana Jones film.
Now, Dr. Pershing is a character that was first introduced all the way back in episode 1, and I think it’s clear he’s becoming a key character in the series. The Bad Batch has somewhat hinted at what could be happening in this series as we explored more of what was happening with the cloners after the destruction of Tipoca city. Pershing wears one of their patches, and season two also featured some of their work. We had echoes of Snoke and Palpatine’s score during these moments, so I think that this is all setting the groundwork for how somehow Palpatine returned.
Now in the speech, he discusses a desperate individual who was intent on using cloning technology on himself to secure more power, which is clearly alluding to this.
Pershing was captured in Season 2 and after Mando and crew managed to shut down the shutle he was travelling on. Described as being a cloner, he eventually ended up giving up intel on where Grogu was located.
Held hostage by the pilot Cara was taunted by him bringing up the destruction of Alderaan and she then shot through Pershings ear and killed the captor.
Persings ear was grazed during this explaining why he looks the way that he does in this season.
Who Is Dr Pershing In The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3?
Like some x factor contestant he gives a sob story about his mother and how she couldve been saved if cloning technology hadve been available on his planet. Now, call me an idiot if I’m wrong, but I saw this as kind of a metaphor for stem cell research, and they were hoping to use cloning to help with organ replacement. However, it gets into the whole muddy question of what rights the clones have if they go beyond just being organs.
He states that he wanted to help people initially, but he was drafted into the Empire. It very much shows that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this episode acts as a cautionary tale about rehabilitation.
He’s watched over by a woman that we see fixing an amnesty badge on at the beginning of the scene, and you might recognise her from popping up earlier in the series when Pershing contacted her by hologram.
There’s very much the idea that the Imperials still exist and though they’re now converts they’re clearly scheming away how to get more power. You don’t just change political ideologies overnight, and they’re very adept at worming their way into positions of power like Hydra did in the MCU.
Pershing is fitting in well with the upper class, though, and we see that they’ve welcomed him because they don’t really care about sides. Outside, he’s greeted by a Calmari as well as an aristocrat who talks about how he was almost drafted. He doesn’t know whether it was the imperials or the new republic because he’s so rich that it doesn’t really matter who’s in charge. He’s still rich so he’s pretty untouchable and it kinda comments to how it’s the lower classes that have to give up everything when it comes to war.
At this point he’s given a ride in a taxi and the driver brings up the Skydome Botanical gardens. First mentioned in Republic Commando True Colours, these were used as the headquarters of the Order of the Canted Circle. This group was a bunch of elites, and it was basically the Star Wars equivalent of the Freemasons. Highly exclusive, this contained a range of wealthy and influential individuals, which could be why the droid is suggesting that Pershing should visit there. You’re probably reading into that as he also talks about the museum, and we see that he’s been dropped off at amnesty housing, which is a far cry from the glitz and glam he’s just experienced.
He ends up chatting with some former officers, including the woman he used to give orders to on Moff Gideon’s ship. All of them use alphanumeric codes, and this means that they don’t know who the others are. It gives them a clean slate and also means that they can’t snitch on each other for being complicit in war crimes. The higher-ups were of course famous among the imps, and knowing their names might put them in danger in this new programme.
Anyway, we hear the rumours surrounding Moff Gideon, including that he escaped on his way to a war tribunal, which again is a callback to the Second World War. The Nuremberg trials were held in the aftermath of the war, and these held Nazis to account for their horrendous acts. There’s also the theory that he was hooked up to a mindflayer. No, this isn’t tied in with Stranger Things, and in the Star Wars universe, this was a device that people were terrified of. It was first mentioned in Episode 8 of the Mandalorian as Cara thought that she might be uploaded to one, though the Galactic Empire denied all knowledge of their existence.
They talk about how this isn’t how the empire would’ve handled taking in people from the opposite sides and Darth Vader probably would’ve been smashing em like the like button against the wall.
However, they do have their freedom somewhat limited, and they talk about missing the lights of hyperspace, which we later learn is because they’re restricted to a perimeter.
They reminice about the good old days, like getting biscuits and though they say the Empire is gone, they’re laughing away when thinking about it. Ahhhh all those people we murdered and that night we see as Pershing returns to his apartment. On a monitor, we hear that Coruscant is referred to as an “Ecumenopolis, which comes from ancient Greece. This means a world wide city which Coruscant is because of how much it spans the planet.
Now, initially, you might think someone has been playing knock-knock jokes on him, but he’s been given a package of those delicious yellow biscuits youd sell your soul for.
She was clearly trying to remind him of the good old days and what he left behind.
Travel biscuits have popped up in the canon before, though they did look different to what we have here.
The next day, we cut to him at work and discover hes doing menial data entry jobs.
This is very much like Karn in Andor, who was, of course, also a disgraced employee.
We see a twi’lek and also a droid going about delivering things. Pershing just wants to be left alone, but we slowly see how the allure of the empire ends up baiting him into entrapment. That night he goes on somewhat of a date filled with star wars plays on classic iconography like ice cream cones and magic tricks.
Huge shoutouts to SuperSpider115 on twitter for pointing out that the man doing the magic trick inwith the dragon is reminicent of dreamfinder and his dragon figment from the disney parks. We also learn the lolly is called a Photon Fizzle because well…looks like a photon torpedo.
Again, it’s awash with colour and vibrancy, and though Pershing sees the positives, he is a bit gutted that his work remains unfinished. Elia Kane tempts him with the idea of continuing his work and says that following orders is what got them into trouble in the first place. Followign orders is something that the Germans used as an excuse during the Nuremberg trials, and it’s also a line that popped up throughout the clone wars and the Bad Batch when the soldiers talked about why they killed the Jedi.
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It’s possible that the name Elias Kane is a reference to Elias Kane, a US Senator who, according to the records, was pro-slavery. Dunno if that has a tie in with the character but the names are pretty similar.
Anyway, something bubbles away under the surface, and this is shown symbolically in the mountain peak that Kane takes him to. This is the peak of the natural world in Coruscant and beneath the surface lies the true face. In this natural environment, lots of beautiful things have sprung up that have pushed this further down. I think that Kane brought him here because cloning is unnatural, much like the city around them. However, it has built on the natural world to surpass it, which is an idea she’s trying to plant in his mind.
She is revealed to be a new republic spy that is testing these imperials, and I think the temptation she is offering up is to see whether he can stay on the right track.
He goes to touch the tip of the mountain, which symbolically represents achieving a goal. However, it’s out of reach, much like finishing his research is.
He’s stopped short by a machine commanded by the republic, which metaphorically shows how they are stopping him.
In the New Republic skyscraper, we see him getting somewhat of an interrogation to make sure that hes kept on the right track. It reminded me a lot of the opening of Blade Runner, where he asks if he can pursue cloning. This idea is shut down, much like his attempt to touch the mountain. This shows that every aspect of his life is controlled, and it causes him to lash out further. Pershing still sees the benefits in cloning, though, and again, he wants to pursue it.
He sees it as something that can be positive in the hands of the new republic, but they are basically the wings of the same bird, and who knows how it would eventually be twisted.
Pershing is offered a new lab, but he’d have to leave the perimeter, so he turns it down. We return to work the next day where he protests an Imperial equipment being destroyed. We see the guy pushing carts weighing in on it, and though he seems like a lowly worker, I’m telling you, mate, this guy is no spy. He’s a f**king spy.
We see him tucking into some biscuits, showing the turn in his mind, and he’s once more interrogated, which shows a clear change in how he feels. He touches his ear, and this is something that he did during the speech as well. This was when he promised his intentions were good, which is very much what hes doing here.
G68 was the name of Jentorra in Quantumania as well, which is probably a reach, and maybe it’s not all connected.
Now at this point he puts down his coat with the identification badge on as well. These were possibly brought in to be similar to something like the star of David in that it clearly identified someone as the other. Might be brought in to show how the New Republic also operates in similar ways to the Imperial, and Pershing would of course be Pershi-cuted if he was caught doing what hes doing.
He and Kane make their way further in and the paranoia rises within him. He feels like everyone is watching him whereas Kane is relaxed. This is obviously because shes a new republic spy who wouldnt have to worry if they got caught. Tuesdays, am I right?
Pershing very much feels free travelling beyond his limits, but when the ticket inspector comes in, they have to move. We see how the cars are held together by energy binders smilar to what is used on pod racers.
The train pursuit is tense as f**k even though its pretty slow and I loved watching the droid slowly walking towards them like the terminator. They hit the end of the line but decide to jump, which…requires Pershing to trust Kane. There are several clues throughout like this that shes trying to manipulate the situation around her, and even her putting the badge on at the beginning showed that she was trying to fit in.
Now they jump off and die instantly, which should have happened because they’re going like 900 miles an hour.
However they arrive in the scrap yeard which creates similar iconography to planets like Brakka from the game Fallen Order. Star Destroyer graveyards have also popped up in the bad batch, and they were perfect places for scrappers.
It’s very much a trip down memory lane for pershing and this is once more reminding him of the life he left behind. Only the cockroachers remain and though this bug isnt one of them it kinda shows exactly the kind of man pershing is. Cockroaches are known survivors, much like Pershing and how he has stayed alive through all of this.
They introduce themselves and use their names, with Elia shaking his hand. Again, this is to gain his trust, and it’s a technique that a lot of people use to get someone on their side.
They make it to the lab and Pershing is overjoyed at being back. he talks about how his mother was a doctor and its clear that shes massively influenced his life. We hear noises on the ship which Kane downplays again but this is of course the new republic closing in.
They make a break for it which is when theyre captured. Lots of flashbacks to the end of Donnie Brasko and characters like Kane and able…Kane turned on her brother.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3 Ending Explained
She has the equipment he picked out, and Pershing is arrested and then uploaded to a device similar to electroshock therapy. This was used to try and alter someone’s mindstate, and Pershing states that this is a mindflayer. The doc says it’s not, though, and he gives it a long alphanumeric designation. It shows how the New Republic is basically similar to the Empire; they just use nicer language.
Take that political commentary how you like, but yeah, I think it’s pretty on the nose that it’s very much a “both sides are s**t.”
Kane is now rehabilitated too, but she clearly has a darker side to her as she baited him into it. I don’t know what her end goal is here, but this happening could push him further into the empire’s side. She clearly is extremely sadistc and turns the voltage up to punish him. Whether shes doing this for revenge or to drive him further in, I don’t know, but I do tend to lean towards the former. This is why the names were kept secret so that people couldnt be punished but shes found away to enjoy it as she chomps down on his biscuit.
Now we cut back to Mando and Bo with the former taking her to the covert we saw at the start of the season.
Now we see Tar Viszla at this point who in the series is voiced by Jon Favreau. It’s possible that they might go back on the whole helmet thing eventually, and he may unmask. A figure of Favreau Tar with his mask off was released, showing Jon’s face, which may just be a special edition thing or it may be spoiling an eventual reveal.
Mando has brought with him the truth about the living waters, but this is brushed aside by Tar, who also calls Bo a night owl.
These were a group of female Mandalorian warriors led by her who were a sect of the Death Watch, which she was once a part of.
Both labeled apostates, the living waters have cleansed them and Mando of course also carries the Darksaber with him.
Now the Darksaber has a long back and forth history of being possessed by the person who’s seen as the leader of the Mandalorians. However, in order to be its owner, you have to win it in combat. So far from what we’ve seen of the saga, it was originally held by Tar Viszla, and then his descendant Pre Viszla held it during the clone wars. We learned from him that it was stolen from the Jedi temple during the old republic before Darth Maul won it in combat against Pre. Maul then took it to Dathomir, which is when Sabine Wren came across it, and she gave it to Bo before Moff Gideon took it from her. Mando beat Moff Gideon in combat, which is why he now wields it, so technically, if Bo wants it back, she’s going to have to go head-to-head with him.
Now, Sabine technically didn’t have to win it in combat because she just came across it, which is why there wasn’t really an issue when she gave it to Bo. However, because Bo hadn’t beaten anyone to it, she wasn’t really respected, and thus she didn’t end up uniting Mandalore as had been promised.
This is why Bo refused to take it at the end of Mandalorian Season 2 when Mando offered it to her. It would just be a repeat of the cycle, and huge shoutouts to Ryan Arey, bloody Ryan Arey, for pointing out the similarities between this and Game of Thrones. By the end of the series, Jon Snow and Daenerys were working together, and they were very similar in dynamics to Mando and Bo. Mando is reluctant to rule like Jon was, and Dany believed it was her birthright just like Bo.
Anyway, they’re taken in the back to the armourer, which is when they present the water, and much like holy water, it’s poured into the bowl, recreating this idea of baptism.
Din is redeemed along with Bo Katan, and they are now accepted by the group. This is the way. Bo is accepted once more, and even though we can’t see her face, I can imagine shes smiling under that helmet. She was someone who was abandoned by her followers; her home was destroyed; but she now has a family, like in the fast and furious sense of the word.
Now a big question at this point is: is Mandalore even worth saving? The fusion bombs that hit the planet destroyed the major structures like the Sundari and turned the land into a glass-like structure. Mandalore used to be a luscious planet, but due to millennia of civil war, it turned into this almost inhospitable wasteland. Bos’s sister Satine wanted the Mandalorians to become pacifists.
Anyway, that wraps up the episode, and obviously, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the entry and how you think that the season is going so far.
We’re running a competition right now and giving away a Superman 4K box set to three subscribers on April 15. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you subscribe with notifications on and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode. We pick the comments at random at the end of the month, and the winners of the last one are on screen right now, so message me at @heavyspoilers if that’s you.
If you want something else to watch, then make sure you check out our breakdown of the perfect scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming. We break down the entire thing, so it’s definitely worth checking out if you want to know more.
With that out of the way, thank you for sitting through the video; I’ve been Paul, and I’ll see you next time. Take care. Peace
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