Chapter 19 completely heads in an unexpected direction, moving away from the norm and taking us to an Andor reminiscent world.
BY ELLIOT LINES MARCH 16, 2023
Season 3 so far has eased us into being back in this world with Mando and friends, certainly in the last episode the pace was dialled right down, with a bit of action thrown in the mix. Chapter 19: The Convert completely heads in an unexpected direction, moving away from the norm and taking us to an Andor reminiscent world.
After the events of the previous episode, Din Djarin and Bo-Katan depart Mandalore, with Bo-Katan seemingly holding back telling Din about the Mythosaur. During their return to Kalevala they are ambushed by an Imperial tie-fighter squad, who bomb and destroy her home. Meanwhile, we head to Coruscant, Dr Pershing receives a pardon from the New Republic but comes across Elia Kane also on the amnesty program. Dr Pershing wishes to continue his cloning research, which has been outlawed and Kane agrees to assist. They sneak onto a de-commissioned Star Destroyer to find the materials, when Kane betrays Pershing to the New Republic and then sabotages the mind-wiping procedure. Din and Bo-Katan have escaped to a secret Mandalorian enclave where Din presents the sample of the Living Waters and along with Bo-Katan is redeemed as they both bathed in them.
For the majority of the episode we veered from Din Djarin, but we do get some welcome moments with him and his new "partner" Bo-Katan. There are still remnants of the Empire in the galaxy and here we get a good old fashioned sky dog fight with Din and Bo-Katan taking on a magnitude of Tie-Fighters. The only other moments we get with Din are his return to the enclave, to complete his mission and be redeemed by the Mandalorian people. The only surprise here, Bo-Katan is redeemed too. You do question whether any of them recognise her but also what are her beliefs now, especially as she withheld the Mythosaur existence from Din.
The rest of the episode takes us to a much familiar location, Coruscant. Any fans of the prequels welcome any return to this fascinating world. Even more so now that the Empire has gone and the Galaxy is in transition to the New Republic, there is so much to explore here in this exact time on the timeline and this is the first time we have delved further into the politics at this time. Due to this the episode has Andor feel to it, focusing on the politics in this time rather than the usual journey with Din and Grogu.
Instead Chapter 19 brings back one of the shows earliest antagonists, Dr Pershing (you'll remember him as the one wanting to experiment on Grogu). The show then depicted him as a villain, but here the character is almost forced into redemption. He wishes to help the New Republic, and believes his work will do that. This forces him to team up with another recognisable face Elia Kane. It seems as though they are on the same page, right until the last minute when Kane betrays him. The big moment from this episode comes when he's put in a mind flare (to wipe his memory), Kane asks to be alone and boosts the power to max. This is where some question arise, what is her motive? who is she working for?
Chapter 19: The Convert has taken this season into an interesting direction, and I can only believe by bringing these two characters in, especially when setting the whole focus on them, sets up the return of Moff Giddeon. Din's journey doesn't really move any further here, so we're left hanging on that story-line. This exploration of Coruscant was certainly of interest, even if the episode did feel a little slow in parts.