On this episode of X-Ray Vision, Jason Concepcion and Rosie Knight hang out with Greef Karga! In the Airlock (2:10), they dive deep (deeep) into the season 3 premiere of The Mandalorian, recapping and discussing theories for the season, Din Djarin as an unwilling leader, and more. Then in Nerd Out (47:59) Jason and Rosie discuss a listener theory about The Mandalorian’s Darksaber.

 

Note: Imprecise timestamps are an unfortunate side effect of a new ads system. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

 

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Nerd Out Submission Instructions!

Send a short pitch and 2-3 minute voice memo recording to xray@crooked.com that answers the following questions: 1) How did you get into/discover your ‘Nerd Out?’ (2) Why should we get into it too? (3) What’s coming soon in this world that we can look forward to or where can we find it? If you’re sending a theory, feel free to send only a summary of your theory (no audio needed) for Jason and Rosie to react to on air.

 

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TRANSCRIPT

 

 

Jason Concepcion [AD]

 

Jason Concepcion This podcast contains spoilers for the season three premiere of The Mandalorian, as well as spoilers for a few episodes of the book of Boba Fett that featured our good friend Din Djarin. And. Yeah. Hello, my name is Jason Concepcion.

 

Rosie Knight And I’m Rosie Knight.

 

Jason Concepcion And welcome to X-ray Vision, the Crooked Media podcast, where we dive deep to your favorite shows, movies, comics and pop culture.

 

Rosie Knight In this episode, on the airlock, whew, we’re in a galaxy.

 

Jason Concepcion Bring back the baby.

 

Rosie Knight The baby’s back. We wanted him.

 

Jason Concepcion He’s back.

 

Rosie Knight And he’s back. That baby, that puppet, that Million Dollar Child.

 

Jason Concepcion I love him.

 

Rosie Knight We love him. And we’re stepping out of the airlock into a galaxy far, far away for the premiere of Season three of The Mandalorian. And in Nerd Out, guess what? Somebody, a listener named Whitney came through with a very relevant theory about The Mandalorian and the Darksaber.

 

Jason Concepcion And of course, if you want to jump around, check the show notes for timestamps, let’s go to the airlock. We’re stepping out of the airlock for season three premiere of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus. This episode is Chapter 17, The Apostate, was written by Jon Favreau and directed by Rick Famuyiwa. And let’s before we dive into the recap, talk about where we left off after season two, where we left our good friend Din, where we left our good friend Grogu, who we love to all our all our wonderful galaxy far, far away friends out in Star Wars land.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. So obviously, I think everyone remembers that massive moment, you know, where Luke Skywalker came and took away.

 

Jason Concepcion Ever heard of him?

 

Rosie Knight You ever heard of him? You heard of Luke Skywalker? Once known as Luke Starkiller now. Well, here he is. He came. He his face was CGI to look younger. It was voiced by none other than Mark Hamill. And he took the baby. He was taking that baby and he was like, I got to got to take that baby and tournaments with Jedi. But Boba Fett book of Boba Fett show that I found very charming, sequential Star Wars storytelling of the highest oldest fashioned order that we saw that the baby he went back to the Mandalorian.

 

Jason Concepcion Got to get the baby back.

 

Rosie Knight Look, nobody wants.

 

Jason Concepcion I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back.

 

Rosie Knight Don’t eat those baby’s ribs. Only a baby, no ribs. So. So if you think about like this, look, Disney knew from the very first moment that they saw the end of the first episode.

 

Jason Concepcion That the stock started dropping.

 

Rosie Knight You know, the baby is not going to stay with the baby, but the baby, Pedro Pascal, you’ve got to have everyone’s favorite space daddy looking off to everyone’s favorite space baby. So in a very powerful moment that we talked about quite extensively because we thought this was really cool, very Avatar, The Last Airbender inspired, it felt like as well. The baby chose to go with Dean. And now Dean is in this hilarious space where he’s just kind of like, Yeah, my mission’s over, but guess what? Baby came back. So now I’m just with this baby just chillin. But. If you remember Din, thanks to his love of the baby, he took off his mask.

 

Jason Concepcion Dun dun. Dun.

 

Rosie Knight Means he broke the Mandalorian code and the especially strict deathwatch code. So now he has to. Find a way to redeem himself in the eyes of Mandalor. Why does he want to do that? I don’t know. He loves being a Mandalorian. But. So that’s why in him, in the baby, they’re just. Just chillin in space in a very cool Naboo star fighter. The baby’s looking cute and his little head.

 

Jason Concepcion Star Baby.

 

Rosie Knight Popping out in the back. I mean, every time you see this puppet, you’re just so happy.

 

Jason Concepcion There’s some wonderful shots of the baby. Yeah. I feel my serotonin rise. Every time the camera graces the face of our good friend Grogu. That beautiful 53 now year old baby. Let’s go to the recap. We open on some planet somewhere. It looks, you know, very deserty, very sandy, except there is a large body of water here. We’ll talk about that in a bit. The Armorer is in her workshop. She is forging some bit of beskar armor. And it is a helmet. The key, of course, to the Mandalorian identity. She steps out of the cave between ranks of Mandalorians that the Mandalorian tribe growing, you know, had been essentially decimated in recent years, but has clearly been growing since we caught back up with them in season one of The Mandalorian. And she presents this helmet to a youth. And then they speak the the creed of the Mandalorian faith, I swear in my name, in the names of my ancestors that I shall walk the way of the mandalore and the words of the creed shall be forever forged in my heart. And the boy repeats this. And The Armorer places the helmet on his head. And then they say, This is the way. From this moment on, I shall never remove my helmet. He repeats this, and just as he does a giant alligator like alien bursts from the waterline. Are we  not checking?

 

Rosie Knight Let’s talk about this.

 

Jason Concepcion Like, Can we go a little? Did we not do a an appropriate scouting of the wildlife in this area? Why are we this close to habitat of a giant fucking alligator?

 

Rosie Knight In the cave. Just in the case. Well, actually, just in the cave like you it out. You had to do this induction ceremony on the shore of Lake Placid like this. This is very big alligator. And also, I feel like I feel like the Mandalorian way, the death watch way, this kind of hardcore vision.

 

Jason Concepcion War or First War, Second in War always.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. They need to rethink their connection with the galaxy and the animals of the planet.

 

Jason Concepcion Like I agree with that.

 

Rosie Knight This is this alligator is just chillin in a lake and you come down, bring in a little tasty looking child into its mess. Its legs are flipping around in the water as it stands. I think he’s just hungry, doing anything wrong. He just wants a snack. You’re tempting him. I feel like you could have been anywhere else.

 

Jason Concepcion Also, you. You said. I think something important was. Listen, we know why they didn’t do that. Because you need a cool action sitter. But, like, just go back into the cave and wait it out, and then when it leaves, come out and say, okay, let’s move inland. And I just move 100 yards in.

 

Rosie Knight And you are right, because the real truth is that looked sick. Like the alligator looks unbelievable, incredible creature work. I literally was like, oh, this is where the budget of Ant-Man and The Wasp went. Like literally that alligator it looks like a real live just is beautiful I love the creature but you know what I don’t love I don’t love to see all these mandalorians trying to blow up this alligator just about.

 

Jason Concepcion And they really did. They open up with everything they have. They send the the younglings to safety, and then they start just like unleashing hell on this alligator from ground and, of course, from the air with their jetpacks. You got a couple of Mandalorians fly up and attached thermal detonators.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah,  bombing it.

 

Jason Concepcion The hide of the beast. No effect. They’re opening fire with all kinds of things. You had a couple of mandalorians, and this I didn’t get what the end goal was here. You had a couple of Mandalorian warriors shoot their grappling cables into the animal’s neck.

 

Rosie Knight Like, it was kind of like they thought they could, like, pull it down like a circus tent. But at.

 

Jason Concepcion The thing weighs 500 tons, what are we doing?

 

Rosie Knight It’s huge. And it’s also like 65 million years old or something. This thing is a dinosaur. Like, what were you thinking?

 

Jason Concepcion Was it to a role? There’s like 12 guys were attached to the alligator, get maimed, The Armorer then rushes forward to save a stricken mandalorians who was still attached by their cables. Paz Vizsla saves a young boy. And that opens up with that that rotary cannon that he has. And just when it seems like, you know what, the fledgling Mandalorian people just getting back on their feet after, you know the after the purge and the empire’s depredations on their society and culture, they’re going to get destroyed once again by a fucking alligator.

 

Rosie Knight An alligator.

 

Jason Concepcion A silver Naboo. And one star fighter streaks overhead and the mandalorian is here and he shoots the alligator and it’s barbecued gator for everybody. I bet they ate this gator. They have to eat.

 

Rosie Knight They have to they have to be sorted forlike a long time also. Please. This man loves to kill a giant, ancient animal. I get sick of it. He’s cute. He loved the baby. But, like, please, just. Just think twice.

 

Jason Concepcion He’s killing. This guy has killed some real, real megafauna.

 

Rosie Knight Some incredible creatures.

 

Jason Concepcion So later on, Din and our good friend Baby Grogu were hanging out with The Armorer. And The Armorer is like lecturing Mando once again, you know? Hey, you took off your helmet. Remember that thing where you took off your helmet? Guess what? You can’t be accepted back into Mandalorian Society. And then Mando is like, Yeah, but I’ve been studying my Mandalorian tracts. And the Creed talks of redemption, does it not, in the end? The Armorer is like, Yeah, but you know, no redemption. You can only do redemption at the living waters under the minds of mandalore. And as we all know, ever since the Imperial purge of Mandalore, that shit is poison. You can’t go there anymore. So you are an outcast. Why am I even talking to you? Because I like you. But like, officially.

 

Rosie Knight You’re done.

 

Jason Concepcion We can’t do this anymore. And then Din is like. Okay, that’s a good point. But what if the minds of Mandalore still exist? Boom. He lays a chunk of crystal. You know, the as the Empire bombarded mandalore like it turned the surface of the planet into this. Like crystal. This green crystal. Yes. And he lays this chunk of crystal on on The Armorer’s workbench. And it has a Mandalorian inscription on it.

 

Rosie Knight I mean, I was going to say the really interesting thing, that idea of the the empire built like turning these planets to Crystal in from legends, and they call it glossing. And it would happen. It was this horrifying thing that would happen. So it’s one of the more of these. This is an episode where we get a lot of animation nods and these little legends nods. And that’s so cool to see. It almost looks like kryptonite.

 

Jason Concepcion That’s so it was really a really cool moment and really. Like hammers home the violence of what was the Mandalorian people. Din is like, yeah, you know, I got this from a from Jawas who said that they got it from a traveler who in turn claims to have visited Mandalore. And does this not prove that Mandalore, while maybe not fully inhabitable, you know.

 

Rosie Knight Might not be poisoned.

 

Jason Concepcion Is at least, like, not super poisonous. Like I could go there. And here’s my plan, Armorer, I think you figured it out. I’m going to go to Mandalore. I’m going to go to the mines of Mandalore. I’m going to go under the minds of Mandalore and I’m going to bathe in the redemptive living waters.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, baby.

 

Jason Concepcion What do you say about that? And The Armorer is like, you know what? This is the way. I can’t fucking argue you.

 

Rosie Knight And she’s like, Sorry, bro you’re right. You’re right. She’s like, let’s do it.

 

Jason Concepcion You’re you know what? You got me there. It’s a good plan.

 

Rosie Knight She’s like, Go have a bath. Then come back and see me. This is the way.

 

Jason Concepcion Baby Yoda clearly loves it. Now, let me ask you this. This is just shows you how I would not. I would not be able to excel, survive, thrive in Mandalorian society. I would just leave for a couple of weeks, hang out in Navarro with my buddy Greef, more on him later. Come back and said so I did it.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, I know. So it’s like a magic ritual.

 

Jason Concepcion I did it. I got into the waters. It was pretty cool. It is.

 

Rosie Knight Feeling redeemed.

 

Jason Concepcion And I’m redeemed. So what’s up. Am I back?

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. And also, like, you probably would survive. I would say that’s actually probably a smart ass version. Also, you just be like, Guess what? You know what? Don’t just have to take my word for it. Cool baby was here and he knows he also saw. You saw, didn’t you? And Grogu was like, Yeah, because Grogu will do anything for Grogu was like a trouble. He’s down and he’s a troublemaker. He loves to cause a bit of mischief. He would like to pull a prank.

 

Jason Concepcion All does is.

 

Rosie Knight You have the right idea. That’s what he should be doing.

 

Jason Concepcion X-ray vision will be back.

 

<AD>.

 

Jason Concepcion And we’re back. So they head off to go do this. They’re in hyperspace. You know that that beautiful kind of like web of light is all around the in one ship as they move through this hyperspace tunnel. And that baby Yoda look of wonder goes across. Cute little, beautiful little face of of Grogu. And it’s not just the wonder of interstellar travel. We see that he is looking at a huge whale like creature with tentacles. It is a purrgil and in fact, it’s several purrgils.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. Many.

 

Jason Concepcion And this was this was the first time I really felt the scale of them.

 

Rosie Knight Mm hmm.

 

Jason Concepcion They’re fucking huge.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah.

 

Jason Concepcion That was really cool.

 

Rosie Knight It’s so huge.

 

Jason Concepcion It really feels like, of course, purrgils, where we first saw them in Rebels and they they are space whales, essentially, that can travel hyperspace tunnels just through their own natural abilities. And it really feels like they’re setting the purrgil up to be part of some larger mystery.

 

Rosie Knight I definitely think so.

 

Jason Concepcion But it feels like that.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. And in in the current Star Wars canon books, there’s kind of been this expansion of the idea of hyperspace as almost like its own landscape and its own ecology. And and I think that the inclusion of the purrgils was also like big hint towards like Asoka because this had they had a big moment in the finale in the end kind of of Rebels. So it’s very interesting to see and I love this because you’re right, like in the Rebels, you get to see stuff. But in this moment where you have the tiny baby and this Naboo ship, which we’ve seen, is quite formidable, but it is absolutely dwarfed by these huge. And at first Grogu’s so into it. And there’s one and it’s beautiful. But when he realizes there’s four or five, he, like, runs away.

 

Jason Concepcion It was really, really wondrous. Din does not see the prequels because he is fast asleep at the fucking wheel, which I get it. He’s doing a lot and a single parent, he needs to catch some shut eye. And you get this really cute moment where Grogu goes to the little tunnel that attaches his bubble to like the main cockpit and he just like, pops up.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, he snuggles in and he’s like, That was scary.

 

Jason Concepcion I love it so much.

 

Rosie Knight I love that.

 

Jason Concepcion They land on Navarro, The gem of the outer rim. And you got to say.

 

Rosie Knight Looking shiny.

 

Jason Concepcion Looking fucking great. It looks great. Grogu, who is cooing at the sights and sounds of this lively town center now, including we see a troop of Kawakian monkey lizards in the trees.

 

Rosie Knight And they’re free because in the original.

 

Jason Concepcion They’re free.

 

Rosie Knight We’d seen them before in cages. But here they just chillin like funny monkeys in the tree looking gross, reppin salacious crumb.

 

Jason Concepcion Din is equally amazed. It’s like, holy shit, like this place is really, really changed. And they go to the town square where they find a statue of their erstwhile ally Come enemy IG 11, you know, one of our one of our favorite robot droid bounty hunters turned unlikely hero voiced of course by Taika Waititi.

 

Rosie Knight An unexpected Taika come back. Is that what this is promising us for season three?

 

Jason Concepcion And as they’re gazing up at the at the conical figure of the late IG 11, the trademark booming voice of Greef Karga , bellows, vala.

 

Rosie Knight Carl Weathers. We love you. It makes me so happy.

 

Jason Concepcion Again, is anyone having more fun than Carl Weathers?

 

Rosie Knight Never. Impossible. This man lived to be in this role in the show and now his town is thriving and he’s feeling good. He’s looking good.

 

Jason Concepcion Oh, my. He looks rich.

 

Rosie Knight He is looking rich. That cape is heavy. He has two droids who just follow him around. Holding his cape off the floor. Cape droids.

 

Jason Concepcion Cape droid. Where do you get cape droids? I need two cape droids.

 

Rosie Knight Definitely commands like babies made them.

 

Jason Concepcion Oh, absolutely. I mean, it’s this beautiful, like scarlet velvet cape with all this, like, gold detailing. And from the back, it’s like all gold. And as you mention, it’s got these two little, two little red droids on either side of the Cape that hold it off the dusty ground. Amazing. And then we find out that Greef Karga has a new title as well. He is the not the magistrate of Navarro. He’s the high magistrate. And he’s like, Let’s go to my office and let’s catch up. So they go to his office. Karga is like, Here’s what’s going on in Navarro. Trade is up. Construction is booming. The mining interests out here in the Navarro system are just pouring credits into the planet.

 

Rosie Knight Money, money, money.

 

Jason Concepcion Really, really good. It’s money, money, money, money. Here’s how good it’s going. Would you like a free mansion? Because that’s what I got for you.

 

Rosie Knight Would you like to become a landowner?

 

Jason Concepcion How would you like that? Let me ask you this Mando, a deal you can’t refuse. How would you like a prime piece of real estate out by the hot springs? Do you know how much real estate over by the hot springs is? You could do with the little one. Hang up your blasters. Live off the fat of the land and Mando’s like, ah.

 

Rosie Knight Incorrect choice.

 

Jason Concepcion I got to bathe in the living waters. I got to go bathe in the living waters.

 

Rosie Knight You know  what? Greef Karga knows. Yeah. He sees this baby. He’s like, Why is the baby still here? And he’s like, You know what? Why? Why are you still like that with the baby? He’s like, This man obviously loves this baby. And he’s like, What does the man and a baby need? They need a house. He’s like, Why don’t you just think he’s right? This is giving me big The Last of Us vibes. Please, Pedro Pascal, spend some time with your child in a safe space. Stop taking them on dangerous journeys.

 

Jason Concepcion And we should add that while this conversation about Mando for insane reasons, turning down a free fucking house, our good friend Baby Yoda, the beautiful 53 year old baby, is sitting in Greef Karga’s office chair using the force to spin the chair.

 

Rosie Knight It’s so good.

 

Jason Concepcion I absolutely love it. So Din explains why he’s still hanging out with baby Yoda and why he can’t take a free house as a whole. I’m an apostate. I need to bathe in living quarters. I need redemption. Yeah. And Karga is like, okay, but, you’d be landed Gentry. This is great. No. And then what about it? Think about it. But before they can really mullet over any further. Greef’s Protocol Droid enters and is like, we had a problem, there are some pirates in town.

 

Rosie Knight Pirates.

 

Jason Concepcion And it turns out Greef knows these pirates. Their leader is a Nick Doe named Vane, who works for Pirate King Shard. Karga is like, Okay, let’s get off the street here. You guys are. The pirates are like, knocking, like, trying to get into this building that they think is a cantina, but it’s actually a school now because Navarro is significantly  cleaned up.

 

Rosie Knight Things are looking up, right?

 

Jason Concepcion Yeah. And. Karga’s like that’s a school. You’re bothering the Droid teachers there. Let’s just go to my office and talk this over. And of course, Mando is there leaning against a tree, giving him the appropriate muscle that he might need to get these pirates off the street. And Vane is like, listen. What happened to you, man? You paid us for murder and mayhem inside this building that is now apparently a school. And now you’re talking about it’s a school, and you’re just, like, soft now. What the fuck is going on? So Vane, like, moves his cape away from his blaster, Karga moves his cape away from his blaster, and then all of a sudden, they draw and Karga is bad ass and shoots the blaster at Vane’s hand.

 

Rosie Knight Yes.

 

Jason Concepcion Absolutely. And that is like, okay, I shot your blaster out of your head. You get it? Oh, don’t fuck with me. Now get out of here. And the pirates, by the way, they move. Clearly were not going to get out of here.

 

Rosie Knight No.

 

Jason Concepcion Because they did, you know, they did some quick counting, like, well, a six of us. And there’s two of this guy. You know, there’s one. There’s Greef Karga and another guy. I think we could take them even though the other guy is wearing Mandalorian armor, like, can we even Blaster.

 

Rosie Knight Probably would be some kind of like mix around him seeing as he’s been doing a wonderful.

 

Jason Concepcion Thing that this fucking morons anyway so they basically make a move like they’re going to do something and Karga and Mando gun them all down. Okay. Mass murder on the streets of Navarro. And then Karga is like, Okay, Vane, get out of here. And Mando is like, Are you sure you going to let this guy go? But the high magistrate is like, Yeah, it’s great idea because he’s going to go and he’s going to tell the other pirates that all the pirates died and and he’s going to say, don’t go back to Navarro because they’re bad asses there. And so that’s over. And Karga and Mando were walking back I would assume to to Greef’s office and he’s like, okay but here’s the thing. These pirates are coming by every once in a while. Different things are happening and we need a marshal. So Amanda was like, Well, what about my good friend, former rebel trooper? Cara Dune.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. What she up to?

 

Jason Concepcion What’s she up to? Well, Greef is like well, she’s now a notorious anti-vaxxer and far right figure. But also, she’s been recruited by the New Republic special for Special Forces. She’s out of forces, so she’s out of it. We can’t get her back. And by the way, since you asked about Cara Dune, here’s what’s also going on with Moff Gideon, our good friend Moff Gideon, who you got the Darksaber from. He is currently standing trial for crimes against Galaxy. So what do you say? Marshal Sounds good, right? That house still available, and Din is like. I don’t know. Why don’t you just, like, ring up the New Republic and say.

 

Rosie Knight And see what they’re saying?

 

Jason Concepcion Yeah, And Karga’s like, here’s a thing. The New Republic’s all the way in the fucking center of the galaxy. We’re out here in the outer rim. What are they going to do? Like, I don’t want to. We dealt with this the first time with the Empire and previously the Republic, and it’s like they’re too far away to help us any. And he continues. Under my watch, Navarro will become the first truly independent trade anchor in the entire sector. Will you be my marshal Mando and the free house over by the beautiful hot springs of Navarro? And Mando’s like I can’t.

 

Rosie Knight He’s like, Now, man, do you have redemptive waters? Because otherwise it’s not happening.

 

Jason Concepcion Redemptive waters in the area. So Karga is like, okay, I’m sorry. I’ve been monopolizing this whole conversation ever since you landed here. You know, you and baby Grogu. I’ve been I’ve been selfishly offering you a free house.

 

Rosie Knight Oh, how do I know you were here for serious business? Oh.

 

Jason Concepcion I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t ask you what, what you needed. What do you need?

 

Rosie Knight Other than a free house?

 

Jason Concepcion Dis is like I got. It is like I got a crazy ask resurrect IG 11. What?.

 

Rosie Knight I was like, bro. I was like, that was not what I was expecting also like did he go that just to see an old friend? Did he know the statue was there? Is this something he just cherry picked off the top of his head? I say it was like a.

 

Jason Concepcion I think it’s just like an idea that like he just came in hot, gazed on the statue, was like, You know what? I want my fucking. I hate it. I know. Like, as recently as earlier in this series, I fucking hated, like, hated and I mean, Capital H hated on Droid.

 

Rosie Knight But this was the one who changed things.

 

Jason Concepcion This one. There is a connection there. It’s time to A.D.. I need my good buddy IG 11 back. Let’s resurrect him and Karga’s like I don’t what he’s destroyed and also like his parts are in a statue and like and so Mando’s again exactly so he’s the parts are still there like get him out. I need a droid I can trust to help me explore Mandalore. And Karga’s like, Listen. This is the new Navarro we’re talking about here. Like we are packed to the gills with droids. You want the fucking best droid ever. Like I can get you your pick of the litter. You can have any droid you want. And Din is like, No, I want that busted fucking droid. That’s currently a statue that tried to kill me and and baby Yoda. The first time it was.

 

Rosie Knight Actually programed solely to kill baby Yoda. So I just really need him back.

 

Jason Concepcion I want him.

 

Rosie Knight And he’s like, I guess, I guess in the inside Din was like, Well, this guy was about to give me like a house. And I’m like, So I’m sure he’ll just give me this old part of a statue.

 

Jason Concepcion And it is I think it’s a it’s. Actually emblematic of Din’s personality, which is. Like other mandalorians, He is extremely set in his ways. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Beholden to the creative.

 

Rosie Knight That’s a great point.

 

Jason Concepcion And the culture and society mandalore. But unlike. All the other mandalorians we’ve seen up to now, and certainly any of the ones that he’s interacted with, he does have the ability to change, to learn. And when he does do that, like his connection with Grogu, who is taking off his helmet, the bond he clearly formed with IG 11, it is it that bond with whatever surprising person that is usually outside of the sphere of interest is very, very strong.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. That’s a great point.

 

Jason Concepcion Now that he has had a good experience with this one droid. His his ban on like ever interacting with the droids is gone, but he only wants to interact with this world. I had the good experience with the one droid. If I don’t.

 

Rosie Knight Like it, he’s chill.

 

Jason Concepcion Be on the rest of them.

 

Rosie Knight He’s chill without the droids to them. He’s not saying I hate droids all the time, but he doesn’t want to bring a droid on this important mission to have a bath. This needs to be enjoyed. He can trust.

 

Jason Concepcion AI, and he knows. And he also knows. Like, listen, I feel IG 11 cand handle his shit.

 

Rosie Knight So I believe it will sacrifice his life for the baby and the Mandalorian. So that’s a good person to have on your side.

 

Jason Concepcion So Karga is like, okay, here’s here’s what a good friend I am and I have been ever since. You have come back in the way I read your house. I offer you a job. Now come and drag this busted fucking bounty hunting robot to my office. Not like any workshop.

 

Rosie Knight Or to my office.

 

Jason Concepcion Bring it to my office and you can fix it on my desk. So. So Mando is like, okay, you know, he’s doing his thing and he gets IG 11 comes online, eyes immediately go red. It has gone back to its original Kill Baby Yoda program and like the T 800 at the end of the first Terminator is like crawling around on the floor.

 

Rosie Knight Kill the acid. Destroy the acid. Kill the acid. And it’s very nightmarish and extremely well done and really creepy.

 

Jason Concepcion And Mando is just like firing off Blaster shots in the office. He then and this was so funny to me.

 

Rosie Knight Oh my god.

 

Jason Concepcion He then like laterals baby Yoda to Greef.

 

Rosie Knight He just like is like a toddler. It’s all of baby Yoda. It looks like you just he’s like a kid. He’s just like, Hey, how dare you say, Oh, how dare you know, baby.

 

Jason Concepcion Yoda, Baby Yoda can take baby Yoda like as the I shouldn’t be worried.

 

Rosie Knight Baby Yoda could probably have like, floated.

 

Jason Concepcion With a force. Yes, it’s not a problem. But still, it was a funny visual to just like.

 

Rosie Knight So funny.

 

Jason Concepcion Yeeted Baby Yoda into the arms of Greef Karga.

 

Rosie Knight Also always hilarious to see a puppet like with with its legs, you know, like so immediately thought of like a doll. When you see the it’s like Kermit riding a bike. It’s just like, ooh. And obviously Carl Weathers was ready to catch it. Those hench muscles, he was like, Cool, the baby’s fine.

 

Jason Concepcion So then IG is like just laser focused on this baby and like, it turns and is crawling now to Greef Karga and baby Yoda and quick thinking by the Magistrates Protocol Droid who drops a pretty substantial bust of Greef Karga then he just has it his office.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah.

 

Jason Concepcion Onto IG’s head, crushing it and then Mando gives a very Schwarzenegger.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

Jason Concepcion Like line. Now that’s using your head.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. They’re doing a lot of fun. Like Predator esque, like yeah, Mando and car and Greef do the do the like you son of a bitch like can shame really what Arnold dropped there.

 

Jason Concepcion Was a lot of like hat tips to Predator in this movie like that what that line was clearly it shows Schwarzenegger Yeah.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah it’s it’s such a fun sequence. And also like now I feel like, bro, just take the protocol droid. Like, that droid is a quick thing. It saved your life so that yeah, he saved your life. He thought of that plan when you when you guys were about to get murked by like a fucking half a dead body. But you just take that guy. Why, Why do you need this? IG.

 

Jason Concepcion That protocol droid was like. Like a rookie in sports. Just having a great game. It’s like, can we appreciate the quick thinking? This protocol droid is just here to be like the pirates. You hear and speak 8000 language, and here he is saving the high magistrate and his friend’s life.

 

Rosie Knight And the baby.

 

Jason Concepcion Shout like either give him a raise, more oil, better quality motor oil.

 

Rosie Knight Again, whatever it is.

 

Jason Concepcion Whatever he needs, like give it to him.

 

<AD>.

 

Jason Concepcion But now, of course, Mando is not giving up on this crazy notion to resurrect IG11. He’s like, okay, I still want to do it. I still want to. I know that now his head is crushed.

 

Rosie Knight He’s like, But maybe we can find a way.

 

Jason Concepcion Is there not something we could do? And Karga, again, I have to respect this man’s dedication to doing PR for Navarro. At every turn, he’s like, Well, in addition to the beautiful hot springs to Navarro being the gem of the outer rim, to the the burgeoning construction boom that is going on here at our local wildlife that you can see all throughout the town square. Did you know that some of the finest Droid Smiths in the Galaxy have been drawn to the the low taxes and friendly business environment on the outer rim?

 

Rosie Knight My favorite thing about this, as well as you have to be like, you’re like, I love that and you are so right. I respect his sales pitch all time, but I have to ask you, Greef. I have to ask you a question if that is the case. And it seems to be, why did you just take him there first? Why did you take him to your officeand let this reckless babysitter do this dangerous situation. Like, take him first to these little guys.

 

Jason Concepcion I think that is a fair question. I also think that from what we know of Mando, Mando is.

 

Rosie Knight He’s going to do it his way.

 

Jason Concepcion You know? He’s like, yeah, he’s like the guy. He’s definitely the guy that if he’s driving and he misses the exit and you try to tell him. Oh no, I’m going that way. And I know this is the correct way to repair a droid that has been fully destroyed. Do I know how to do this? Have I ever done this before? No, but I’ve seen it done and I know what I’m doing. So Karga takes IG, the carcass of IG, Din and a little baby Grogu to the Droid Smiths. And guess who they are? It’s our friends, the Anzellans. The same species as our good friend Babu Frick. You remember the cute little Anzellans. They have this wonderful little workshop that is like.

 

Rosie Knight A good scene. It’s a practical workshop. And, you know.

 

Jason Concepcion I love this.

 

Rosie Knight You have to crawl through the door to get there. And then Mando’s sitting there and he’s giant in this kind of tiny sized workshop where everything is made for the Anzellans.

 

Jason Concepcion Loved this.

 

Rosie Knight And they all have big Babu Frick energy that is like really great moment where like the baby is trying to like hug an Anzellan because he thinks it’s cute. And the Anzellan was like, bad baby, bad baby.

 

Jason Concepcion Oh my God. It was so, yeah, Grogu’s like I can. I just, like, have  an Anzellan like, as a pet. It was I absolutely loved the design here. It reminded me of the for those of you, for anyone that remembers Fraggle Rock.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. Yeah.

 

Jason Concepcion The Doozers from Fraggle Rock, it was just like, Is this really cool? So the Droid Smiths are like, okay, here’s the deal. This droid is really, really fucked up and we can get him back online. But if you want to do it, we need to get the memory circuit and but like, I don’t know where we get one.

 

Rosie Knight Side Quest.

 

Jason Concepcion Side and now it’s time for a side quest. And as they’re leaving, as you mentioned, Grogu is like try to pick up the like Anzellan and take it with him.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. And it’s like, I love this. They do this great comedy moment here where Carl Weathers really gets to shine, where like, you can kind of understand the Anzellans, but it’s almost like a it’s like a mishmash of English in their own language. So, so Greef is outside and he keeps kneeling down. And at first his translation is like, really helpful. But by the end, the guys, the little guys are just like, yeah, no, no memory. Got it. And Matt is like, I can literally understand, but Greef just keeps translating. He’s very helpful friend.

 

Jason Concepcion He is. So that Mando and Grogu head off to go find this memory circuit wherever it is they’re in space, they’re in the N1, they’re flying around. Mando is unlike. Unlike Pedro Pascal’s other character, Joel, teaching his young charge like how to do stuff,.

 

Rosie Knight Useful.

 

Jason Concepcion You know, like, okay, here’s how the ship works and here’s what this dial does and here’s what this display does. Oh, look at this. Guess what? We have enemies in the area. It’s the pirates. The pirates are back, and they are here to take revenge on Mando for killing a bunch of pirates. You know, on the surface of Navarro. Vane is, of course, leading them. And he radios and he’s like, Hey, we are. Pirate king, guru and swordsman. And you will answer to him. And then a dogfight pops off. But Mando, Mando is really good. I mean, we’ve seen Mando work and there’s no way he’s going to get taken down by like six idiot pirates. So he picks them off one by one, but in Vane is like, Okay, I’m out of here. I’m going to. I’m going to Rabbit. But Vane is leading them to the flagship of Pirate King Shark. We see shark who is like a green spinach monster.

 

Rosie Knight It’s one thing.

 

Jason Concepcion Yeah, he’s like Swamp Thing.

 

Rosie Knight He’s got green spinach face, red eyes. I mean, it looks like something good on Marvel for getting that one in there for us.

 

Jason Concepcion It was really cute. So he gets a pirate camp shard, gets a lock on the N1 and is like, Hey, here’s what’s up. I got a lock on your ship. I’m going to destroy you. Surrender your ship, I’ll let you live. And Mando then imparts some really, really great space. Great line. The library says Kid never trust pirate, and then they make a run for it. And of course, they get away because pirates are idiots. They fly to the Mandalore system, specifically the planet kill Vala, and they land at this beautiful mandalorian castle, like on the seaside, on a cliff. It’s absolutely gorgeous. And it’s the home of our good friend Bo-katan.

 

Rosie Knight She’s pissed.

 

Jason Concepcion I’ve been hearing you, she says. And she’s like, Well, guess what? There’s nothing to join and fuck you. And also, where’s the darksaber? I don’t see it. And by the way, if I had had it, my entire army wouldn’t have, like left me because I came back without a darksaber and nobody wants to follow me anymore. So you know you’re an asshole. She says to Din, Well, since you’ve got the darksaber, wherever the fuck it is, why don’t you use it? You rally an army yourself, and then they’ll just do whatever you want to do. She is very, very salty.

 

Rosie Knight She’s sitting there, helmet off looking mad, doing the great. She’s going like on the road, on the throne with the leg up. She is. She is definitely posed as more of an antagonist than an ally at this point in time.

 

Jason Concepcion And so then Mando is like, well, here’s what I’m in town to do. Get this, I’m going to Mandalore. And she’s like, Why?

 

Rosie Knight She’s like, LOL, like.

 

Jason Concepcion There’s nothing there. What do you what do you do there? And he’s like, Well, I’m going to go under the mines and I’m going to bathe in the living waters and I’m going to be redeemed and then Bo is like you’re a moron. There’s no.

 

Rosie Knight You’re a goof.

 

Jason Concepcion It’s all the planet is wrecked. It’s radioactive, destroyed. No one can live there. But like, listen. Who am I to stop a fool from his errand? If you want to go, the living quarters are underneath the civic center in the city of Sundari. And Mando says, Guess what? I’m fucking going. Yeah. Peace.

 

Rosie Knight I have to say, I feel like Mando is so concerned with having his little bath that he does not realize that. Bo isnpissed. And I’m assuming he’s like, This feels like Bo saying, like, Yeah, they’re under a civic center in thecity of Sandari. And what he’s really going to find there is an ambush so she can get the darksaber back. Like, it doesn’t feel like she’s giving him good faith advice.

 

Jason Concepcion I completely agree with you. I also feel like, Mando, you’re not using it. You just like, can’t you just, like, stage a fight? Yeah.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah. Like, just pretend that you, like, die.

 

Jason Concepcion Like. Oh, my God, you got me on the chin and I’m going down.

 

Rosie Knight And oh, no, we flipped a coin and now you own it. Like, surely that would work.

 

Jason Concepcion And now you own a darksaber and it’s yours. Yeah.

 

Rosie Knight Why did you just. Why does he need it?

 

Jason Concepcion Well, you don’t need it. You don’t use it. You’re shooting everybody. You didn’t use it on the pirates.

 

Rosie Knight That would have been a good thing. Do you then give it to Bo-katan?

 

Jason Concepcion She needs it. She’s an actual leader. You don’t want to lead. Just give it to her.

 

Rosie Knight You don’t need that thing with the baby. It’s dangerous, love. Okay. Do you think the baby’s going to wield the darksaber? Is that why he still has it? I feel like now I’ve just said it. I’m like, Maybe I’m right. There has to be a narrative reason. And I’m like, I guess maybe the baby’s don’t hold it.

 

Jason Concepcion I will say that I do. I think that whenever I don’t think it’ll be in this, I don’t think it’ll be in The Mandalorian, right? Because the time jump that would need to happen is insane. But I do think that at some point, obviously, where we’re headed is. Grow goo is going to be and is going to be part of the Mandalorian culture. Right? That’s going to happen. He’s going to take the. He’s going to take the oath. He’s going to put on a little helmet. Oh, I’d.

 

Rosie Knight Love to see that baby in the helmet with his and can.

 

Jason Concepcion Out. And I think at that point, by hook or by crook, he’s going to get that darksaber. It just makes too much sense. Like it feels like this is where this is going. What do you think?

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, I think so. Definitely. I’m I’m very interested to see how they bow to and there’s like a lot of Rebels lore here like Rebels locations the the the purrgils. Like I’m I’m excited to see where this goes. I also like that they just came back and they were like, look, do you remember what the mandalorian’s about? It’s about baby and a guy and they’re just having fun going to space see us of cool shit, seeing a familiar face like shooting some people like they would. They did not come back at this with any other angle than just like this is the Fun Star Wars show and I love it. I also love to see Rick back as a director because he directed one of my favorite episodes from the first season. And the fact that he’s on like three of these episodes this season is very exciting to me. I’m also stoked that Carl Weathers is directing another episode. I can’t wait for that and.

 

Jason Concepcion Good for him.

 

Rosie Knight After that book of Boba Fett episode that made everyone realize Bryce Dallas Howard should be able to direct a Star Wars movie. I cannot wait to see episode because episode of Book of Boba Fett was like, Unbelievable.

 

Jason Concepcion I got to tell you, I think you’re right about this ambush that he feels like it makes too much sense to me. Right.

 

Rosie Knight She was given so much so easily. She’s like, now she’s like, sure, go there. Also, he makes a really good point where he’s like, Why aren’t you the one who told me it wasn’t poisoned? He’s like, But now it’s poison. He’s like, Something doesn’t really add up, but he’s so desperate for this redemption and to be part of his culture again that he is ignoring what I feel like. All red flags. She even says to him at the end, she’s like, Goodbye din djarin. And I’m like, Yeah, good bye, because you’re about to kill him. And the take the darksaber.

 

Jason Concepcion Let me ask you this is do you think that the the the mandalorians that have kind of gathered around The Armorer now on planet to be named later. Are they the people that melted away from Bo-katan army?

 

Rosie Knight She does say something really interesting at the beginning of this where she’s like, did death watch all these different factions? Like they destroyed Mandalore, but she was also a separatist. So I think it’s unclear. And she sort of said, you know, that her her crew are now like mercenaries. So I don’t know. But I do think that we’re going to end up in a situation where there’s going to be different sects of mandalorians who are going to have to come together if they actually want mandalore to kind of exist in any coherent way.

 

Jason Concepcion I like the way they’re setting up too for Din to be this unlikely and in many ways unwilling Leader of the Mandalorian people, because it feels like he’s going to be thrust into a situation where against his nature, he’s going to have to be not just like the warrior military leader, but a real political leader for this, like fractious and dwindling people that, in Pochettino’s words, as you mentioned, is just like. The divided by different schemes and different different factions.

 

Rosie Knight I think that’s a great point because something that is really interesting that I wonder if they’re going to play on is we’ve talked about this a lot, how him and Grogu do they almost alike. They’re becoming this kind of melding of Jedi culture and Mandalorian culture. And I do wonder if part of the lesson of then being a new leader for Mandalore is going to be about them changing their ways or adapting to new people or new thought processes, or not changing the creed, but being more open to different readings of it. You know, I feel like that kind of seems like it’s a adapt or it’s like adapt or die kind of situation lately.

 

Jason Concepcion Yes, that feels like. The underlying theme of this show, in addition to like hanging out time with with Dean and Grogan, is this idea of a culture that is so set in its ways that really is like, Yeah. Not to blame. It’s you know, it’s I mean, it would be victim blaming to say the man airlines brought some of this stuff up. Sounds like the empire destroyed them. But there is an aspect of their culture that is so war centric that it’s like self-defeating in every sense.

 

Rosie Knight Their response to it has not necessarily helped them.

 

Jason Concepcion Yeah, we saw a lot of this in Clone Wars where, you know, when political leaders attempted to bring a more progressive, more peace centric style of politics to the mandalorians, it turned into basically like a low level civil war. And now. Can this very small surviving sect of the Mandalorian culture adapt in order to survive. I think that that is the theme of of this this series.

 

Rosie Knight I think so too.

 

Jason Concepcion It’s really interesting.

 

Rosie Knight Yeah, it’s really interesting. I was also going to say, like, I thought the score was really good for this episode, but it obviously wasn’t Ludwig and I thought that was really interesting. So Ludwig did do the first two seasons and Boba Fett, but I guess for this it’s a composer called Joseph Chailly. But I really liked it. It felt different, but really Star Wars.

 

Jason Concepcion Yeah, it’s it’s fun. I’m happy to have it back in my life.

 

Rosie Knight It’s so cheery compared to The Last of Us. Like The Last of Us. And I was like, I need to see the baby again. I was like, this. The Last of Us is so good. But I am happy that our Pedro Pascal double bill is now like cheery baby, sad baby.

 

Jason Concepcion I need to see.

 

Rosie Knight Duality.

 

Jason Concepcion The the milky web of hyperspace reflected in the beautiful dewy eyes of my 50 year old baby friend, Grogu.

 

Rosie Knight We need a baby yoga Yoda, actually, for the studio. I’m like Lucasfilm. Send us a baby. We need him.

 

Jason Concepcion Send us a  baby.

 

Rosie Knight Only a green baby, you know what we’re talking about.

 

Jason Concepcion Up next, Nerd Out.

 

Rosie Knight In today’s Nerd Out, where you tell us what you love and why, or a theory that you’re excited to share. Whitney shares the latter, and it’s a very interesting question that I feel like leads on extremely well from our conversation. So, Jason, I will let you read this theory about season three of The Mandalorian.

 

Jason Concepcion Hey, guys, love the show. You’re both amazing. Jason, great job on Jeopardy! Rosie I’m on Team Eternals with you. I got to tell you, Team Eternals is growing.

 

Rosie Knight Is growing, baby.

 

Jason Concepcion It is  growing. I’ve been diving back into The Mandalorian in preparation for season three. I’m not as deep on the lore as a lot of people, so I don’t know if there is some sort of answer theory on this, but is there any reason to believe that Mando might be better with the Darksaber because of his relationship and attachment to Grogu? Is his relationship with a force user going to somehow enable his ability to use it well? As Grogu taps back into the force and is didn’t use the saber more and as their relationship strengthens. Will Din’s ability grow? I think that that is a I think that’s a fair assumption. I think the history of the darksaber tells us that it comes from a place. Back, you know, centuries and centuries and millennia ago when there was a mandalorian who was a Jedi. And I think that’s where we’re trending towards again. Yeah, I think that we’ve seen. Din’s influence on Grogu. So we’ve seen Grogu’s emotional influence on Din and Din’s willingness to do things to move out of his comfort zone, take off his helmet, etc. to, to, to, to, to display his emotional bond with grow goo. But the. But is there something else will Grogu find some sort of connection to the force in Din that is there to amplify? It’s an interesting question and I would love to see it.

 

Rosie Knight I would love to see it. This is the kind of thing that makes me so excited about Star Wars. There may be a Canon answer. There may be a distinct yes or no. But to me, this is the kind of excitement I love this idea of the force as something that flows through everyone and around all of us. You know, that’s one of the most magical things about Star Wars. So I love this idea that the nature of Din and Grogu’s connection would allow din to almost access the force or at least be more connected to it than somebody else. It’s that kind of magic of the End of the Last Jedi. This idea of the democratization of the force or, you know, Baze and Chiru in in Rogue One, this idea that, like, people can connect to the force through different and unexpected ways. And it would make sense that if you were a great sword’s person and you ended up with this incredibly powerful sword with Jedi connections and you were chillin with that incredibly powerful Jedi, there may be some things that happened there. I mean, it’s one of the ultimate Star Wars fan arguments is, you know, is Han Solo force sensitive? Because the argument is if you’re such a brilliant pilot that usually Anakin Skywalker is a brilliant pilot. Luke Skywalker was a brilliant pilot. Is Han Solo, is he tapping into the force when he does that? Is he a force user? And I love that gray area of the force. And I think it’s so much fun. And I love this question, and I think we will at least see a hint of this as we move forward with the way that I like that correlation between. Grogan learning more about the force and then learning more about the saber. Those two things seem like a great parallel to explore.

 

Jason Concepcion I totally agree. And thank you so much, Whitney, for your question. Folks, if you have theories or passions you want to share, hit us up at Xray@Crooked.com. Instructions in the show notes. That’s it for us. This episode, Rosie plugs, plugs, plugs, plugs. What do you have to plug?

 

Rosie Knight You can read all my cool articles and stuff at many places. IGN, Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon. I have a all three page where you can go through and read thousands of my articles old and new. You can download free comics also from my website RosieKnight, and you can find me here twice a week and also on Instagram and Letterbox’d @RosieMarx.

 

Jason Concepcion Catch the next episode of X-ray Vision on March 8th. For more, The Last of Us on HBO max. And remember, we’re bringing you two episodes, week, Wednesdays and Fridays from your podcast platform of Choice. Twice the deep dives, twice the baby Yoda, twice The Last of Us, twice the everything else.

 

Rosie Knight And if you want to see us as well as hear us, you can subscribe on YouTube, where we are now posting full episodes of the show. Plus follow us @XRVPod on Twitter, where Saul is always doing some cool stuff. And check out the Discord to meet and hang out with a ton of amazing fans and listeners. Plus, me and Jason are there. And if you’re into watch parties, those have been popping off recently. There was a midnight watch party for The Mandalorian and is going to be more for every episode. Same with The Last of Us. And with the finale coming up, I’m sure those channels are going to be going wild.

 

Jason Concepcion Five star ratings. Five star reviews. We love. We need a we got to have them. You got to give them to us. Here’s one from PapPodcastFan: One of my favorites. Thank you, PatPodcastFan. Just damned fun and funny.

 

Rosie Knight Aw, thank you.

 

Jason Concepcion Even if I’m only slightly familiar or interested, I’ll listen to the end of every episode, Rosie and Jason are of five star lords and ladies. Quick comic pitch idea, Snowbird of Alpha Flight, is a magic detective spy for War is Done. What’s next? We’ll get a little Nerd Out  into the end of the five star rating.

 

Rosie Knight If you want to combine those. Yes. Also save put that pitch in your back pocket for when you have that Marvel meeting, because that’s a good one. Yeah.

 

Jason Concepcion Thank you PatPodcastFan. X-ray Vision is a Crooked Media production. The show is produced by Chris Lord and Saul Rubin. The show is executive produced by myself and Sandy Girard. Our editing and sound design is by Vasilis Fotopoulos. Delon Villanueva and Matt deGroot Provide video production support. Alex Reliford handles social Media. Thank you Brian Vasquez for our theme music. See you next time.

 

Rosie Knight Bye.