The Mandalorian - Spoilers thread

[Maniac]

I half wonder if Luke or Ben won't show up in the end.  It would tie the show back into the universe at large, as Luke is running around starting a new academy right now in the timeline.

[Calimero]

Episode 14, Guns of Navarone reference, anyone else see it?

no? Where? What?

[ErikB]

Honestly, I prefer The Mandalorian more than any of the movies.

I love that it's a Samurai/Western, too.  I never got into those kinds of movies because the environment looked physically unpleasant, more the Westerns than Japan.

I grew up in California.  I hate the desert, the dry heat, the allergies, I don't know why anyone would actually move here but people did for many years.  Now, everyone is fleeing, including us, soon. 

Mandalorian takes these genres' stories and puts them in places I find interesting instead of the miserable American desert.  This is wonderful! 

I just wish there were more episodes!

[Manchu]

I feel like directors miss that the more mooks you throw at heroes, the less scary they become. A few scenes showing Stormtroopers saved by their armor would add to the immersion of the Star Wars universe.

This is such a solid observation, I wish the creative team would bear it in mind. The show introduced Storm Troopers as at least looking quite dangerous, like hungry coyotes. And remember how in Season 1, it took an entire Mandolorian Clan to fight some gangers on Nevarro? With Season 2, we’re at the point were they have to introduce Dark Troopers because no amount of Storm Troopers poses any threat to the characters.

But it’s not just about Storm Troopers being unable to hit an unarmored protagonist despite being expert marksmen when it comes to hitting Din Djarin’s laser-proof Beskar armor. Even that can be fine when the episodes focus on character development. S2E6 was just too short and crammed with (essentially boring) action scenes to accomplish much beyond brute-forcing the plot forward toward the season finale.

[ErikB]

One thing to say about stormtrooper armor is that is could just be thin and designed to protect against getting thrown around against walls and objects and stuff.

If you recall, in Blackhawk Down, the Delta guys wore light helmets aimed at protecting them from banging their heads on something as opposed to being bullet proof.

In Graz, Austria, I remember a museum filled with metal armor (called "Rüstung" which sounds like "rusty"  ) from the Landsknecht times with motocross armor displayed right next to it.  It dawned on me that there are different purposes driving levels of protection.

That's always been my take on stormtrooper armor.

I do wish that they'd show the armor working, though, and stormtroopers hitting something and being useful.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Fair points Manchu and ErikB.

There are some interesting videos on Stormtrooper accuracy on YouTube.






One of the few things I dislike about the Mandalorian is the continued jokes about Stormtrooper accuracy. My wife smirks at me every time there is another joke about it. I have mentioned it on this forum before but it really irritates me because it is an example of something repeated so often that people believe it despite evidence to the contrary, perhaps because people want to believe it. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story?

As funny as the scene is with the Speeder Bike Scout Troopers chatting and missing in Mandalorian, their comedic inaccuracy is countered by the death of one of my favorite characters Kuiil. I guess the Force (plot armor) was not strong with him.

[Manchu]

Yes it’s amazing how Storm Trooper accuracy goes through the roof when the script is done with their target (see Rogue One for many examples).

[Redmao]

At this point Stormtroopers are only a distraction.
When the dropships landed and troopers cames out, I told my wife " it's okay, it's only stormtrooper."
I mean, the so called elite soldiers of the Empire should be competent beyond knocking on doors and bullying peasants.

[Mammoth miniatures]

I have no idea if this is true but I vaguely remember something about stormtrooper armour being designed to dissipate energy from impacts rather than actually stop blaster fire.

I too am getting sick of the nudge nudge wink wink references to storm troopers being crap soldiers. in the first series they were sort of intimidating, and the bit with the two on speeders chatting and shooting cans was fun, but without context it just makes you wonder how the empire lasted as long as it did.
Now if we had an episode where mando has to say - infiltrate an imperial training facility and finds that most troopers are press ganged farm boys given some quick brainwashing and then shipped off in poorly made armour with inferior blasters to try and push back the new republic, that would do alot to make them a bit less mookish and answer the question of why alot of them suck. you could play up the difference between old imperial troopers like those that were hanging around with werner herzog, and new recruits in what will become the first order. another rung down the ladder from mandalorian, to clone, to strom trooper, to first order.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Yeah, I like that Mammoth Miniatures. Context.

Perhaps I am too influenced by...

IMPS



Which is admittedly fan fiction.

And even though this references Clone Troopers, this clip really appeals to me. The language and tone strikes a familiar chord to my veteran ears.

[nozza_uk]

Unfortunately it's in the public consciousness.

[CookAndrewB]

I do think there was a big change in troop quality between the clone troopers and stormtroopers. I have never thought of stormtroopers as being elite any more than I think any doughboy in a trench as being elite. Still, any idiot with a gun is intimidating for the average person. I think that stands true today and it would carry forth into a galaxy far away. This is my point though. We are so used to seeing the galaxy's finest (Jedi/Sith) galavanting about without a sweat as they swat laser blasts with a laser sword (that is for your benefit, Rick) that we lose sight that the galaxy is full of krill and moisture farmers. I don't agree that a few missed shots make a stormtrooper the laughing stock of the galaxy so much as it is a poorly conceived bit of plot armor. Frankly, it is the same plot armor that saves Josie Whales and other western protagonists too. Mexican banditos are the original stormtroopers, in a sense.

That said, I like the speeder bike scene. I don't mind a show poking fun at itself.

I loved the latest episode, and while I would have liked it to be longer I really can't say I felt ho-hum about it when the credits rolled. The Dark troopers were ominous, Boba was finally seen in action and lived up to his reputation, and Grogu working over two guards was fantastic. Too bad the little guy gets tuckered out so quickly.

It seems that Mandalorian is pursuing a plot similar to the Reborn of the Jedi Outcast video game, where you could create "dark Jedi" through artificial infusion. I don't know that the video game ever explains the process, but it would seem that some Grogu blood is the potential delivery method in the show. With that in mind, would Kyle Katarn be a potential "Jedi" to respond to the child's call? In terms of timeline, Kyle Katarn is a figure between 5ABY and 12ABY in a series of video games with this Reborn plot. Mandalorian is set in 9ABY. By Dark Jedi, the Empire (remnants of) had managed to potentially create an army of thousands of Reborn Dark Jedi through the infusion of the Force.

[Maniac]

I think the other implication is that Grogu is being used to figure out how to clone the Emperor.  The things in vats, while proto dark troopers looked an awful lot like Snoke.

[Easy E]

Soldiers in WWII and Vietnam were pretty accurate at the range too.  I think we all have seen the stats on how many bullets it took per kill....... a feth ton.

[CookAndrewB]

Soldiers in WWII and Vietnam were pretty accurate at the range too.  I think we all have seen the stats on how many bullets it took per kill....... a feth ton.

Also a good point. Easy to shoot straight when you aren't running up a hill taking fire or trying to race down a corridor with minimal cover towards an enemy that is dug in. I mean, the Empire seems to treat stormtroopers the way Stalin treated his forces. Just keep tossing them at a problem until it is solved. Body count doesn't seem to be an issue that Darths and Moffs worry about.