The Mandalorian Season 3 Premiere “Chapter 17: The Apostate”

By Melody McCune

After almost two and a half years off the air, The Mandalorian™ is finally back to enrich our lives. “Chapter 17: The Apostate” is like a steaming plate of comfort food on a cold winter’s day. It’s a reunion with old friends. Of course, if you haven’t watched The Book of Boba Fett™, you might be scratching your head when viewing the season premiere. Allow me to bring you up to speed…

Mando™ helped Boba Fett™ and Fennec Shand™ defend Mos Espa™ from the Pyke Syndicate™. Meanwhile, Grogu™ struggled during his Jedi™ training with Luke Skywalker™. Eventually, Grogu decided to forgo his training in favor of traveling through space with his new Mandalorian™ dad.

According to The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, about two years passed between the season 2 finale and when Din Djarin™ and Grogu reunited in The Book of Boba Fett. Now that you’re caught up, let’s dive into “Chapter 17: The Apostate.”

A Ceremony Interrupted

We open with The Armorer™ creating a helmet for a Mandalorian oath-taking ceremony. She presents it to a young boy while surrounded by fellow Mandalorians. The boy recites the oath, and The Armorer places the helmet on his head. Suddenly, a giant alligator, one that puts every gator in Florida to shame, launches out of the water, making a beeline for everyone on the shore. After all, they’re standing in his home.

The Mandalorians spring into action, attempting to keep the gator away from the children. When all seems lost, Din Djarin arrives with Grogu in his spiffy new ship. He kills the gator by flying into it at full speed. Crisis quashed!

An Apostate

After the gator incident, Mando meets with The Armorer, who chastises him for showing up after disgracing himself and the Mandalore Creed™. He removed his helmet; therefore, he’s a Mandalorian no more. Din counters that their doctrine allows for redemption. The Armorer sticks to her guns, citing that’s not possible since the destruction of their homeworld. But what if the mines of Mandalore still exist?

Din procures a hunk of crystal bearing a Mandalorian inscription that he took from the Jawas™. The Jawas claim they came upon it from a traveler who found it on Mandalore’s surface. Mando believes that if he can bring proof that he bathed in the Living Waters in the mines of Mandalore, he can be redeemed, and his curse of exile reversed. This is the Way.

Nevarro

Din and Grogu arrive on Nevarro™ to chat with Greef Karga™. They find it thriving. Merchants are selling their wares. Civilians freely walk the streets. Kowakian monkey-lizards™ hang out in the trees, continuing to terrify me. High Magistrate Karga (complete with little droids holding up his impressive cloak) greets his buddies and invites them inside his opulent office overlooking the city.

Karga offers Din and Grogu a plot of land so that our Mando can hang up his blaster and “live off the fat of the land.” Din rejects his offer, claiming he’s there for a request. Before he can ask for what he wants, a droid arrives with the news of pirates looking to wreak havoc.

A Confrontation

Din and Grogu follow Karga as the latter confronts Vane™, the leader of a group of pirates. Vane is attempting to barge into a school that used to be a saloon. Karga invites the pirates to his office for a drink, but Vane refuses to budge. He mentions how his boss Pirate King Gorian Shard’s™ treasure paid for the former saloon. Vane taunts Karga, accusing him of becoming “soft.”

Karga and Vane face each other for a spell, each with their hands hovering over their weapons. Suddenly, Karga whips out his blaster and fires at Vane’s hand. He orders Vane to relay a message to Shard: Nevarro is “no longer friendly to pirates.” Mando shoots the remaining four pirates with Vane to ensure no retaliation. Vane flees the scene. Din Djarin really doesn’t know how to fly under the radar. He makes a splash everywhere he goes.

Bringing Back an Old Friend

Later, Karga informs Din about what happened to Cara Dune™. Special forces recruited her after she brought in Moff Gideon™. As for Gideon, he was shipped off to a New Republic War Tribunal. Needless to say, Karga needs a new marshal. He’d rather hire local and keep Nevarro as an independent trade anchor free of New Republic influence. However, Mando declines his friend again, reminding him of that pressing mission (Mandalore).

Mando spots the statue of IG-11™, the hero of Nevarro. He asks Karga if he can utilize IG-11 as his tour guide on Mandalore. Perhaps they can salvage whatever parts are usable and bring IG-11 back to droid life.

It’s Alive!

Then, Mando tinkers with IG-11 while Grogu and Karga observe. So far, he only has half of a body, but it’s better than nothing. Mando’s tinkering paid off. IG-11 sits up, sets his sights on Grogu, and decides to “terminate” the “asset.” Okay, so maybe he’s not at 100%.

Din withdraws his blaster and fires on IG-11 as the droid makes his way toward Grogu. Karga protects our favorite little green guy while Mando continues firing on the defective droid. Suddenly, Karga’s droid pushes a bust of the High Magistrate onto IG-11, crushing the latter’s head. That works too.

The Anzellans

Karga suggests that Din take IG-11 to the Anzellans™, as they have immense technical expertise. They examine IG-11 while Karga translates. One Anzellan claims IG-11 is broken. Particularly, his memory circuit is inoperative. Apparently, his current memory circuit is outdated and out of circulation. However, if Mando finds that part, the Anzellans will fix IG-11.

Suddenly, Grogu starts squeezing the lead Anzellan, thinking the tiny technician is a pet. Mando disciplines his son, while the Anzellan refers to Grogu as a “bad baby.” This moment is 50 shades of adorable.

A High-Speed Space Chase

After departing Nevarro, Din and Grogu are caught in a space chase while Vane and his pirate buddies pursue him. Thankfully, Mando cleverly evades his pursuers (navigating through an asteroid belt helps). However, he winds up in the target lock of the Pirate King Gorian Shard. Dank farrik™!

Gorian Shard, who’s giving me major Swamp Thing/Davy Jones vibes with the facial features of a Gremlin, claims Mando’s outgunned. Shard orders Mando to fork over his ship to save his life. Naturally, Din refuses to comply. He speeds away, soaring over the pirates’ ship.

Kalevala

Din and Grogu arrive on Kalevala™, a planet located in the Mandalore system. They reunite with Bo-Katan Kryze™, who lounges on a throne in a desolate, massive Mandalorian castle atop a cliff. Mando claims he’s there to join her. Unfortunately, her forces disbanded and abandoned Bo-Katan once she returned without the Darksaber™. Hence why she’s no longer planning to retake Mandalore. Remember when Din won the Darksaber from Moff Gideon while battling him in the season 2 finale? Yeah, Bo-Katan wasn’t thrilled about that.

Bo-Katan urges Mando to lead the mercenaries to seize Mandalore since he still has the Darksaber. She also encourages him to go home, as there’s nothing left of their homeworld. As for the mines of Mandalore possessing the ability to forgive transgressions, Bo-Katan claims it’s superstition. However, if Mando wants to give it a go, the mines are beneath the civic center in Sundari™. Parking isn’t free, though.

As far as premieres go, it’s not the most innovative episode; in fact, it feels more like an overture to a legitimate chapter in The Mandalorian. However, “Chapter 17: The Apostate” is still a solid outing that lays the foundation for what’ll surely be an exciting season. I like that it allows us to dip our toes into the world of Mando. We don’t need someone dunking our heads underwater.

This episode might seem like “filler” to some, but it’s fun all the same. I need a “cute off” between Grogu and the Anzellans. The Anzellans will call Grogu a “bad baby” while he eats frogs. Lots of frogs.

Do you think we’ll see Gorian Shard again? Will Bo-Katan change her mind regarding the status of Mandalore? When will Moff Gideon return to cause trouble? Share your thoughts with other Star Wars™ fans at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!