Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3, is dividing Star Wars fans – very much like the episode itself is split into two separate plotlines. After The Book of Boba Fett brought in a significant level of criticism to the Mandoverse, which was then followed by Andor’s widely praised, completely different approach to Star Wars, the bar was high for The Mandalorian season 3. Though The Mandalorian’s latest season started strong, the series’ newest subplot was a risky one.
Compared to previous The Mandalorian seasons, season 3 was moving the main plot relatively fast. It only took two episodes for the Mandalorian to reach Concordia and Mandalore. By the beginning of The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3, Mando (Pedro Pascal) had already finished his quest and found redemption by bathing in Mandalore’s Living Waters, living the door open for anything going forward.
The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 3 Spends Too Much Time Away From Din Djarin
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3, “The Convert” is the longest episode of the season so far; it is also one of the show’s longest, with a total runtime of 58 minutes. Still, “The Convert” spends very little time with Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). After an unusually long cold open that saw Mando and Bo-Katan in the middle of a dogfight against dozens of TIE interceptors, The Mandalorian moved to a completely secondary plot involving characters that had not been seen since The Mandalorian season 2 – Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy M. O'Brian). Mando and Bo-Katan only return at the very end.
The Mandalorian is known for taking Din Djarin on side quests and introducing subplots that can sometimes take away from the main storyline, but curiously, the hit Star Wars show had never had an episode that moves away from Mando and Grogu almost entirely. The 58-minute runtime suggested a plot-heavy The Mandalorian episode, especially now that Mando had finally reached the Living Waters of Mandalore. Though The Mandalorian season 3’s Coruscant plot had interesting character moments and will surely play a significant part in the rest of the season, the lack of Mando and Grogu in the season’s longest episode yet was felt.
Viewers Are Struggling To Connect To The Coruscant Subplot
Spending most of a The Mandalorian episode with characters that are not the Mandalorian or Grogu was a risky decision. Unlike Andor, which established from the start that it would follow a large set of characters involved in different, but interconnected plotlines across the galaxy – Coruscant included – The Mandalorian has always been a Din Djarin-focused adventure. Though The Mandalorian’s universe can sometimes feel small, telling the story through Din Djarin’s point of view is what has worked so far. The Mandalorian season 3, episode 3, takes a very different approach, which is why viewers are surprised and struggling to connect to the Coruscant subplot.
Without The Mandalorian’s usual recap at the beginning of the episode, many might not have even recalled Dr. Pershing and former officer Kane. There is not a strong connection between audiences and the former Moff Gideon allies, which plays against the Coruscant subplot. The Mandalorian's Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane subplot does make an effort to shift away from the series’ “Mando gets a quest and goes for another adventure” approach, yet there was no previous setup for it. If the Coruscant subplot continues, then perhaps it can work better, as viewers are now properly introduced to Pershing and Kane.
New episodes of The Mandalorian release Wednesdays on Disney+.