Episode 1: The Apostate
March 3, 2023
Disney’s first photo of Mandalorian season 3. Vale and the pirates meet Greef Karga and DIn Djarin for the first time. The Pirates become possible enemies after a shootout in the streets of Navarro.
As far as first episodes go to start off the new season of “The Mandalorian,” the main purpose of the season is for Din Djarin to redeem his faith.
In the first episode of season three, we learn what the Mandalorian must do to redeem his religion from becoming an apostate.
For Din Djarin to redeem himself and show that he is loyal to the Mandalorian creed, he must travel to the depths of Mandalore and bring back proof to the Armorer that he has bathed himself in living waters. By creed this would uplift his decree of exile.
The first episode of “The Mandalorian” begins with a child being baptized in the name of the Mandalorian religion. The Armorer who oversees the Mandalorian culture expresses their religion by baptizing the child with his helmet. This type of baptism is a part of their culture referring to the Mandalorian creed. The Mandalorians’ creed is that they can never remove their helmet.
[H]e must travel to the depths of Mandalore and bring back proof to the Armorer that he has bathed himself in living waters.
— Staff Writer Jenson Mahr
Later after meeting with the Armorer, Din returns to the planet Navarro with Grogu alongside him. The Mandalorian’s plan is to meet with his old friend Greef Karga and acquire a droid named IG-11. IG-11 was first programmed to be a killer droid but was then reprogrammed to be a medical droid.
In the past, Din did not trust the droid, but he had a change of heart after IG-11 saved his life back in the beginning of Season 1. After Din convinces Greef to allow him to rebuild IG-11, the droid’s circuits get fried and he transitions back to his original programming, which is to be a killer droid. Din gave the IG unit to an anzellan for him to fix it so he can take it on his quest to Mandalore.
While finding a droid to take with him to Mandalore, Din makes enemies with the local pirates on Navarro. While protecting his friend Greef Karga, Din shoots some of the pirates, although leaves the main pirate, Vane, alive.
Since Vane could be an enemy later during the season, he probably should not have left him alive when he had the chance.
Later in the episode, Din fights Vane and a few of his friends in space as they surround him. Vane traps Din to where he has target lock on him, but Din is able to escape quickly without any hesitation. The pirates hint at future villains that may show up throughout the rest of the season.
[Bo-Katan] is able to give him the exact coordinates to the place on Mandalore that he is looking for to atone for his sin.
— Staff Writer Jenson Mahr
After escaping the pirates, Mando visits the planet Kalevala to meet Bo-Katan, a previous ruler of the Mandalorian. Din Djarin recently became the Mandalorian ruler because he acquired the dark saber in a fight with Moff Gideon.
Din hopes that he can join Bo-Katan and her lawful Mandalorians, but it turns out that her people were fractured after attempting to obtain the dark saber. Instead, she is able to give him the exact coordinates to the place on Mandalore that he is looking for to atone for his sin.
After receiving the coordinates, Din and Grogu leave ominously.
To wrap up this week’s episode, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Bo-Katan and the pirates from Navarro might crop up as enemies later in this season
- With Bo-Katan being a possible enemy, she might fight Din Djarin for the dark saber
- Din must return to Mandalore to redeem his faith of his creed
- Grogu caught his eye on a purgill while in hyperspace, which could possibly hint at an appearance of Ezra Bridgard later on in the season.