The Mandalorian truly is a unique show.
It’s tried so many different approaches to storytelling this season and, for the most part, they’ve landed quite well. “The Foundling” continued that trend with somewhat of a bottle episode as the series crossed the halfway point in its third season.
There was action, character development, and a great cameo with some deep lore from an ever-deepening Star Wars universe.
Warning: The following review may contain light spoilers. Be sure to check out our review of the first, second, and third episodes of The Mandalorian‘s third season.
Synopsis: A New Life
The episode opens with the Children of the Watch training with a variety of weapons and contests.
The foundling who underwent an initiation ceremony in the first episode of the season competes against Grogu, a challenge the foundling scoffs off. Grogu utilizes some of his training from Luke Skywalker to win the contest, further establishing his place among the Mandalorians.
While the tribe is training, a giant winged creature swoops down to snatch the foundling that lost to Grogu. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackoff) leads a hunting party that includes Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to save the kid. Their plan includes stealth out of fear the creature will kill the foundling.
While the party leaves, Grogu stays behind with the Armorer (Emily Swallow) since he is too young. She explains what she does as the Armorer and begins constructing something with Beskar.
As she is hammering, Grogu has a flashback to the night of Order 66 when the Clone Troopers turned on and killed the Jedi. Viewers see Grogu’s escape from the Jedi Temple thanks to the help of Kelleran Beq (Ahmed Best). The flashback ends with Beq and Grogu leaving Coruscant in a ship.
In the present, the Armorer presents Grogu with what seems like a chest plate piece of armor. She explains that he doesn’t need a helmet now since he does not speak.
Across the desert, the hunting party finds the creature’s nest and camp for the night. Bo-Katan furthers her relationship with the Children of the Watch as they revere her as the leader of the party and give her the perks of the role.
The next morning, the Mandalorians scale the rock wall and reach the nest to find the creature has three babies. A rash decision causes the large creature to escape with the foundling in claw.
The Mandalorians are successful in their fight with the creature and bring the foundling home safely along with the babies.
The Armorer crafts Bo-Katan some new armor since it was damaged during the fight with the creature. Bo-Katan reluctantly shares her experience with the Mythosaur in the Mines of Mandalore from episode 2. The armorer seems to think what she saw was vision, seemingly brushing off Bo-Katan’s sighting.
Breakdown: Return to the Basics
As an avid fan of Lost, it’s cool to see that show’s influence on The Mandalorian. Lost employed flashbacks to provide depth to each character and The Mandolorian has done that twice in the last two episodes.
This episode focused on Grogu and his escape from the Jedi Temple. While I thoroughly enjoyed that story thread, it was the appearance of Best that was the standout moment.
Best is not new to the Star Wars Universe as his character Kelleran Beq previously appeared in the children’s program Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. While that role is his most recent, Best is better known for his portrayal of the divisive Jar Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy.
A couple of points here. The fact that Best returns and plays such a pivotal role in this whole saga is just so wholesome. This is a man that considered suicide at one point because of the vitriol aimed at Jar Jar Binks.
Thankfully, he did not and could return for this role where he saved one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars Universe.
Not only did this flashback put Best in a cool spot, but it also was a fantastic callback for his character.
Beq was on Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, a children’s game show similar to Legends of the Hidden Temple where contestants would complete a series of tasks as part of their Jedi training. This show only aired on YouTube and the Star Wars kids website in 2020.
It is no surprise that Beq, who worked with young children in Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, would be the one to save Grogu as he likely trained him at the temple. This is such a deep cut that likely went over the head of many. Still, it is fantastic work by the writers.
Outside of the flashback, the episode centered on character development. Bo-Katan and Grogu took centerstage while Djarin was relegated to a supporting role.
As part of her new role within the Children of the Watch, Bo-Katan does not remove her helmet except when alone. This allows Sackhoff to act without showing her face and she does so masterfully.
It appears that Bo-Katan is settling into her role with the Children of the Watch, feeling happy to have a new group, one that treats her with respect. I’m not fully convinced of her motives at this point, but she appears to be genuine in her embracing of the Way of the Mandalore.
This episode felt like it was Bo-Katan’s time to shine and she rose well to the occasion.
Grogu, on the other hand, seems unsure of his place. While Djarin wants him to embrace the Mandalorian way, Grogu seems more interested in playing with sand crabs.
He appears torn between making his adopted father proud or embracing another route, maybe the Jedi? That said, Grogu didn’t seem fully comfortable with Luke and Ahsoka either.
This tension provides us with some great character development for a creature that doesn’t say anything. The conflict was there within him and on full display for the viewer.
There is a lot else to love about this episode as there were other small blink-and-you-miss-it callbacks to previous episodes. Also, the action sequences were a lot of fun and showcased the prowess of the Mandalorians.
Final Score (4 out of 5 stars)
There will be some who may criticize this episode for its slow advancement of the story. This is a fair criticism, but I think the focus here was character development. When you look at this episode through that lens, it was fantastic.
I was a little disappointed to not see the advancement of Elia Kane’s story from last week. At its heart, that’s largely been my complaint about this season.
The Mandalorian sometimes can’t decide if it wants to lean into the issue of the week or embrace a serialized approach. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but the start and stop can get old from time to time.
Fortunately, this episode didn’t suffer from the disjointed overall arc. It was a fun, action-packed adventure that saw further development of two key characters.
This episode set up some interesting trajectories. The Mandalorian, however, will need to follow up on those threads because we are halfway through the season and I’m not sure where we’re going.
Still, the ride we’ve been on is a blast despite and I love tuning in each week. But some direction would be nice as the show enters its back half.
The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast live on Wednesday Nights on Twitch at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT or on Monday mornings at 7 a.m. ET on YouTube and podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening! You can also get this episode one week early on Patreon.
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Featured Image: Lucasfilm (via TV Insider)
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