Connect with us
The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review

Star Wars

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 ‘The Sin’ Review

Maybe the most fun episode of the series yet.

Last week, the Mandalorian managed to get his ship repaired and headed back to deliver the child (dubbed Baby Yoda by the internet) to his mysterious, deep pocketed client.

There are a lot of question to answer this week (like if the Mandalorian is even willing to deliver his cuddly quarry), so let’s dive right in.

Trouble at Home

As they fly through space, Baby Yoda tries to take a knob off one of the levers on the Razorcrest‘s control panel. The Mandalorian admonishes the little guy, explaining that his desired object is not a toy (a familiar phrase to any parent) and puts him back in his floating sphere.

I know this exchange seems like an odd detail to focus on, but trust me–it’s going to be important later.

After arriving back on his planet, the Mandalorian walks a curious and slightly terrified Baby Yoda through town before arriving at The Client’s base. As promised, he is given a camanto full of beskar, a form of highly resilient iron that Mandalorians use to make their legendarily tough armor.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review
It’s also good for making ice cream.

Before leaving, the Mandalorian asks what The Client plans to do with Baby Yoda, which clearly annoys him. After reminding the bounty hunter that it’s not his place to ask about such things, he also mentions that the amount of beskar he just gave him could be used to replace the armor that was destroyed by the mudhorn…if he knows where to find any other Mandalorians.

Of course, we already know where more of them are, don’t we?

The Mandalorian returns takes his payment and returns to the underground armory we’ve seen before, this time populated by other fellow Mandalorians. Before getting to work on his new suit, the horned Armorer warns him that a full suit made almost entirely from beskar will draw quite a bit of attention.

As if to prove her point, the pair are almost immediately surrounded by other Mandalorians, including one we’ve only seen in promotional toy images so far.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review
Someone needs to lay off the fried lizard monkeys.

Upon seeing the Imperial signet on the Mandalorian’s beskar, the Blue/Heavy Infantry Mandalorian calls him a coward for doing business with the Empire, who apparently wiped out their people in something called The Great Purge. I’m fairly certain this is not the same as the Jedi Purge (since that wouldn’t make sense with what we know right now), but an as-yet unseen campaign in which the Empire took out whatever was left of the Mandalorian civilization after gaining control of the senate.

Whatever the case, our Mandalorian doesn’t take too kindly to his large blue friend’s suggestion, which results in them throwing hands. The Armorer allows their fisticuffs to play out for a bit before putting a stop to it. She also declares that their status as a hidden people requires them to be both hunter and prey–and that no Mandalorian could ever be considered a coward.

Both agree with a simultaneous affirmation of “This is the way.”

With all that settled, The Armorer tells the Mandalorian that his new suit will bear the insignia of a mudhorn since that is the creature he defeated to acquire the beskar…to which the Mandalorian reveals (without saying too much) that’s not exactly what happened.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review
“Just as long as you weren’t saved by a cuddly green creature…”

Instead, she makes him a packet of “whistling birds,” which are basically smart mini missiles. As she forges his armor/weapons, the Mandalorian has the same flashbacks we saw before from his time as a child, this time with a few more extra seconds of footage that ends with him being discovered and confronted by a Clone Wars-era B2 super battle droid.

Second Skin, Second Thoughts

Back in the present, a freshly blinged out Mandalorian heads back to the cantina to visit Greef Karga, who is in the process of chewing out a Kyuzo bounty hunter for his shoddy work. He is all types of pleased to see the Mandalorian, however, shouting his top contractor’s praises to the rest of the disgruntled/jealous bar patrons while showing off his own newly acquired riches.

But the Mandalorian isn’t interested in praise–he just wants more work. Despite Karga’s attempts to cajole him into taking some time off to visit a brothel or do a lot of drugs, the bounty hunter insists on taking a new puck, which Karga finally relents and gives him.

Upon entering his ship, however, the Mandalorian sees the knob that Baby Yoda had been playing with and is instantly filled with regret (which is a real credit to actor Pedro Pascal’s body language considering that he’s wearing a helmet).

He heads back to the Client’s compound and surveys it via infrared vision and a long distance mic. He quickly learns that The Client wants Baby Yoda disposed of once whatever material Dr. Pershing was interested in has been extracted (good lord!).

This leads to an awesome sequence of the Mandalorian infiltrating the compound and taking out some mercenary storm troopers. He eventually finds Baby Yoda restrained in some type of scanner with an IT-0 Interrogator droid hovering over it.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review
Not a baby monitor.

After easily dispatching the droid, he points his gun at Pershing, who cowers in fear and declares that he was only trying to keep the baby alive. Riiiiiiight.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to learn any more about want Pershing and the Client wanted to “extract” from the child (I personally hope it’s midi-chlorians just to watch the resulting social media meltdown). The Mandalorian takes Baby Yoda and makes for the exit. Before he can get there, though, he’s surrounded by a group of expendable Stormtroopers. After a brief standoff, he makes quick work of them via the awesome power of Chekov’s gun his newly forged whistling birds.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review

Honor Amongst Thieves

Back at the bar, bounty hunter FOBs are lighting up left and right. Turns out that blasting your way into the compound of a shady (and deep pocketed) client to take back the bounty he already paid you for is a good way to get a price on your head. Almost as soon as the Mandalorian makes it outside, he is besieged by his former colleagues/rivals…including Greef Karga.

Karda attempts to get the Mandalorian to put Baby Yoda down, to which he responds by continuing to blast his way through town. Despite admirably holds his own for a while, he is still outnumbered by far too great a number of armed and skilled fighters to escape on his own. Thankfully, his other Mandalorian buddies somehow knew he was in trouble and show up en mass to back him up–even the big blue jerk from before.

Side note: It’s been implied that The Mandalorian is the only one of his kind who regularly goes out in public…which would imply that he is the only Mandalorian bounty hunter working right now…which negates the explanation that the other Mandalorians got the message on their bounty FOBs about him stealing Baby Yoda and came to his rescue at the expense of their safety/secrecy. I guess they could have intercepted the transmission somehow, but that’s still a pretty flimsy reason for them to take such a drastic step without even knowing WHY their brother-in-arms got himself into this position.

Whatever the case, it does lead to an action sequence that is not only all types of awesome, but also provides The Mandalorian a chance to escape with Baby Yoda. After boarding his ship, he is confronted by Greef Karda, who chastises him for breaking the bounty hunter code. This earns Karda and blaster bolt to the chest, which the Mandalorian purposefully (?) aimed at the beskar he had stored in his breast pocket, sparing Karda’s life and saving us from having to watch Carl Weathers die in yet another great media franchise.

After taking off, the other Mandalorians escort him off the planet, flying next to the Razorcrest and prompting our hero to lament that he needs to “get one of those” jetpacks (Why doesn’t he have one?). He then hands the lever knob from before to Baby Yoda and takes off for parts unknown.

The Verdict

“The Sin” may be the weakest episode of The Mandalorian so far, but it also might be the most fun.

There are a few narrative holes that can’t be completely ignored. I’m willing to accept Baby Yoda’s value/purpose as a McGuffin or the history of the Mandalorians as something we have to wait and see. I’m even (mostly) willing to overlook how the Mandalorians were able to learn that our protagonist was in trouble and get to him immediately.

What still bugs me is why they would expose themselves after successfully remaining hidden all these years–especially when they didn’t even know why the Mandalorian was being attacked. The easy answer is that loyalty is heavily ingrained into their culture, but we’ve also seen them to be an extremely cunning and pragmatic people.

And speaking of pragmatic, why would the people living underground all get jet packs while the one dude who does work outside not get one?

Those minor quibbles aside, watching the Mandalorian and his comrades lay waste to mercenary storm troopers and bounty hunters was a real treat. Even though you could see his guilt-fueled rescue of Baby Yoda coming from a mile away, it was still beautifully executed–especially with him having to betray a Karda.

While I do wish we knew more about why Dr. Pershing and the Client wanted the child so badly, I’m much more interested in the fallout that will occur from the Mandalorian’s decision to abscond with it. It should be a lot of fun watching all types of factions across the galaxy try to hunt him down.

I also liked that the backstory flashbacks were not only less melodramatic this time, but also featured a big tie-in to the prequel trilogy. After only three episodes, The Mandalorian continues to find ways to subtly tie into nearly every era in the Star Wars franchise while still being able to stand on its own.

The show’s best quality, however, is that it continues to tell a great story that is a heck of a lot of fun to watch unfold.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin' Review
The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 'The Sin'
Is it good?
"The Sin" may be the weakest episode of The Mandalorian so far, but it also might be the most fun.
You could see the Mandalorian's change of heart about Baby Yoda coming from a mile away, but it was still beautifully executed.
The battle/fight scenes in this episode are the best yet.
We are finally given hints at the larger picture behind the narrative (that even managed to tie into the prequel trilogy).
How did the other Mandalorians know to come to THE Mandalorian's aid...and why would they expose themselves like that?
Pershing's explanation for wanting Baby Yoda was laughably unbelievable.
8.5
Great

Join the AIPT Patreon

Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:

  • ❌ Remove all ads on the website
  • 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
  • 📗 Access to our monthly book club
  • 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
  • 💥 And more!
Sign up today
Comments

In Case You Missed It

WWE SmackDown preview, full card: March 1, 2024 WWE SmackDown preview, full card: March 1, 2024

WWE SmackDown preview, full card: March 1, 2024

Pro Wrestling

AEW Dynamite preview, full card: February 28, 2024 AEW Dynamite preview, full card: February 28, 2024

AEW Dynamite preview, full card: February 28, 2024

Pro Wrestling

AEW Rampage preview, full card: March 1, 2024 AEW Rampage preview, full card: March 1, 2024

AEW Rampage preview, full card: March 1, 2024

Pro Wrestling

Marvel unveils the new villains Bloodcoven appearing in 'Blood Hunt' Marvel unveils the new villains Bloodcoven appearing in 'Blood Hunt'

Marvel unveils the new villains Bloodcoven appearing in ‘Blood Hunt’

Comic Books

Connect
Newsletter Signup