00:00Warning, this film contains spoilers for The Mandalorian and Grogu.
00:03If you haven't seen the film and want to be unspoiled, then pause this video, watch the film, then come
00:08back later.
00:08If you don't want to do that, then maybe check out my other Star Wars videos.
00:11Maybe also click that like button and subscribe.
00:20One of the most recent criticisms against the most recent Star Wars film is that it's not about anything thematic.
00:25While it mostly delivers a fun adventure, I can see what some critics are saying.
00:28It doesn't have the self-analyzing deconstruction of The Last Jedi or the Acolyte, nor the tiny political allegory of
00:34Andor.
00:35But I have to disagree with that criticism because The Mandalorian and Grogu is actually about something.
00:40It's a thing that the show has tackled before, Redemption.
00:43The Mandalorian and Grogu is an interesting film, as it was designed to be standalone.
00:46It's a continuation of a TV show and thus feels similar to what would be a season of a show.
00:50It's remarkably old-fashioned in that design, similar to, say, the Pokemon movies or other big-screen versions of TV
00:55shows back in the day before streaming on the internet.
00:57I mention this because we live in the age of the Multimedia Project, where star lines and plots merge between
01:01different pieces of media.
01:02Recent examples I can point to is some of the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and that carry characters or
01:07continue plot points between one another.
01:09Scarlet Witch's search for the Darkhold began in WandaVision and continues in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
01:15Kamala Khan first appeared in her own show, and Leia headlines the Marvels.
01:18The Mandalorian and Grogu does bring in characters from other shows, namely the Twins, who appeared in the Book of
01:23Boba Fett, Embo from the Clone Wars, and Zeb from the Rebels.
01:26But you don't need to know who these people are to watch the film.
01:29Why am I talking about this?
01:30Because I haven't seen anyone mention that the theme carries on the theme of the show, Redemption, along with the
01:35characters.
01:36In the Mandalorian show, we have multiple characters carrying to deal with their past and trying to move on from
01:41it.
01:41This is Bo-Katan's whole arc in Season 3.
01:43Bo-Katan's whole arc in Season 3 is to redeem herself after her past actions which led to the near
01:48-destruction of her people, and finds redemption at the end after helping Din defeat Moff Gideon.
01:53Another example?
01:54Migs, Bilbo's character, has an entire episode to send it on him, finding redemption for his actions while working for
01:59the Empire, and the same thing can be said for Dr. Pershing in the episode of Season 3 Dedicated Him,
02:03which shows him part of a rehabilitation program.
02:05Even Jack Black's character was an ex-imperial who is part of the same program as Pershing.
02:09But how does Mandalorian and Grogu work with this theme of redemption?
02:12Rotter.
02:13Rotter the Hutt is the son of Jabba the Hutt, and his arc is trying to move away from that
02:17life of crime.
02:18He's mentioned to have fallen in the bad crowd, and when we see him, he's working under the ex-imperial
02:23warlord, Janu Koyne, after helping Mandal capture him and defeat his aunt and uncle.
02:27He ends up the film joining the New Republic, visiting to other characters in the Mandalorian, who often are shown
02:32to be part of a previously established Star Wars baddie, but find redemption after helping Din in some way.
02:37Now, it does have its problems. The inclusion of the theme doesn't feel that organic, and probably should have been
02:43a bit more seamless.
02:44This would have been probably limited more if it was the show's fourth season, and that theme would have been
02:48stronger following on from Season 3.
02:51See also the inclusion of two Imperial warlords that season, which probably shows a contrast to Pershing and Jack Black
02:56in Season 3, as they still kept up with the whole Imperial business.
03:00But that's a different type of video. The Mandalorian and Grohu does have themes and ideas. It might not be
03:04delivered the best way, but it works with what the show has examined before.
03:08This does highlight some issues with the interconnectedness of my media, but that's a video for another time.
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