Mandalorian S2:E6 Chat (SPOILERS)
Let's talk about it.
Forum Discussion
So here are the predictions I made for ep5-6 before they came out (but after seeing 1-4):
So let's see how I did. Episode 5:
1. They did quest for Ahsoka, although that was easier than I thought it would be since the primary conflict of the episode turned out not to involve Mando, but Ahsoka vs. the Administrator.
2. Is, of course, dead on, though you might think that was a bit vague.
3. Yes, there was a final fight, but I got this one wrong: the attack was not ordered, initiated, or led by Gideon.
So two right, one wrong, although I do think I predicted the overall structure of the episode, what I fundamentally missed was that Ahsoka's character was not hanging out on the planet, but involved in her ow quest and only on the planet long enough to kick so booty & take a name. In my defense, it seems weird that Bo Katan would think she knew where Ahsoka was, since Ahsoka is on a moving quest. Little bit of misdirection there.
Okay, now Episode 6:
1. Yep, they were on the run the whole episode. Baby Yoda sits on his rock while, unbeknownst to them Gideon is tracking them. Then as soon as Baby Yoda starts his thing it's all action. Got this one completely right.
2. The fear that Gideon has force powers: Wrong.
3. The realization that he's tracking them technologically: Wrong.
4. The tracker being destroyed/defeated: Yes! I thought they would have to realize Gideon was tracking them in order to defeat the tracker, but Gideon destroyed the ship utterly, so no more tracking worries in the future.
5. The conclusion is that Baby Yoda gets kidnapped: This was my most important prediction & is correct again.
Again, I had much of the narrative structure predicted accurately, but failed to anticipate something important. In Ep5 it was that Ahsoka wasn't stationary, but involved in her own quest. In Ep 6 it was that Boba would show up, and that the long-running combat of the episode would switch antagonists half way through. I had no reason to think the long-running fight would be against any one other than Gideon's forces. But, reason to think that way or not, it was my prediction & the failure lies on me.
Also, though it makes sense that Gideon wouldn't care much about Mando, it did surprise me that he would rather destroy Mando's ship than keep tabs on it. He knew Mando showed extraordinary devotion to Baby Yoda. Why would Mando give up just because he had to switch ships? Wouldn't it be better to know where Mando was at all times?
Anyway, that bit is interesting.
Ep 7 I'm sticking to my earlier predictions - they gather allies, make plans in a safe space for going out & getting Yoda back, then attack Gideon. At the end of the episode they realize their plan is doomed to failure (which means they'll have to go off-plan, not that they give up).
The thing that might trip all that up is if the initial prison break takes a large part of the episode. There might not be time to attack Gideon at the end of Ep7. We'll see.
So far the narrative structure is dead on what I thought, though their have been some significant surprises (and thus errors in my predictions). Will the show drift further & further from my predictions? Well, Ep6 wasn't further from my predictions than Ep5, possibly even closer, but the additional possibility that a Jedi might show up out of nowhere does make that a real possibility.
Curiouser & curiouser.
Ep5: Act 1, questing for Ahsoka. Act 2, learning things with/from Ahsoka, Act 3: the attack by Gideon.
Ep 6: On the run the whole episode. At first they think that he's more powerful/ influential/ knowledgeable than he is. Later they realize he doesn't have force powers & he doesn't have people everywhere. He's just tracking them. They disable the tracking device and/or slip it onto someone else's ship.
===> Unforeseen twist: Gideon manages to kidnap BY or, if not, manages to put huge pressure on the Mandalorian. Enough pressure that Mando has to seriously consider actually giving them the child. Maybe he's talking about killing everyone on Navarro or something. In any case, either he gets The Child or he acquires Unspeakable Leverage.
So let's see how I did. Episode 5:
1. They did quest for Ahsoka, although that was easier than I thought it would be since the primary conflict of the episode turned out not to involve Mando, but Ahsoka vs. the Administrator.
2. Is, of course, dead on, though you might think that was a bit vague.
3. Yes, there was a final fight, but I got this one wrong: the attack was not ordered, initiated, or led by Gideon.
So two right, one wrong, although I do think I predicted the overall structure of the episode, what I fundamentally missed was that Ahsoka's character was not hanging out on the planet, but involved in her ow quest and only on the planet long enough to kick so booty & take a name. In my defense, it seems weird that Bo Katan would think she knew where Ahsoka was, since Ahsoka is on a moving quest. Little bit of misdirection there.
Okay, now Episode 6:
1. Yep, they were on the run the whole episode. Baby Yoda sits on his rock while, unbeknownst to them Gideon is tracking them. Then as soon as Baby Yoda starts his thing it's all action. Got this one completely right.
2. The fear that Gideon has force powers: Wrong.
3. The realization that he's tracking them technologically: Wrong.
4. The tracker being destroyed/defeated: Yes! I thought they would have to realize Gideon was tracking them in order to defeat the tracker, but Gideon destroyed the ship utterly, so no more tracking worries in the future.
5. The conclusion is that Baby Yoda gets kidnapped: This was my most important prediction & is correct again.
Again, I had much of the narrative structure predicted accurately, but failed to anticipate something important. In Ep5 it was that Ahsoka wasn't stationary, but involved in her own quest. In Ep 6 it was that Boba would show up, and that the long-running combat of the episode would switch antagonists half way through. I had no reason to think the long-running fight would be against any one other than Gideon's forces. But, reason to think that way or not, it was my prediction & the failure lies on me.
Also, though it makes sense that Gideon wouldn't care much about Mando, it did surprise me that he would rather destroy Mando's ship than keep tabs on it. He knew Mando showed extraordinary devotion to Baby Yoda. Why would Mando give up just because he had to switch ships? Wouldn't it be better to know where Mando was at all times?
Anyway, that bit is interesting.
Ep 7 I'm sticking to my earlier predictions - they gather allies, make plans in a safe space for going out & getting Yoda back, then attack Gideon. At the end of the episode they realize their plan is doomed to failure (which means they'll have to go off-plan, not that they give up).
The thing that might trip all that up is if the initial prison break takes a large part of the episode. There might not be time to attack Gideon at the end of Ep7. We'll see.
So far the narrative structure is dead on what I thought, though their have been some significant surprises (and thus errors in my predictions). Will the show drift further & further from my predictions? Well, Ep6 wasn't further from my predictions than Ep5, possibly even closer, but the additional possibility that a Jedi might show up out of nowhere does make that a real possibility.
Curiouser & curiouser.
