REVIEW: The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 3 – The Sin

After a strong premiere but disappointing second episode, I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 3. Would it continue ignoring all the questions I have about The Child? Would we learn anything about The Mandalorian’s past? Yes. It seems this entire season is going to be filled with questions, mystery, and a hell of a lot of action. I don’t think that’s a bad thing if every episode is as good as The Sin was.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is review is a redo of our original review as we never finished our reviews initially. Each episode of Season 1 is being re-reviewed (or reviewed the first time) ahead of the Season 2 premiere on October 30th and written as if we were viewing the episode for the first time.

SPOILER WARNING: The following review contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 3, The Sin. If you have not seen the episode and want to remain spoiler-free, do not continue reading.

Don’t Ask Questions

Part of the Bounty Hunter code is to not ask questions about what is going to happen to the bounty once the job is accepted and payment is received. The mercenary idea behind hunters is clear. Do the job and walk away, no consequences. More importantly, no conscience. While Mando seems to have no problems with that normally, The Child is clearly different, and that causes all kinds of problems.

By simply asking about The Child’s potential future to The Client, he puts both Baby Yoda and his reputation at risk. The Client, an Imperial Warlord, presses Doctor Pershing to speed up the process of extracting whatever material he needs (DNA, presumably) and disposing of the body because he can’t keep them safe any longer. He knows The Mandalorian is coming back. Mando signals that himself to Greef Karga as well by asking again what might happen to The Child, and from that point on the clock is ticking.

This is the Way

Prior to destroying his reputation as a bounty hunter, Mando gets a massive armor upgrade thanks to all the beskar steel he earns from obtaining The Child. His new armor is nice and shiny, but comes at great cost. It brings loads of attention to The Mandalorian, both externally and inside the Mandalorian Covert. His fellow Mandalorians want to see where their brother’s new armor came from, and it rubs a few of them the wrong way. Mando comes to blows with a Heavy Armor Mandalorian, but cooler heads prevail when The Armorer utters every Mandalorian fan’s new favorite line, “this is the way.”

The call-and-response type nature of the creed motto felt very cult-like and unnerving. Is the Mandalorian Covert a cult? Are these even true Mandalorians, or just adopters of their ways who have formed a religion around the old warrior code of a decimated people. As is typical now, these questions aren’t really answered. Heavy Mando and The Armorer both refer to The Great Purge, but offer zero details beyond that. When we last saw Mandalorians in canon, Bo Katan was leading the reunited clans into a fight against the Empire. It does not appear that ends well.

What is clear is how much these Mandalorians care for each other, regardless of their own safety. This is made obvious when the covert reveals themselves to the rest of Nevarro by saving Mando from certain death by the Bounty Hunters Guild. Their descent on jetpacks makes it clear to the galaxy (because these things don’t say secret) that Mandalorians are more than just legends. Now, they likely have targets on their backs.

The moment called to mind the premiere of Rebels. Faced with having to get the job done at any cost, Kanan decides to “let everyone in on the secret” and reveals himself to be a Jedi. Immediately, Kanan takes the focus. The Mandalorians do the same thing, allowing Mando to escape.

Brilliant Action

The fight choreography of both the Mandalorians rescue as well as the fight preceding it was superb. Mando’s rescue of The Child from the Imperials was also thrilling, showing his individual skill as a fighter is some of the best we’ve seen in Star Wars, lightsaber, or no lightsaber. Mando can fight, and it’s incredible to watch.

The way episode director Deborah Chow paced the action, as well as the set-up scenes, was wonderful. Neither the fights nor the dialogue lingers. They are to the point but filled with nuance. These characters don’t chew the scenery to fill time. They say what they need to, and it matters. Too many television shows dance around to make space for commercials. This is one instance where the streaming format really shines and makes Disney+ the perfect platform for The Mandalorian. This concept has been a hallmark of the series so far, but Chow takes it to another level and it makes this episode stand out.

At what cost?

The title of this episode, “The Sin,” has several meanings. Overall, the theme of this episode is the costs we pay to reach our goals. The Mandalorian’s goal is to make enough money to improve his armor and the way of life for his fellow Mandalorians. Retrieving that much beskar steel is a major boon to the covert, but the guilt of selling a child to Imperials is too much to bear for Mando. The attention he brings on the covert may also be a massive price to pay down the road. Will he ever be able to return to Nevarro? What will happen to his adopted family? Will the guilt of their fate overwhelm him, or spur him into further action.

So far, Season 1 is heavy on questions, light on answers. As The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 3 shows, that isn’t changing any time soon. Hopefully, we get some answers soon though, because you can only dangle carrots in front of an audience for so long.

All episodes of The Mandalorian Season 1 are streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.