The Mandalorian Took a MAJOR Turn This Week! Season 3, Episode 3 Breakdown and Predictions

For 2 seasons and 2 episodes, The Mandalorian has stuck to the script. Mando and Baby Yoda have always been the central focus of the series, with the bulk of each and every episode focusing on one (or both) of the series’ leading men.

Photo: Disney

The 3rd  installment of Season 3 premiered 48 hours ago…and I (along with every other fan) haven’t stopped thinking about it and what it means for the future of the series. Let’s break down the episode and dive into just what the heck is going on in the world of The Mandalorian (spoilers ahead). 

Season 3, Episode, 3 Recap

Photo: Screenrant

This is the first episode in the series that focuses on a completely different cast of characters. While these characters are not new, you might not remember seeing them way back in season 1.

Credit: thedecider.com

Two ex-Imperial employees (a scientist and an officer) enroll in the New Republic’s Amnesty Program- a voluntary ‘rehab’ program that aims to transition former Empire supporters and employees into productive employees of the New Republic. 

Credit: Slash Film

It all seems straightforward, until the scientist becomes bored with his new desk job and expresses his deep dark (and illegal) desire to continue his cloning research. Yep, this is the guy from season 1 who ran all those cruel tests on Baby Yoda when he was imprisoned on Moff Gideon’s ship. And the officer just so happens to be Gideon’s former right hand gal.

Credit: Disney

Long story short, the former officer convinces the scientist to sneak away from the Amnesty Program, steal his old cloning research equipment, and continue his research in private. She sets him up, and he gets caught, and the episode culminates with the officer ‘Mind-Flaying’ (aka memory wiping) the scientist. All in all, a VERY odd episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ because…it seemingly has nothing to do with Mando and Grogu…the main characters and story-drivers of this show! 

Credit: Den of Geek

Predictions and Speculations

Disney+

First off, this ‘Amnesty Program’ is definitely not what it appears on the surface. The camera angles, dark cinematography, and eerie music let us know that something about that pgoram wasn’t right from the get-go, but it got a whole lot more interesting when cloning came into play.  

The ex-officer’s inexplicable interest in the scientist’s cloning research is the first tip off that something bigger is going on here. She was much too invested in ensuring he retrieved the cloning equipment she wanted before she gives him over to the New Republic. But why? 

Photo: LucasFilm

Well, since she is an ex-officer of Gideon’s, a notorious Dark Side supporter, we have a theory. We know from The Rise of Skywalker’ that Snoke was somehow cloned and controlled by Palpatine…who is currently weak and in hiding during the timeline of The Mandalorian’s latest episode. 

Photo: LucasFilms

Could the ex-officer still be on Gideon’s side? It sure seems likely. And could she potentially have an ulterior motive? A motive that isn’t meant to serve the New Republic, but her old Dark Side-loving boss? It all seems very likely, but we’ll have to tune in next week to see where The Mandalorian takes us, and how this episode-long diversion will eventually tie into the main story. 

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