A Button That Says No

The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 7 "The Spies"

SPOILERS OF EVERY TRIBE

How did Moff Gideon obtain the Darksaber? This has been an open question since the tag at the end of the first season of The Mandalorian. Now, we have the answer.

Bo-Katan Kryze surrendered. She handed the Darksaber over, agreeing to disarm in exchange for a cease fire. A divided Mandalore was being torn apart by the Empire and she did what she hoped would save them. His word being worthless, Moff Gideon betrayed their treaty and bombed Mandalore to glass anyway.

That’s villainy, plain and simple, and I, for one, applaud its inclusion in this story. As Star Wars stories take pains to humanize the Imperials, it can almost feel as if they merely represent another philosophy of governance - order through strength. But tyranny is not, in fact, about order. It’s about the removal of accountability. It’s about impunity. It’s about theft.

Moff Gideon’s return to The Mandalorian gives the penultimate episode of Season Three narrative fire. Not only because he presides over one of the coolest convergences of canon ever, blending Heir to the Empire with the Sequel Trilogy in just one scene, but also because he dares to insult Mandalore with the appropriation of their tools and assimilation of their planet. A hidden Imperial base under the surface of Mandalore? Unacceptable. The idea that Mandalore will “live on” through the man who engineered its fall is perfectly, poignantly, obscene.

It’s also a dark inversion of what The Mandalorian stands for. If there is a theme that intertwines The Mandalorian’s seasons, that theme is togetherness. Din Djarin’s transformation from taciturn bounty hunter to Dad and space-knight (literally in shining armor) occurs because he finds something, someone, to love and protect. That one individual, one Child, brings him into a larger world, gives his life purpose beyond profit and survival.

This relationship even deepens his relationship with the Creed. I think anyone celebrating Easter or enjoying a Passover Seder or fasting for Ramadan this month understands that solitary practices have value, but passing them down is what turns practices into customs. It’s togetherness that helps Din Djarin mature, and it’s, it seems, togetherness that will restore Mandalore.

As Bo-Katan admits to her tenuous alliance of troops that she capitulated to the Empire, she laments that warring factions were the true defeat of her people. It only takes one look around the table to see that she’s right: what Empire could ever defeat a culture full of warriors in unbreakable armor and a will to win? A unified Mandalore would be unbeatable, but a unified Mandalore has yet to exist.

The message that internal division can bring down even the strongest society hits home, of course. I know this is hardly unique, but here in the United States, the division between Americans has become increasingly pronounced and painful. The ‘red state’ and ‘blue state’ divide has been baked into legal frameworks about healthcare, transgender justice, access to guns and abortion. We are a house divided, often by the House itself.

To heal we need to see multiculturalism and pluralism as our strengths. Homogeneity is a kind of cultural fascism: it insists on agreement with one view to the exclusion of all others. That’s how you get Christian Nationalism in a society whose founders believed in a separation of Church and State. Once you believe your view should erase all others, then it’s a short walk to thinking the rules that stand in your way don’t matter. See above re: accountability.

In a galaxy far, far away, conformity has always been code for the enemy. The Rebel Alliance was a collection of creatures, species, and kinds. The Empire was faceless and uniform. In The Mandalorian, we see two tribes facing off, Night Owls and The Watch, as if they are in opposition. But they are all Mandalorians who approach expressing their cultural identity in their own way. By celebrating, welcoming, and being curious about one another, they will be able to come together to retake their homeland.

It’s Gideon that takes the idea of togetherness and turns it into something terrible. He merges the Imperial Remnant with the sacred tools of the Mandalorians, creating a kind of mockery of their culture. His glee in using their strengths against them does exactly what it’s meant to do: makes us want to see Gus Fring blown to smithereens.

Side Note: Moff Gideon’s plan to use Beskar is the first time I made the connection between Mandalore and Wakanda from the perspective of resources. Wakanda, in the Marvel Universe, is the sole source of vibranium, which makes it both powerful and a target for plunder. Mandalore’s history is quite different, but this is the first time I thought of Beskar as vibranium’s Star Wars equivalent.

Additional Side Note: the original clone was Jango Fett, whose Mandalorian armor inspired the look of the first clone troopers. The clone troopers’ armor evolved away from its Mandalorian roots until it was fully divorced from it by the time of the stormtrooper. Now, the Imperial Remnants MandoTroopers come full circle to re-integrating Mandalorian designs into the stormtrooper. What’s next? Jet Troopers?

Another moment of Iconic Togetherness features Grogu and IG-11, now rechristened IG-12 and Grogu’s Mecha. What can I say? This is the very best thing I never knew I wanted.

Grogu having two buttons that Speak Yes’s and No’s in the voice of Korg was a high point in The Child’s charm. It made me think of the parents I know. Last weekend, for example, I visited with two sets of friends who have sons, kids ranging from two to six years old. Every single one of those boys would joyfully press a No button if they could, saying No to everything from turning off the iPad to eating dinner to going to bed. I suspect for parents watching “The Spies,” Grogu pressing No was highly relatable content, as they say.

Grogu’s other button was Yes and that was my other favorite of the two buttons. Watching the little dude go “yes! yes! yes!” with delight as he drove around his new exoskeleton brought me goddamned glee. I’m smiling about it as I write this. I’m going to look up the moment on Disney Plus again right now, to enjoy it again.

(Hold music.)

Thanks for waiting. I’m back. It’s still funny.

“The Spies” was so teeming with good stuff, that it’s tempting to sound like Bill Hader’s Stefan from Saturday Night Live: “The Spies has everything! Shadow Council! Thrawn Foreshadowing! Project Necromancer! Heroic sacrifices! Epic battles! Praetorian Guards!” This was A-Plus Star Wars and I do not envy your friendly neighborhood recap-ers, attempting to get their arms around the whole thing. I mean, just take the inspired casting of Brian Gleeson, brother of Domnhall Gleeson, to play Commandant Hux, father of General Hux, who his brother played in the sequel trilogy. Wait, is that last sentence circuitous? Let me try again. Commandant Brendol Hux, father of General Armitage Hux, appeared in “The Spies,” played by Brian Gleeson, brother of Domnhall Gleeson, who played Hux’s son.

(Re-reads.)

Okay one more try. Domnhall Gleeson’s brother Brian Gleeson portrays his character’s father in the latest episode of The Mandalorian.

(Throws up hands.)

You get the picture.

As the episode came to a close, I imagined a classic Star Wars trio-of-battles scenario on the horizon (a ground, space and close quarters showdown as in The Phantom Menace, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Rise of Skywalker) a grand way to tie up the season.

Still, cliffhangers exist for a reason. As this episode about togetherness ended, our heroes are splintered. Din captured by the enemy and separated from Grogu, Bo-Katan on the run, the fleet above about to be ambushed, Paz Vizsla sacrificing his mighty life, his Beskar never quite amounting to Plot Armor. As Vizsla fell to the expertly wicked Praetorian Guards, I could feel Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau pressing the button in my heart that makes me go:

“No! No! No!”