‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 17 ‘The Apostate’ Review: An Episode That Checks All the Boxes
We can now finally say it — The Mandalorian is back! Chapter 17, also known as the first episode of season 3, is currently available on Disney Plus after more than two years since Luke Skywalker took Grogu (which, according to Jon Favreau’s latest update from Tuesday’s red carpet, is also true for the in-universe timeframe). Written by Jon Favreau, it sees the new executive producer of the series, Rick Famuyiwa, step in to direct the first of his three episodes.
Overall, The Apostate is a solid episode, but it saddens me to say that I didn’t love it. It might be the weaker of the season premieres so far, but that doesn’t mean it was not enjoyable, and for what it’s worth, I think I will be on the more negative side of the spectrum — I have a feeling most viewers will be thrilled with what we got and will be screaming to their TVs by the time the episode is over. On the surface, the episode checks all the boxes that many people were clamoring for — it has action, cute Grogu moments, sets up an interesting conflict for the season, and much more. But I think it was a bit too all over the place and it didn’t feel as organic or compelling as, say, Return of the Mandalorian did in The Book of Boba Fett, which, weirdly enough, is a new gold standard for what an episode of the series should feel like.
But that being said, if you are looking for interesting bits about the Mandalorian culture, fun cameos, adorable moments, and a preview of what the season will look like, Chapter 17 will likely satisfy your needs. If you haven’t seen it already, go see it and check back with us for the spoiler-filled section of this review! Let’s get into specifics…
Spoilers ahead for The Mandalorian Chapter 17 The Apostate
I was immediately put off when the episode started with a recap that didn’t address at all the fact that Grogu and Din Djarin are back together. It felt like just another episode recap, and not the proper introduction that this particular season premiere needed, considering the two years in between seasons and the spin-off series that essentially bridged the gap between Chapter 16 and Chapter 17. Now you might be able to log into Twitter and get the answer immediately, but this is not something that will age particularly well with people watching The Mandalorian on Disney Plus for the first time 12 years from now.
Cut to the cold open, which sees the Armorer knight a new foundling as a member of the Creed — I might have been the only one here, but until the N1 appeared out of nowhere, I thought this was a flashback to Din’s acceptance ritual. Here’s where my problems with the episode started, because, be it the case or not, the action sequence that started out of nowhere completely felt like a studio note that was worried viewers might be bored because there was no real action for the first two-thirds of the episode. It’s completely possible that Favreau just wanted to tease an even bigger scope for the third season with this, and that it would involve many Mandalorians, but this gratuitous and uncalled-for action sequence completely undercut what was otherwise a very interesting scene, showing that the Children of the Watch are still very strong and are growing their numbers.
The really interesting stuff starts right after, when Din and the Armorer agree that if he is able to go to Mandalore and bathe in the living waters of the Mines, he will be accepted back into their cult. Din is basically becoming the personification of bridging different cultures or lines of thought — he is now mediating between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, and also between Mandalorian tribes, as we will see later in the episode. Chapter 17 feels like The Mandalorian returning to its season 1 video game vibes — he has a mission set off by an off-screen inciting incident. To achieve it, he first needs to retrieve an element, and to do that, he must embark on a mission of his own.
That element is Taika Waititi’s IG-11, who makes a return sooner than I anticipated. But obviously, keeping up with that video game feel, the mission fails so he must now go on another mission to fix the first one. And also, defend his friend from dangerous foes that will prove to be a bigger nuisance than initially anticipated. Seeing Greef Karga again was heartwarming at first, but I must say, Carl Weathers’ acting was a bit over-the-top during certain sequences. (Also, never has Grogu felt more like a lifeless puppy than when Din tossed him to Greef, one of the most awkward Mandalorian moments if I’m honest.)
We knew from the trailers this was happening, but seeing Anzellans fixing IG-11 fully warmed my heart — and having Grogu hug one of them was proof that Favreau knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to portraying the cutest Star Wars moments ever. That will become one of the most popular gifs on social media sooner than you can say it out loud. It’s also going to be part of a collection of elements in season 3 that will tie in directly with the sequel trilogy, as if that even mattered to the people complaining online.
The second episode and the return to Tatooine are now perfectly set up with the necessity of the second McGuffin of the season, the goober (see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) to fix the previous goober. But before the credits roll, we also need to set up the rest of the season — let’s throw in a conflict with space-Davy Jones and go visit Bo-Katan… for reasons. I’m still not positive why we needed to visit her in this episode — was it to ask for advice when going to Mandalore, in which case, why wouldn’t you do that later, when you already have IG-11, or was it Din asking for protection against the pirates, in which case, is that the best way to introduce one of the antagonists of the season? It’s too early to tell and I don’t want to hold it against this episode — maybe it will become clearer after I rewatch it.
While I’ve been mostly negative about Chapter 17, I did enjoy watching it for the most part, but I was expecting something deeper. It simply felt like a script that had to check all the boxes — season 3 must have epic battles involving multiple Mandalorians (check), cute Grogu moments (check check), Bo-Katan and the Armorer in a bigger role (check), tease the upcoming Ahsoka series (space-whales check), have some fun cameos (check), and show Din Djarin at a crossroads (check). And now we must put it all into one episode.
Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian arrives next Wednesday, so stay tuned for our review!
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
