Disclaimer: spoilers for the episode are included in this review. 

In the episode “Mines of Mandalore,”  the triumphant duo, Grogu and Djin Djarin arrive on Tatooine to meet with Peeli Moto, (Amy Sedaris), hoping to find a replacement memory unit for IG-11. 

Djin Djarin (Pedro Pascal) thinks he needs IG-11 to help him navigate Mandalore’s supposed toxic and glassed surface, but Moto offers R5-D4 to guide him instead.

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R5-D4 was seen in “Star Wars Episode IV; A New Hope” and  in season 2 of “The Mandalorian.” It’s good to see the nod to the original trilogy with the droid’s appearance. 

With their arrival on the planet and R5’s help testing the atmosphere, Djin sets down and takes Grogu to the ruins of the Mandalorian capital, Sundari, where ape-like creatures called Alamites attack them. 

The sequence was reminiscent of the old “walk through a post-apocalyptic wasteland and get attacked by mutants” concept that“Fallout” fans might appreciate. 

During the fight, we see Djin struggle to use the Darksaber against these foes, showing that despite the words of the Armorer and being reunited with Grogu, his mind still seems distracted. 

He ultimately dispatches the creatures and continues his journey into the ruins, only to be captured again by a giant crab robot. 

I see a pattern here. For a Mandalorian hunter, Djin does not seem to be very good at reconnaissance. He apparently forgot he obtained a robotic drone to scout ahead.

After Djin is taken to the lair of the enormous metallic crab-like creature, he tells Grogu to get Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff), after which Grogu’s cute wrinkly butt runs away in his hover pram. 

With Bo-Katan’s arrival in the lair, she quickly dispatches the monstrosity with her mastery of the Darksaber. After Djin is rescued and recuperated with Pog Soup, Bo leads him to the living waters of the Mines of Mandalore.

His quest is finally over. 

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Enter “Chapter 19: The Convert.”

This episode mainly focuses on the Imperial scientist, Doctor Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and his life in the New Republic on Coruscant. The good doctor, if you recall, was instrumental in the Empire’s cloning research and Moff Gideon’s plans. 

Since being handed over to the authorities in the second season, Pershing has become a part of the “amnesty program.” This program deals with the rehabilitation and reintegration of Imperial personnel into the new galactic order.

The episode breaks from the grand epic tale of Djin Djarins’s exploits and explores the sinister aspect of regime change. 

Pershing’s research foreshadows the cloning process Palpatine attempted to prolong his own life, as revealed in “The Rise of Skywalker.”

After the talk, Pershing meets the communications officer of Moff Gideon’s Imperial remnant, who introduces herself as Elia Kane (Katy M. O’Brian). Kane is part of the same program and he kindles a friendship with her.

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Pershing wants to continue his cloning work in order to help the New Republic, but restrictions from the Amnesty Program put this goal out of his reach. 

That is, until Kane plants the idea of breaking protocol for the greater good.

Every fiber of my being told me not to trust her new helpful persona, but, her charms won the careful Pershing over. After taking equipment from a New Republic scrap yard, the two race out of the Star Destroyer, only to be caught by the authorities. 

While Pershing panics, the emotion drains from Kane’s face, who takes the stolen items and walks them over to the authorities — she set him up.

After Pershing is taken into custody, he is hooked up to a Mindflayer the same device used to reprogram Crosshair (Dee Bradley Baker) in “The Bad Batch,” now repurposed as electroshock therapy. 

Seeing this sinister method used by the New Republic is haunting since they are supposed to be championing a new era of peace across the galaxy. 

Djin Djarin and Bo-Katan made a brief appearance in this episode, but the cut to Pershing’s story gave me Andor vibes: once again, the universe feels lived in. The Amnesty program attempts to squeeze some good out of an otherwise horrible ordeal.

Ret’urcye mhi Mando’ade. Until next time, Mandalorians.