Title: The Foundling
Director: Carl Weathers
Runtime: 32 minutes
It’s the 20th episode of the series and the halfway point of season 3! One of the most surprising things about this episode is the runtime. (There is the other thing, which I will get to later.) However, this is another case where you can’t trust the Internet. While I can’t seem to find them anymore, I could have sworn I saw posts alleging this would be “the longest episode yet“. Obviously, they were just trying to garner clicks (perhaps that’s why I can no longer find them. Amateurs.)
This is an interesting episode that I quite enjoyed. Perhaps some minor nitpicks but nothing that decreased the quality of my enjoyment. Let’s get into it.
There has been massive speculation about what this episode is about. It has been continuously discussed since Carl Weathers posted this tweet:
Spoilers Ahead!!!
NOTE: This is the last post with the spoiler warning! If you have not been watching then I am assuming you have not been reading.
Meesa Knew It was Him!
When Carl Weathers told us the name of this episode I knew we would be getting that Order 66 flashback we saw in the trailer. However, I was surprised to see the return of Jar Jar!
Well, it wasn’t the character but the actor. The moment the lift doors opened and Kelleran appears, I recognized Ahmed Best immediately. This is not the first appearance of the Kelleran Beq character. In June 2020 a kid’s show, called Jedi Temple Challenge, debuted on the Star Wars kids website. Ahmed Best (as Kelleran Beq) is the host. This is, however, the first appearance of Kelleran in a Star Wars canon streaming series. Good to have you back, Jar Jar!
Back to the show. The massive implication in this flashback is the Naboo starcruiser. It appears Grogu is first taken to Naboo after the razing of the Jedi Temple during Order 66. Will we see Naboo in a future episode? This also implies that Kelleran is another Jedi that survives the Jedi purge.
Just Teeny-Tiny Nitpicks
I want to circle back to this episode’s runtime. When I tried to track down some of the alleged runtimes I saw some headlines that read that some fans are disappointed it’s so short. In the beginning, I was too. However, they fit a lot in that brief 32 minutes. Honestly, I would rather have a short, succinct episode that sufficiently moves the story along rather than dragging it out. How many times have people said that some movie or episode could have been shorter if they “cut out x”?
The second thing is Grogu. This might be an unpopular opinion but I’m feeling less and less interested in Grogu’s story. I did enjoy the Order 66 flashback so maybe I’m just growing tired of the puppet. It almost feels like the production quality has gone down since Season 2. Maybe they want to stick with the puppet because Yoda was a puppet in all of the movies except the Prequels.
Grogu’s victory over Ragnar felt rushed and anti-climatic. Maybe I was expecting more demonstration of the Force instead of leaping back and forth. If it were me, I would have had Ragnar fire the third dart, Grogu uses the Force to fire the dart back to Ragnar, and then he fires his three darts thus hitting Ragnar four times.
My last comment isn’t a nitpick, but I think it’s my favorite part. At the end of the episode, I get the feeling Bo-Katan is starting to believe, more and more, in the Mand’alor mythos. It’s great character development within just a few, short moments. Also, bravo to Katee Sackhoff for conveying her characters’ emotions without facial expressions.
What did you think of The Mandalorian: Chapter 20?
