*WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE MANDALORIAN SEASON THREE*

If you don’t want your Mandalorian cred taken away for removing your helmet, you should not keep reading unless you’ve already seen Chapter 17 of The Mandalorian.

Well, that was a hell of a re-introduction for The Mandalorian. It started off with what looked like a flashback that turned into the present day. Din and Grogu riding in to save the Mandalorians from the evil sea turtle was a thing of beauty, and we even got some rare Star Wars gore out of it. It’s a nice way to get audiences to know or remember that Din is trying to regain his Mandalorian privileges after removing his helmet at the end of season two.

Also, for the people whining about a time jump in the series, these opening scenes helped a lot. “A lot has changed around here” is an easy way to explain that it’s been at least a year or more since Din and Grogu have seen this place. High Magistrate Karga has some impressive clothing. Grogu using the force to spin the chair is adorable and exactly what a toddler would do in the situation.

Greef’s standoff with the pirates was awesome. Even with all the pleasantries and lavish lifestyle of Navarro, he’s still a bad bad man. They even explained where Cara Dune went! Carl Weathers is so great as Greef Karga. It’s been great to see his character development over the course of the series.

“Kid, Never Trust A Pirate”

Overall, that was a quick way to get people back into the swing of things with The Mandalorian. The episode might not have had any galaxy-shaking stakes, but we know what Din Djarin’s quest is, and how he’s going to do it. Bo Katan at the end of the episode, seemed like she was hiding something or leading Din on to get what she wants out of things. I suspect that this won’t be the last time we see her in the season.

The subplot with the pirates seems fun enough. They’ll likely show up at an inopportune moment for Din and Grogu and force them into a bad spot. We’ll have to see how everything turns out in the next episode. This one was a good way to get audiences back into the mindset of the series though. This is still serialized Star Wars at its best. We got plenty of creatures, some laughs with Grogu, and what season three is all about. It might not have reinvented the wheel, but this was a damn fine season premiere.

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