NOTE: Full spoilers for this episode of, “The Mandalorian” are present in this review
After an eventful two episodes on his target’s planet, The Mandalorian returns to his home base to collect on the lucrative bounty he was hired for. Despite the titular anti-hero’s job seemingly being done however, The Mandalorian’s third episode is another exciting offering overall, even if it does predictably force its protagonist to betray the code of the bounty hunters, so the show can keep going. Nonetheless, there’s a standout mix of world-building and action on offer in, “Chapter 3: The Sin”, as The Mandalorian delivers the asset to The Client, and receives the hefty payout he was promised, only to start questioning whether it’s truly prudent to leave The Child as he intends to.
The opening stretch of this episode can be a little slow, largely because viewers can completely anticipate how the first half will inevitably play out. The Mandalorian simply lands back on his base planet, with The Child in tow, and delivers it to The Client, being paid, and told to forget about The Child, and whatever The Client has planned for it. Clearly, this doesn’t sit right with The Mandalorian however, particularly when he learns that every single bounty hunter in the area also took the job of finding The Child, and received their own tracking fobs to that effect. Clearly, The Client very badly wants The Child for some nefarious end, and after doing a recon mission of his own accord, The Mandalorian decides that The Child is in danger, and must be taken back.
Before that happens though, The Mandalorian does at least make the most of his payout, taking the heavy reward of Beskar Steel to The Armorer, wherein he forges himself some new weapons, and a brand new cuirass! This certainly makes The Mandalorian very conspicuous, but also gives him extra protection, and he’ll definitely need it, after choosing to betray The Client that so generously paid him. Fortunately, the entire sequence of The Mandalorian deciding to take back The Child, and killing any unlucky Stormtrooper in his way, makes for a second half to this episode that’s incredibly exciting, particularly when the first half capitalizes on the opportunity to show off more of The Mandalorian’s origins, namely in witnessing his world be wiped out so mercilessly by The Empire.
So, as much as The Mandalorian is clearly thinking of The Child, there’s also an element of well-earned revenge for himself, since The Empire took so much from The Mandalorian and his world many years ago. This makes it extra satisfying to see The Mandalorian utilize a combination of fully-loaded weapons and guerrilla tactics to take out the Stormtroopers that try and stop him from getting to The Child, which of course completely fails to stop The Mandalorian from taking back his prize. It’s a good thing that The Mandalorian loaded up on weapons too, since he only gets cornered once, only to use his convenient Deus Ex Machina missiles to take out all of the Stormtroopers that successfully got the drop on him.
Still, this episode did a great job of making The Mandalorian seem powerful, determined and dangerous, without also making him feel unstoppable. This beautifully came into play during the episode’s climax as well, when every single bounty hunter’s tracking fobs suddenly get activated, turning them all against The Mandalorian, so they can reclaim The Child for The Client. This presents another standout action scene, particularly when even Greef Karga himself begins to stand against The Mandalorian here! That said though, the other Mandalorians suddenly showing up to bail out the show’s hero feels like far too transparent a Deus Ex Machina, especially since the other Mandalorians logically shouldn’t have any idea of what The Mandalorian is up to. Still, this is a nice wish fulfillment moment for longtime Star Wars fans especially, who get to see the remnants of the Mandalorian tribe finally band together, and exact some sweet revenge on Imperial sympathizers!
From there, this episode inevitably ends with The Mandalorian successfully getting away in his ship with The Child, even appearing to shoot Greef dead at one point, only to perhaps intentionally hit Greef in his own pocket of Beskar Steel, which merely knocks him out. This seemingly proves that The Mandalorian still follows some kind of code, even as his rescue of The Child appears to force the remaining Mandalorians to relocate their hideout, while The Mandalorian himself must now go on the run. With that being the case though, this will certainly continue to present exciting story developments to come, as the first season of The Mandalorian starts coming up to its halfway point. “Chapter 3: The Sin” had to rely on a few predictable turns to get The Mandalorian and The Child off-planet again, but it was nonetheless a very enjoyable episode that continued to nicely develop what remains of the Mandalorian tribe and their code, while also presenting a great chunk of standout action in the second half. This fledgling Disney+ series remains exciting as ever to watch, even almost halfway through its debut season, and now that The Mandalorian has fully broken away from the bounty hunters’ guild, I’m hoping that the series only becomes more interesting, unpredictable and thrilling over the next several weeks.