3 key takeaways from The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 2: The Mines of Mandalore

The Mandalorian Season 3 took up a significant pace with the second episode. We saw incidents that were expected to be climactic moments of the season, including a massive reveal at the end of the episode.

Let’s take a quick look at the top takeaways from Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian S3 titled The Mines of Mandalore.

Do proceed with caution; spoilers galore.

“Mandalore is not cursed”

For the Clone Wars and Rebels fans, the episode takes a nostalgic turn as we see Mandalore after a long time. The planet has long been stripped of its glory, but unlike the popular belief in Star Wars verse, it is not “cursed”.

As Din Djarin becomes the first Mandalorian to visit the ancestral homeworld since the Night of a Thousand Tears, we find out that the Great Purge did not leave the planet inhospitable after all.

Din takes the help of Peli Motto’s droid pal R5-D4 (the same guy that faked a short circuit to let R2-D2 take his place at Uncle Owen’s house) and figures out that the Mandalorian atmosphere is still breathable.

Flying down below Sundari towards the beskar mines, he even encounters a few Alamites. They are a sentient humanoid species that used to reside in the deserted wastelands beyond the cities. Their presence within the civic center was a clear indicator that life still existed on the planet.

2) Grogu finally uses Force on an enemy

Grogu has come a long way since his wide-eyed, floppy-eared days. He is slowly growing into a competent apprentice for Mando. In the latest episode, we see Grogu save the day by flying the starfighter to Bo-Katan, who in turn saves Din Djarin’s life twice.

After Din gets captured by the disembodied crab-head creature, who reminded everybody of a certain foul-natured, four-armed droid (cough, General Grievous, cough), Grogu manages to find his way out of the mines to get to the starfighter.

On his way out, he gets stopped by another Alamite. Just as it seems like the little green guy could be in danger, we see him use the Force and subdue an opponent all on his own for the first time.

Previously we have seen it use a couple of times to help Mando, but never to fend off an enemy all by himself.

3) Mythosaur is real

At the end of the episode, we get one of the biggest reveals of the show and the entire Mandalorian lore – Mythosaur is very much real.

As Bo-Katan drags an atoning Din up from the depths of the Living Waters, her head torch briefly catches a glimpse of a gigantic underwater leviathan. It looks very much like how it is represented as the sigil of the Mandalore – an elongated skull with tusks on both sides.

Moments before, Bo-Katan reads off a plaque near the water about the history of the mines, which said that the place was once a Mythosaur lair. Mandalore the First is said to have tamed the “mythical beast”, the shape of whose skull later became the signet of the planet.

She smirks at the historical titbit since Mythosaur is mostly considered either to be extinct or a fairytale altogether, only to be proven wrong in a minute.

Throughout the show, we have seen and heard many references to the creature, including the prophecy by the Armorer in The Book of Boba Fett. She spoke of a legend about Mythosaur: “The songs of eons past foretold of the Mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore.”

The show has already made a point of bringing fabled beasts to live-action and getting Mando to bring them to heel. We had Blurrgs in Season 1 and the Krayt Dragon in Season 2.

Thus, between the newfound presence of a Mythosaur and the Darksaber, this season could pave the way for a future Mandalorian resurgence under undisputed leadership.

Honorary Mention: Moment of respect for deceased fathers

Amid the chaos, Din Djarin and Bo-Katan shared a sincere moment as the show brought up Adonai Kryze. He was the Duke of Mandalore, the patriarch of the Kryze Clan, and the father of Bo-Katan and Satine. He gave his life in the Great Clan Wars.

Bo-Katan mentions him as she reminisces about getting inducted into the Creed in the hallowed halls of the Mandalorian mines. Learning about his death, Din Djarin pauses for a moment to pay respect, and says “This is the way.” Despite the helmet, Pedro Pascal does an excellent job of showing that Din understands what it means to lose a parent, especially to war.

Speaking of dead fathers, Din’s breathing after pressurizing his helmet to ensure he doesn’t inhale any poisonous air on Mandalore could have been a blink-and-you-miss-it Darth Vader moment.