Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where our Tiered Point System ranks and records our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. Please check the About Page for a more in-depth look at how points are awarded. Our Tier System is below for quick reference. Spoiler Warning!
Welcome, young padawans, to the first of our five special-edition Star Wars posts! This week, we will dive into the world of Mandalor and analyze its prodigal sons, Din Djarin and Grogu. We will also be taking a look at the colorful characters that have crossed their paths. It is hard to believe that it has already been seven years since The Mandalorian was released, and since then, we have been introduced to an entirely new creed and cast of characters. Rotta the Hutt, The Armorer, Cobb Vanth, Greef Karga, Colonel Wars, Carson Teva, Kuiil, Paz Vizsla, and IG-11. Who do you think will make it into the top 5? Let me know in the comments, and no peeking!
I was also honored to be a guest on the Death Star Human Resource Department podcast, where we discussed the Mandalorian and, of course, Darth Jar Jar. If you are not familiar with Jeff K’s work, please go check out his page and share some love.
P.S. I forgot to add Greef Karga, which is a huge blunder on my part, and why it is not discussed in the podcast. I sincerely apologize to Carl Weathers. What a fantastic actor. Rest in Peace.
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Carson Teva showed promise in the beginning. He was showing up in all of Filoni’s live-action projects and was the glue that connected all of them. However, he never does much. He shows up, says a line, and then flies away. Wish I could say he does more, but even in The Mandalorian and Grogu movie, he can’t even shoot down one of the droid fighters. What a disappointment.
Can you believe that Sigourney Weaver was in a Star Wars movie, and I barely heard any press about it, and barely saw any marketing material around her! If we went back 10-20 years, every nerd would have been losing their mind about this casting.
Unfortunately, they do not give Colonel Ward anything to do! What a missed opportunity. Her delivery is flat and stale, and her part in the plot is lackluster, consisting of exposition. A huge waste of potential and a lackluster score to back it up. Now I have to analyze the Alien V Predator franchise to do Sigourney justice!
This is the way. The slogan that carried the show’s first season. The marketing loved it, and so did the merch team. Kuiil is the character that makes this happen! Nick Nolte did a fantastic job playing this little Ugnaught. We see this species in the background and in some episodes of The Clone Wars, but this is the first time we get to spend time with them and their culture. This is one of my favorite aspects of Star Wars. Seeing the vastness of the universe, which is unfortunately barely explored. If you ain’t a Skywalker, then your story is usually left untold. Anyway, this little Blurrgh farmer did pretty well for his episode count and left a lasting impression on the franchise.
Stinky! That’s right, everyone’s favorite Huttlet has made his grand reentrance into the Star Wars canon. A character that I have not thought about since I was in my teens is back and buffer than ever! Jeez, dude, I had no idea that Hutts could even form muscle. Does his six-pack go the entire way down his tail? How many abs does he even have? I have so many questions, and I hope I see him in a uniform because I have to know what that looks like.
Besides his intimidating physique, Rotta is one of my new favorite characters. I really enjoy watching him move and how unique his fighting style is. However, they should have added more reverb to his voice or had him speak Huttease, because his surfer-bro voice isn’t working. First off, a Hutt speaking Common is shocking as is, but without that guttural growl in the back of the voice, it just feels wrong. I get that they did not want to hide Jeremy Allen White’s voice, but in all honesty, he brought nothing to the part, and I would have much rather heard a voice like Joey Diaz, Ron Perlman, or Chris Sabat give that guttural voice some life.
All that aside, Rotta performed admirably in his second appearance. He proved himself in the fighting pits and deserves his place on our list.
One of the more memorable Mandalorians from the series is Paz. He is a heavy trooper with a big ol’ gun that should not be messed with. He killed many men, went to save his son, and even challenged Mando for the Dark Saber. In the end, he fell a little short, and so did his score when compared to the other Mandalorians of the series. Still, that armor is really cool.
Cobb Vanth tied with Paz but one with the tiebreaker. He ended up with Boba Fett’s armor and put it to good use. He protected his town and even helped Mando fight the Krayt Dragon. He was a valuable ally and a good Marshal.
We may have never seen the face of The Armorer, but she was the head of the clan that the Mandalorian is a part of. She is a no-nonsense, stick to rhetoric rules kinda gal, and if you get in her way, you’ll get your head caved in with her smithing hammer. A score of 16 is pretty impressive for only 9 episodes, especially since she was rarely the focus in any of them.
I love me some Carl Weathers. I recently stumbled upon Street Justice, the complete series, at a thrift store, and can’t wait to give it a watch. A young Carl Weathers stars in it with the writers of the A-Team. Sounds like a forgotten classic to me. What was I talking about again? Oh, right, Star Wars!
Greef Karga was basically Mando’s bookie and handled all of the bounties. He found himself as High Magistrate and brought his run-down town up from the ashes! From Bounty Broker to a High Magistrate. What an underdog story!
As a child, I was obsessed with IG-88. I thought the idea of a bounty-hunting droid was the coolest thing. I know I grew up with the prequels, but I always watched the originals. Seeing 3PO and R2 but imagining them as killing machines is unthinkable. Yes, yes, I know there are weird Sith versions in the comics, but I’m not super familiar with them. Maybe Jeff K could enlighten us on these guys?
All I had was IG-88, the most bad-ass droid in the galaxy. While this is not 88, it is still an IG droid, and I feel like there is not much difference between their programming. IG-11 kicks butt; however, his corpse is in the show more than when he is alive, so how good is he actually? IG-88 could take him!
Grogu is the cutest and most marketable aspect of the current era of Star Wars. They hit a gold mine with this character, and I am shocked that it was not leaked before his reveal in episode one of The Mandalorian. Back in those days, there was no merch or advertising around this little guy. It seemed like Disney was caught off guard by the success, but I have to give credit to Filoni and Favreau. It created a fantastic moment and created a momentum that is still pushing forward today.
As a character, Grogu is a mystery. No one knows what species Grogu, Yoda, or Yaddle are, and that is ok. I am fine with there being a little mystery in Star Wars, and I hope it stays that way. Grogu has also developed a lot over the years. Not his character per se, but in his fighting ability. He survived Order 66, was trained by Ahsoka and Luke, and then taught the ways of the Mandalorians by Din. That is an insane line of masters, and Grogu has started flexing his muscles. He has used the force to stop flames and heal the sick. It is a perfect mix of what the force is capable of in the hands of one who is strong in the force but not a master of it. I wonder what Grogu will be like in the future, and whether they will ever age him up to the point where he can speak. I also worry that his talking may ruin the character. Especially if they have him use backward speech like Yoda. I don’t know how I would take that.
Grogu’s score is nothing to write home about. A 25 is pretty low for the amount of screen time he has had, but he did lose a lot of points for literally eating babies from a sentient species! Bad Baby!
Cara Dune is the surprise of the feed! I took Jeff K off guard with this placement, but when you look at the scores, she deserved it. She did a lot of killing and sniping during her tenure. Seven episodes and hitting the thirties is fantastic! What a run. I may love Gina Carano; she is on my hall pass list, but I swear I was not biased. If I ever do get biased, then what is the point of this system anyway?! She became the marshal and saved her town. She’s a badass, and I hope to see her in the Star Wars universe soon.
Din Djarin, the Mandalorian himself, is the star of the show. He was able to not only break the hundreds barrier but slammed half way through it! The guy killed a Krayt Dragon! I view Mando as a mix between John Wick and The Man With No Name. He is quiet, serious, compassionate, but try to see what is under that helm, and he turns deadly. I’d like to see him and Han have a shoot-out to decide who has the fastest draw in the galaxy. Han Shot First! You can “Maclunkey” all you want, but you’ll never be able to convince me otherwise.
Mando has a soft side to himself as well. Din was a foundingling himself when his bounty hunting led him to Grogu; he turned into putty in those little green hands. Grogu was adopted and became a Mandalorian shortly after, though he never hides his face, so I’m not sure how he’s following the creed. Anyway, Mando kicked butt, redeemed himself, and became a true Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian is a fantastic series that starts out strong but loses its footing as it goes along. It is no Andor, but that first season is some of the best Star Wars content out there. I appreciated the original format where each episode was a standalone adventure with very little tying it together. It is a type of show I feel is missing from culture now, as everything has to be some grand adventure that spans multiple episodes. The original Western feel tied together perfectly with the universe and format. Unfortunately, perfection can’t last, and the show got bogged down in set-ups for future shows, callbacks to the animated shows, and main plot developments were hidden during the back half of another show! What were they thinking? Not only did this create a confusing timeline for Mando, but it also betrayed Boba Fett fans and took away what might have been his one shot at a project of his own. Season One is a 9/10, but the following seasons bring it down a tad.
I appreciate the number of creatures and puppets in these movies. Practical effects are the bread and butter of Star Wars, and there were so many techniques utilized in this gorgeous film. Stop-motion was even used to film those two giant droids that protected the twins' lair. What a wonderful sequence. The soundtrack also does a lot of heavy listening, but unfortunately, that is the only saving grace of this movie. The plot really feels like two two-part episodes, and it does the film no favors. Halfway through, I had to ask my wife if it was over. The plot was so thin. Everything was predictable, and there were no twists, surprises, or stakes to the movie. Mando and Grogu never grow, and they end where they began. There are some heartfelt moments in the jungle and some fun action, but nothing memorable or revolutionary. It really is a shame. This was not the Star Wars movie experience that Disney was expecting. I hate to say it, but it may not be my least favorite Star Wars film, but it’s way down there.
Thanks for tuning into our first of five Star Wars specials to celebrate the Force of July! I hope to see you all next Thursday as we continue our journey through the galaxy far, far away.
Until Next Time!
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