Chapter 17: The Apostate

"Chapter 17: The Apostate" is the first episode of the third season of the American television series The Mandalorian. It was written by showrunner Jon Favreau and directed by series executive producer Rick Famuyiwa. It was released on Disney+ on March 1, 2023. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot
The Armorer forges a new helmet for a foundling who is being accepted into the creed. A ceremony is held where he must vow to never remove his helmet. This ceremony is interrupted when a crocodile-like monster attacks the tribe. The clan initially fails to defend themselves, but they are saved by the Mandalorian and Grogu, who have been reunited. The Mandalorian speaks with the Armorer, expressing his belief that he can go to Mandalore and bathe in the living waters. The Armorer agrees that he will be accepted back into the clan should he achieve this.

The Mandalorian and Grogu head to Nevarro, where they reunite with now High Magistrate Greef Karga. Karga offers the Mandalorian a place to live, however, he declines. The two are interrupted by a band of pirates who were members of Karga's guild. They kill all but one of the pirates in a standoff, and the surviving pirate named Vane is sent away to inform others that Karga will not tolerate pirates in Nevarro.

The Mandalorian explains that he plans to revive IG-11, as he needs a droid by his side on Mandalore. They retrieve what is left of IG-11's parts from his memorial statue, and attempt to revive him. They are eventually successful, but IG-11 reverts to his original programming and tries to kill Grogu. After shutting him down, they enlist the help of Anzellan mechanics. They inform the Mandalorian that he needs a memory core to fix IG-11. He leaves Nevarro in search of it and asks Karga to look after IG-11 while he is gone.

While attempting to leave Nevarro, the Mandalorian and Grogu are attacked by a band of pirates, including the one they spared earlier. They are eventually led to their leader Gorian Shard, who asks the Mandalorian to surrender his ship. The Mandalorian jumps to hyperspace and eventually heads to Kalevala, a planet in the Mandalore system, where Bo-Katan Kryze now resides in her family's ancestral castle. She explains to the Mandalorian that she no longer plans to overtake Mandalore, as her allies gave up on her, becoming mercenaries after failing to retrieve the Darksaber from Moff Gideon. Din explains his plan to seek redemption in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore to which Bo Katan expresses her indifference, telling him that the planet is cursed. She informs him that the mines are beneath the Civic Center before sending him off.

Development
The episode was directed by executive producer Rick Famuyiwa, from a screenplay by series creator Jon Favreau. Discussing the absence of Cara Dune in the season following the firing of actress Gina Carano, Famuyiwa said the character was still "a big part... of the world" and that Favreau took the time to address her absence. However, the creatives knew "the heart of the show" was the Mandalorian and Grogu with Dave Filoni stating the season was "mainly dealing with Mandalorians and the Mandalorian saga, the Mandalorian tale", and how that affects the duo's story.

Casting
The co-starring actors cast for this episode are all returning from previous episodes, and include Emily Swallow as The Armorer, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Taika Waititi as IG-11, and Tait Fletcher and Jon Favreau as Paz Vizsla. Additional guest stars for this episode include Parvesh Cheena as the voice of Karga's protocol droid; Jimmy Kimmel's nephew Wesley Kimmel as Ragnar Vizsla; a Mandalorian foundling, Marti Matulis as Vane, a pirate; Nonso Anozie as the voice of Gorian Shard, a pirate king; and Shirley Henderson as the Anzellan crew, the droidsmiths who attempt to repair IG-11. Henderson previously played Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker where the species was first introduced. Stunt doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder received co-star credit for the first time in an episode. Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff receive starring credits as the Mandalorian and Bo-Katan Kryze respectively.

Music
Similar to The Book of Boba Fett, Joseph Shirley composed the musical score for the episode, while Ludwig Göransson composed the themes.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a score of 85% based on reviews from 33 critics, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Consistently engaging in spite of all the table-setting for what's to come, The Mandalorian third-season opener kicks off a promising new quest for Din and Grogu". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".