The Mandalorian's Creepy Spider Scientist Is Terrifying And I Love Him
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the second episode of "The Mandaloran" season 3.
The "Star Wars" universe is home to countless stories. This franchise is a sandbox where anything goes, where any kind of creature and any kind of character can exist and fit into the rest of the universe. We have seen political thrillers, war dramas, grand adventures, seedy underworld tales, unfortunate holiday celebrations, and much more.
It's truly exciting to see the variety of shows we get, even when they lack a cohesive interconnected plan, whether it's the grounded drama of "Andor," the adventure-of-the-week of "The Bad Batch," or the eclectic collection of ideas and genres of "Star Wars Visions" all co-existing at the same time.
So far, season three of "The Mandalorian" is a great example of the eclectic range of "Star Wars." In the first two episodes alone, we have continued to get grand serials-inspired adventure, with some Jedi cheerleading moves thrown in, all while finding time to introduce our favorite new "Star Wars" pirate. With episode two, we now get an underground-dwelling race of mutants, and also the creepiest new character in the franchise. Yes, I'm talking about the cyborg with the spider tank, the Phil Tippett nightmare brought to life, a character that brings both body horror and a little "Bionicle" to "Star Wars."
Space body horror
We meet the character that I'm dubbing "The Mad Scientist" while under the ruins of Sundari, the former domed capital city of Mandalore. When we meet him, he is surrounded by dozens of empty Mandalorian helmets, presumably of his previous victims. He looks essentially like a Rahkshi from "Bionicle," an empty cybernetical husk controlled by some small creature with weird spines on its back. This alone is enough of a terrifying look to deliver some chills, but it also makes you want to lean forward and learn more.
Indeed, while The Mad Scientist is scary, with his single, cyclops-like eye peeping out, he is also a scientist. After easily trapping Din Djarin, using an electric baton to incapacitate our Mandalorian, he places him in a small cage. Here, The Mad Scientist starts his sadistic experiments, literally draining Din of his blood in order to, well, we don't know, but that's what makes the character intriguing.
In addition to a fantastic body horror vibe, what makes this scene interesting is how vague this character is. If he is actually a scientist, what the hell is he experimenting on? It's not like there are a lot of Mandalorians left, so are they just torturing Alamites, or spending months and years on end just waiting, begging for a new subject to stroll down the empty ruins of Sundari for them to capture? My money is on the latter. Just picture it: this weird creature in a massive spider tank crawling around the city in search waiting for a new subject to study, going home at the end of every day feeling a little more hopeless. Din Djarin stumbling onto his cave may have been his happiest moment in months, and I'm so glad that I can share in his twisted joy.
New episodes of "The Mandalorian" debut on Wednesdays on Disney+.