The Mandalorian: There is a major problem with the Amnesty Program

The Mandalorian season 3 Chapter 3 episode titled “The Convert”, focused a majority of its runtime on Dr. Pershing. For those who might have forgotten, Dr. Pershing appeared in season 1, apparently working with the remnants of the Empire, specifically Moff Gideon.

Though it’s not specified, he was supposed to use the Child AKA: Grogu for his work. But as we learn in the most recent episode of The Mandalorian, he was used and tricked into thinking he was actually doing some good for the universe.

His naive nature is understandable, although it does lead to his downfall (see our recap for all the details and spoilers). In the new episode, Dr. Pershing has been accepted into Coruscant’s Amnesty Program, which allows those who previously worked for the Empire to be rehabilitated and rejoin society.

While this is a second chance for the brilliant doctor, it comes at a cost; his life’s work. His life’s work was cloning, in the hopes of saving lives.

The Mandalorian season 3 Chapter 3 introduces the Amnesty Program

However, cloning is prohibited. Dr. Pershing’s new life includes archiving, a far less exciting job than he previously had.

As he tries to become comfortable working with others, he has wellness checks with a droid, who he answers all the questions he’s asked honestly…the first time. But after he notices how the New Republic is essentially throwing away everything from the Empire, which includes things he deems useful, his next wellness check isn’t as pleasant.

Although he answers every question the same as before, his demeanor says otherwise. But the droid does not notice.

That was the moment I turned to my husband, who was watching with me, and noted that this is a big problem. Perhaps I am looking far into the episode.

Perhaps I spotted something the writers intended to be seen. But this moment really stood out to me in ways I did not expect, especially when in the same episode, both Din Djarin and Bo-Katan are considered Mandalorians once more.

Why would the Amnesty Program, who spends so much time, probably money and effort in helping those who once worked for the Empire, allow a droid to conduct these wellness checks? As any form of media has established for countless years, any kind of A.I will lack any form of true, human connection due to their inability to understand emotion.

Star Wars in particular is full of A.I in the form of droids, from the lovable astromech R2-D2 to the deadly destroyer droids Droideka. But is the wellness check droid’s lack of intuition or recognizing Dr. Pershing’s true feelings, due to his lack of connection with Dr. Pershing himself?

Or as we simply to assume that even in Star Wars, true mental health is overlooked and ignored? Upon looking at the bond between R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker, I believe the astromech droid would know if Luke wasn’t being honest.

He would notice Luke’s facial expressions and tone are not matching his words. In fact, the sassy droid would probably call him out for it.

Is it because R2-D2 has such a close connection and relationship with Luke, as well as other humans past and present like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker? I could even see B2EMO from Andor being capable of noticing when Cassian or Maarva’s words aren’t matching their feelings.

But in the case of the Amnesty Program, they are truly failing those who truly need them. They probably view the droid as the easiest and most effective way to obtain the information they need to make sure the program is working.

After all, by taking one look at Amnesty Housing, you’ll notice that it is full to the brim. There might not be enough people to conduct these wellness checks.

However, unless the droids doing the wellness checks can notice what most humans do amongst each other, the Amnesty Program isn’t going to work. Watch an all-new episode of The Mandalorian on Wednesday March 22 on Disney Plus.

What did you think of The Mandalorian season 3 Chapter 3? Share your thoughts in the comments below!