Movies - TV
The Mandalorian's Mind Flayer Is Scarier Than The One In Stranger Things
By DEBOPRIYAA DUTTA
Spoiler Warning!
This story contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 3 of "The Mandalorian," entitled "The Convert."
Season 3, Episode 3 of "The Mandalorian" sees the New Republic eager to shed all remnants of Imperial authority by ironically using an almost-mythical Imperial torture device, the Mind Flayer, on Dr. Penn Pershing. Although presented as a treatment to soothe the mind, Pershing recognizes it as a mind-wiping device, which some fans have connected to "Stranger Things."
Witnessing the New Republic use torture devices under the guise of peaceful rehabilitation is a much scarier prospect than any tentacled Mind Flayer in "Stranger Things" exercising psychic control on sentient beings to kill them. New Republic's Mind Flayer can make one lose their mind and sense of self, which seems more of an unbearable punishment than death.
Unlike the psychic tentacled humanoid in "Stranger Things," the purpose of New Republic's Mind Flayer device is not to kill. However, tactics such as wiping one's mind for easier "rehabilitation" are uneasy to witness, which gets worse when Elia Kane steps in and increases the electrical surge of the device, killing Pershing or frying his mind at best.