Season 3 of The Mandalorian has already been reintroducing characters from its previous seasons, and in Chapter 19: The Convert, the audience is reintroduced to Dr. Penn Pershing and Elia Kane. Having previously working for Moff Gideon, the two are shown building a connection with each other after having been “re-integrated” by the New Republic on Coruscant, but at the end of the episode Kane betrays Dr. Pershing, with her motives possibly having been confusing. Here is why Dr. Pershing got arrested in The Mandalorian but not Elia Kane.
Who are Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane in The Mandalorian?
Dr. Penn Pershing was a scientist and engineer working under Moff Gideon, focusing on cloning and genetic modifications using Grogu’s blood. While he was spared by Mando after Grogu was captured and rescued, Dr. Pershing was eventually captured by the New Republic to be re-integrated.
Elia Kane was working under Moff Gideon as a communications officer, before having been captured by the New Republic and re-integrated the same as Dr. Pershing. She is revealed to be working in the New Republic’s Amnesty program, being tasked with making sure the other imperial converts don’t relapse to their old ways of thinking.
Why Did Elia Kane Betray Dr. Pershing in The Mandalorian?
Episode three was focused around the growing companionship between Elia Kane and Dr. Pershing, however it became clear that Kane had ulterior motives for this connection. Having worked with cloning technology for the Empire, Dr. Pershing was seen as high-risk for the New Republic if he were to resist his rehabilitation, and so he was set up by the New Republic using Kane to trap him and prevent him from continuing his work.
Dr. Pershing is open with Kane about his desires to continue his work on cloning technology, however this time he wants to pursue his research for societal good. Unfortunately according to the New Republic laws, his work was deemed too dangerous for him to continue researching it in any capacity, which gave Kane the opportunity to bait him into stealing old imperial equipment and have him ultimately arrested by the New Republic.
After being captured, Dr. Pershing is restrained and forced to undergo the “mind-flayer,” which would not have been such a punishment if not for Kane taking his arrest a step further and turning the dial all the way up to “torture.” While it is now clear that Kane had no positive intentions for Dr. Pershing, only the rest of the season can tell what her true motives are. For now, that’s what we know about why Elia Kane did not get arrested with Dr. Pershing.
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