We’re back with Star Wars Month 2 and our last look at the Mandolorian, how will this season end?
Chapter 7: The Reckoning
The Razorcrest receives a transmission from Greef.
Apparently since Mando left with the child, the ex-imperial client and his
stormtroopers have imposed martial law over the town, and made things difficult
for the guild, Greef is inviting him back to Nevarro to put an end to it.
Their plan is to arrange an exchange, with Mando provided
‘loyal guild members’ as protection. He can then kill the client during the
exchange and everyone wins. Mando decides to head back, but first makes a stop
somewhere else. We see Cara showing that she can hit things really hard.
She’s initially reluctant as she’s done a lot of things that
would land her in prison, but Mando tells her the Client is imperial and that’s
all she needs to here. Basically, he doesn’t trust Greef even slightly so has
brought her along for protection, they have a small incident where the Child
nearly crashes so decide they need a third pair of hands to watch him, Muiil.
Mando doesn’t particularly like the op, but life as an
outcast isn’t good for him and the child. Turns out IG-11 survived his initial
appearance and has been reprogrammed to serve Muiil. It pretty much had to be
rebuilt, with all its motor-functions having to be re-enforced and its core
personality reset. Mando convinces him to come, despite his distrust of IG-11,
the Blurrgs.
During the flight to Nevarro, the child force-chokes Cara
for some reason and Muiil is beginning to piece things together. He creates a
new casket for the child so it can sleep better. They arrive on Nevarro and
meet up with Greef and his security detail, they had to land outside the city
to avoid detection so they’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of them.
They camp for the night, Greef claiming that the Client will
only have 4 troops with him, which seems a little lax to take over a town, but
what do I know. They’re attacked by flying creatures, and although they manage
to scare them off, Greef is injured into the process, poison in his veins. Cara
has some experience as a field medic, but it’s ultimately the child that saves
his life, healing him through the force. So yes, this stupid element of the
Rise of Skywalker originated here and yeah, it’s kinda dumb here too.
They make it to the agreed rendezvous, but Greef shoots his
two ‘loyal guild members’ and explains the plan was to shoot them and take the
kid, but after the healing from the last night, he couldn’t go through with it.
They still want to take out the client but the plan has changed. They’re gonna
use the cot as a decoy, whilst Kuiil takes the child back to the ship and locks
it down. Mando is gonna pretend to have been captured by Kara as both she and
Greef deliver him to the Client, where Mando can kill him.
The arrive at the town, and it’s crawling with troopers. The
Client goes on a tirade about how everything was better under the empire,
keenly ignoring the systems that were stripped bare to feed the Imperial war machine, what
Lothal looked like in s4 of Rebels for a canon example. The Client gets a call
from Moff Gideon who somehow had seen through the trap and sent a squad of
death-troopers to eliminate everyone in the place.
Mando, Cara and Greef take cover but a troop carrier
arrives, re-enforcing the death troopers with dozens more stormtroopers. Mando
calls Kuiil to tell him to take off but 2 scout troops intercept and head off
in pursuit. Their speeder bikes much faster than a Blurrg. A TIE Fighter lands
as Moff Gideon himself is about to join the fray. Kinda surprised he’d come in
a TIE Fighter, those things are made of tin-foil.
The scout troops catch up with Kuiil, killing him just as
he’s about to get on the ship, the scout troops catching the child.
It’s an intense battle episode, showcasing the Empire’s
strength in spite of their losses in a way that’s difficult to do if you have
powerful force-wielders at your back.
Rating 8/10
Chapter 8: Redemption
We open with the scout troopers, the Child in tow heading
back to the city. And we get a joke about how stromtroopers can’t aim. But
apparently sand people are even less accurate, so what do I know. Their
progress is stalled by imperial bureaucracy of all things. You’d think a high
value target, the entire reason Giddeon is there in the first place might take
some precedence but then Giddeon did just mow down his own men just because.
This allows IG-11 to catch up with them, and even without
guns he’s able to easily dispatch them and reclaim custody of the Child. Rather
than just rushing the building with strength in numbers, Giddeon has his troops set
up an E-web, an automated device of considerable firepower. And Moff Gideon
knows who all of them are, including Mando’s true name, Din Djarin.
They want to escape to the sewers but since they know the
child isn’t with them, Giddeon offers them till nightfall to open negotiations
or he’ll destroy them on sight. Moff Gideon was supposed to have been executed
for war crimes, but it’s definitely him, Mando recognises him. We get a full
playout of the droid attack on Din’s home-planet, though only featuring the
B2-series super battle droids and not the usual golden boys.
The Mandolarians saved him and initiated him into the creed.
It’s interesting because Mandalore was a neutral system during the Clone wars
so these guys were clearly not operating under the leadership of Sendari and Duchess Satine. IG-11
blasts his way into the city on the speeder bike, using the scout-troopers’
guns to further assist him.
Using this as their moment, Mando begins his attack with
Greef, and Cara providing him cover. He takes control of the E-web. But the
death troopers blow open the door and begin storming the area, with Cara pinned
down. She manages to survive but Moff Gideon uses tactical shots and forces
them back, Mando is injured in the fight. But now that IG-11 is here they
remove the grate to get into the sewers.
Mando believes he’s done for and tells the others to go on,
they can’t provide him medical attention without him removing his helmet. But
Giddeon isn’t done yet, he’s got a trooper ready to burn them out. The Flame
trooper enters the establishment but it’s time for the Child to use his power,
he’s able to hold the flames back using the force, though the effort in doing
so tires him out.
IG-11 has opened the hatch and opts to stay behind with Mando. He points out since he’s not a living thing, him removing his helmet
doesn’t violate his creed’s code. So that’s that sorted and they all meet up in
the sewers.
They find a pile of discarded Mandolorian helmets and
armour, implying to Din that they may all be dead. But not all are dead as the
Armorer has survived. The Empire fought through them, the result being a
massacre, but she hopes some of the coven have escaped off-world. They head to
the forge as she begins to melt down the armour.
Hearing of the Child’s abilities she tells him that
Mandalore was once at war with sorcerers known as the Jedi, and that does track
with what we know about Mandalore’s history so… good job. But by creed, the
Child is now in Din’s care and for it to survive, it must be reunited with its
own kind. Until it becomes of age (which given that it’s 50 now, could be
another couple hundred years) or reunited with a jedi, it’s in Din’s care, so
he must escape, heading down the tunnels towards the lava-flats.
Din is officially gifted a signet, and one other gift, a
Mandolarian jetpack, he gives the jetpack to IG until Din is healed. Din
restocks on munitions and the leave, the weaponsmith defeating another pack of
guards. They make it to the river and head very slowly downstream but they’re
not out of the woods yet, as an ambush is waiting for them.
IG-11 has analysed the data and has decided the only way the
child can survive this encounter is if he activates his self-destruct and kills
them all. It’s actually kinda interesting how Din, who notoriously hates
droids, practically begs him not to do this. Thankfully it’s capable of walking
the lava, at least part of the way. It carries out its objective, taking out
the stormtroopers at the exit.
But it’s not over yet as Moff Giddeon is flying over with
his TIE Fighter. What a perfect opportunity then for Din to try out his new
jetpack. He plants some explosives on the fighter sending it crashing down and
his jetpack provides him a safe landing. The stormtroopers are gone for the
moment, but Cara is going to stick around and make sure it stays that way.
Greef tells Din he’ll be welcomed back into the Guild with
open arms but for now, he has a more important mission at hand. Din buries
Kuiil and heads off in the Razorcrest, ready to search for the Jedi. At the
wreckage of the TIE Fighter, Jawas are scavenging the wreckage but Moff Giddeon
survive the crash and cuts his way out using the Darksaber.
And thus ends s1 of the Mandolorian, a show that captured
the hearts and minds of Star Wars fans, even those who felt a bit burnt out by
the movies and what else can I say. This show is great, its pacing is slower
than what you might be used to for Star Wars but it’s never a slog to get
through, the journey is part of the narrative. It’s also relatively low-stakes
which is very unusual for a show like this.
It doesn’t revel in references, aside from the stormtroopers
which factor into the narrative much better than did with The First Order or
the like. It will start integrating itself into the larger universe more in
season 2, but that’s a story for season 2.
In terms of the technical, its development involved the
development of new technology, using LED screens to create a virtual set that
actor can respond to rather than having it all in front of a greenscreen and
the background added in later, the virtual set can also respond to different
camera angles. This technology is being incorporated into film development too
and not just with Disney.
It’s a strong finale, setting up an intimidating antagonist
in Giddeon.
Rating 8.5/10
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