RECAP:  Mandalorian Season 2 Chapter 11 - The Heiress

Spoiler Free Review:

Western, horror, and now pirates? The Quarren in the episode even have the autonomously wriggling face tentacles popularized by Davey Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This episode is loaded with fan service, and I think there's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong with a little fun? People who complain about fan service are the same people who won't let you just enjoy a pizza and have to keep pointing out how bad it is for you. I had full blown goosebumps multiple times during this episode. Nevertheless, there is a problem.

This is basically a glorified episode of Rebels, but that is not because of the character overlap. It's not an insult. I happen to be a pretty big fan of Rebels, but the action sequences take a tremendous amount of suspension of disbelief to get past. For Rebels, that gap can be crossed with the "it's a kids' show" disclaimer. It's a little more difficult to get past in The Mandalorian, which presents itself as an infinitely more serious property.

This episode relies on video game "side mission" plot points, and video game-like AI enemies to rack up the body count. The Imperials are portrayed as largely bumbling incompetents, just like in Rebels, with the once feared Stormtroopers being reduced to a Battle Droid punch line to the point of becoming meta humor. Disney needs to nip this in the bud lest it undermine the show. The Stormtroopers and Imperials need to present some form of menace, otherwise the vast majority of the tension gets removed. The third act is fairly tensionless in this episode.

This criticism is the type of thing that is going to become more and more present on each rewatch. The first time through this episode is nothing but a fun romp, and I had myself thinking it was the second best episode of the series behind only "The Sin." On my second viewing, I feel that "The Prisoner" retains the runner-up title. This is going to be a long-remembered and well-revered episode for some time. The first two acts are a joy and contain important mythos-defining moments, but the third act will become reminiscent of the third act of Return of the Jedi, in time. Overall, I would give this episode an A-.

Spoiler Filled Recap:



For the second time this season, the new episode picks up exactly where the previous episode ended, and we see the Razor Crest limping past the gas giant Kol Iben on the way to the estuary moon of Trask. This shot is brilliant and mirrors the Yavin 4 approach shot from A New Hope. The Crest gracelessly comes in for a hard landing, and promptly falls off the landing pad into the sea. OH NO! MY TOY! No worries. A giant crane walker rescues the Crest from the briny deep. That walker had my inner 8 year old grinning from ear to ear. Back on the pad, Mando is greeted by a Mon Calamari dock worker whose cable knit sweater would be the envy of even the saltiest Gloucester sea dog. The Mon Cal can't fix the Crest, but he will make it flightworthy.



In a borderline tear-jerking scene, Frog Lady is reunited with her husband, and the Child mourns the loss of his favorite snack. Mr. Frog Lady makes good on his wife's promise and directs Din to the inn where he can find information on the local Mandalorians. A mysterious cloaked individual is clearly eavesdropping on the proceedings. She employs the "disappearing from sight as the bus passes by" trope so that her cover isn't blown.



Once at the inn, another Mon Calamari doing a rough Admiral Ackbar impersonation seats Mando and the Child. Din orders the foundling some gross Star Wars food and orders himself a fresh plate of information. In typical McGuffin fashion, the waiter can't provide him the information he seeks, but knows someone who can. The Mon Cal speaks to a Quarren seated at a nearby table and in ominous and hushed tones, mentions that Mando is wearing Beskar. The Davey Jones-esque Quarren can take Din to the other Mandalorians, but it will cost him. At this point, Mando could have bought a gently used landspeeder with all the credits he's dropped on Trask.



We cut to an overhead shot of the trawler for Madno's passage. Davey Jones asks Din if he's ever seen a mamacore feeding. The mamacore is a giant sea monster that is kept in a tank on the trawler. He invites Mando to bring the child over to witness the spectacle. The Quarren then shoves the Child's pram out over the tank and the mamacore promptly devours the baby, cradle and all. Without hesitation, Mando dives in after him. The crew then closes the gate over the tank and they attempt to drown Din. This whole trip has been a plot to steal Mando's Beskar. I knew that ominous mention of his armor at the inn was ominous.



In a true goosebump moment, a trio of Mandalorians rocket to Din's rescue. One is Bo-Katan as we can clearly recognize her helmet. She is accompanied by a male and another female, the latter of whom rescues The Child from the mamacore. During the customary post-battle fat chewing, the trio removes their helmets, much to Mando's shock. We see that the other female is that shadowy cloaked character from the dock, named Koska Reeves. The male is Axe Woves. Apparently "Max Power" was taken. Din informs them they are not Mandalorians due to their helmetlessness. Axe condescendingly says, "he's one of them," the way one might address a flat-earther. Bo-Katan explains to Mando that he is a member of a religious cult called the "Children of the Watch", which is trying to revive the ancient ways. At this point, Mando goes full Dan Cortez and tells Bo-Katan to step off. He rocket-backpacks off the trawler.



Back on the dock, Mando is set upon by a gang of Quarren. The leader of the mob is the brother of the trawler captain who tried to buttonhook Mando, and he's out to exact revenge. Once again, the Three Mandoleers jetpack in to save Mando. After a lightning fast volley of blaster fire, the dock is strewn with Squidface corpses. This time, instead of insulting his religion, Bo-Katan offers to buy Mando an adult bevy. Din must have a little bit of a weakness for "the creature" because he agrees to the sit down whereupon Bo-Katan informs him that Trask is a blackmarket port where weapons plundered from Mandalore are being moved. She further reveals her plan to seize said weapons to retake Mandalore (the planet) and seat a new Mandalore (supreme Mandalorian leader).



Mando's not interested in whatever these so-called Mandalorians are up to with their progressive attitude toward helmets and faces. Damned hippies! He just wants to fulfill his mission to return The Child to the Jedi. Bo-Katan informs him that if he side-missions with them, she will point him to a Jedi. The side-mission is to seize the weapons form an Imperial Gozanti freighter in port. Due to harbor rules, it will be a relative sitting duck while in the harbor's airspace. The shot of the freighter taking off is truly a great Star Wars visual. The four warriors jet pack onto the slow moving freighter, and easily breech it. The Stormtrooper security patrol goes down quicker than Battle Droids in a room full of Qui-Gon Jinns.



Once inside, the freighter's crew realizes that the Mando boarding party is heading for the cargo hold. The captain, played by another Deadwood alum, Titus Welliver, instructs the pilot to break harbor airspace protocol, and the frigate begins an immediate and steep ascent. Note that this sharp incline has no affect on any of the passengers. After battling through a token resistance from hapless enemies, the Madalorians seize the weapons. Side mission complete, right? Not so fast. Bo-Katan informs Mando that the goal is to take the whole ship, and that there is an object she needs if she is to retake the title of Mandalore. Mando protests that she's altering the deal, to which she replies, "This is the way." Really? How do you turn dishonesty into an honor code?



Bo-Katan informs the captain that they're coming for the bridge. The captain pleads with Moff Gideon to send reinforcements, but Gideon informs him that the "pirates" have already taken too much of the ship and any rescue would be pointless. He instructs the captain that he knows what must be done. The captain shoots the two pilots, and attempts to scuttle the ship by diving for the ocean. Note that this sharp decline sends the passengers spilling forward. Due to some heroics by Mando, the group pushes past the first formidable resistance they have encountered to this point, and take the bridge. Bo-Katan grills the captain about whether or not Gideon has the Darksaber, which is her true goal in this mission. Rather than answer, the captain activates his orally concealed suicide pill. In a last second effort, the team spares the freighter from its suicidal dive, and pilots it into the sky.



Bo-Katan reiterates her offer to have Mando join them in reclaiming Mandalore (the planet), but he just wants to complete his quest for the Holy Grail to return The Child to the Jedi. She tells him to take the foundling to the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus, where he will find Ahsoka Tano. Mando returns to where the Mon Cal dock worker has badly patched the Crest back together. As a final insult, the cockpit is now more nautically themed than Pete's Crab Shack.


Notes:

• I'm getting tired of the inconsistent in-atmosphere flight physics in Star Wars. Stop using aspects of "thrust and lift" flight when it's clearly not how ships in Star Wars fly.
• The heavy repeating blaster had the Mandalorians almost helplessly pinned down. Why didn't anyone use that weapon until they were almost to the bridge?
• Frog Lady's line lives!
• Katee Sackhoff plays Bo-Katan, just as she voiced the animated character in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

The Mandalorian is currently streaming on the Disney+ Streaming Service

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