RECAP:  Mandalorian Season 2 Chapter 13 - The Jedi

Spoiler-Free Review:

It's very hard to write the spoiler-free portion of this review since any critiques I would offer would involve spoiler information. This is, without a doubt, the most electric episode of The Mandalorian to date. It was filled with goosebump moments. My main criticism would be that one of the main players might have acted mildly out of character.

If you hated The Clone Wars and Rebels [Editor's Note: You're a humorless machine, with no ability to enjoy life.], you won't have a full connection to this episode, but it won't diminish your enjoyment of it at all. If you appreciated those series, this episode might bring you to the brink of becoming a slobbering mess. Both Mr. Nomadscout and myself were fighting salty discharges the entire time. I don't think this is the best episode of The Mandalorian, but it might be my favorite. For the second week in a row, the show delivers a solid grade A offering.

Spoiler Filled Recap:



The show opens in a walled village which is surrounded by a misty dead forrest. An alarm bell rings as armed guards spring to action. Clearly Sunny and Bajie must be about to attack The Window’s stronghold! Oh wait. This isn’t Into The Badlands. It just looks exactly like it. No, this is Star Wars, and soon a white lightsaber ignites, and I literally cheered out loud. The village is under attack from Ahsoka Tano who systematically picks off the guards one by one.



Ahsoka eventually reaches the village wall where she confronts the town’s iron-fisted magistrate. Ahsoka is after a piece of information which the magistrate refuses to give. In so many words, Ahsoka lets her know she’s not asking. The Magistrate, Morgan Elsbeth, threatens to punish the town’s citizens if Ahsoka doesn’t back off. Ahsoka's counter is to demand the Magistrate’s surrender, gives her one day to comply, and then disappears into the mist. The Magistrate’s capo, named Lang and played by Michael Biehn, declares they will be ready for Ahsoka’s return.



We next cut to the cockpit of the Razor Crest on approach to Corvus. The Child is still trying steal the knob off the Crest’s gear shift, but Mando insists he take his seat and put his tray in the upright position. The Crest sets down in the ghost forest, and after reclaiming the pilfered knob from The Child, Mando heads to town for some information. He gains entry into the walled village under the auspices of Bounty Hunter Guild business. Upon entry, the townsfolk give Mando the same icy reception that Popeye got when he first set foot in Sweethaven. Note: Mando missed a massive opportunity to break out into song with a rendition of Blow Me Down.



Eventually the village guards tell Mando that the Magistrate wants to speak to him. He meets with her, and she tells Mando that she's being plagued by a Jedi, and plays up the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" angle to entice him to take up the bounty. The payment will be a spear made of pure beskar if he kills the Jedi. Mando plays along since this is dovetailing perfectly with his mission to find Ahsoka. Back in the ghost forest, Mando is tracking Ahsoka when he gets "a bad feeling about this" and grabs his fancy spyglass. He declares it a false alarm when he sees one of the "legs go all the way up" cows eating one of the dead trees. As he lowers his spyglass, he is set upon by Ahsoka. This is a nice callback to the similar scene in A New Hope when Luke is attacked by the Tusken Raiders. The kerfuffle lasts only a few moments before Mando tells Ahsoka he was sent by Bo-Katan and only wants to talk.



We cut to nightfall as Ahoska and The Child are having a telepathic conversation while Mando nervously paces, wondering if his baby boy is acing his Jedi audition. They wrap up and Ahsoka drops the first big dime from their mind meld. The Child's name is Grogu! We then learn that Grogu was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and trained by many masters over the years. He was hidden when the Empire came to power, and someone then takes him from the temple. It's at this point that Grogu's memory becomes dark. Ahsoka's phrasing is very specific. She doesn't say "goes dark" as in a gap in his memory. It "becomes" dark, as in sinister. He is lost and alone. This was clearly a traumatic experience. Mando implores Ahsoka to help Grogu, and after a plaintive sigh, she agrees to test him in the morning.



At the Jedi tryouts, Ahsoka shows Grogu how to throw a Force spiral and floats a rock to him. She tells him to toss it back, and Grogu gives her the same look my dog gives me when I tell him to fetch something. He just drops the rock, and Ahsoka says that he's learned to suppress his abilities for his own survival. She then has Mando give it a try with the rock, and he gets the same stubborn dog response. Then he remembers the Crest knob and tries the test again. Grogu snatches it like my dog snatches cheese. This entire recap relates to my dog. His name is Chewie. He's on my lap as I write this. Mando thinks this is a great success, but Ahsoka quickly does her Yoda wet blanket routine and says she can't train him. His attachment to Mando make him vulnerable, and there's also the anger over his rough upbringing. She's seen first hand just how badly this can go for "the best of us." I love how Ahsoka still loves Anakin. She leaves to return to her business at the village, and Mando says he'll pitch in if she sees to it that Grogu is properly trained.



Ahsoka easily breaches the village wall and is confronted by the Magistrate and her forces. She gives the impression that she bested the Manalorian by tossing Madnos's mudhorn pauldron on the ground, and demands the Magistrate hand over the info she seeks. She wants to know where the Magistrate's master is. Morgan tells her to suck eggs, and gives the order to kill her, even sending her trusty droid body guards in pursuit. Before retreating to her inner sanctum, the Magistrate indulges in one last act of cruelty. She orders the prisoners, who are on display in electro cages, to be executed as punishment for Ahsoka's insolence, and then orders the guards to go door to door to wipe out the rest of the citizens. I think Space Lord wrote a song about this. Mando dispels the great exaggeration of his demise, and springs to their rescue.



Ahsoka makes quick work of the pursuing city guards. Lang doubles back to protect the Magistrate, but he is stopped by Mando. This leaves the Magistrate unprotected in the inner sanctum, and Ahsoka confronts her. The two join in mutual combat. Ahsoka with her twin sabers and the Magistrate with the beskar spear. The Magistrate holds her own and even manages to disarm Ahsoka of one of her sabers leaving her only with her lightsaber shoto. Ahsoka seem to go a bit dark side at this point, and employs her familiar reverse grip and quickly disarms the Magistrate. Hearing this outside, Lang decides the stand off is not worth the effort and lays down his blaster, but it's a ruse to draw his sidearm. Mando is quicker on the draw and drops him. Back in the sanctum, Ahsoka once again demands to know where the Magistrate's master is. She wants to know...WHERE IS GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!



The denouement of the episode is borderline heartbreaking as Mando is preparing to say goodbye to Grogu and leave him with Ahsoka for his training. Fortunately for our feels, she tells Mando she cannot train him. Mando feels she's breaking their deal. She tells him there is one possibility. He is to take Grogu to the planet of Tython where he will find the ruins of an ancient temple. Grogu is to be placed on the seeing stone at the top of the mountain so he can choose his own fate. If he reaches out through The Force, there's a chance a Jedi will sense him and come searching for him.

Notes:

• An 8D-series droid passes by Mando as he walks down the main street of Calodan.
• Lang's pump action blaster rifle might be a call back to Kyle Reese.
• Mando mentions that the guards wield A350 Blaster Rifles.
• Morgan Elsbeth is guarded by a pair of HK-87 assassin droids.
• A Loth-cat makes an appearance in The Mandalorian for the second time
• UPDATE: H/T to John Miko from the Facebook TVC Group for this one. Morai also appears in this episode. You can see a screen shot HERE.
• "Grogu" is a reference to George Lucas.
.

The Mandalorian is currently streaming on the Disney+ Streaming Service

---

comments powered by Disqus