RECAP:  The Mandalorian S1:E8:  Redemption

Kuiil is dead. Seriously, he’s not coming back. Moff Gideon’s Biker Scouts have baby Yoda; and Mando, Cara, and Greef have been on the wrong end of a stand-off for what seems like over a week at this point. Fortunately for the good guys, the troopers stop on the outskirts of town to wait for the situation to cool down. This gives IG-11 a chance to catch up and interrupt their conversation, kill them, and take custody of BY. Meanwhile, Moff Gideon is giving the gang a chance to surrender, as it serves his interest at this point, while they desperately try to escape by another route. IG comes tearing into town and Mando and the gang attempt a break out but are forced to retreat back into the building. Mando is seriously injured and insists on being left behind but IG gives him some medical treatment after removing his helmet (Mando is Pedro Pascal, from Game of Thrones! Who knew?!?). They follow Greef, Cara, and BY into the sewer system in hopes of getting to the Mandalorian enclave. They eventually get there, but find only a pile of helmets and armor. After Mando left the planet, the Empire cleaned out the enclave. Most of its members were killed, but some escaped. Only one remains: The Armorer. She is salvaging the remaining armor. She tells Mando that the child is a foundling and he is responsible for him until he is of age or reunited with his people. She tells him he has earned his sigil and also presents him with his very own jetpack. Mando also learns that the Child is part of a race that were associated with the Jedi, the ancient enemy of the Mandalorians. The group take a droid piloted ferry down a lava river but a platoon of stormtroopers await them at the mouth of the tunnel. Finally finding an opportunity to self destruct, IG clears out the troopers; but the rest of the group soon come under fire from Moff Gideon in his TIE fighter. Mando uses his jetpack to latch on to Gideon’s ship and blow off one of its wings. Gideon goes spinning off and crashes. Everybody who didn’t die is really glad they didn’t die. Greef offers Cara a job, and tells Mando he is welcome back in the guild where he will have his pick of assignments. Mando can’t do it though, he and BY have to be on their way to search for BY’s people. The last thing we see is Gideon’s TIE, beset by Jawas. From inside, something begins to cut through the hull. Gideon emerges, alive, and with the darksaber in hand!

The season finale of the Mandalorian delivers in a big way on all that has come before in the previous seven episodes, while also setting up the inevitable second season. In terms of backstory we get a ton of stuff in 48 minutes: we get the most information to date about our titular hero; we see how he was rescued by Mandalorians in Death Watch style armor, and we learn his name; we get more details about the purge of Mandalore, and learn Moff Gideon’s role in it; we find out Cara is Alderaanian; get a little background on Greef; and hear some wonderful Jedi/Mandalorian history from the Armorer. But it’s not all talk, this episode is punctuated by some intense action, including a fight between the gang and Imperial Remnant forces that is maybe the most well executed action sequence of the series. Seeing Mando fight those Deathtroopers was awesome and really paid off on the ominous introduction we got for them in Rogue One. Also, the Armorer shows us that Mandalorians don’t need blasters, flamethrowers, or jetpacks to kick butt when she takes out a group of stormtroopers with her tools. There are some moments that may be a little too plot convenient, like the Scout Troopers (played by Jason Sudeikis and Adam Pally) loitering outside town--but their conversation is so much fun and really reduces tension only to give the episode a chance to ramp it back up again shortly; and at one point Gideon’s motivations and actions seem to get muddled by action movie logic. He wants Baby Yoda, presumably alive, but sends in an incinerator trooper to burn the whole place down, then later strafes the boat with BY in it; but that trooper is so cool and the episode as a whole pays off so well that you won’t worry about the other stuff too much. BY only uses the Force once to get them out of a jam, but in the end the grown ups have to do it themselves because BY is indeed powerful but he’s not a cheat code. Ultimately we get a satisfying conclusion to the season along with a breathtaking revelation that will make the wait for season 2 very difficult. As someone who genuinely enjoys the Sequel Trilogy and the anthology films, I nevertheless say to you that The Mandalorian has been the best piece of Star Wars media we have gotten in the last 5 years. As our first foray into Star Wars as a live action television property, it has been a monumental achievement and makes me all the more excited for future projects. Is it perfect? No; but its flaws are so overshadowed by its quality that they are negligible.

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