Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.
For a show that often thrives on filler, The Mandalorian sure got to the point this week. Chapter 14, “The Tragedy,” picks up right after its predecessor, with Din and Grogu (just a couple of people with names!) on their way to the Jedi temple ruins of Tython.
Before they arrive, they share some adorable bonding moments in the cockpit, which in hindsight just feels cruel. Din loves saying Grogu’s name and watching the child respond, and then they break out the ol’ metal ball from the console and play a little game of Force catch. Din speaks to Grogu the way he has all season, not as a charge and a nuisance, but as a companion whose mind is maturing every day.
They find the one temple on this entire planet right away because that’s just how travel works in Star Wars, and Din places Grogu upon the stone. Nothing happens at first (“This is the Seeing Stone. Are you seeing anything?”), but then Din turns away momentarily, distracted by an approaching ship. When he turns back to get Grogu, the child is encased in a Force field, meditating.
Since he can’t get Grogu, Din decides to buy him some time. He runs toward the spacecraft, unsure if its friend or foe — but with Mando, it’s usually the latter. Sure enough, he’s immediately shot at by none other than Boba Fett, who’s here for the beskar — not Din’s beskar, but Boba’s own that Cobb Vanth had been wearing on Tatooine. Boba believes the armor is rightfully his because it belonged to his father, while Din believes it belongs to the Mandalorians. To make matters worse, Fennec Shand is somehow alive and has a clear shot at baby Grogu — a shot she’ll take if Boba gives the order.
Din (Pedro Pascal) places Grogu upon the Seeing Stone in the Jedi temple ruins on Tython.
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Boba offers one last thing in exchange for the armor: To protect Grogu, who will now fetch a pretty penny for any bounty hunter. Before Din can even consider this offer, another ship arrives, this time loaded with stormtroopers. The ensuing fight is nothing if not a Boba Fett hype video (if someone hasn’t already edited it set to “Mama Said Knock You Out,” then what is the internet even for?), with the ex-bounty hunter taking multiple troopers down easily. He strikes a heroic figure when he returns in that weathered old armor — just one of the countless moments elevated by David Klein’s cinematography in this episode.
It’s refreshing, on a show where the dialogue often consists of characters negotiating with Din, that he and Boba form an alliance by virtue of fighting the storm troopers together.
And things go from bad to worse. Moff Gideon’s ship is in the atmosphere, and it destroys the razor crest with a single shot. Then he dispatches four dark troopers — not to fight Din, Boba, and Fennec, but to abduct Grogu right where he naps upon the Seeing Stone. It is nothing short of devastating.
It’s refreshing, on a show where the dialogue often consists of characters negotiating with Din, that he and Boba form an alliance by virtue of fighting the storm troopers together. Now reunited with his beskar, he sticks around to uphold his end of the bargain they never even agreed to, committing himself and Fennec to helping get Grogu back.
Din enlists Cara’s help to break Migs Mayfeld out of space jail so they can get Grogu back. It looks like we’ll be getting another good old-fashioned space heist in the coming weeks, much like Season 1’s “The Prisoner,” as our motley crew gears up to rescue the Child. Grogu’s certainly putting up a fight by Force choking and beating the crap out of storm troopers for his own amusement, but the final shot of him knocked unconscious in tiny handcuffs is nothing short of unbearable.
The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every Friday.
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