This is the one deep-cut Star Wars fans have been waiting for.
Oh, the title? Okay, so the fact we learn some kind of curse word/phrase in the Star Wars galaxy was likely NOT the main goal of this episode. But dank ferrik, it's fun to say.
What was the main goal? Awesome adventure. And it delivered.
Side note: I dreamed last night about Baby Yoda finding an ENTIRE planet of Baby Yodas. Has to be a sign of some kind.
You know the drill by now: first part, no spoilers. Then a buffer. Then spoilers. Let's do this.
The episode picks up right where the last one left off, with The Mandalorian (I feel weird calling him Din Djarin, but maybe that's easier?) and his passengers limping through space. They get to their destination (mostly) in one piece, and our hero gets the next piece of the puzzle. The world they end up on, Trask, is the oceanic one we saw in the trailers, and we get a good answer to the question of "why would he take a boat when he can just use his ship."
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| Absolutely no one in the galaxy can give side-eye like a Mon Calamari. |
After getting into a potentially life-threatening situation, Din Djarin (yeah, that's easier) and Baby Yoda get help from some unexpected (or very expected *wink wink*) new friends, who then recruit Din to help them on a mission of their own. The price? They'll give him yet MORE information as he continues to seek out the Child's people.
The mission, of course, has its hitches, but all's well that ends well, and we finish with our heroes jetting off toward their next encounter with trouble as they seek out [REDACTED].
This was, for me, the most exciting episode of the second season so far, and there are some HUGE lore beats for Star Wars fans.* The action is awesome and made my jaw drop numerous times. It also moves the larger plot involving the Empire along, while adding a whole new layer to the situation of our villain and his toys. Overall this was an entirely satisfying experience, and a great piece directed by Bryce Dallas Howard (who also directed "Sanctuary," one of the most beloved episodes from the first steason). The run time is shorter than the previous two (a trend I don't like) but just like last season's short episodes, I was not left feeling like anything was missing or underdone.
Last unspoiler-y thought: TITUS FREAKING WELLIVER, Y'ALL. Love that guy.
*It occurs to me a lot of people watching the show may NOT be familiar with these beats and their significance, and believe me, they ARE significant. More so than, say, using an old concept art piece to influence a giant monster (see last week's review). So I'll do my best to explain these for the less-obsessed. And feel free to reach out to me on Twitter for other thoughts or explanations.
BUFFER TIME
SPOILER BUFFER ELLIPSES!!!
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Okay, let's do this.
- The GIANT reveal in this episode is Bo-Katan Kryze, a Mandalorian (by birth) who in the episode claims she plans to take the throne as the new leader of Mandalore (hence the title, "The Heiress"). Now, not having watched The Clone Wars or Star Wars: Rebels animated series, I'm not super familiar with Bo-katan or her story arc, but I am aware enough to know this is a BIG deal that she's here (there was a lot of predicting she'd show up when Katee Sackhoff was cast for this season). That lightsaber that shows up at the end of The Mandalorian's first season, the one Moff Gideon cuts his way out of the TIE Fighter with, is the Darksaber which Bo-Katan interrogates Titus Welliver about. It's, according to the official site, a powerful symbol of Mandalorian leadership, and I'm guessing without it Bo-Katan's claims of ruling legitimacy don't hold much water.
- That's the added layer I was talking about above - not only is Moff Gideon's search for the Child important, but it also now clearly ties in with the themes of Mandalorian identity and culture. I have to think this isn't the last we've seen of Ms. Kryze; I certainly hope not.
- Let's talk about the OTHER giant tidbit: Ahsoka Tano, the Jedi Bo-Katan tells Din Djarin to seek out. Ahsoka is another massively important character in the Star Wars animated series. A female Togruta, she goes from being Anakin Skywalker's Padawan learner to a key figure in the establishment of Rebellion cells against the Empire. She eventually joined up with Senator Bail Organa (Princess Leia's adopted father) in the fight against the Empire and helped in the liberation of the world Lothal (the main setting for the Rebels series). We don't really know what happened after that, so this should give us some clue as to what the Jedi has been up to, and maybe how she managed to escape the purge carried out by Darth Vader. Fun bit: her voice was one of the Jedi voices Rey heard during her confrontation with Palpatine on Exegol.
- I love that the main species on this planet are Mon Calamari and Quarren (the tentacle-faced folk). Not only is it appropriate since both species are designed after marine animals, but both species ALSO come from the same planet of Mon Cala. Fun little tidbit there.
- We DID get the answer about the mysterious hooded lady we saw in the trailers - that's Koska Reeves (played by WWE's Sasha Banks), one of Bo-Katan's fellow Mandalorians. I was hoping for something more Sith-y or sinister, but she's still a bad-a** here.
- We do get a resolution to Frog Lady's story as she's safely reunited with her husband, and Baby Yoda manages NOT to eat any more of her spawn. And I absolutely melted when his obsession with the eggs turned into a fascination with the tadpole that hatched.
- Did you recognize the payment Din gave the Mon Calamari waiter for information? It's the Mon Calamari flan he accepted as payment way back in Chapter 3!
- Last thought: a major theme of the first season was the idea of Mandalorian identity, and what "The Way" meant in the oft-repeated phrase "This is the Way." There's been a lot of speculation about where the culture of Din Djarin's clan falls in with larger Mandalorian lore; after all, in the animated series, we saw Mandalorians take off their helmets repeatedly, so what's the deal, Din? Turns out his clan is a splinter group called Children of the Watch, which Bo-Katan describes as "religious zealots." We don't learn a lot more than that, like how the "Children" split off or why. But it's another piece in the Mandalorian puzzle, and I'm all for it.
- Last last thought: how fun is it we get to see Mandalorians in action? For YEARS I/we dreamed about getting to see Boba Fett go nuts in combat, and we got a big taste of that with Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones, but this show with all the Mandalorians in battle has just been a dream come true.
That's all I've got - next week (hopefully), an Ahsoka reunion!!
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