More like "Manda-LORE-ian," amirite?
Hello?
Where did those crickets come from?
I didn't yell watching this episode, but I came really close several times. Only the assured wrath of a sleeping wife stayed my shouts of joyous surprise.
Let me say from the start that the writers came at us hard with the Star Wars lore. I'll save spoilers for after the adorable buffer, as usual, but there's quite a bit to sift through.
So, this week's adventure not only filled in some crucial backstory (while leaving chunks for future revelation), but also gave us another great "caper of the week." This time, Din Djarin is tasked by someone who doesn't seem to be a nice person with taking out a raspberry seed in Ms. Not Nice's tooth. He sort-of agrees in exchange for rich payment (more beskar but that's all I'll say), but we know he's not really going to do it. The caper then turns back against Madame Despot as the person Din was asked to remove instead enlists our hero's help freeing the town the Mean Lady lords over.
As usual, there are some great action sequences, with Mando showing off what he does best. But there's also some really cool stuff involving [REDACTED]. Wait, oops, that was almost a spoiler. Sorry.
I love the quieter moments here as well, as what happens in them gives us a lot to think about and digest and discuss. We get quite a bit of new information, but still get left wanting even more.
AND WHAT ABOUT WHEN [REDACTED] ASKED [REDACTED] ABOUT [REDACTED]???
Sorry, there's just a ton in this episode and so much of it is spoilery. Overall this is a fun little adventure that continues to play with Western tropes and ideas and I love every second of it. I also want to know more about what look like giant blurgs (the big creatures Kuill and Mando ride in season 1).
Okay, a brief and adorable break, then spoilery talk.
SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!
I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING, THE SPOILERS ARE DEATH STAR-HUGE, OKAY???
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Okay, that's enough with the ellipses.
I don't even know where to start.
- Okay, let's start with Ahsoka. We see the lost Jedi knight in this chapter before we see Din Djarin. She's taking on soldiers outside of a city, presumably Calodan (where Bo-Katan told the Mandalorian he'd find Ahsoka), which sits in the middle of a burnt-out forest. She takes out all opposition, then demands of Mean Lady some information. Mean Lady threatens violence against the Calodan population, and gives Ahsoka a one-day grace period after which she needs to surrender, or the people will suffer.
So, who is Ahsoka? Millions of fans gasped when Bo-Katan name-dropped her a couple of chapters back. I gave her truncated backstory a couple of weeks ago, and while we still aren't sure of all she's done since we last saw her in Rebels, somehow she ended up on Corvus acting as a foil to Mean Lady. It's SO cool to see Ahsoka in action in real life - her two white-bladed lightsabers, all those flips and jumps, and who else wanted to see a longer fight between her and Din Djarin? As for her actual look, I feel like it was as good as could be hoped for. It's not always easy to take a character we only know from animation and translate it to real life, but I thought the creators nailed it.
- Grogu. That's the Child's actual name. We learned that after Ahsoka communed with the Child through the Force, learning about his past as well. Honestly? I don't love the name. I don't know what would have been better, but he doesn't look like a Grogu. He looks like a Baby Yoda. I'll probably just keep calling him Baby Yoda/the Child. We'll see. That said, it was ADORABLE how whenever the Mandalorian said his name, the Child turned to look and made a cute noise. I melted.
- The Child's past! We learned so much and so little!! It turns out he had some training at the Jedi temple on Coruscant way back when, which helps explain his Force powers (while not removing the idea his race is innately gifted in using the Force). I like the twist that at some point the Child's memories went dark as he hid his powers to survive; that's quite the instinct for a Child, but it also leaves open room for more history filling-in (like how he ended up at the enclave on Arvala-7). SO MUCH more to know, and I love it.
- On that note, I love and hate that Ahsoka said she can't train the Child because of his attachment to Din Djarin. Love, because it means kid and dad are still gonna be adventuring together. Hate, because I'd LOVE to see the kid's training sequences. And we may still get that, as Ahsoka told Din to go to Tython and see if they might get the notice of other Jedi.
- Tython, briefly, is a Jedi world from the Expanded Universe that's only appeared canonically in the comics so far. So I'm excited to see where this goes.
- GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!!! Y'all don't even know how excited I was to hear his name! It turns out that's who Ahsoka is looking for, and thinks the Mean Lady of Calodan knows where he is (she refers to Thrawn as the Mean Lady's master - what does THAT mean?). Okay, y'all, time for some Thrawn history, or "Thrawnstory" as I've always called it starting from just three seconds ago:
Thrawn is the brain child of Timothy Zahn and was introduced in Zahn's acclaimed Heir to the Empire trilogy. In short, he's a brilliant - and I mean BRILLIANT - tactician and military leader. He's a Chiss, a blue-skinned and red-eyed race from the Unknown Regions. While Zahn's trilogy is no longer canon, Thrawn was brought into canon when he appeared in Rebels. There he became the antagonist for the show's heroes, as well as Ahsoka Tano. His fate at the end of Rebels was largely unknown, but it's now apparent he survived, or at least Ahsoka believes he did.
Now, IF he did, that creates an interesting tension between him and Moff Gideon, as the latter seems to be calling his own shots. But one could assume Thrawn would have legitimate claim of authority over any Imperial military troops. There's a lot to unpack with the implications of Thrawn's survival.
I can't think if there's anything else at the moment, other than the fact I'm gonna start crying when I see silver handle-knobs.
Let me know what you think of the episode!!
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