A major episode – / Film

Of course there is spoilers here.

Robert rodriguez, renowned director and pioneer of digital cinema, directs the fourteenth chapter of The Mandalorian. “The Tragedy ”bears an ominous title and, in the end, portends even more darkness to come.

This episode begins with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) bringing Grogu to the planet Tython and the abandoned ruins of a Jedi temple. By placing Grogu on the Sighting Stone atop the mountain, the child activates him with the Force and ignites the Jedi equivalent of a beacon, which also acts as a force field that prevents Mando from breaking his focus and to catch it. As Grogu becomes engrossed in this work, problems arise for the Mandalorian. The first sign of trouble comes with the arrival of a familiar ship: Slave I. Although the Slave I has been in the possession of others (such as Hondo Ohnaka), it is traditionally the ship of Fetts, Jango and Boba. The last time we saw him onscreen, he had driven Han Solo away from Darth Vader on his way to Tatooine. He probably stayed there until Fett needed him here.

With potential enemies on the prowl, Din kicks in to protect Grogu during his meditation. In the hills around the Jedi temple, Din meets Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and his companion Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), who now has cybernetic implants to repair the damage she suffered in the fifth episode of the first season. Naturally, Boba Fett wants his father’s armor back and they work to negotiate a deal. They will ensure the safety of Grogu and the Mandalorian if Din returns the armor. But since Boba is not a Mandalorian, Din hesitates.

Before we can discuss further, the Imperial troops arrive. Din tries to break Grogu’s meditation but is repelled, and so the objective switches to eliminating the troops and giving the little green Force-bearer time to finish communicating with those he may have contacted.

During combat and after taking down a number of Stormtroopers with a gaffi stick, Boba Fett is able to board the Razor crest to put on his armor, ultimately defeating the last of the Imperial forces. But Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) will not allow this defeat without its price. Using turbolaser cannons from his Imperial cruiser, Gideon destroys the undefended Razor crest and deploys his Dark Troopers to kidnap Grogu. Unfortunately, they are successful. Gideon’s Dark Troopers bring the young Jedi back to the Cruiser and they quickly leap into hyperspace.

Boba Fett, having recovered his father’s armor, offers to help Din save Grogu, claiming that they have guaranteed the child’s safety in the armor trade. Together in the Slave I, Din and Fett decided to gather more allies for the upcoming fight, starting with Nevarro.

Meanwhile, Moff Gideon continues to implement his plans. The episode ends with a grogu exhausted, passed out and kept in filing cabinets and the world watches, hoping that he will be saved soon.

The direction

Robert Rodriguez has shown a talent for action directing and is a pioneer of independent cinema. One of George Lucas’ early allies in the digital cinema march, he purchased some of the first cameras that George Lucas had worked with Sony and Panavision to develop in order to shoot the Star wars prequels. As someone on the cutting edge of visual effects and digital cinema, as well as a talented director, it’s no wonder he was hired to direct an episode of The Mandalorian.

Rodriguez is the kind of director who has his own fingerprint in the way he directs the action and directs the footage, and it’s full screen in this episode. We could go back to his previous extravagances of action, Mariachi and Desperado, catching flourishes in the energy it brings to shootings and clashes. There is a vitality in the initial stalemate between Boba Fett and Din Djarin that closely resembles his past work.

When it comes to the action itself, its camera angles and use of the background are unique. In particular, the scene where Boba Fett arrives to dismantle the Stormtroopers, first with his gaffi staff, then with the full complement of his armor, looks like an iconic Rodriguez moment. Boba Fett could practically be Antonio Banderas in some of these shots.

Rodriguez is also able to explain two of the biggest lingering questions from the fourth episode that were left a little confused. First, he is able to fully explain the Dark Troopers and show them in action. Second, the medal Cara received is actually a Marshal’s badge. The action is crisp and imbued with the sheer joy of filmmaking. It’s fun, but with all of that comes a tension befitting an episode this late in the season.

The return of Boba Fett

Many of the biggest answers and questions in this episode come from the appearance of Boba Fett himself. For those who might have forgotten, Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett. After his father died at the hands of the Jedi, he found himself under the tutelage of brutal underworld figures like Aurra Sing and Bossk. After attempting to assassinate Mace Windu and landing jobs with another crew, he spent some time in prison, but eventually made his own mark as a bounty hunter in his father’s armor. He found a job with Jabba the Hutt and was eventually hired by Darth Vader to track down Han Solo. After taking Solo to Jabba the Hutt, he found himself in the belly of the Sarlacc pit, presumed dead. At Chuck Wendig Consequences books and first episodes of the second season of The Mandalorian, we learned that his armor had been recovered by Jawas and he had been trying to recover it for some time.

Now we finally see him make his move to reclaim his armor and take his rightful place as one of the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters.

This episode also definitely answers that Boba Fett is not a Mandalorian. His father may have been one at one point, but he gave up on the creed to live the life of a bounty hunter. In other words, if Boba’s story is even to be believed. Jango and Boba both notice in their appearances that they are just mere men trying to make their way through the galaxy. When Boba says it here, it’s a direct reference to his father in Attack of the clones. Neither of them lives by a Mandalorian creed and, in The clone wars, the Prime Minister of Mandalore explains that they are only hired thugs. That’s probably always history, with Jango fighting as a mercenary for the losing side of the Mandalorian Civil War. It was nice to have a more solid confirmation that Boba is definitely not a Mandalorian, even though his father was fighting alongside them.

If nothing else, Boba’s story, true or not, makes it easier for Din Djarin to swallow by returning his father’s armor to Boba.

To monitor

This episode references a lot of the past and has a lot of interesting things to watch out for.

One of the first things we see in the episode are the remains of a Jedi temple and its Vision Stone. There isn’t much left, just a henge and a meditation rock. It brings to mind the rock Luke Skywalker sacrificed his life on The Last Jedi, but also has the blue runes we saw so much in the animated episodes of Star wars. We also know that to tap into these temples you have to be in command of the light side of the Force, which leads us to believe that Grogu did not completely surrender to the dark side, despite his aggressive use of the Force in his life. prison cell.

Another thing to watch out for are the weapons used by Stormtroopers. This is the first time on screen that we have seen Stormtroopers using an artillery cannon. We also see them using an E-Web canon. First seen in The Empire Strikes Back, these big guns are formidable and it is no wonder that Fennec Shand had to use a The Raiders of the Lost Ark-style rock roll to destroy it.

One of the most exciting times for Star wars historians come when Boba talks about the Mandalorian civil wars. These are the wars that were first referenced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and took place before the events of The phantom menace. Wars were fought between the pacifist factions of the Mandalorians and the more orthodox and warlike factions, like Death Watch and the Children of the Watch. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought in the conflict, helping to protect Satine Kryze for much of the year. Naturally, the most violent sectors of Mandalorian society have lost, setting the stage for the status quo of the planet that we have seen for The clone wars, a status quo that has caused enough upheaval to allow Maul to take control of the planet and Bo-Katan to depose him. Hopefully that’s a promise that we’ll see more civil war – and more romance between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess Satine.

Finally, the reveal of the Dark Troopers who originally felt confused is fixed in this episode and we take a look at them for the first time. They look like a design mix between the original Dark Troopers used in the Dark forces video game and K-2SO’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Dark Troopers are what happens when you take the Terminator and make it look like a Stormtrooper. Its design definitely has its roots in the Battle Droids of the Separatist era and should give Din a new reason to hate droids.

Coda

This episode offered a wonderful mix of Star wars sweets from the universe, fatherly tenderness and a cliffhanger that will put everyone in agony for a week.

I especially liked the interaction between Din and Grogu at the start of the episode. Din saying Grogu’s name to see and hear his reaction is exactly what we would all do. After all, that moment was so endearing in the last episode. It also shows a lot of growth for Din Djarin.

And while I still prefer Boba Fett to stay dead in this version of the canon, at least they let Robert Rodriguez bring him back and make him become the badass he really never has. The inclusion of Boba certainly raises more questions. He’s never been so honorable and he’s worked a lot for the Empire, which makes me wonder if he’s playing another angle.

This episode brings all the pieces together for something big as we head into the finale. With Grogu in Moff Gideon’s hands, Din Djarin will stop at nothing to get him back. The end of the episode shows us that he’s going to muster the allies he needs and that promises an explosive finale. If Bo-Katan takes aim at Gideon and Din as well, with Boba Fett, Fennec Shand and Migs Mayfeld (and others) by his side, it should prove to be very exciting.

But let’s not forget that Grogu enlisted the help of the remaining Jedi and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a Jedi arrive to fight in this melee. But who? There are a lot of possibilities and we won’t find out until next week or the week after.

Hopefully the wait doesn’t kill us.

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