Original Air Date: November 15, 2019
Writer: Jon Favreau
Director: Rick Famuyiwa

“I’m a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion.”

Chapter 2 opens with the lone Mandalorian walking alongside “The Child” in a floating cradle through a craggy canyon cliffside when suddenly several reptilian Trandoshan aliens spring out of the shadows and attack him. The Mandalorian kills both of them, but he incurs a wound –and we see a fob tracker lying on the ground. The Mandalorian is not alone in tracking the asset, and we are left to wonder if these other bounty hunters were sent by The Client, the Guild, or perhaps someone else. In these early scenes a playful, sentimental connection begins to emerge between the Mandalorian and the Child.

The next day, they arrive back at the Razor Crest only to find it being raided by Jawas. The Mandalorian incinerates a few of them but the Jawas escape in their sandcrawler leading to an intense chase scene ending with the Mandalorian being electrocuted by an ion blaster in the middle of the desert. Now stranded on Arvala-7, the Mandalorian returns to Kuiil’s moisture farm where he finds him repairing a moisture vaporator. The two travel overnight on a blurrg to locate the Jawa’s sandcrawler. Upon arrival the Jawas demand a trade for the Mandalorian’s missing starship parts. After refusing to trade either his beskar steel or the Child, the Mandalorian reluctantly accepts a challenge to steal an “Egg” (pronounced “soo-yah”) from a giant rhinoceros-esque cave-dwelling creature called a mudhorn. Locked in fierce battle against the creature, the Mandalorian is only saved when the Child manages to use the force and lift the mudhorn off the ground allowing the Mandalorian enough time to stab it in the skull. In this shocking scene we learn that “Baby Yoda” has some extraordinary force powers.

When the Mandalorian returns with the egg, the Jawas celebrate and feast on its yolk while the Mandalorian shakes his head collects his missing ship parts. With the help of Kuiil, the Razor Crest is successfully repaired. The Mandalorian thanks Kuiil and offers him a job as a crew member but Kuill politely declines. He thanks the Mandalorian in return for securing the asset and thus bringing peace again to his valley. Kuill says he has spent a lifetime breaking free of Imperial servitude and is not eager to willingly do so once again. As the Mandalorian flies away in the Razor Crest, the Child sleeps peacefully, exhausted from his force exertion against the mudhorn.

“Thank you for bringing peace to my valley.”

I thought this was the closest to a throwaway episode in the series thus far, however I also recognize it as simply a fun adventure: the goal being to introduce Mando to various side quests a la the classic Western serials, even if they appear to be somewhat trivial. This was still a terrific installment, revealing more information about Mando, Baby Yoda, and the post-Return of the Jedi world.

The Mandalorian Trivia:

• This episode had a significantly shorter run-time than its predecessor.
• The plot was mostly inspired by an old Japanese Manga story called “Lone Wolf and Cub.”
• The “Baby Yoda” character was created using a mixture of live-action puppeteering and CGI touch-ups.
• The pod/carriage for Baby Yoda is mechanically connected to the Mandalorian, following him wherever he goes.
• This episode offers the first official glimpse inside a Jawa sandcrawler.
• Star Wars was the first movie that Nigerian Director Rick Famuyiwa (who also directed this episode) ever saw in the theater.

Return to my survey of The Mandalorian series