By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review contains spoilers.
Din Djarin and Grogu head to Khazad-dûm…well, sort of, ok, maybe these aren’t the mines of Moria, but they definitely are the mines of Mandalore!
After last week’s wonderful opener, we waste no time in our journey to Mandalore! But before heading there, Din and Grogu need to make a slight detour…
We start this week’s episode on Tatooine, which features the return of Peli Motto, as well as her Pit Droids, R5-D4 and BD-71. As usual, she’s tapping her clients for maximum revenue whilst swindling them at the same time! Unsurprisingly, Din and Grogu arrive searching for IG’s replacement memory unit. Peli was throwing all sorts of Easter Eggs and references, which was super cool too! I know she’s not everyone’s cup of tea – but I love the energy that Amy Sedaris brings to the table, so it’s always a treat to see her! She offer’s up R5’s services, which I think is really interesting, given his canon and non-canon history!
I loved Din giving Grogu the Mandalorian planetary 101 as they arrived near Mandalore, and even more so, the ‘Luke arriving on Dagobah’ vibe, minus the crashing! Seeing Mandalore in this state, given its beauty and magnificence in The Clone Wars, is jarring and also very sad. Hearing about the purge is bad enough, but actually seeing the devastation first-hand? Brutal!
We get to go underneath the crystalised landscape and see the remnants of buildings, long lost to time and the Empire’s devastation. Din has an altercation with some Alamites, whose designs looked like classic Star Wars! Once again, the show really taps into that old-school aesthetic. We find out that Bo-Katan was right, the atmosphere is breathable! This allows Grogu to travel with Din deeper into the ruins. The look and feel of the cityscape were sensational, and the lighting and music really added to the eerie atmosphere. I also enjoyed the fact that they parodied the classic ‘sewer gator’ myth, a silly, but nice touch.
Din is captured by a large crab-like mech, thus leaving Grogu alone and now the primary protagonist and focus of the episode! It was made clear that there was some sort of lifeform piloting the mech, and once the thing go out, I instantly thought “OMG IT’S GENERAL GRIEVOUS!!” – the design and noises it made couldn’t have been more Grievous if they tried, but then I thought, it’s more than likely just the same technology that has been used to keep a living life form alive. Still, this was a great touch! Grogu manages to escape and return to Bo-Katan – I didn’t think we’d be waiting long until we’d be reunited! I’m always happy to see Bo-Katan and Katee Sackhoff – so I’m all about seeing her return to Mandalore with Grogu! When Bo-Katan mentioned that Mandalore “didn’t always look like this”, again, I got emotional thanks to The Clone Wars. I loved having the pairing of Bo-Katan and Grogu, even more so when she started talking about fighting alongside the Jedi. Between to Alamites and ‘gators’, it’s clear that there is life on Mandalore, and with a breathable atmosphere, there is hope!
Bo-Katan manages to save and rescue Din, thanks to her skill in wielding the Darksaber! She takes down the creature and the mech. A very fitting way to display her power, skill and bravery – especially as the episode is released on International Women’s Day! I thought just having Din, Grogu and Bo-Katan all together on Mandalore and reaching The Living Waters was going to be the highlight of the episode, but then Favreau pulls out the big guns… a Mythosaur!! Yes, that fabled Mandalorian creature the Boba Fett rode in The Holiday Special has finally come to live action! I was genuinely not expecting that, and Bo-Katan’s gasp and shock equalled my own! What a way to end your episode on a cliffhanger!
This was an outstanding episode of The Mandalorian and I thought Rachel Morrison did an excellent job at the helm! Favreau’s script paid so much homage to The Clone Wars – not forgetting that Favreau actually voiced Pre Vizsla in the show, so we know he’s got that Mandalorian soft spot! The mines and underwater scenes, the wonderful creature design, and everything about the look and feel and sound of this episode showcased the very best that Star Wars has to offer, and I cannot wait to see what happens next deep in the mines of Mandalore…
What did you think of the latest episode of The Mandalorian? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media.
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