The season 2 finale of The Mandalorian is here! The last episode ended with The Mandalorian making a transmission to Moff Gideon that is he is coming for The Child! It is directed by Peyton Reed who also directed Chapter 10, This episode opens with pure action as the Slave-I is firing on an Lambda Imperial shuttle! Inside the shuttle is Dr. Pershing. We saw him in hologram form, but he was last seen in person last season in Chapter 3. Boba Fett is flying the Slave-I, he won’t be denied, he targets the shuttles engines and blasts it with an ion cannon. Boba Fett informs the pilots to prepare for boarding. He pilots the Slave-I in front of the shuttle’s cockpit and connects to it. Mando enters the cockpit and of course recognizes Dr. Pershing. One of the pilots holds a blaster to the doctor and shoots the other pilot! The pilot with the blaster says that Dr. Pershing is a clone scientist and also says that he knows Cara Dune is from Alderaan. He says he saw the destruction of Alderaan, mistake! It looks like Cara gets some payback this mission and Mando just watches her leave as Dr. Pershing cries in pain from the blaster bolt! Side note: it is mentioned that Mandalore has been turned to glass, this may be the Arc Pulse Generator weapon created by Sabine Wren (it targets Beskar armor!), this may be signs that she still has a part to play in saving Mandalore! Gideon is the one who recovered the weapon and used it against Mandalore?
Slave-I heads towards a planet, unidentified, with large industrial stacks. Boba Fett and The Mandalorian enter a cantina, two in Mandalorian armor!, they stand until finding Koska Reeves and Bo-Katan at a table. What happened to Axe Woves, the other Mandalorian in Bo-Katan's Nite Owls? It seems like forever since they were last seen in Chapter 11! Mando tells Bo-Katan he needs her help and that the Child was taken by Moff Gideon. Bo-Katan says that Boba Fett is not Mandalorian and he easily admits it. He faces off with Koska Reeves speaking Mandalorian, but Bo-Katan backs her down. Mando reveals that they know where is Moff Gideon’s cruiser. Bo-Katan recognizes that Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett. Koska Reeves fights Boba Fett! Can this episode get more awesome! They use their flamethrowers on their gauntlets, but again stopped by Bo-Katan. She is set on retaking Mandalore. Her demands is taking the ship and also claims Moff Gideon’s weapon that can cut through anything, but pure Beskar, the Darksaber! I sense a duel with the Beskar spear! Mando agrees to everything for the Child. I should have recognized the Kom’rk-Class Gauntlet fighter parked next to Slave-I. Bo-Katan briefs the group, including Cara and Fennec, and Dr. Pershing in binders is said to be a clone engineer. I think a trip to Kamino is in store at least a meeting with Kaminoans who have mastering cloning. Pershing mentions the Dark Troopers.
He says they are third generation troopers, entirely droids. Pershing points out their location in the cargo bay. Then, points the brig where the Child is held under guard. Bo-Katan outlines the plan with the shuttle sending a distress call, then land at the launch tube to block any fighters. The first group is Koska, Fennec, and Cara, an all women fighting force! Of course this couldn't happen with Axe Woves. They are to distract the Imperials so Mando can get to the Child. Fennec takes the code cylinder from Dr. Pershing to give to Mando. He says that they will meet up at the bridge. Slave-I travels through hyperspace right behind the Imperial shuttle. Bo-Katan claims Moff Gideon from the others. Cara notes that she needs to question him for intelligence. The plan seems to have Slave-I attack the shuttle and then escape. They exit hyperspace and the Slave-I’s cannons start blasting! Bo-Katan makes a request for emergency docking heard on the bridge including Moff Gideon. He orders TIE fighters to launch. We see the TIE fighters taken from their bay to launch, something also new. Bo-Katan heads to the launch bay as the TIE fighters pass by the shuttle. TIE fighters start firing on Slave-I! Bo-Katan plunges the shuttle towards the forward launch bay of the cruiser. Boba Fett pulls away at the last moment. The shuttle comes in slamming into the hangar! Boba Fett easily destroys the TIE fighters and leaps into hyperspace.
Stormtroopers race to check on the shuttle and out of the landing ramp, the warriors come out blasting! Moff Gideon hears the battle and gives the command for the Dark Troopers! In their cold storage, the Dark Troopers activate, their red eyes reminds me of the Cylons. Mando walks out of the shuttle with his blaster. The women fighting force starts out, the Dark Troopers don’t stand a chance! Fennec and Cara blast at stormtroopers while the Mandalorians peel off the ramp with their jetpacks. A squad of stormtroopers demand their surrender, but are taken down by Koska and Bo-Katan. Mando moves to the side as stormtroopers rush towards the group. The tubes deattach from the Dark Troopers. It is not blasters that will stop them! Fennec goes out and takes down Stormtroopers as Bo-Katan takes out a flanking stormtrooper. She is joined by Cara, they just walk straight, no hesitation. The Dark Troopers deploy and bring up their blaster rifles. It takes some time to activate the Dark Troopers. An Imperial protocol droid passes Mando and he slips past more Stormtroopers. It would make sense to get in stormtrooper armor, the Dark Troopers would probably ignore them. Cara says her rifle is jammed during a fight and then just uses it to pummel stormtroopers and she is helped by Fennec. I wonder if this is a hint of what will be in Rangers of the New Republic.
The Dark Troopers start to march, Mando sees this and uses the code cylinder to close the doors, but a Dark Trooper manages to pry open the doors Terminator-style. The Dark Trooper slams away Mando and then holds him up to smash his helmet with its fist. The Dark Troopers bashing has opened a valve that exhausts a spray and Mando uses his flame thrower to light up the Dark Trooper. Now the Dark Troopers remind me of Maxmillian from The Black Hole (1979). He has to block the Dark Troopers from escaping their hangar bay and uses his Whistling Bird projectiles to batter the Dark Trooper. Then, he severs its head with his Beskar steel spear. Mando gets to control panel and has all of the Dark Troopers thrown out of the hangar bay into space, the Ripley technique! Cara struggles with her rifle and then slams it down to get into the fight with stormtroopers! The repeating action of her rifle cuts them down. They reached the bridge, Koska takes the code cylinder to shut down the Dark Troopers, but Moff Gideon is missing! Mando takes out two stormtrooper guards brutally with the Beskar spear. He opens the cell door only to find Moff Gideon hold the Darksaber to Baby Yoda in tiny binders, I’ve never seen such a sad sight! Gideon forces Mando to kick over his blaster. He waves the Darksaber over Baby Yoda and says it belonged to Bo-Katan.
Moff Gideon explains that the wielder of the Darksaber has the right of the Mandalorian throne. He deactivates the Darksaber and says he has the Child’s blood. When Mando reaches out for Baby Yoda, Gideon strikes with the Darksaber. It of course ends with a duel between the Beskar spear and the Darksaber! This is Mando defying the order by Bo-Katan to leave Gideon to her. Bo-Katan waits as Moff Gideon is brought in with binders to the bridge. Mando takes the Darksaber to her. Gideon explains that he can’t give the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. She has to earn it through combat. In Star Wars: Rebels, "Heroes of Mandalore: Part 2" (2017), Sabine hands the Darksaber to Bo-Katan with support of the Mandalorian clans. The peaceful transfer may be what Gideon has used to take Mandalore. This is interrupted by the Dark Troopers returning to the cruiser! The Dark Troopers are closing on them, Fennec orders the blast doors to seal off the bridge, they begin to slam the blast door with their fists. A single X-Wing flies past the bridge and enters the hangar. Could this be the Jedi that Baby Yoda called? The Dark Troopers stop their breaching and arm themselves. The cloaked Jedi ignites a green lightsaber blade! There is an end credit scene that leads to a series in 2021! The finale is a hope end, it seems a bit rushed, I would have rather had a director like Dave Filoni than the director of Bring It On (2000) with this important episode, but it is heart-wrenching!
Four Lightsabers out of Five!
#TheMandalorian, #TheRescue, #Darktroopers, #Jedi
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