The Mandalorian: Chapter 14

Hello there!

Welcome to my latest episode review for The Mandalorian. The reviews will follow my usual format: an overview of the plot (so be aware, there will be spoilers!), my review of the show, then a few “Moments in canon” – references that link to other media and the galaxy as a whole. Today, we’ll be looking at Chapter 14: The Tragedy.

Plot Summary

Following Ahsoka Tano’s advice, Din and Grogu arrive at Tython and find the ruins of the temple they were told to look for. They land nearby and Din flies them to the top of the mountain, where they find the seeing stone. Din places Grogu on the “seeing stone”, but then notices another starship arrive – Slave I. Anticipating trouble, Din goes to grab Grogu, but Grogu reaching out with the Force has created a force field around him an the stone, which Din can’t get through.

Unable to get to Grogu, Din makes his way down the mountain to buy Grogu time, and comes face to face with Boba Fett, who demands back “his” armour, which Cobb Vanth gave to Din, saying that it was his father’s armour that now belongs to him. When Din asks what is to stop him shooting Boba, Fett reveals that he has a sharpshooter with him – Fennec Shand – who has a clear shot on Grogu. The trio all agree to stand down. Fennec explains that Boba found her and was able to use cybernetics to save her life, and she now works with him to settle her debt. Boba promises to guarantee Din’s and Grogu’s safety in exchange for Din returning Fett’s armour, which Fennec notes is a fair deal as the bounty on Grogu has risen significantly.

“Are you Mandalorian?”

“I’m a simple man making his way through the galaxy.”

Before a deal can be made, an Imperial ship arrives and drops off a squad of stormtroopers, who Boba and Fennec fight while Din goes back to get Grogu. Grogu is still surrounded by the force field which Din still can’t get through, so he goes to help deal with the stormtroopers as a second ship has arrived to drop off more troopers. Just after Din leaves, Grogu collapses from exhaustion and the force field dissipates.

The stormtroopers converge on Din and Fennec, who work well together but are vastly outnumbered. Boba Fett arrives wearing his armour – which he has taken from the Razor Crest and turns the tide, taking out the remaining troopers. A laser blast from orbit strikes the Razor Crest, destroying it in a single shot.

Aboard the Arquitens-class command cruiser – Moff Gideon’s ship, which just destroyed the Razor Crest – Moff Gideon orders the deployment of 4 dark troopers, which jetpack down to the ruins, grabbing Grogu and flying away with him just before Din can get to them. Boba has gone to get the Slave I and prepares to engage, but is ordered to stand down to avoid hitting Grogu. Following loosely behind the dark troopers, Fett sees them fly into the light cruiser and realises the Empire is back, despite the Outer Rim being the New Republic’s jurisdiction. Fett watches the light cruiser jump to hyperspace and returns to the surface.

“They’re back.”

“Who?”

“The Empire. They’re back.”

“That can’t be. The Outer Rim is under the jurisdiction of the New Republic.”

“This isn’t a spice stream. I can see the Imperial cruiser with my own eyes.”

Din looks through the ashes and charred remains of the Razor Crest, taking the beskar spear and the joystick ball Grogu played with. Boba shows Din a hologram of his chain code, which has been encoded in his armour for 25 years and shows his family lineage. From this, Din learns that Boba’s father Jango Fett was a foundling and recognises Boba’s identity as a Mandalorian allowing him to keep his armour. Boba and Fennec say that as their deal was to keep Grogu safe in return for the armour, they will help Din rescue Grogu.

The trio take Slave I to Nevarro, where Din meets with Cara Dune – now officially a Marshall of the New Republic. Din asks her to check the New Republic prison registry to locate Mayfeld, who is tracked down to the Karthon Chop Fields. Din explains to Cara that he plans to spring Mayfeld from prison as he needs Mayfeld to help himlocate Moff Gideon. Cara is reluctant to help due to her new position within the New Republic, but Din tells her that Moff Gideon has Grogu.

On Moff Gideon’s light cruiser, Moff Gideon goes to Grogu’s prison cell, where the kid is using the Force to choke 2 stormtroopers and hurl them against the walls, until he tires himself out. Moff Gideon taunts Grogu, then has a stormtrooper stun Grogu and bind his hands, while ordering his comms officer to send Dr Pershing a message to say that they have their donor.

Review

I feel sorry for anyone who had to follow the hype of last week’s episode, but Robert Rodriguez did a fantastic job with this episode!

“You know how I feel about the Empire. But these stripes mean there are rules I need to follow.”

This episode finally gave us the confirmation that it was Boba Fett we saw at the end of Chapters 5 and 9, and what a great return it was! Boba has always been somewhat of an overrated character for me due to his embarrassing flop in Return of the Jedi, but this episode already sees him flying upwards in my estimations, with his vicious fighting style both with his gaffi stick and then with his Mandalorian armour – while the joke of him hitting the wrong ship with his rocket was a nice moment given the time he has been without his armour. It was also great to hear references to Jango, and to finally get confirmation as to Jango’s status as a Mandalorian, after The Clone Wars left it in doubt.

As well as the return of Boba Fett, seeing Slave I gave me immediate chills as I realised where this episode was going, and I also loved the re-introduction of Fennec Shand, with a suitable reason given for her survival. Ming-Na Wen is a fantastic actress and the role of Fennec Shand fits her perfectly, so I am very excited to have her and Temuera Morrison’s Boba have an extended run in the show as Din creates his new super-team to rescue Grogu. It looks like Cara (and I would assume Greef) will also be part of that team, and I think this may even be a better team-up than the end of season 1 – sorry IG-11 and Kuill. And there may even be one more member joining the team, with the final scene with Cara suggesting that next week will see the return of Mayfeld as Din tries to spring him from prison. I really enjoyed Bill Burr in Chapter 6 and think that his humour and also his mechanical 3ʳᵈ arm (assuming they can get that) will add great dynamics to the group both in any action scenes and also any scenes focused more on dialogue.

“When the nice lady said you had training, I just… You’re very special, kid.”

Finally, we had one other confirmation in this episode in that it was dark troopers that Moff Gideon was overseeing the creation of in Chapter 12, and they looked fantastic! I loved how this was essentially an extended tease of them, though, as it means that we have so much more to experience when they are fully utilised in combat.

The scene between Din and Grogu to open the episode was so wholesome and just went further to strengthen their bond, which just added to the emotional impact of losing him to the Empire later tin the episode. Similarly the visual of Grogu on the stone with the force field around him looked incredible and the final shot of Grogu in binders was heart-breaking.

“Until he is returned to you safely, we are in your debt.”

A few final thoughts on the episode:

• Who (if anyone) will come following Grogu’s time on the stone? The predictions I’ve heard that I like most are Cal Kestis (from the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order) or Quinlan Vos. And when will we see them – the final shot of the season, or not until season 3?
• It’s great seeing Din utilise his beskar’s strength to work as a human shield for other characters to give them a chance to be more offensive
• A moment of silence for the Razor Crest, which I put right up there with the Millennium Falcon and the Ghost in terms of awesome ships

Moments in Canon

• Jango Fett was said to have fought during the Mandalorian Civil War, which is what saw Death Watch exiled and Duchess Satine established as ruler – this, combined with Jango’s status as a foundling and his work as a bounty hunter could explain why his status as a Mandalorian was questioned by Prime Minister Almec during The Clone Wars
• Cara Dune is now a Marshall of the New Republic
• Along with Ahch-To, where Luke is found in the Sequel Trilogy, Tython is considered one of the oldest sites for a Jedi Temple

What did you think of the episode?

Thanks for reading. This is the Way….