The Mandalorian: Chapter 20

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 20: The Foundling.

Plot Summary

The Mandalorian covert is training. Din decides that it is time for Grogu to begin combat training himself and pits him against one of the children, Ragnar. While Ragnar wins the first 2 points, Din convinces Grogu to show what he can do, and Grogu uses the Force to help him evade Ragnar’s next strike and land 3 of his own, winning the fight. A disgruntled Ragnar walks off on his own, but a Raptor arrives at that moment and, taking advantage of him being away from the group, grabs him and flies off back towards its nest. Din, Paz and a pair of other Mandalorians use their jetpacks to chase after it but run out of fuel, however Bo-Katan continues her chase in her Gauntlet starfighter.

Bo-Katan returns to the covert, to which Din and the others have returned, having tracked the Raptor all the way to its nest. The covert knows from previous experience that approaching using their jetpacks will just lead to the Raptor killing Ragnar, but Bo-Katan notes that they should be able to climb and grapple their way up the side of the rock formation that the nest is on top of. Din, Bo-Katan and Paz set off with 4 other Mandalorians in Bo’s starfighter.

Grogu is upset at being left behind, but The Armorer tells him that he was not ready for this mission and instead invites him to join her as she is creating some new armour, teaching Grogu more about Mandalorian culture. While she works, Grogu has flashbacks to the clone attack on the Jedi Temple:

Grogu and a group of Jedi attempt to fight their way through the halls of the Temple. Only Grogu and one Jedi reach an elevator, but the Jedi is killed as the elevator doors close. After making it to the intended level of the complex the doors open and Grogu finds himself in the presence of Jedi Master Kelleran Beq. As more clones arrive Beq fights them off and he and Grogu escape on one of the dead clones’ speederbikes, with Grogu in his pod in the gunner’s sidecar. They escape to a landing platform where a Naboo starship and a group of Naboo Armed Forces personnel are waiting for them. An LAAT arrives carrying more clones and the Naboo forces attempt to hold them off while Beq and Grogu escape Coruscant in the starship and jump to hyperspace.

Having completed the piece of armour, The Armorer reveals that it is a rondel with the signet of Clan Mudhorn for Grogu, and she affixes it to his chainmail armour.

“You are the leader of the war party. You have the honor of staying by the fire. This is the Way.”

The rescue party make it to the rocky outcropping that the Raptor has made its nest on top of, and as the night is arriving, the set up a camp at the base with the plan to begin the climb in the morning. After the party make a fire, rations are handed out and Din explains to Bo-Katan that to eat without breaking the Creed, each individual will find somewhere private to remove their helmet and eat. As everyone begins to move away, Paz stops Bo-Katan leaving, explaining that as leader of the party, she has the honor of getting to stay and eat at the fire.

The next morning, the party begin the climb. Reaching the nest at the top, Paz—who is Ragnar’s father—bundles in without due care and disturbs a trio of juvenile raptors just as the adult arrives back. Grabbing Paz in its mouth and Ragnar in a claw, the adult flies off and the rest of the party give chase. Bo-Katan eventually forces the creature to release Paz—losing a pauldron in the process—while Din successfully gets Ragnar out of it’s grasp, while the efforts of the wider party hinder the Raptor’s ability to fly, and it crashes into the water below, where it is eaten by a Dinosaur turtle. Paz thanks Din for rescuing his son.

The party’s return with Ragnar is celebrated by the covert, while the party also reveal 3 new foundlings: the orphaned Raptor chicks. The Armorer takes Bo-Katan inside where she forms a new pauldron. Though The Armorer offers to include the Nite Owl sigil on the pauldron, Bo-Katan asks instead for that of the Mythosaur, to which The Armorer agrees. As The Armorer fits the new pauldron Bo-Katan tells her that she saw a Mythosaur, but The Armorer believes that she means a vision/dream rather than pay attention to her story.

Review

As soon as I saw that this episode was written by Dave Filoni and was called “The Foundling”, I began to get excited, guessing that the combination of these 2 features and the clips of the Jedi Temple from the trailers meant that we would be getting more of Grogu’s backstory. And boy were we not disappointed, with not just a few quick flashes of story but instead full scenes, while I absolutely loved the symmetry with season 1 of Grogu having flashbacks while The Armorer is creating his armour, as was the case for Din.

But the actual content of the flashback was what really stood out, most notably the arrival of Kelleran Beq. While many may think this is a new character, he was in fact the “host” of the gameshow Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, with Ahmed Best reprising the role and bringing him into the wider story and public eye. And after the redemption that Hayden Christensen got to have in Kenobi, at was great to see Best getting his own redemption now and getting to show his real quality away from Jar Jar Binks, and it’s been great seeing his return to the franchise after the love that he has received in recent years after taking so much abuse for Jar Jar. But Be wasn’t the only surprise here as we find that Naboo played a part in Grogu’s escape. Does that mean that Padmé was aware of some Jedi having escaped? It must surely be someone of importance for Naboo Armed Forces to be willing to fight the Coruscant Guard!

But as it turned out, this wasn’t an episode about just one foundling, and I loved the side-mission of rescuing Ragnar while Grogu becomes more of a Mandalorian. While it was pretty paint by numbers, it was still portrayed so well, but the real importance—other than Paz now surely being more of an ally to Din and Bo-Katan for saving his son, rather than a minor antagonist—is a scene early in the hunt. We see Bo-Katan almost like a third foundling in this episode. Though she has decades of experience as a Mandalorian, she is now learning how to fit in among the covert and follow their Creed, the old Way, by learning some basics that I’m sure Ragnar already understood before receiving his helmet.

Oh and then finally there was time for one more trio of foundlings in the chicks, and I love this, as it is surely setting up the trio being tamed so that they can be ridden into battle on Mandalore alongside Bo-Katan or Din (I still can’t decide which) on the Mythosaur. What a sight that would be!

“This is the Forge. It is the heart of Mandalorian culture. Just as we shape the Mandalorian steel, we shape ourselves. We all begin as raw ore. We refine ourselves through trials and adversity. The Forge can reveal weaknesses.”

A few final thoughts on the episode:

• I must admit a little surprise that with 4 unnamed Mandos going with Din, Bo-Katan and Paz, we didn’t see at least one of them get killed trying to save Ragnar just to up the stakes a little
• I love the decision to use the name Ragnar, which will evoke thoughts of Vikings to many, a real historical warrior people
• Star Wars produces some of the best silhouette shots, and we have a new one from this episode with the Raptor and Bo-Katan’s Gauntlet starfighter silhouetted against the sun just before the title card
• I thought for a moment that Bo-Katan was about to ask for the Mudhorn signet to join Din’s Clan Mudhorn… This is why fans don’t always know what’s best for the show!

Moments in Canon

• In Legends, Naboo resisted the Empire and held Jedi, which resulted in the Empire having to assassinate the queen. Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company has already given us a Rebel ship called Apailana’s Promise; as Queen Apailana ruled at the end of the Clone Wars, could this be setting up a similar history for Naboo?

What did you think of the episode?

Thanks for reading. This is the Way….

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