Mythrollicking Action Adventure

The Mandalorian could justifiably be accused of serving ‘filler’ episodes in season one, with weeks in which we totally diverged from the central story arc in favour of an unrelated side-quest. However, Chapter 12, otherwise known as Carl Weathers’ directorial debut, was anything but ‘filler.’

Sure, at first glace it would be easy to pick up that angle. At the end of the previous episode, Din and The Child were en route to Corvus to find Ahsoka Tano, but after the sweater-wearing Mon Calamari failed to patch up the Razor Crest – (a fish netting and rope bodge-job doesn’t count) – the pair had to divert to Nevarro. They meet up with old friends Greef Carga and the new Marshal of the town, Cara Dune, for an Imperial butt-kicking side-mission.

But this isn’t a Toro Calican misstep. It’s not a throw-away story, far from it. Chapter 12 raises the stakes for our heroes, features chilling revelations and provides fresh insight into why Moff Gideon has been hunting ‘The Asset.’

While storming the Imperial installation, the team discovers a lab and a holo-recording from Dr. Pershing which reveals that Gideon’s plan was to extract force-sensitive blood from The Child in order to create his own force-powered super-beings. However, it’s revealed by Pershing that the subjects rejected the blood and he wasn’t able to extract enough from The Child without killing him.

With the recording date stamped as only three days old, Din realises that Gideon is still alive. Having left The Child at a school in the centre of town, Din has to race back to grab the now freshly-in-jeopardy kid.

Of course, Din and The Child eventually make it off Nevarro, in a fully-operational Razor Crest no less, but the jeopardy remains. One of the mechanics charged with repairing the Crest was in contact with the Imperials and planted a tracker on the Crest. As Din heads to Corvus, Gideon is going to be tailing them.

The stakes have been raised considerably. We know that Gideon will kill The Child in order to extract the levels of “M-Count” rich blood that he needs and from a chilling final shot, we gather that he is attempting to build a force-sensitive army. A room full of soldiers that look like a threatening hybrid of Purge and Death Trooper design, potentially a blood transfusion away from being sent on a destructive force-powered path.

What’s worse is that Din is now leading the Imperials straight to Ahsoka as well.

If I’m allowed to irresponsibly speculate for a moment, it’s entirely possible that we could see a duel between Ahsoka and Gideon in the coming weeks. Unless Gideon is able to intercept Din before he makes it to Corvus, the two are now on a collision course. With Bo-Katan also on the hunt for Gideon, we potentially have three storylines converging.

Dave Filoni is directing Chapter 13 and given that he has masterminded Ahsoka’s story through the animated series, it would only be fitting for him to take the reigns for her live action introduction. We could see a face off between the two characters as early as next week.

I doubt a future episode could feel any more like the Original Trilogy than this one. A team of heroes, sneaking around an Imperial installation. A chase sequence featuring speeder bikes and biker scouts. A bottom of the ninth appearance from a hero ship, swooping in and saving the day.

Carl Weathers delivered one of the most action-packed episodes yet, with Greef Carga and Cara Dune taking centre stage for much of the second half of the episode – a refreshing change in a series that has almost perpetually had a narrow focus on our title hero.

Din might swoop in – Han Solo style – aboard the Razor Crest to seize victory in a thrilling and brilliantly shot dogfight, but in the Trexler Marauder it was Carga on the guns, Dune in the cockpit and our old friend the Mythrol providing moral support.

Yes, Horatio Sanz made his comeback in this episode as the unnamed Mythrol – the very same Mythrol whom Din dumped in the carbon freezing chamber all the way back in series one episode one’s cold open.

Did he get to celebrate Life Day? Who knows. Maybe Greef gave him the day off.

When we glimpsed the Mythrol in the trailers I wasn’t particularly keen on seeing him reintroduced. Having small side-characters swinging back into view like that can make the galaxy feel small. However, Sanz adds some comic relief to an action heavy episode and balances the team by being perhaps the most relatable character in view. Being scared of heights, awkwardly firing a blaster and, in particular, being worried about where my speeder is parked are all traits and vibes that I would no doubt bring to the table as a member of a rebellion against Imperials in the galaxy.

But, of course, even Saturday Night Live legend Sanz is vulnerable to being upstaged by The Child, who once again earns the prize for Mandalorian chuckle of the week.

Remember in Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2, when Rocket attempts to explain to Groot not to push the “death button” on the bomb, and that’s the only button the sapling wants to push. Well, Din assumes the role of an exasperated Rocket as he tries to instruct The Child how to fix the ship, while the galaxy’s smallest engineer sits inside a claustrophobic wiring bay.

Maybe he doesn’t know the difference between red or blue? Perhaps it’s not knowing the meaning of “no.” I’m going with the latter. Safe to say, it doesn’t go well. Point to Groot for this round in the battle of Disney Group’s cutest characters.

Once again, this episode really had everything you could want from live action Star Wars, and the series is on one heck of a run. Perfect scorecard in season two and if this is accursedly a ‘filler’ episode, then that bodes very well for the rest.