The Reckoning (The Mandalorian - S01E07) - Live Action Series

Would anyone care for some tea? SPOILERS.

Greef Carga is proposing a deal impossible to refuse

The 7th chapter of The Mandalorian aired on a Wednesday this week, and Lucasfilm certainly chose that date for a reason. As it turns out this week's episode contains a tidbit that may be of great importance for Star Wars as a whole!

But let's start at the beginning. After several entertaining stand alone episodes The Mandalorian enters its season 1 endgame. And while this episode is mostly setup for the finale, it is a most satisfying and exciting setup!

It all begins when the Mandalorian is contacted by Greef Carga. He proposes a deal, the Mandalorian helps him dispose of the Imperial client and in turn Greef will call off the bounty on the Mandalorian's head. It turns out things haven't been too great back on Nevarro, which is now under control of the Imperial Remnant, and Carga wants them gone. His plan is simple: they offer Baby Yoda as bait, arrange a meeting with the Client where the Mandalorian then kills him. Easy? Right?

And all the stand alone episodes in the past few weeks did serve a purpose. They showed that no matter what the Mandalorian tries, he will always be hunted, always in constant danger. The Imperial Remnant are very eager to get Baby Yoda back. There is no peace as long as they hunt for him. So the Mandalorian agrees. But he will not go alone. He picks up Cara Dune, who earns some money with bar fights. She's reluctant at first, but when she learns that they are supposed to take out a former Imperial she agrees.

Baby Yoda displaying his infiltration skills

Back on the Razor Crest the Mandalorian and Cara are discussing the plan, as sneaky Baby Yoda eavesdrops on them. This child is definitely much smarter than a typical human child. And Baby Yoda really doesn't like what he hears. Suddenly the ship acts all crazy, everything is shaking! It turns out Baby Yoda messes with the controls, so they cannot go to Nevarro. The situation is quickly resolved but it is agreed upon that Baby Yoda needs a babysitter, he can't be left alone. And so the Mandalorian turns to the one person he can trust.

Babysitter needed

The Mandalorian goes to Kuill. He agrees to help, but then something happens the Mandalorian certainly didn't see coming!

Meet butler IG-11

IG-11 enters the tent. With tea! Before the Mandalorian can shoot him, Kuill explains the situation. In a flashback we learn that Kuill salvaged IG-11's corpse and repaired him. But not just that, he also rewired and retrained IG-11 from scratch and the former assassin is now a peaceful service droid, that makes tea. The Mandalorian still doesn't trust IG-11, but Kuill asks the Mandalorian to trust him and his work, which he does.

Darth Baby Yoda????

Kuill also insists that they take the Blurgs with them, so the Razor Crest is getting quite crowded as the gang now makes their way to Nevarro. The Mandalorian and Cara pass the time with arm-wrestling, the two wrestle, give their best and even though Baby Yoda is smart, he's still just a baby and doesn't really always get context. Because Baby Yoda thinks the Mandalorian is actually fighting Cara! So Baby Yoda wants to help his guardian and protector and starts to Force choke Cara! The Mandalorian stops Baby Yoda immediately. And we learn that apparently the Force is nothing they know about. It's certainly puzzling that Cara doesn't know about it either, Luke was a part of the Rebel Alliance, after all, apparently his heroic deeds are not all that well known at this point in time? The Mandalorian muses if Baby Yoda may be something of a clone, but Kuill, who is the only one who ever heard tales of something like the Force, tells the Mandalorian that Baby Yoda is "evolved", a natural creature, nothing cloned in a lab.

This can only turn out well...

The gang finally arrives on Nevarro and meet Greef and his helpers. Here they agree upon the final plan. The Mandalorian is to be brought in as a prisoner, with Baby Yoda staying behind. Then they will meet the Client and the Mandalorian and Cara will dispose of the four guards the Client always has with him, and Greef will then offer the remaining Imperials to join his guild, because it is their only remaining option. Greef also insists that Baby Yoda must absolutely come with them, the child is needed. So eventually all of them are headed to the town. Only IG-11 remains on the Razor Crest, the Mandalorian wants him nowhere near.

I have the touch!

As night falls the gang rests in a makeshift camp, eating some roasted animal on a spit, when giant winged creatures attack them. It almost plays a bit like a horror movie here, with the threat coming in the dark. The creatures manage to kill one of Greef's guards and two Blurgs before they are chased away. Greef gets injured, with venom coursing through him already. It is then that Baby Yoda approaches Greef. He touches his arm. And heals the wound with the Force. This moment is maybe not too surprising, this was hinted at in Chapter 2, when the Mandalorian was injured and Baby Yoda tried to touch him. It is still a huge reveal, however. So Force healing is now a thing. Which raises all kinds of questions! Can everyone of Yoda's species do that? Is it a new power? If it is all new, why is it new? And if it's not new, why was it never used in the past? Why did Yoda not teach that technique? Obi-Wan certainly would have found it useful on Naboo and Anakin would have certainly loved to have this power, the entire tragic story of the Skywalkers could have been prevented if Anakin had been able to heal his mother and to know that even if Padme is hurt, that he can always heal her. It might have prevented his fall to the dark side. So this one moment needs a lot of explaining eventually! But it is still a touching moment in this episode and a great payoff for all the setup in chapter 2!

Definitely more than four Imperials!

The gang finally makes it the town. And here Greef suddenly pulls his blaster and kills his henchmen. It is then that he reveals that the real plan was to betray the Mandalorian and to deliver Baby Yoda to the Imperials. But it turns out Greef has a heart, he cannot pull that off anymore, not after what Baby Yoda did last night, when he healed Greef. So a new plan is agreed upon. Kuill is to return to the Razor Crest with Baby Yoda, lock the ship, activate ground protocols that will keep all intruders away, while Greef, the Mandalorian and Cara will meet the Client with an empty Baby Yoda crib. But there are definitely more than just a handful Imperials in the town, actually, there are quite a lot of them! Including Scout Troopers with the all white speeder bikes!

The Client has to take a call

The feeling of misgiving only intensifies as Cara and the Mandalorian see how many Imperial Remnants they have to deal with. Greef tries to reassure them that the Client will only have four guards though. They finally meet and have a nice chat. The Client explains his point of view, and it actually makes sense, from a certain point of view. To him, the Empire meant peace and prosperity, he asks his guests if the world is any better now that the Empire is gone. It seems the power vacuum left behind has resulted in some serious chaos throughout the Galaxy. It is an interesting piece of world building and character development for the Client. The Imperials consider themselves the good guys. And from their point of view they certainly are. The Client eventually wants to see Baby Yoda and everything intensifies, but then the Client has to take a call. Moff Gideon wants to talk to the Client!

Most definitely more than four Imperials!

The Client has a brief chat with the Moff and reassures him that they have Baby Yoda. But Moff Gideon suggests he take another look. And then all hell breaks loose as blaster shots kill the Client and his guards. The Mandalorian, Cara and Greef manage to take cover. The Mandalorian desperately calls Greef and urges him to take the Razor Crest and leave the planet. Unfortunately the message is intercepted by the Scout Troopers who immediately head out to chase Kuill.

He probably doesn't bring any fried chicken

Outside several Death Troopers and a small army of Stormtroopers surround the building. A TIE Fighter lands in what is a great effects shot and Moff Gideon climbs out. He tells the Mandalorian that he has something he wants and that the Mandalorian has no idea what the child really is. And that in a few moments it will be his. Meanwhile we see the Scout Troopers chasing Kuill who can already see the Razor Crest in the distance! The Mandalorian desperately calls him via comlink and urges him to hurry and escape, things are going south!

You will not be forgotten, I have spoken!

But it's too late. We see Baby Yoda lying in the dirt, Scout Troopers pick him up and head back to town. And then we see poor Kuill and his Burg lying in the dust. Blaster wound still smoldering. The good Ugnaught is dead. And we will see next time how it all ends in season 1.

Deborah Chow directed one emotional rollercoaster ride of an episode. While maybe not as action packed as previous episodes it had fantastic character moments, great suspense and an incredible setup for the coming season finale. And it added to and expanded the Star Wars lore! The Mandalorian succeeded in making us care about each and every character in the show. Kuill was certainly someone everyone liked, to see him lie dead was painful. But the galaxy is dangerous. Friends die. And with Moff Gideon a new enemy emerges, does he pull all the strings or is someone pulling his strings as well?

But let's talk about Baby Yoda's Force powers. As briefly mentioned this raises all kinds of questions. Is it new? And if not, why did we never see anything like it in the movies before? Especially during the prequels a power such as this would have been a game changer! I hope we will get a good explanation eventually. Maybe not in season 1, maybe not in season 2, but eventually!

Within the context of the show it works. Baby Yoda is (unnaturally?) gifted, maybe he's a savant and can use the Force like no one else? Or is every member of Yoda's species that powerful? It was certainly a great moment when Baby Yoda healed Greef. But now they also have to deliver and eventually tell us what's up with all that!

Ultimately the Mandalorian is a triumph, a huge success so far. It combines nostalgia and fan service with new characters we greatly care about. And the show does so with care, slowly. All the stand alone adventures, while not necessarily expanding on the overall story arc, still contribute to the story as a whole. They show us what the Mandalorian is trying to do to make a living. And we see that nothing works. All the previous adventures result in this episode, where the Mandalorian accepts a job that is very, very dangerous, but ultimately his only way out of the situation. Also, I think Kuill is one of the very few alien characters Star Wars had that we really, really build a connecting with. His death affects us. Admiral Ackbar was denied his character moment in the sequels, Kuill got his. His outlook on life, his philosophy, his nature was highlighted in the funny and touching flashback as he retrained IG-11 to become a caring service droid. His last mission failed, but he will certainly not have died in vain.

The next episode cannot come soon enough! The Mandalorian is also the ultimate proof that there is no Star Wars fatigue. It's been a long time since Star Wars fans were almost universally in love with something. And it's been a while since I actually looked forward to new content without trepidation or misgivings, but just with joy. Thank you, Jon, Deborah, Dave, Rick, Taika, Dallas and everyone else who made this show!