The Tragedy (The Mandalorian - S02E06) - Live Action Series

"I'm here for the armor!" SPOILERS.

A very proud Din tests the skills of Grogu

Chapter 14 has a perfect title "The Tragedy". Backers of the HasLab Razor Crest need to be brave, but they are not the only ones who are affected by unfortunate events, as the episode also robs Din Djarin of almost everything that is dear to him. The Mandalorian certainly doesn't waste any time in the latter part of season 2. If anyone believed that Din may travel to Tython to visit the old Jedi temple some other time, they were mistaken. After last week's adventure with Ahsoka who pointed the Mandalorian to the temple with the seeing stone on Tython, Din heads to it right away, so Grogu can try to reach out through the Force and connect with whatever Jedi are left (at this time it should be pretty much just Luke Skywalker who's technically a "Jedi"). The episode begins with a rather sweet moment, before tragedy befalls our heroes. Din is rather happy that Baby Yoda reacts to his newly revealed name every single time. But Din is even happier when Grogu manages to pull his favorite toy, the metal knob, from his hand with the Force. Din behaves like a proud dad here. But he also reminds Grogu that he will leave him with the Jedi if they find him, because he cannot really train him to be a Jedi, and that's what Grogu wants, right? Be a Jedi and learn more about the Force?

The ancient Jedi temple on Tython

After this character moment the Razor Crest arrives at the temple. It's an abandoned structure on some lonely hilltop. Din can't land on the hilltop as there is not enough space, so he lands the Razor Crest a short way off and then flies with the jetpack to the temple. Din puts Grogu on the seeing stone, but nothing is happening yet.

A well known ship is flying in

Instead Din observes as a ship is arriving in the sky above the temple. It's a very well known ship too, it's unmistakably the Slave I. Boba Fett's ship.

Phone home!

Din wants to leave the temple with Grogu because he fears a bounty hunter may be after them, but Grogu has connected with the seeing stone and activated it. The stone generates a force field Din cannot penetrate, so he must leave Grogu behind and face the new arrival.

He's back

It doesn't take long until Din meets the stranger. The Mandalorian is not sure who that figure is, a Jedi perhaps even or is he after Grogu? But it's of course Boba Fett, and he's come to collect his armor. Din thinks Boba wants his armor, but Boba makes it very clear he wants the armor collected from Cobb Vanth, since it's rightfully his. But Boba doesn't reply to Din's questions about his Mandalorian heritage to Din's satisfaction. The situation further escalates when it is revealed that Boba has not come alone. His companion is none other than Fennec Shand, the bounty hunter from season 1 who was seemingly left for dead on the sands of Tatooine. And she has her sniper rifle trained at Grogu. But before things escalate even further Boba suggests they all have a chat and that there's no reason for bloodshed.

The Bionic Woman

Din is quite surprised to see Fennec in the flesh, alive and well. It turns out Fennec is part cyborg now as her stomach has been replaced by mechanical parts. Boba saved her when she lay dying in the sand and thus she is now in his service. Boba also reveals that the Beskar armor was given to his father Jango Fett by the Mandalorians and Boba offers his and Fennec's service to Din to help protect Grogu if Din returns Jango Fett's old armor to Boba. But before Din can consider the offer yet another ship arrives on the scene. And it's an Imperial troop carrier that unloads an entire squadron of Stormtroopers.

Someone will have a little more than a headache

What follows is an intense battle with the Stormtroopers. Boba Fett uses his gaffi stick with brutal efficiency and gets rid of several troopers by hitting them hard. Fennec also does her thing and shoots Stormtroopers left and right. Din meanhwile tries to get Grogu to safety, but Din finds Grogu meditating on the activated seeing stone which is surrounded by a force field. As Din tries to approach Grogu and strains to get through the field he is knocked back violently and loses conciousness. Boba and Fennec have to fight the Stormtroopers without Din's help for the time being.

How many Stormtroopers are there exactly? They keep dropping like flies!

The Stormtroopers set up a heavy blaster cannon that poses a real threat, but Fennec manages to loosen a giant rock that rolls down the hill, crushing a few unfortunate Stormtroopers on its way down and finally it takes out the blaster cannon as well. Boba in the interim sees his armor in the cargo hold of the Razor Crest. And is thus reunited with his iconic outfit.

Boba is a killing machine

Din has regained consciousness, realizes he cannot remove Grogu from the seeing stone and joins Fennec in her fight against the Stormtroopers, who seemingly have an unlimited supply of them. Din and Fennec are about to get surrounded by troopers, too much even for them, as Boba Fett, now once again in his armor, joins the fight and showcases what a seasoned bounty hunter can do. He uses about every trick his suit has on offer to take down even more Stormtroopers. Including for the first time in live action the minature rockets in his knees. The Stormtroopers are losing what feels like dozens of soldiers and they finally retreat to their shuttles and try to escape. But Boba takes the shuttles out with his rocket, not quite hitting the ship he wanted do, but still to great results.

Goodbye Razor Crest!

Things seem to go in favor of our heroes when suddenly a giant laser bolt from the sky hits the Razor Crest. And fans who backed the Razor Crest on HasLab need to be brave now, because that one giant laser bolt completely obliterates the Razor Crest, this is nothing that duct tape can even fix. The ship is gone! The laser bolt came from Moff Gideon's light cruiser of course, which is high up in the sky. Gideon doesn't seem fazed by the loss of Stormtroopers and orders his Dark Troopers to get Grogu. Fennec realizes that things are getting really desperate now and Boba flies off with his jetpack to get his ship so they can make their escape from Tython.

Dark Troopers on their way to Grogu

Unfortunately Grogu has stopped tapping into the seeing stone, he now lies asleep on the stone, which is no longer activated. Which means there's also no longer the force field in place. So the Dark Troopers that arrive at the temple have no problems at all to pick up Grogu and fly away with him. Din has lost the child. But maybe not all is lost, as Boba is now piloting Slave I and is in pursuit of the Dark Troopers. He can certainly take them out. But Din wants Boba to stand down, or else Grogu might get hurt. Moff Gideon has won for now, Grogu is his!

The crater formerly known as the Razor Crest

Moff Gideon has what he wants and takes his cruiser into hyperspace. Time for Din and companions to catch their breath. Din examines the crater and the rubble which is all that is left of the Razor Crest. Not all things were obliterated though, it turns out Beskar is one hell of a tough substance since Din finds his Beskar spear in what looks like mint condition. And one more part of the Razor Crest survives. The metal knob of fate, Grogu's favorite toy. Din puts it in his pocket and that's it. The knob is all that remains of the Razor Crest.

Boba explains why the armor is his

Not all things are resolved yet, though. There's still the question of Boba's armor. He finally has the time to prove to Din that the armor is rightfully his. It turns out Boba's armor has some code stored in it that proves it's rightfully his, as he is the son of Jango Fett, who turns out was not a Mandalorian by birth, but a foundling, just like Din Djarin. Jango even fought in the Mandalorian civil war and was rewarded the armor. Din is finally convinced and is happy to leave the armor with Boba.

Din and his new friends

Boba in return reminds Din of his offer, that he and Fennec would help Din protect the child in return for the armor and he wants to honor that deal. Din agrees of course and he, Boba and Fennec fly the Slave I to Nevarro where Din approaches Cara Dune for some help.

Slave I is landing on Nevarro

Din wants Cara to give him the whereabouts of Mayfeld, who we last saw in season 1. He's in prison now and Cara reminds Din that she has to follow the rules, since she's an official New Republic marshal now. Din then tells her that the Imperials have Grogu and that Mayfeld, as a former Imperial sharpshooter, can tell him where to find Gideon, so Din needs to spring Mayfeld from prison.

Grogu is having some fun with Stormtroopers

The episode then cuts to Moff Gideon. He enters the cell where he keeps Grogu captive. The child is very obviously not too happy and Force chokes and hurls two Stormtroopers around, almost like giant rag dolls. Moff Gideon seems to be very pleased by this, since it proves how powerful Grogu already is, even as a small child.

Gideon teases Grogu

Gideon finally approaches Grogu when he's spent all of his power and gets sleepy. Gideon teases the child for a little bit, showing off his darksaber, eventually he orders one of the Stormtroopers to stun Grogu. As soon as they leave hyperspace Gideon wants a message sent to Dr Pershing: they have their donor!

And this is where the episode leaves us behind. It was a severe gut punch in several ways. Not only did the Mandalorian lose his precious ship, but he also lost Grogu to the Imperials who have some nefarious plans with the child. But not all hope is lost either, since Din also gained two new quite resourceful allies: none other than Boba Fett and Fennec Shand.

Even though The Mandalorian mostly goes where fans would expect it to go, Chapter 14 was still somewhat of a surprise. I suppose not many saw the complete and utter destruction of the Razor Crest coming, not like this at least. She didn't go out in battle, but was simply shot from orbit with a giant laser blast. It certainly provided yet another element of surprise. The biggest is of course Boba Fett's return.

The Mandalorian proves again and again that nothing is really coincidence or a throwaway plot element. Every detail counts and it's episodes like Chapter 14 that once again illustrate how Jon Favreau seems to have an exact plan. That throwaway scene from season 1 where a mysterious figure approaches a seemingly dead Fennec Shand proves to be very relevant. And anyone who thought that the short Boba Fett scene from the season 2 premiere may have been a throwaway moment, empty fan service, was also proven wrong with the big return of the bounty hunter.

Temuera Morrison is shown to be a very tough and fierce character as Boba Fett, but he also shows some wisdom, he may only follow his own path, but he certainly has some code of honor, as he offers his services to Din Djarin in return for his armor. In the episode Temuera proves that he is the rightful Boba Fett now, even if the character was portrayed by a different actor in the movies. Who would have thought that the actor that played Jango Fett in the prequels would one day return as Boba Fett in a live action Star Wars series? The episode also settles the question about Jango's heritage. He's not Mandalorian by birth, but he was a foundling like Din. Does that also mean Jango was part of the same sect as Din? Or do other Mandalorian clans/guilds also take on foundlings to raise them as Mandalorians?

However both Boba's and Fennec Shand's return raise a few questions. If Boba wanted his armor so badly, why did he never try to get it back from Cobb Vanth on Tatooine, who would have certainly been an easier target than Din Djarin? And even though it's nice to see Fennec again the question is if she knew Boba from before or if he happened upon her dying body by pure chance and decided to rescue her? That seems a bit random perhaps. It further cements the fact that no one in the Star Wars universe is ever really dead. When people can survive full lower body amputation and being blown to atoms in the Death Star II explosion, they can easily survive blaster shots to the gut. It somewhat cheapens the element of death however and this plot device should only be used very sparingly, or else it veers into self-parody territory.

That being said Din certainly makes a great team with Boba Fett and Fennec. The show not only has a plan for Boba, he will certainly be a regular guest star now for the remaining two episodes. There are also rumors about a Boba Fett spin-off series, so we may see a lot more of him in the future.

A quick word about director Roberto Rodriguez: he staged some impressive action scenes. However, for some reason the cinematography didn't seem all that cinematic at times and looked much more like a tv show. Maybe it's the fact that the outdoor scenes with the Jedi Temple mostly looked like some regular landscape on Earth (which it is) which almost lends it some fan film quality, maybe it was the lighting as well, but for some reason the scenes on Tython were not remotely as cinematic as the previous episode with Ahsoka. Maybe the ruins should have been somewhat more elaborate, but this is where budget constraints certainly are visible on the screen. Apart from that the episode was a lot of fun once more, even if it will sadden all the fans of the Razor Crest. The big question is now if Grogu will be freed in the season finale or if season 3 will be all about getting to Moff Gideon to rescue the child. Another question is what new ride Din will eventually get. Certainly not Slave I, I don't think Boba will part with his iconic ship. Will the show go the Star Trek route and provide Din with a Razor Crest A that he finds somewhere? Then there's the big question if Grogu successfully reached out to other Jedi. And since there are virtually no other trained Jedi other than Luke, maybe Leia and very maybe Ezra Bridger (Ahsoka already declined to train Grogu), the choice of potential Jedi who will have heard the call is very limited. So the real question is if The Mandalorian is already preparing an appearance by Luke Skywalker in the season 2 finale when the heroes will almost certainly battle Moff Gideon.

Since the show doesn't do things for no reason Grogu's interaction with the seeing stone will absolutely have results. We will find out soon if that question is answered in season 2 or if we'll have to wait for next season.

In the end the shortest Mandalorian episode this season was yet another action packed adventure and since things are ramping up for the season finale it also delivered several punches to Din Djarin. The stakes are high now. I wonder if the season 2 finale will turn out to be an epic showdown between the Imperials and Din with Boba, Fennec, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka and maybe even a surprise Jedi guest star. That list alone shows you that Din Djarin has made quite a few friends, the show slowly expands its roster of recurring guest stars and broadens the scope. Let's look forward to next week's episode!