Sunday 16 June 2024

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 16: The Rescue


It's the finale of the second season, and boy is it a ride. Once again, I'll have to discuss some major spoilers.

Having learned where Gideon's cruiser is going to be, Din and his companions capture Dr Pershing - now revealed to be an expert in cloning - in a bid to determine if Grogu is still alive. Seeking more guns, they recruit Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves. Bo-Katan agrees, as she seeks the blade that Gideon possesses; the Darksaber. During the raid on the cruiser, Din's companions move to take the bridge, diverting the ship's garrison so Din can rescue Grogu and knock out a platoon of Dark Troopers that Gideon is storing.

What exactly is the Darksaber? It's essentially the Mandalorian's equivalent of the "sword in the stone", the holder of which has the right to rule Mandalore. It served as a major plot device in The Clone Wars and Rebels. If you hadn't watched either of those, then Gideon explains it during a confrontation.

Before the main action sequence, there's a brief opening where Boba Fett disables the shuttle carrying Pershing, and we see an interesting mix of personalities: one of the shuttle pilots takes the good doctor hostage, shooting the other one when he tries to negotiate. But when he gloats about Alderaan in front of Cara, she blasts him then and there. Pershing himself is also an interesting case. For an Imperial scientist, he's not exactly your typical mad scientist. He's genuinely concerned for Grogu's safety, and willingly offers information about the Dark Troopers.

We also get a brief moment where Boba Fett ends up butting heads with the other Mandalorians, even getting into a wrestling bout with Koska Reeves. But even he wishes them luck during the mission as he pretends to attack the stolen shuttle in a bid to get close.

The main strike team - Bo-Katan, Koska, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune - kick a lot of ass when they make their way through the ship. Meanwhile, Din struggles against one of the Dark Troopers before he ejects the rest of the platoon into space. And when he gets to Grogu, Gideon is there waiting for him.

Even when the ship is seized, things are still tense. Gideon shows how dangerous he is in captivity, sowing discord amongst the party by stating that the Darksaber has to be won in combat, meaning that Din can't willingly hand it over to Bo-Katan. And while Bo-Katan is almost ready to fight Din for it, the platoon of Dark Troopers fly back to the cruiser and lay siege to the bridge. All seems lost until a lone X-Wing arrives. Gideon previously bragged about how Din should assume he knows everything about his foes. And when he realises who was on that X-Wing, he's terrified.

Now, things are gonna get a little messy from this point forwards. After the credits, we get a brief scene where Boba Fett and Fennec Shand storm Jabba the Hutt's old palace and take over what remains of his organisation, serving as a teaser for the first release spin-off; The Book of Boba Fett. Trouble is, the latter half of that series involves Din Djarin, essentially turning it into "The Mandalorian Season 2.5".

With that in mind, I'm going to be looking at those last three episodes before I move onto Season Three.

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