2020, Disney+
Chapter 12: The Siege
directed by: Carl Weathers
Mando and The Child return to Nevarro to get some real repairs done to the Razor Crest. Greeted by Greef Karga and Cara Dune -- who are now the planet administrator and sheriff, respectively -- they enlist Din into helping them clean out an Imperial remnant base that still troubles them. Actually, Greef wants to blow it up, lest the planet become a target for looters and scavengers. Baby Yoda goes to school in the meantime where he steals a boy's cookies.
They infiltrate the base with ease but escaping is the hard part. On the way out they discover that the base is actually a lab, with cloning projects in the works, for which the child was an essential element, which explains Moff Gideon's interest. After a successful mission and repaired ship, Mando departs and Cara is visited by Carson Teva who takes an incident report, and deputizes her in the New Republic.
The Good
Like last episode, traipsing through Imperial ships and bases brings back gleeful memories of OG Star Wars and sneaking around the Death Star. I have a visceral response to this kind of thing and just can't get enough of it. I think the Empire is a cool villain with neat ships and bases, though utterly disgusting in principle, so it always brings me joy to see a hero (or even anti-hero) stick it to the space fascists.
The end chase sequence brings back the Troop Transport (seen in Chapter 7) though it's been modified into more of an assault transport. The mere appearance of the troop transport in live action in Chapter 7 was enough of a thrill (it was only ever produced as a toy back in the late-1970's, never appearing in Star Wars anywhere proper until now), but seeing one in action brought an additional charge.
Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) returns (debuting in Chapter 10). I hope we see more of him across the different Star Wars series as an outer rim S.Hi.P.S (space highway patrol squad) officer. He can be Ponch to Trapper Wolf's John.
Looks like Moff Gideon has a whole other arsenal ready to deploy. And he had an agent on Nevarro plant a tracker on the Razor Crest.
The Bad
I have to question leaving Baby Yoda at a school that seems completely unguarded. I also have to wonder why that boy did jack shit when the Child stole his cookies. Is there a "takers-keepers" law in Navarro or something.
I don't want to be the needling person, but how much fuel does Mando's jetpack have? How far can he get with it. These are intricate nerdy details that don't really need to be explained, but I have to cock a curious eye when he can make it back to town faster in his jetpack, then, say, taking the Mythrol's speeder...unless he was leaving the speeder for the gang. That said, it didn't seem the chase from the base back to town was really that far away.
Speaking of the chase, why were Greef and Cara driving right into town with TIE Fighters chasing them. Wouldn't that put the town in danger? Unless the town has air defences this doesn't seem like a good move.
Unreal Problems
Well, Cara Dune actress Gina Carano had a banner year in 2020 pissing off people on twitter and causing a swell of calls for her to be kicked off the Mandalorian. First there were sort of anti-trans-like sentiments made, well, those were kind of backed out of, but not to everyone's satisfaction. But she continued to rile sensitive left wingers with her tweets about the election results which kind of put her into the well of Trumpian-supporting celebs (although I don't think she's ever come right out and said she's a Trump supporter), and the cries for her cancellation swelled again. Political divisiveness and the prevalence of slanted, manipulative articles posing as news has reached deep within the well of American society, and that includes celebrities. Do I think Carano has a bad heart? I don't really know, I don't follow her that closely, but I don't think so. I think she's from conservative stock and that makes her a easier target for manipulation. I hope she gets past it rather than leans into it. Is she a good actress? She's fine in the role as Cara Dune. Will the show be the less without her? Nope. Will it be any worse with her? Nope. Could Disney do anything about replacing her in Season 2 even if they wanted to by the time this shitstorm arose? Nope, everything was shot already and all episodes were deep in post-production. So any continued bellyaching about Disney's relationship with here is, for the time being, a semi-moot point.
I like Cara Dune as a character...but I don't think she's worth creating yet another divide in Star Wars fandom. I'll have to see how Carano handles herself in the coming months to see how I feel about a continued role.
Those cookies the Child stole/ate/barfed up were made by Willaims Sonoma and cost about $50 (US) for a sleeve of 12 cookies. And they're just a generic vanilla almond flavour. That colour intones more a pistachio flavour.
Lest we forget... Jeans Guy who became an internet sensation late in November... then Disney deleted him from the episode weeks later.
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Galaxy Building
So we obviously spend some time on Nevarro back in Season 1 (Chapters 1-3, 7&8) with Greef who started out as a business acquaintance, then became adversary, and then turned into a friend. Cara Dune appeared in Chapter 4 where Mando befriended her, then she returned in 7 & 8 to join him on Nevarro after which she stayed behind to help clean out the imperial presence and do some good. She's been doing good. The opening sequence we see her take on some Walrus Men in the Mandalorian Armorer's abandoned underground forge.
We see the TIEs with the folding wings, speeder bikes, and their old school Star Wars targeting systems. So great.
In the school the protocol droid is teaching the children about trade routes, including the Kessel Run.
There's a memorial statue to IG-11 in the center of town, which was a very subtle but nice touch.
Mythrol (Horatio Sanz) last seen in Chapter 1, is back. Greef thawed him out and has forced him into indentured servitude, which is kind of problematic, but it's mainly bookkeeping which isn't a rough gig as payback for one's crimes.
The controls for shutting down the lava cooling unit are on a janky, rail-less platform like that which Obi-Wan traversed to shut down the tractor beam on the Death Star. Mythrol's comments about the lack of safety is on-point and hilarious.
Those cloning tubes...are those...Snoke prototypes?
That's Dr. Pershing in the holovid, last seen in Chapter 3. He's a cloning scientist, but his allegiance to the Imperial order is obviously tenuous. He certainly seems to have some care for the Child's wellbeing despite experimenting upon him. He mentions "M-count" which is easily interpreted as "Medichlorians" (the reviled microscopic, countable entities that imbue the Jedi and Sith with their abilities). Still canon.
Looking Forward
Cara getting deputized seems innocuous at first but it comes back into play later this season.
The cloning experiments, I assume, are part of the plan to resurrect Emperor Palpatine (per The Rise of Skywalker).
Obviously the tracker placed on the Razor Crest will come into play again.
And those kind of black stormtroopers we see Gideon with will have a future role.
Yes, Toys of that Please
We already got a Troop Transport in the Vintage Collection this year, so it would be too greedy to ask for the armored transport from this episode too (especially since I don't think the Troop Transport sold all that well). I don't know that there's anything *really* necessary as an action figure here. Maybe Greef's new wardrobe (since they've released figures of him in last season's outfit).
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