Another episode of The Mandalorian was upon us this week. After last week's Ashoka Tano tease, Mando and The Child got sidetracked on their way to the forest planet of Corvus in order to repair the Razor Crest (because of course they did) and despite The Child's best ship-fixing skills (non-existent), the pair end up back on Nevarro and reunite with their old allies from season one. Let's break down what happened this week. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
1) MEETING WITH OLD FRIENDS
When they land on Nevarro, they are greeted by their old friends Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano) who have transformed the the city since Mando departed. Dune is the Marshal and Karga is running the city from a clerical standpoint. There are many traders, there is an established school and the city seems more vibrant. While they have Mando at the moment, Karga and Dune ask for his help in destroying the last Imperial stronghold on the planet. Mando joins them, along with the Mythrol that Mando captured all the way back in the pilot (a nice little callback), whilst his ship is being fixed. While I've mentioned before that the show skirts around its main narrative, I was okay with it for this week since I have been waiting for Karga and Dune to appear after playing strong roles in season one. It should also be noted that Carl Weathers directed this episode in addition to appearing as Karga, and he makes the most of it and does a fantastic job!
2) THE M-COUNT AND SNOKE
While infiltrating the Imperial base, the group comes across a room with some scientists who quickly destroy some data before being killed. Along the walls, there appear to be some clones in vats. The Mythrol reads a recording from Dr. Pershing who reveals that he had been pumping The Child's blood into the test subjects, due to The Child's blood having a high M-count. This is significant for Star Wars fans because as we all know, the M-count probably stands for Midi-chlorians, microscopic life forms that appear in all living things. Force-sensitive users have a high midi-chlorian count, so it would make sense that they are using The Child's blood because it is clear that he is Force-sensitive. However, if you ask me, the clones bare a striking resemblance to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) from the Sequel Trilogy. Is this a connection the show is trying to make with the larger Star Wars universe? Perhaps. Did Moff Gideon create Snoke? Not necessarily, but this could have been an early trial of it that eventually cumulated in the Snoke that we saw in the trilogy that Palpatine supposedly created. The scene clearly establishes why Moff Gideon is hellbent on taking The Child, so now the audience knows his motive (or most important aspect of his motive) for the little one. It will be interesting to see if there are any more answers regarding Snoke's creation in future episodes of the show.
3) WHAT IS MOFF GIDEON PLANNING?
The very end of the episode finally shows Moff Gideon, in some Vader-looking armor mind you, in the flesh for the first time this season. It's revealed that one of the people that was fixing the Razor Crest was an Imperial spy who planted a tracking device on the ship. Gideon replies that he is pleased and they will be "ready". The final shot of the episode pans out to show a group of soldiers that Gideon is seemingly preparing to unleash on Mando and The Child. Who are these soldiers? It's possible they are "Dark Troopers", more lethal and upgraded storm trooper robots that have appeared in the expanded Star Wars universe that technically isn't canon yet. There's really no surprise that the show is bringing in another aspect of the expanded universe, as it is commonplace for the show to connect its events to the larger Star Wars universe. Are these Dark Troopers connected to the Imperials' experiments with the Force? Maybe or maybe not. What I do know is that this episode definitely leaves some interesting and exciting plot threads for the rest of the season.
With next week's episode heavily rumored to have the first appearance of Ahsoka Tano, some of these answers may have to wait for a few weeks unless Tano knows something that we don't. I'm expecting next week's episode to be the best of the season so far! What did you think of this week's episode? What do you think Moff Gideon is up to? Did he create Snoke? Let me know in the comments below and look for my next post on Chapter 13 next week!
Have a safe and socially-distant Thanksgiving everyone!
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