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Breaking down The Mandalorian Episode 2: Ja-what happened after that big reveal?
What exactly did the hero of The Mandalorian do after finding out what his quarry really was? He didn't see that coming, and neither did we. Thankfully, nobody needed to wait very long to see what happened next, as Chapter 2 of the new live-action Star Wars series dropped on Disney+ this morning.
Written by series creator Jon Favreau and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the new episode continued to give us those classic Star Wars feelings, as well as tons of surprises and easter eggs. Are we going to break it all down? Of course we are. We have spoken.
*WARNING: From this point forward, there will be spoilers for Chapter 2 (and Chapter 1) of The Mandalorian. If you are not caught up, have that Kubaz whistle for a speeder and get right on out of here.*
If you need to catch up on all of the big reveals from Chapter 1 before we ride our Blurrgs into this new episode, then SYFY WIRE's new Star Wars podcast, Jabba the Pod, will catch you right up. It is helpfully embedded at the bottom of this post.
All caught up with no fear of spoilers? Then slightly raise the visor of that Mando helmet like it's a cowboy hat and get ready ... it's time to spill someone's drink.
ONE MANDO AND A BABY
So ... what does our the Mando do with the as-yet-untitled Yoda baby? Unsurprisingly, the episode features this baby (older baby?) heavily. We have an episode title this time, too: "The Child."
The Mando has to get off this rocky desert planet, and he makes his way around with the baby in the floating crib, with the baby constantly looking out curiously. It has to be said ... the baby is utterly adorable in its fascination with everything, which includes the Mando.
Unfortunately for them both, they're on a planet full of scavengers. It's not long before he is attacked by a group of Trandoshans, lizard-like aliens who are in the same species as Bossk. The Mando has no trouble with them, though; he lays them all out while the baby watches. He looks at the still-fascinated baby, and we cut to credits.
WEAPONS ARE MY RELIGION
The Mando heals himself and repairs his armor as best he can in the desert before returning to his ship. Great! Only problem — his ship is being stripped by Jawas, who have their sandcrawler parked right beside it. The Mando wastes no time in shooting off some rifle bolts into the Jawa swarm, and the baby seems to enjoy watching. Or it's dismayed. Hard to read.
Taking pellets from his array of ammo to reload the rifle, he shoots one of the Jawas, who gets wiped out completely, leaving just a tattered robe behind. The Jawas haul their butts into the sandcrawler and drive away, but the Mando ain't having that. He shoots at the back of it before climbing on as it rolls through the desert, and there are some serious Indiana Jones vibes going on.
We actually see the Jawas at the controls of the sandcrawler for the first time as the Mando ascends, tossing Jawas out of little holes along the way. He reaches the top only to get stunned by about six Jawas at once. He freezes, and then drops off of the top to the ground. When he comes to, the sandcrawler is gone, but the baby is still watching him. He returns to his ship to find it stripped and useless.
Where can he turn? He goes back to the home of Nick Nolte the Ugnaught, who the credits name as Kuiil. Kuiil greets the Mando with a friendly "I thought you were dead." He then takes a look at the baby and asks, "This is what was causing all the fuss?" The Mando tells him that his ship has been stripped and that he's stranded, and Kuiil tells him that it's stripped, not destroyed. "Makes no difference," says the Mando.
While this happens, the baby starts tottering around a bit. It also swallows and eats one of the little desert creatures with relish, and laughs afterward. The Mando, the baby, and Kuiil are now off to get the Mando's ship parts back from the Jawas, and after a rain-soaked Blurrg ride they find the sandcrawler. When Kuiil points out that they don't seem to like him, Mando says, "Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." So that's what disintegration looks like!
Kuiil tells him to leave his weapons behind, and the Mando responds, "I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion." He ends up doing it anyway, and they begin trade negotiations with the Jawas. Sometimes business needs outweigh religious convictions.
STRIPPED BUT NOT DESTROYED
As the Mando, Kuiil, and the Jawas trade, the Jawas mock the Mando and tell him, "You speak terrible Jawa. You sound like a Wookiee." They want his Beskar, but we know that's not gonna happen. They show interest in the baby, but that's not gonna happen either. Ultimately they tell him, "We require the egg. Bring us the egg." They all travel to wherever this egg is, with the Jawas chanting "the egg" nonstop.
Egg! Egg! Egg!
We end up with the Mando and the baby in front of some kind of cave, and the Mando goes in. He sees some bones, and then a giant eye opens. Not good. From the outside, the baby watches as some blaster shots go off inside the cave, and then the Mando comes flying out of it. He is being pursued by a giant, horn-headed beast.
The Mando tries all of his weapons and tricks on this thing, but his rifle is jammed, his wire shot doesn't do much, and soon he's laid out in the mud. He manages to stagger up, weaponless save for a single knife, and the beast charges at him. Things are looking dire as the beast approaches.
But the beast never reaches him. The baby has reached out with the Force, and the beast is floating in the air. Pretty impressive for a baby that just learned to walk. The beast soon collapses as the Mando sticks his knife in it, just to contribute something. The baby falls asleep from the strain.
He retrieves an egg from the cave and returns to the Jawas with it. They proceed to cut it open and drink the yolk from inside. It is disgusting. They give the ship parts back to the Mando, and soon enough Mando, baby, and Kuiil are on their way back to the stripped ship. On the way, Kuill asks, "Explain it to me again, I still don't understand what happened." The Mando's only response is "Neither do I."
HE HAS SPOKEN
Kuiil helps the Mando restore his ship, and soon enough it's operational again. He makes Kuiil an offer to join him, but Kuiil doesn't accept — he spent too many years working for his freedom to wind up back in servitude. He thanks the Mando for bringing peace to his home and says, "Good luck with the child! May it survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken."
Mando and baby take off in the ship, and we're back in space, finally off that rock. The Mando looks at the baby, looks at the stars, and we cut to more gorgeously drawn end credits.
SO ... WHAT NOW?
Though it was a shorter episode, it definitely cleared up the "Is this baby Force-sensitive" question in a big way. It's no wonder that the baby is a desired commodity. Almost entirely contained to the rocky desert planet, this episode only featured the Mando, Kuiil, the baby, and scavengers. Hopefully next week we'll finally meet Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and get to know how a former Rebel shocktrooper operates. Is this the end of Kuiil in the series? Possibly ... but we hope not. We also hope that our Mando has learned a lesson here — being stripped is not the same as being destroyed.
The Mandalorian will unleash Chapter 3 next week on Disney+. For more on Chapter 2 of The Mandalorian as well as enough Star Wars news and discussion to fill a vac tube, like and subscribe to Jabba the Pod, SYFY WIRE's aural home for all things having to do with the galaxy far, far away.
