Oh my. That was just brilliant, wasn’t it!?
Disney & Lucasfilm’s first venture into live action Star Wars on the small screen came to a very satisfying & action packed finale today with the release of the eighth and final chapter in the freshman season of Star Wars biggest and best project to date and it didn’t disappoint. Now looms the gap until the second season arrives, by which time Disney+ will be fully functional over here in the UK.
After seven episodes/chapters of on and off world building & set up toward the finale, events come to a very big head in chapter 8 and picked up immediately from the cliffhanger from last week’s penultimate instalment. This is where things immediately become interesting as IG-11 rescues “Baby Yoda” (who sadly, still doesn’t get an official species name...so he/she is still just....”Baby Yoda” I guess) from the stormtroopers who captured the creature after killing Kuill. There’s a very from cameo here from Jason Sudeikis as one of them with some comedic dialogue.
Then proceeds a very fun action sequence with a shootout between Moff Gideon’s platoon of stormtroopers and death troopers with IG-11, Mando, Cara Dune and Greef Karga which Taika Waititi directs absolutely masterfully. It’s definitely up there with the Mandalorian clan scene bought to life by Deborah Chow in chapter 3. It’s sort of ironic that Taika is on double duty in the finale as both director and a main character. The power of Taititi.
This is where one of the biggest moments of the finale comes as Mando himself is gravely injured and despite being offered medical attention by IG-11, insists that ‘this is the way’ - a line repeated throughout this chapter and spoken by other Mandalorians in chapter 3. Eventually though, he relents and allows IG to treat his wounds and during this process we finally learn Mando’s real name - Din Djarin. Yay. Now we can refer to him as Din. To treat damage to his ‘core processor’ as joked by IG, Din reluctantly allows his helmet to be removed, giving us the first look at Pedro Pascal in the flesh as Din Djarin.
After this, we’re reunited with the leader of the Mandalorian clan with the reveal that most of the clan are either dead after the events of chapter 3 or have fled off world to escape the empire and protect their identities. She is the only one left and refuses to leave. During this exchange, she awards Din with a crest which she welds to his armour and a Boba Fett style jetpack. He’s officially a fully fledged bounty hunter now. An escape is needed as stormtroopers storm the tunnels in which the Mandalorian hideout. In a poignant but somewhat heartbreaking twist, IG-11 sacrifices himself to blow up a group of storm troopers flanking the only exit at the end of a lava lake, finally getting fully redeemed from originally trying to kill “Baby Yoda” and filling his purpose as programmed by Kuill.
This is where things take the most dramatic turn yet as Moff Gideon tries to take out the remainder of the group in his TIE Fighter but he doesn’t anticipate Din now having a jet pack which comes in handy (wow, bet you didn’t see that coming) and allows our favourite space cowboy to plant an explosive charge on the hull of Gideon’s fighter, sending it into a fatal roll and ultimately bringing it down, along with Gideon. Our heroes win and “Baby Yoda” is safe.....
That may not be so however. After Din departs in the Razor Crest with “Baby Yoda”, it’s revealed that Gideon survived the crash and cuts his way out of the wreck of his fighter with the most unexpected tool - A Darksaber. That’s right, this evil empire loyalist possesses a rare Mandalorian relic, originally stolen from the Jedi temple during the fall of the republic. This is a very interesting set up for next season and leaves us with the burning question of just how this could tie into the upcoming final season of The Clone Wars as well as season 2 of The Mandalorian.
It’s been a pleasure talking all things The Mandalorian with you, readers.
Now we wait. This is the way.
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