The Mandalorian – Season 2, Episode 6 Recap, “Chapter 14: The Tragedy”

I’m so happy I could cry. I mean, last week’s episode of The Mandalorian was great, but this week’s was even better.

I don’t know how they keep doing this week after week, but this show keeps upping the ante and raising the stakes. Every episode has been an escalation in plot and character. And this one was a miraculous blend of heart-stopping action, staggering emotional heft, and pitch perfect fan service.

From the title alone, we already know that this episode wasn’t going to have a happy ending. And it doesn’t. Jon Favreau and (director of the week) Robert Rodriguez give us a mini version of The Empire Strikes Back, where major discoveries are made, new alliances are formed, the bad guys score a major victory, and our heroes are left dejected and more than a little worse for wear.

So, here’s everything that happens in “The Tragedy.” Boba Fett is back and he’s brought the Slave 1 with him. Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) is alive (and still kicks major ass). Grogu reconnects with The Force on Tython. Moff Gideon blows up the Razor Crest. A terrifying group of Dark Troopers kidnap Grogo.

And all of that in just 33 minutes. Star Wars fan or not, you cannot deny that this is a masterclass in storytelling.

So let’s get into it.

Grogu, I Am Your Father.

The opening moments of the episode really work to further cement the bond that Mando has with his charge. He’s practically giddy for knowing The Childs’ real name, calling out to him over and over again, just to see the little fella react. He’s a proud father who is thrilled at his kid’s ability to move things with his mind.

Now we already know how close the both of them have become, but those two minutes before the credits, the only quiet moments in an otherwise loud and action packed episode, were a necessary reminder that cunningly reinforced the emotional weight of the ending.

Boba Fett? Boba Fett! Where?

… fate sometimes steps in to rescue the wretched.

Boba Fett

Listen, we’ve never really seen Boba Fett do anything cool. In the prequels, all we saw was a young Boba lift up his dead father’s helmet. In the original trilogy, he was unceremoniously knocked (by a blind Han no less) into the Great Pit of Carkoon and left for dead. And I’m not even going to bother talking about his first appearance in the horrid Star Wars Holiday Special. The legend of Boba Fett was just that. A legend.

Until now.

Watching Boba Fett take out those Stormtroopers one by one left me breathless. (God knows I’ve never seen their armour shatter like that.) And then, once he’s finally reclaimed his own suit, we finally (finally!) see why Boba Fett was the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. He is unstoppable. He is vicious. He is relentless. It isn’t enough that he’s scared away the remaining Stormtroopers, he makes sure to take out their dropships as well. Ending them once and for all.

This is what I mean when I said pitch perfect fan service. Jon Favreau isn’t just dropping the occasional Easter Egg for shits and giggles. He isn’t going after the low hanging fruit. He’s filling in the holes. He’s padding the mythology. It’s easy enough to bring back fan favourite characters like Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett. But here, they aren’t just set dressing for the fans. They grow as characters. They serve a purpose. They’re essential to this story.

If there’s one thing The Mandalorian has successfully done week after week, it’s taking the Star Wars we know and love and showing it to us in a new way. The series is constantly reimagining these action set pieces: those corridor shootouts, the lightsaber battles, the dogfights. And in this episode, by how it used action to establish character. This is a show that never rests on its laurels.

Goddammit Gideon!

So Gideon’s plan seems to be coming together. By the end of this episode, he’s destroyed the Razor Crest and he’s captured Grogu. Mando has no idea where Gideon is going and needs to spring Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) from detention in the Karthon Chop Fields in order to track his Light Cruiser and find Grogu. This will no doubt draw the attention of the New Republic and have them breathing down his neck too.

Which can only mean one thing. More Appa!

Just two more episodes to go in this season and it’s building to what should be an incredible finale.

Calamari Flans

• Boba Fett says the line! “I’m a simple man making his way through the galaxy, like my father before me.” Which is a callback to a scene between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Kamino in Attack of the Clones.
• We also learn that Boba Fett’s father, Jango, was a foundling like Mando. Boba Fett also tells Mando that his father fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.
• We now know that the unknown person who saved Fennec Shand in the Season 1 episode “The Gunslinger” was, in fact, Boba Fett.
• We last saw Migs Mayfeld in the Season 1 episode “The Prisoner.”
• The Dark Troopers were first introduced in the 1995 first-person-shooter video game Star Wars: Dark Forces. I’m assuming this is the Mark I version. These guys haven’t even done anything yet and they’re already terrifying.
• That said, Stormtroopers are the worst. I have no idea why the Empire keeps recruiting idiots who can’t shoot straight. Even with a rattling gun. Then again, maybe their strategy is similar to what the Russians did in World War II. Just keep throwing more and more soldiers at the enemy until they get worn out and surrender.
• Watching Grogu almost force choke those Stormtroopers at the end plays into Ahsoka’s fears about how his emotions and powers make him susceptible to the Dark Side. This is something that Gideon is no doubt going to take advantage of.
• Gideon also seems to imply that Grogu might know what the Darksaber is. Even encountered it in “years past.” It seems like there’s more to Grogu’s past that meets the eye.
• I loved this homage to The Magnificent Seven.

(Britt has just shot a fleeing bandit off his horse)
Chico : Ah, that was the greatest shot I’ve ever seen.
Britt : The worst! I was aiming at the horse.

The Magnificent Seven

The Mandalorian, Season 2, is now streaming on Disney+.