In “The Mandalorian” recap, Mando and the child arrive at the Jedi temple but soon find out that they are not alone on the distant planet…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
There has been a lot of fan service during “The Mandalorian” season 2 and the latest episode was another jaw-dropping occasion featuring the return of Boba Fett!
While the infamous bounty hunter had been teased back in season 1 and then made a very brief appearance in the closing moments of the opening episode in season 2, it wasn’t until this latest installment that his return was full realized.
Of course we still don’t know how he escaped the Sarlacc in the Pit of Carkoon but what we now know for certain is that Boba Fett is very much alive and he even has a new ally in Fennec Shand (played by the wonderful Ming-Na Wen) after she first appeared in an episode back in season 1.
Boba Fett’s return isn’t the only worthy appearance this episode because Moff Gideon also returns to finally launch his attack in order to retrieve Grogu as he seeks to continue his cloning experiments.
There’s a lot to unpack from this one so let’s recap the latest episode of “The Mandalorian” titled “Chapter 14: The Tragedy”…
The Return of the Bounty Hunter
Typically a massive reveal on “The Mandalorian” is followed by a slower episode the following week but that wasn’t the case with this one.
After meeting Ahsoka Tano and helping her take down the Magistrate on Corvus in order to gain information for the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mando was disappointed with the former Jedi wouldn’t take Grogu and train him properly.
Instead, Ahsoka sent Mando on another mission to find the planet Tython where an ancient Jedi Temple remains. There he would place Grogu aka Baby Yoda onto a seeing stone and if he’s truly connected to the Force, he’ll send out a signal that will alert any other Jedis to his presence. While the Jedis are in short supply these days, if any are alive, they will heed that signal and come for Grogu.
As the Razor Crest arrives at Tython, Mando is doing his best to strengthen Grogu’s powers with the Force but he’s ultimately ill-equipped to handle such a job. Instead, he’s rather angry that Ahsoka Tano refused to take on the responsibility and instead sent him on yet another mission to track down the Jedi.
By the end of this episode, Ahsoka Tano might be feeling rather guilty that she didn’t care for Grogu when she had the opportunity.
Once Mando arrives on the planet, he locates the temple and flies up to the top with Grogu before placing him on the seeing stone. Grogu seems unimpressed by the stone as he sits there and mostly just tries to play with butterflies fluttering around his head.
Mando is attempting to see if perhaps the seeing stone has an on-switch but a moment later they are interrupted by the arrival of another ship — the Slave 1, which is Boba Fett’s ship that we last spotted during “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Knowing that this ship didn’t land her at this specific time by accident, Mando goes to retrieve Grogu but suddenly he’s been connected to the Force as a large blue light surrounds him while shooting into the sky. For lack of a better word, the Force field is impenetrable and Mando gets knocked back when he attempts to interrupt Grogu’s spiritual session.
With no chance to escape, Mando prepares to do battle with the intruders but that’s when he comes face to face for the first time with Boba Fett.
It seems Boba Fett tracked Mando after he left Tatooine with the Mandalorian armor he took from Cobb Vanth. That armor belongs to Boba Fett and he’s come to retrieve it.
Boba Fett informs Mando that Fennec Shand is perched nearby with a rifle pointed directly at Grogu if he doesn’t agree to hand over the armor. Rather than shoot it out, Boba Fett proposes a more peaceful arrangement after revealing to Mando that he saved Fennec’s life back on Tatooine after she had been left for dead and now she owes him a debt of gratitude.
Boba Fett explains that the Mandalorian armor belongs to him and if Mando hands it over, he will guarantee the safety of both him and Grogu. Before Mando has a chance to agree, another ship arrives except this is an Imperial transport filled to the brim with Stormtroopers.
As the soldiers begin barreling out of the ship, Boba Fett, Fennec and Mando decided to team up in order to take them down. A gun battle ensues, which also features Bobo Fett wielding a staff that he uses to dismantle and otherwise destroy a number of Stormtroopers.
Another ship arrives filled with Stormtroopers but Boba Fett and Fennec are able to hold them back while Mando goes and tries to retrieve Grogu. Unfortunately, he’s still encased in that Force field and there’s no getting him out of there until he finishes communing with his fellow Jedi.
As the fighting continues, the Stormtroopers break out an artillery weapon that keeps Mando and Fennec pinned down but Boba Fett seizes this opening when he sees that the Razor Crest’s doors are open. Just when it looks like Mando and Fennec are about to get captured or killed by the Stormtroopers, Boba Fett arrives in his full armor as he takes out the rest of the Imperial guard.
As the remaining Stormtroopers attempt to flee, Boba Fett uses his rocket launcher to take out the two ships as they leave the planet.
It’s around this time that Grogu finally finishes his Force session and he immediately falls asleep for a nap afterwards.
Before anyone can celebrate, a rain of laser fire comes down from the sky and destroys the Razor Crest. Mando looks up and finds an Imperial Star Destroyer has arrived and Boba Fett quickly jets off to board the Slave 1 before that can be blown to bits as well.
Over top of the planet, Moff Gideon is revealed as the commander of the starship and after learning that Mando’s transport has been destroyed, he dispatches four Dark Troopers in order to retrieve the Child from the seeing stone. Mando and Fennec race to rescue Grogu before the troopers arrive but sadly they are too late.
With Grogu sleeping, the Dark Troopers retrieve him without any struggle and fly back into the sky. Boba Fett has a beat on them from his ship but Mando asks him not to fire out of risk that Grogu could be hurt or killed.
Back on the ground, Boba Fett uses his armor to prove to Mando that this always belonged to him after it was passed down by his father, Jango Fett. Boba Fett explains that his father Jango was a foundling, much like Mando, who fought alongside the Mandalorians during the great civil war. As a reminder, Mandalorians have a code that they will not leave a child behind during a conflict and those kids are called foundlings, who are then often raised in the ways of the Mandalorian.
Mando himself was rescued by the Mandalorians when he was a child and Jango Fett was much the same.
Of course, Jango Fett went onto become the base copy of the clone army that the Emperor built, which eventually helped him destroy the Imperial Senate, kill the Jedis and put the entire galaxy under his rule.
As for Mando, he seems despondent in the face of Grogu being captured by Moff Gideon and he prepares to say his goodbyes to Boba Fett and Fennec Shand.
But Boba Fett has other ideas — he swore Mando and the child would stay safe in exchange for his armor and that vow has been broken so he remains in debt. In other words, Boba Fett is going to help Mando retrieve Grogu from his Imperial captors.
Everybody jumps on Slave 1 before landing on Nevarro where Mando reunites with Cara Dune, who has officially been declared the new marshal over this sector by the New Republic. Mando asks her for a location for Migs Mayfeld (played by Bill Burr), who he met back in season 1 during a prison break. Mando needs to break Mayfeld out of prison where he’s currently serving a 50 year sentence for killing a New Republic guard because his help is required when going up against Moff Gideon and his Imperial Star Destroyer.
Of course, Cara Dune doesn’t want to be part of this prison break until she finds out that the child has been kidnapped and Moff Gideon is behind it.
As for Grogu, he’s tossing Stormtroopers around using the Force as it appears his powers have increased after that trip to the seeing stone on Tython. Moff Gideon just watches in delight as the child exhibits his powers but after he tosses the Stormtroopers like rag dolls, he’s exhausted and can no longer muster any further strength.
Moff Gideon smiles before showing Grogu his Darksaber before then ordering one of the Stormtroopers to zap him with a stun blast to knock him unconscious. Moff Gideon tells his soldiers to inform Dr. Pershing that they’ve retrieved the asset and they are headed his way for additional testing now that he’ll have Grogu’s blood to work with again.
Moff Gideon puts the child in restraints as he prepares to drain the very life force out of Grogu in order to conduct whatever kind of cloning experiment he first started back on Nevarro.
With two episodes remaining this season it would appear next week will focus on Boba Fett and Fennec teaming up with Mando and Cara Dune in order to spring Mayfeld from prison with the finale likely featuring a mission to rescue Grogu from the evil clutches of Moff Gideon and the Empire.
“The Mandalorian” returns next Friday on Disney+ for the penultimate episode in season 2.
