In “The Mandalorian” recap, Mando looks to make a deal to escape further trouble and he turns to some old friends for help…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
As “The Mandalorian” cruises towards its season one finale next week, the show had settled into a comfortable pattern with most of the episodes.
The bounty hunter affectionately known as Mando has been keeping a child safe, who was supposed to be handed over to some kind of Imperial warlord. Along the way, Mando has gotten himself into all sorts of adventures either hiding from other bounty hunters seeking to kill him and take the asset or just trying to find new and creative ways to earn a living in a galaxy far, far away.
But with next week’s season finale, “The Mandalorian” started moving towards the end game with the penultimate episode as Mando was forced to consider a deal with his old boss in order to clear his name and hopefully stop the line of bounty hunters all coming for his head.
Trust issues run deep in this corner of the galaxy so Mando calls upon some old friends to help him live through this planned meeting but just when it looks like he might find a way to escape, it turns out he’s been targeting the wrong enemy.
The episode ends on a cliffhanger, which will undoubtedly continue in the season finale next week but how did we get there? Let’s recap the latest episode of “The Mandalorian” titled “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” to find out…
Scum and Villainy
As Mando continues to flee from planet to planet, seeking to avoid the bounty hunters coming after him and baby Yoda, he receives a call from his old boss, Greef Karga.
Greef invites Mando to return to Nevarro to help him revolt against the Imperial client who he betrayed by taking back the child he sought so desperately to obtain. According to Greef, the client has added additional troops to his arsenal and put a stranglehold on the town, which is now affecting bounty hunter guild business.
Greef proposes that Mando return, using the child as bait, and they will work together to assassinate the client so both will get what they want. Greef will get his town back and Mando can stop running in constant fear that somebody is trying to kill him.
Obviously, Mando is far too smart to unwittingly trust Greef after everything he’s been through but he also knows this might be the only way to clear his name and stop the trail of bounty hunters who have been coming after him. But he’s not going to return to Nevarro alone without anybody to watch his back.
So Mando returns to Sorgan — the site of the village that he helped protect from a gang of raiders who also possessed an AT-ST walker — seeking the help of Cara Dune.
The former Rebel Alliance shock trooper found refuge on Sorgan as she sought to stay away from the prying eyes of the New Republic after she ended her term of service and struck out on her own after the war ended a few years earlier. When Mando arrives, Cara is engaging in bar fights akin to professional wrestling strap match where she’s tied to her opponent while they beat the hell out of each other. Cara’s winning and taking home a nice piece of prize money as a reward but Mando offers her an even bigger prize for helping him in his bid to clear his name and save the kid from further danger.
She declines at first until Mando tells him that the target is connected to the former Empire. That’s all she needs to hear before she signs up to watch his back.
The next stop takes Mando back to Arvala-7 — where he first found baby Yoda — and he seeks to reunite with the Ugnaught named Kuiil, who helped him when he was previously on the planet. Mando wants Kuill to protect the baby while he and Cara meet with Greef in hopes of settling his debt with the client once and for all.
The meeting nearly goes south in a hurry when Mando and Cara find IG-11 — the droid bounty hunter, who was initially out to capture or kill the baby — now serving Kuiil. Mando’s extreme distrust of droids is only strengthened by the fact that the last time he encountered IG-11, it was trying to kill baby Yoda.
But Kuill explains how he found the IG-11 left for scrap parts after Mando blasted him in the first episode and instead of just trashing him, the Ugnaught decided to save the droid and put him to better use. Kuill reprogrammed IG-11 and essentially had to retrain the droid to handle even the most basic functions. Now the droid is devoted to Kuill and the Ugnaught insists on bringing him along — as well as three of his Blurrgs — to help him complete this mission on Nevarro.
Mando reluctantly agrees and they all set out on the journey back to Nevarro.
Along the way, Mando and Cara engage in an arm wrestling contest, which baby Yoda notices from his crib. The baby believes that Cara is hurting the Mandalorian so he reaches out and Force chokes the former Shock Trooper much like Darth Vader did in the original “Star Wars” when a military commander questioned his sad devotion to an ancient religion.
Mando quickly jumps up and tells the baby that Cara is his friend and the choke is released.
Kuill takes particular notice to this power because it’s something he heard about previously when he was working as a slave to the Empire before earning his freedom. He stops short of saying ‘the Force’ but obviously he knows about the rumors surrounding this power.
It’s an interesting twist because it never felt like the Force was such a nasty secret in the original “Star Wars” films, particularly by the end of “Return of the Jedi” when even Jabba the Hutt mocked Luke Skywalker when he proclaimed himself a Jedi knight and used his powers to gain entrance into his palace. Somehow in the five years since the New Republic was founded, the Force has apparently disappeared from the galaxy yet again and now nobody seems to even know the kinds of powers this baby possesses.
Once the crew arrives on Nevarro, Greef Karga is there to meet them and he’s brought back up in the form of three more bounty hunters. He’s obviously surprised to find that Mando has back up of his own as well. He explains that the arduous terrain will make it impossible to get back to town tonight so they will set up camp at the halfway point.
Overnight when it seems like everything is calm and peaceful, a slew of winged creatures come streaking through the night. They kill one of the bounty hunters and two of the Blurrgs before Mando, Cara and the others can take down one of them and scare off the rest. Unfortunately in the melee, Greef took a talon strike to his arm and the creature’s poison is rushing through his veins.
Cara tries to treat him but they are short on medical supplies and it appears Greef won’t make it back for the meeting because he’ll be dead. That’s when the baby intervenes, placing his hand on Greef’s damaged arm and healing him completely. The poison not only stops but the talon scratches on his arm disappear. Everybody is stunned at this baby’s abilities and it’s starting to become clear why the client was so desperate to get his hands on this child.
When the crew finally makes it back to town, they scout out the scene and find that the client has brought in reinforcements with an entirely new garrison of Storm Troopers and even more on speeder bikes. Mando is starting to think this was a bad idea when Greef turns and pulls both of his guns — and shoots the two bounty hunters he hired to watch his back.
Greef confesses that his plan was a double cross all along — he wanted to lure Mando back to Nevarro, kill him and exchange the baby for a reward. But after the child healed his arm, he realized that he could no longer go through with his nefarious plan and instead he will help Mando stop the client from hunting him once and for all.
To protect the baby, Mando sends him back to the ship with Kuill while telling him that the Razor Crest will be nearly impenetrable once they are inside. They take the baby’s carriage, however, to help with the rouse to fool the client.
When they finally make it to the cantina, the client is surrounded by more guards than expected but Mando has a plan to get them close to him without raising suspicions. It’s the old Chewbacca on the Death Star plan where Greef pretends that Cara captured Mando and brought him back to the planet to stand judgment, return the child to its rightful owner and receive a handsome reward for her efforts.
Once inside the cantina, the client marvels at the Beskar armor that decorates the Mandalorian now. He can’t understand why this couldn’t have been an easier transaction if he would have just handed over the asset.
When the client finally insists on seeing the baby, Greef quietly hands Mando’s blaster back to him as the cuffs on his wrists are taken off. Just when the carriage is about to open, the client gets a call that he has to take.
The person on the other end of the line is Moff Gideon (played by ‘Breaking Bad’ alum Giancarlo Esposito) and he informs his “friend” that there is no baby in that carriage but he will ascertain the asset in a matter of moments. What Mando doesn’t know is that his radio transmissions back to Kuill were intercepted and now two speeder bike Troopers are in hot pursuit.
Before the client can explain anything further, a hail of laser blasts rip through the cantina. All of the Storm Troopers are killed along with the client himself.
As Mando, Cara and Greef gather themselves, they look outside to find a batallion of Death Troopers have blasted the building and another garrison of Storm Troopers have also arrived to fortify the position. That’s when a TIE Fighter comes down from the sky and lands in front of the cantina and Moff Gideon finally emerges.
Mando shouts to Kuiil over the communicator to get back to the ship but sadly his Ugnaught friend never answers because he’s already been killed. The troopers on speeders got to him before he could get to the ship and now the baby is in their position.
Inside the cantina, Mando and the others prepare to take a stand against an army they surely can’t defeat when Moff Gideon addresses them.
“You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you’re in possession of but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine. It means more to me than you will ever know.”
The troopers have captured the baby, Mando, Cara and Greef are stuck in a building, heavily outnumbered by Imperial forces and a way out with everybody alive just doesn’t seem possible.
“The Mandalorian” will wrap up season 1 next Friday on Disney+
