RJ Writing Ink

Boba Fett is one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars. Despite having only seven lines in Empire, his kickass armor and quiet demeanor made him a merchandising goldmine. His fans call him one of the biggest badasses in the Galaxy. The naysayers wonder if he’s overhyped. Some even question if Boba’s a true Mandalorian. After today’s new epiosde of The Mandalorian, let those doubts be silenced. Boba Fett’s every bit the legend he’s been built up as over the last forty years!

To be fair, I already knew that. Expanded Universe, after all.

Boba Fett Returns

In a slight break to its formula of “main story, side quest, main story,” The Mandalorian jumps straight to Tython. There, in the ruins of an ancient Temple, Baby Yoda meditates to unlock his connection to the Force. Unfortunatley, they’ve got company in the form of Boba Fett. He’s not alone, either. With him is Fennec, the woman who betrayed Mando and got left for dead. Boba found her and restored her with cybernetics.

Many fans speculated that Boba Fett was the one who approached Fennec. Right now, I imagine they’re celebrating being vindicated. Now she works for Boba, who wants what was taken from him. He wants his armor back.

When Boba and Mando meet face-to-face, I noticed a few things different about him. On the surface, he’s scarred and grizzled thanks to his encounter with the Sarlaac. However, his demeanor’s changed, as well. He’s willing to talk things out with Mando, negotiate to get his armor back. Either it means that much to him, or the near-death experience made made him more willing to talk things out.

Talking goes out the window, though, when the Empire shows up to get Baby Yoda.

Skirmish on Tython

the rest of the (relatively) short episode consists mainly of a scene straight out of a first-person shooter. Mando, Fennec, and Boba Fett go on a rampage, mowing down Stormtroopers in an action sequence that would make Game of Thrones green with envy.

This show’s already given us its fair share of great fight scenes. That said, in this episode is by far the best. It easily approaches the level of the films, and gives us several great moments. Like this.

And this.

And this!

Pure, unadulterated fanservice.

Alas, the trio’s efforts are for naught. While they fight, Moff Gideon’s ship arrives and his Dark Troopers capture Baby Yoda before the others can reach him. And to add insult to injury, they destroy the Razor Crest.

Boba Fett is a Mandalorian

Ever since “The Mandalore Plot” in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there’s been controversy over Boba Fett’s identity as a Mandalorian. One character in the show, a Mandalorian, claims that his father, Jango Fett, was little more than a common bounty hunter who wore Mandalorian armor. I ignored it at the time. However, this made people doubt if Boba was a Mandalorian. Tonight, those doubts are silenced.

After the battle, Boba shows Mando the chain code on his armor. Not only does it prove that it belongs to him, but to his father as well. In other words, Jango Fett was a foundling.

Given Boba’s status as a clone, people may still want to debate this. Although this may be true, I don’t think that matters in the grand scheme. Boba Fett is a Mandalorian. And he’s ready to pay his debts.

Mando Goes to War

With Moff Gideon now holding Baby Yoda captive, fans are left wondering how Mando will rescue his charge. The answer’s simple: he’s going to war, with Boba Fett and Fennec at his side.

Given how the episode ends, the next one will focus on the group freeing one of the criminals Mando left on that prison ship to mount a rescue.

This is the one complaint I have about the episode, though. Why rescue someone who they don’t know if they can trust when there are others who can help. Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls would gladly help if it gave them the chance to take out Moff Gideon. Moreover, seeing a bunch of Mandalorians fighting together kicks ass.

Regardless of how things ended, it’s clear that the show’s going to do something explosive for its season finale. Will Mando rescue Baby Yoda? Will Baby Yoda misuse his newly acquired Force Powers? Am I right about Gideon’s endgame? These are all great questions that are making me yearn for the next episode, and I love it.

Also, it proves that Boba Fett is the badass everyone thought. This is the Way

I Give “The Tragedy” a 5/5.

Stray Observations

• The Dark Troopers are now canon. If you don’t know what they are, they’re experimental battle droids from a 90s video game. Great story to them.
• Anyone curious how Boba got his ship back?

Click here to learn all there is about Star Wars with Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki.

Click here to see more of my Star Wars Stuff.

Ashoka Tano; few characters in Star Wars have had such a complex journey, both in-universe and in the real world. When she debuted in the pilot movie for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, people thought she was an annoying tag-along that would die before the show’s end; she did, but it didn’t stick. Twelve years later, though, and this former Jedi turned rebel stands as one of the franchise’s greatest heroes. Now, after months of speculation, and two weeks since the name drop in “The Heiress”, the fans wish came true.

THANK YOU, DAVE FILONI!

Ashoka Tano’s Journey Continues

Canonically, the last time we saw Ashoka was sometime after the fall of the Empire. She and Sabine Wren left in search of Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger, who disappeared into the Unknown Regions at the end of Star Wars: Rebels. Flash-forward four or five years, and she’s fighting the forces of a corrupt magistrate on Corvus. Fighting, and winning. In fact, if it weren’t for the Magistrate’s willingness to kill the townspeople under her thumb, I think Ashoka could have taken her down with little effort.

Fans of Star Wars may know that the Jedi took a lot of inspiration from depictions of the Samurai of Japan. That influence is very much prevalent in “The Jedi”, down to Ashoka’s role in the episode. If the Jedi are Samurai, then Ashoka’s a Ronin, a wandering, master-less Samurai trying to help those in need. She’s fighting to free a town from its cruel lord, which leads to a final showdown between her and the Magistrate in the latter’s compound. The backdrop’s got some heavy Oriental influences to it, while the fight itself resembles what you might expect from Akira Kurosawa’s films. In other words, Ashoka spends the whole episode kicking ass, and I love it.

Mando Learns More About Baby Yoda

When Mando arrives on Corvus, the Magistrate’s desperate enough to get rid of the former Jedi that she hires him to kill her. Big mistake, though, as all he does is talk to her about Baby Yoda. Or rather, she communicates with Baby Yoda using the Force, while Mando’s left in the dark. She seems pleased by what she learns, and is happy to share it with Mando.

It’s here that we actually learn more about Baby Yoda’s past. He was once a Jedi Youngling living in the Temple. When Order 66 saw the Temple attacked, someone took him away and hid him. He’s been alone and in hiding ever since. We also learn Baby Yoda’s real name: Grogu.

Yeah, I’m still calling him Baby Yoda.

Despite Mando’s argument that the Child should be trained to control his Force powers, Ashoka refuses. She says that the bond that Grogu and Mando have could lead to him tapping into the Dark Side. She knows from first-hand experience how that can end badly for everyone.

Ashoka makes a good point: Jedi who let fear and negative emotions cloud their judgement are dangerous. However, I think that Ashoka’s suffering from slight PTSD over the fact that her master became Darth Vader. That’s why she won’t train him, even after Mando helps her free the town from the Magistrate.

She does, however, point him on another path.

Two Big Name Drops

The reason why Ashoka was fighting the Magistrate was because she was wanted information. It’s not until the end of the episode that we actually learn what it was she wanted to learn: the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Fans of Rebels will remember him as the blue-skinned Admiral of the Empire that served as the big bad for the latter half of the show. He and Ezra disappeared into the Unknown Regions in the series finale, hence Ashoka’s quest to find Ezra. The fact that we got his name dropped by Ashoka means two things. Firstly, that Thrawn’s still alive and operating somewhere. Secondly, that Ezra Bridger is most likely alive as well.

The episode ends with Ashoka and Mando going their separate ways, so there’s no indication that she will return in the future. However, it’s likely the events of this episode could set up Ashoka for her own series focusing on her search for Ezra. Or maybe the two will intersect in the future.

Ashoka does point Mando and Grogu in the right direction, though. She tells them to travel to the planet of Tython. There they’ll find the ruins of an old Jedi Temple that’s strong in the Force. Grogu will be able to use it to choose his own path; if he wants to, he can call out to another Jedi through the Force.

While it hasn’t been made any big appearances in the new canon, Tython had a big impact in the old Expanded Universe. Located in the Deep Core, Tython’s thought by some to be the homeworld of the Jedi Order. The Jedi abandoned it after their founding before returning millenia later, only for it to be abandoned once more. If Tython is Mando’s next destination, then I can’t wait.

Dave Filoni Does it Again

Overall, this episode was amazing and worth the months of waiting. Rosario Dawson knocked it out of the park as Ashoka and I hope we see more of her in the future. Dave Filoni once again demonstrated why he’s one of the best people to take over the reins of Star Wars while showing off his love for the franchise. And we finally got some clues regarding Baby Yoda’s past. Stellar episode overall; one of the best of the series.

This is the Way.

I Give “The Jedi” A Solid 5/5

Stray Observations

• Listen closely and you’ll hear Ashoka and Yoda’s themes play at certain points in the episode
• Morai the owl-thing is back!

Click here to learn all there is about Star Wars with Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki.

Click here to see more of my Star Wars Stuff.