– Spoiler Review –
The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 11 – The Heiress” is filled to the brim with heart, epic action, and reveals, making it easily the best episode of the season and right up there with the best of the first.
Look, I know what we all want me to talk about, and trust me, I want to talk about it too, but I want to start with something near and dear to my heart from this episode: Frog Lady and Frog Man reunited!! Wasn’t that the most wholesome thing you have ever done seen?! I whooped in delight at these two hugging it out in the harbor, as Frog Man thanks Din and sends him on his way to the local watering hole to track down the Mandos. I was so happy to see them a few more times in the episode, as Din wisely drops off Baby Yoda before a dangerous mission with his new pals, and later when he comes to pick the Child back up, as we got to see them help the Child understand what he was chaotically destroying when he was slurping down her eggs. It’s better parenting than Din ever could give to the Child, and it was a welcomed moment to see him excited about new baby life and wanting to play with their tadpole, instead of eager for his next meal. Likewise, I enjoyed these moments since it’s very rare we see a healthy, happy, full family unit in Star Wars. I’ll miss you Frog Lady and Frog Man, and I hope we see you two again one day (and with actual names…).
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: A Mando and a Baby Yoda walk into a bar…but this time the food tries to eat the Child. Beyond that funny little moment, I loved the look of the bar they walk into, primarily seating Quarren and Mon Calamarian’s because Trask is a water world after all, and the server gets a friend who Din way too easily and eagerly accepts knows the Mandos’ whereabouts; poor Din is a little too trusting, bless his heart. Out on a boat, heading towards parts unknown, the Quarren reveal their true colors, tossing Baby Yoda and Din to a water monster in hopes of securing the beskar. Din’s about to fail, but then three blue-armored Mandalorians swoop in to save the day. Din’s happy to be amongst his kind finally, but then they take off their helmets, which causes Din to immediately disrespect them, which leads to us gaining a glimpse of where Din fits in the larger Mandalorian story once his rescuers reveal themselves. Despite their fight, and him leaving them, the Mandos track Din down and save him, but with a price: help us with our job of stealing back ammunitions from the Imperial Remnant and we’ll point you towards a Jedi. He helps them and their leader points him to a surprising, but familiar name…
Before we get into that, how about we discuss the Mandalorians Din meets: the Nite Owls! And not just any Nite Owl…it’s Bo-Katan Kryze herself!!! The episode’s “Heiress,” Bo-Katan makes the jump from animation, originally introduced in The Clone Wars and seen again in Star Wars Rebels, played by the same actress who has voiced her from the start: Katee Sackhoff! That’s right, Starbuck of Battlestar Galactica fame isn’t just in Star Wars via voice, but in full on acting as well!! There’s been rumors for a while now, especially after the appearance of the Darksaber in Moff Gideon’s hands, and the actress has done her fair share of teasing (like yesterday with a coy little Tweet), but it was still damn magical to see that helmet come off and it’s Sackhoff as Bo-Katan. Having voiced the character for a while now, there’s comfortability to Sackhoff’s acting, and it’s obvious she’s enjoying herself finally in the physical part of the role, once again bringing the character’s trademark gruff and blunt demeanor. We most recently saw Bo-Katan in The Clone Wars’ final season, helping Ahsoka Tano in the Siege of Mandalore, but we last saw her in the timeline in Star Wars Rebels, taking back Mandalore from the Empire and wielding the Darksaber, handed to her by Sabine Wren, and thus uniting the clans. Which is why it was so surprising to see Moff Gideon wielding the Darksaber instead at the end of the first season, making one wonder what happened to Bo-Katan and Mandalore in-between. Bo-Katan knows Moff Gideon has the saber, and is actively trying to get it back, which I can only imagine means we’ll get to see this confrontation play out in the show.
Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls are trying to hit back at the Empire, stealing back ammunition and hopefully gathering enough forces together to retake Mandalore from the Imperial Remnant still holding sway over it. Din isn’t inclined to team-up with their mission, not only because he has his own quest to reunite Baby Yoda with his people, but because the way he was raised in the Death Watch cult. The moment Din yells at them for taking off their helmets when they first meet, assuming they aren’t really Mandos because of that, Bo-Katan sets him straight and reveals to us what exactly has happened to Din. Bo-Katan confirms, once she hears him spout their doctrine, Din was rescued by the Death Watch, as assumed from their armor in the flashbacks during season 1, a religious cult of Mandalorians who believed in returning the Mandalorians back to their warrior ways. As much as I’ve grown to like Din and his commitment to the Child, having watched the previous animated shows I was immediately in Bo-Katan’s camp, understanding her frustrations over his reluctance to work with them for their larger goal, but still sympathetic to Din as he was only a child and brainwashed by the cult so it’s not his fault. Bo-Katan’s sister, Duchess of Mandalore Satine, took the opposite approach of the Death Watch back during the Clone Wars and took the warrior culture to full pacifist, which might’ve been too hard of a swing, but a commendable one at that. Bo-Katan is somewhere in the middle, trying to be warriors but also diplomatic, so I’ll be curious to see if Din could come around to their side of things, maybe even getting the Armorer and his covert to help the Nite Owls, but I have a bad feeling Din and the Armorer aren’t going to be so friendly before this season is over.
“Chapter 11 – The Heiress” was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard and it seems all of my favorite or top episodes have been directed by women! While this episode was the shortest so far of the season, it felt the most purposeful and packed episode yet, feeling almost like the same length as “Chapter 9,” as it was crammed with a lot of new characters, reveals, a giant action sequence, and even those cute little Frog Family moments in its short runtime. In fact, the whole attack on the Gozanti cruiser was just top notch fun and excitement, from start to finish. The Nite Owls, especially Bo-Katan as she slices her way through a few stormtroopers, show off their considerable skills, blasting through legions of stormies without much difficulty. The humor with the Imperial officers was a nice touch, breaking up the breakneck pace of their assault, while still keeping up the energy of the whole scene. It’s easily better than the big spectacle with the krayt dragon and just a well-shot, planned, and executed sequence. As much fun as it was to watch the Imperial Remnant Officers squirm, things took a dark turn when Gideon finally responds to their call for help, as “Long Live the Empire,” puts the head officer (played by Titus Welliver)* into self-sacrifice mode, killing the pilots and setting the ship for a crash into the water. Even though Din and team make it to the cockpit in time, rather than be captured, the officer chomps down on a suicide jolt, killing himself. It was a gruesome surprise, and while it’s a minor moment, it really begins to explain how Moff Gideon could be off building up his forces in the Outer Rim, as he’s got his people fanatically trained to die rather than be caught, meaning no loose lips are sinking these starships.
The Nite Owls take the ship but Din declines to join, heading out to begin his search for the Jedi again thanks to tip from Bo-Katan: she tells Din to go to Corvus, the whereabouts of none other than Ahsoka freaking Tano!! We also saw her most recently during the final season of The Clone Wars, be it her episodes in the Coruscant underworld or the epic Siege of Mandalore, though the last time we saw her in the timeline was shortly after the Battle of Endor in the Star Wars Rebels finale, joining up with Sabine Wren to go looking for Ezra Bridger, who took Grand Admiral Thrawn out of the equation of the Galactic Civil War and hasn’t been seen since. Did they find Ezra and Thrawn? Are they still searching? Has Luke met with Ahsoka yet? What would Ahsoka’s reaction even be to Baby Yoda? There are a lot of questions, and a lot of history to explain if/when she appears on the show, so I’ll be curious how deeply The Mandalorian will go before letting it be resolved in a different show. They’ve already handled Bo-Katan’s introduction rather well, so I imagine Ahsoka will fit pretty neatly into the show when it happens, but this certainly feels like the beginnings of a larger TV presence for Star Wars going forward. As exciting and intriguing the potential for Ahsoka is, it comes with one giant caveat: who they casted to play her. If it’s Rosario Dawson, as heavily rumored (and most of the rumors have been spot on), that becomes a giant strike against such an exciting development. I’ve always enjoyed Dawson as an actress, feeling like she was wasted in (but made the most of) her largely supporting role across Marvel’s Netflix shows, but her alleged transphobic behavior that came to light from a lawsuit in October of last year makes her unfit for the role of Ahsoka Tano. As for Ashley Eckstein, who is Ahsoka no matter who plays her in live-action, wrote a heartfelt note to fans about not being chosen to play the character beyond animation (also in the article about Dawson), though knowing she was right there and going with Dawson (potentially) is a plan terrible move on Lucasfilm’s part. However, unlike Gina Carano (see my article on the first trailer for S2 for more on her actions), Dawson has frequently given to causes including those that support LGBTQ+, but the lawsuit’s allegations are still terrible at a level close to Carano’s continued disregard for the community and common truths about the election. UPDATE: I don’t agree with everything in this Vanity Fair article, but there’s a tidbit regarding Dawson which reveals 18 of the 20 charges have been dropped against her and her family, for whatever that’s worth, but it’s not much UPDATE OVER. Overall, the worst thing is this: not a single peep from Lucasfilm about any of it.
Here are a few other things:
- How about Ludwig Göransson’s new music for Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls?! I fell absolutely in love with this new theme, for it’s flexibility, be it a few quick beats but you can still tell what it is, to the prolong action sequence on the ship and how it can be drawn out but still kinetic in his speed and range…I might like it a bit over the show’s memorable theme song! Overall, this was one of my favorite soundtracks of the entire season, maybe even show.
- But who are the rest of the Nite Owls, Mynock? Thank the credits, we have names! Mercedes Varnado aka Sasha Banks plays Koska Reeves, while Simon Kassianides (Nikita, Agents of SHIELD) plays Axe Woves. They didn’t get to say too much, but their actions certainly spoke much louder. Hope they’ll get more to say in any following episodes, but love all the representation in this group!
- I know Titus Welliver best from LOST as the Man in Black, but he’s now the third Deadwood actor to grace The Mandalorian this season.
- I really liked the opening moments, as they plummet to Trask, and just when things look okay…they fall into the water. The Mon Cala dock worker’s repair job is also quite the sight!
The Mandalorian “Chapter 11 – The Heiress” makes the appearance of a big name quite the spectacle, with a few tender moments hidden within, while teasing even bigger reveals ahead; definitely the best of the season so far!
+ Bo-Katan’s Here!
+ Epic, layered action sequence
+ Enjoying the little moments
+ The tease of what’s to come…
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE MANDALORIAN REVIEWS
Season Two: Chapter 9 – The Marshal | Chapter 10 – The Passenger | Chapter 12 – The Siege | Chapter 13 – The Jedi | Chapter 14 – The Tragedy
Season One: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 – The Child | Chapter 3 – The Sin | Chapter 4 – The Sanctuary | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 6 – The Prisoner | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption