– Spoiler Review –
The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 12 – The Siege” reminds me a bit of an 80’s action movie, it was directed by Carl Weathers after all, from its comradery between old friends and allies, infiltration of a villain’s lair, and plenty of humor, but it feels smarter than one too, as it reveals some new and intriguing details on Moff Gideon’s plans. As much as I enjoyed this episode, I’d be committing a dereliction of duty if I didn’t talk about how it also means the involvement of Gina Carano and how that brings things down.
Time and time again, I hear and see the critique that The Mandalorian isn’t going anywhere, what was the point of this episode, and/or why aren’t things moving along, all of which are comments I even have to field from friends and family. If this was still season one, I’d be on their side to some extent, as Chapters 4-6 were side missions that didn’t always expand or add to the main story of the show, but I’d argue were enjoyable episodes giving us more time with Din, Baby Yoda, and other new characters. In season two, I can’t agree with the sentiment at all anymore, especially with these past two episodes. In “Chapter 12 – The Siege,” it might seem like another errand for Din to run, but by the end, a much larger and intriguing picture appears, giving us new details on events from season one. Last episode, Din’s world enlarged by meeting real Mandalorians, as well as learning the whereabouts of Ahsoka Tano, while the first two episodes were Din making his way towards his goal, unfortunately sidetracked by bad luck, but overall each Chapter this season has been building towards the larger story and plot. I’m still going to deal with the critique from friends and family, but it’ll be much easier to show them the truth of things.
As Din and Baby Yoda limp to Corvus to meet with Ahsoka Tano (a sentence I’m still giddy about typing), he realizes they’ll likely need better repairs than the Mon Cala’s patchwork job because who knows what could be waiting for them. An attempt to fix the ship with Baby Yoda’s help goes less than ideal, in a cute and funny way, and while they adorably sip soup together (Chin Djarin, anyone?), Din decides they should swing by Nevarro to visit their friends for a favor. They find Nevarro looking legit now, as Greef Karga, with assistance from Cara Dune, has turned the place around, as it doesn’t appear as shady and dirty as it did in season one, instead now brighter, full of people, and heck, even has a school for kids. As great as they’ve made the place, one thing still stands in their way of becoming a viable trading hub: an Imperial base still in use by the Gideon’s Remnant. Since Din’s waiting on the repairs, and somewhat owes them now, they get him roped into assisting them with a siege on the base. Despite the Child going wherever Din goes, Karga convinces him to leave Baby Yoda in the school, where of course some classic cuteness and humor ensue, and while it might be getting a little one-note about the Child’s never-ending hunger, I still laughed heartily as the scene in the school unfolded, and even more so when the payoff came in the episode’s final moments.
The assault on the Imperial base, which doesn’t outdo last week’s Mando invasion of a ship but rises to the same level in its own unique way, is a visually compelling and thrilling sequence, punctuated with lots of humor thanks to the reappearance of the Mythrol, Din’s bounty in the series premiere. Time and time again throughout the siege, Karga barters for the Mythrol’s unwilling assistance with time off his debt, resulting in tons of great little exchanges between the two that really plays to both actors’ strengths; the line about the guardrails is pretty legendary. Since it’s a bare-bones crew in the base, it doesn’t take the crack team of fighters long to make their way to its reactor to blow the whole thing up. With alerts blaring, it’s not as simple to get out, but the first of a few complications comes from a surprising source: turns out the base was part of Moff Gideon’s scientific experiments, with help from Dr. Pershing, whom we met in the first few episodes of season one! They were taking the Child’s blood, due to his M-count, and inject them into…subjects, mostly likely unwilling ones, or even some type of cloning. As for what M-count means? Why, everyone’s favorite M-word, midi-chlorians; I was 9 when The Phantom Menace first brought the word into Star Wars existence, so I have no problem with it. Anyways, of course a member of the Yoda/Yaddle species would be strong in the Force, and therefore filled with midi-chlorians, the little organisms that allow beings to touch the Force, so it makes sense they’d want the Child’s blood to do…whatever they plan on doing. It’s not quite clear here yet what the ultimate intentions were, even with the final scene aboard Moff Gideon’s ship. In fact, there couple be multiple plans for the Child’s blood: Gideon might be trying to see if a transfusion can give him the power to use the Force and/or he’s using it to make a special type of Imperial trooper, which we catch of glimpse of in their ominous chambers aboard his ship; otherwise, it could be part of Palpatine’s grand plan, potentially an early effort to arrive to something like the Snoke clones and bodies for Palpatine himself, but I don’t totally buy the idea, as those seemed more a Sith Eternal plan being fulfilled on Exegol and something Gideon likely wasn’t ever privy too, considering his “Long live the Empire,” mantra isn’t one that portends an allegiance to the Sith who ruled it. If only those pesky scientists hadn’t destroyed the data, we’d have known more this week!
Din, Greef, Dune, and Mythrol’s exit from the Imperial compound is a truly impressive and exciting sequence. Din splits off to jetpack back to Nevarro to secure Baby Yoda and bring help, while the rest attempt to get back to Mythrol’s speeder and get the heck out before the place blows up. Pinned down at the hanger exit, Dune steals a Weapons-heavy version of the Troop Transport vehicle and everyone gets aboard as she jumps it off the hanger; I LOVED the look on Greef and Mythrol’s faces during this moment, as it felt like a classic 80’s action movie moment where they make an impossible escape. The Imperial Remnant won’t let them get away that easy, however, as first they pursue with speeder bikes, taken out in a variety of entertaining ways, only for the base’s remaining TIEs to continue the chase. Greef’s has a lot more trouble shooting down the TIEs, and after managing to shoot down one, they clear the canyon to open ground and things aren’t looking good…until Din comes roaring by in the repaired Razor Crest! With some impressive flying, including the Skywalker spinning trick, Din’s able to take out all three TIEs. Baby Yoda’s level of thrill as Din’s flies around reaches the epitome of adorableness this episode can handle, done in such a way it doesn’t cut the scene’s tension, while his punishment for stealing someone’s snacks is fitting, as he pukes over himself.
The glimpse into Gideon’s mobile headquarters includes more than the reveal of his trooper project (which gives me big Dark Troopers from Dark Forces video game vibes), but it offers something far more insidious: the mechanic the camera lingers on for a little too long in the beginning, something I was curious to see the results of, put a tracker on the Razor Crest! The potential for a big showdown next episode with Gideon and Din looms, though with it also likely bringing the appearance of Ahsoka Tano to live-action for the very first time (Dave Filoni is writing and directing the next episode), how will she get caught up in the ensuing battle? Will it cut their meeting short, robbing Din of vital information? Will Gideon get his hands on Baby Yoda? Next week should be quite the episode, which is saying something as they all have been rather epic and impressive so far!
Before the episode peers into Gideon’s machinations, we have a delightful little scene where Captain Teva (who chatted with Din after shooting those spiders off his ship) is checking in on the destruction of the Imperial base on Nevarro, but Karga’s not saying much at all, nor confirming or denying the presence of the Razor Crest. Teva seems to think somethings going on out in the Outer Rim, but the New Republic is too busy trying to build its government to care about some potential coincidences out in the middle of nowhere. He goes on to chat with Dune, impressed with her marshaling job and asking her back to join the New Republic (where we hear a little bit of John William’s “March of the Resistance” score), leaving her to think on the offer.
The scene feels tailor made to write Cara Dune off the show, finally removing Gina Carano from Star Wars for good. Cara Dune is a fighter for the Rebellion, which stands up for the little beings of the galaxy against the oppression of the Empire and any other factions out there that mean to do others harm, which is the exact opposite of Carano’s behavior and mentality in real life, as she spouts hateful and harmful rhetoric online. Star Wars is for everyone, but not those who deny the basic rights of other human beings, whether it’s the LGBTQ+ community, Black Lives Matters protestors, or the right to vote, all things Carano has rallied against over the past few months. Having her in the show poisons Cara Dune and the show itself, so leaving the character at this crossroads, where a novel or comic could easily continue her adventures without Carano’s involvement, would be a great way for Lucasfilm to quietly let her go. And before you ask why not give her a chance, this all started as seemingly misguided views and opinions from Carano, but as more people reached out to try to discuss with her why her comments about the Transgender community, anti-Black Lives Matter sentiments, and mockery of COVID-19 were harmful, the more entrenched she got in those views. Eventually, Carano claimed to speak to co-star Pedro Pascal (Din Djarin himself), while simultaneously mocking pronoun usage, a vital way to include the Trans community that Pedro himself uses in his social media profiles. More recently, she’s regurgitated falsehoods about the election process, while a glance at her Twitter likes is frightening by many means, and if she’s not changed yet, it’s unfortunately not going to get it any better. It’s a shame she’s gone so far, hence why I say she’s poisoned the role, but a group of fans found a better way to deal with her actions and words, starting a GoFundMe for the Transgender Legal Center, (join us in donating to it), and watching it continue to expand far beyond its initial goal shows how much stronger love and inclusion are in this fandom, so hopefully those who were harmed by the actress’ terrible comments know fandom has their backs. As for how Lucasfilm responds to the situation, we’ve been stuck waiting, which, as time grows, might just be even worse, but at least this episode seemed to give them the option to let her go.
Here are a few other things:
- This week saw the release of Ludwig Göransson’s music for Chapter’s 9-12 on various streaming platforms! I can’t wait to play Bo-Katan’s theme on repeat, while enjoy the little hint of March of Resistance again and again!
- Released earlier this month, a series of international posters for The Mandalorian, all including the phrase “This is the way,” in different languages and designs, were released. The official site interviewed the artists so now’s your time to check this out if you missed them before!
- I was double checking the spelling of a few things on Wookieepedia and saw IG-11 recorded as a statue this episode, so I immediately jumped back into the episode to find it. You can see it in the background, just before Din, Karga, and Dune enter the schoolhouse!
- That hairy meerkat was…kinda cute!
- I kinda forgot Din and co didn’t know Moff Gideon survived his crash, so I’m glad they’re all up to speed on that now.
- After this episode, we’ve seen every bit of footage in the season two trailer, so it’s all new and unknown from here!
“Chapter 12 – The Siege,” which provides some tantalizing glimpses of what’s to come, is another excellent and riveting entry in The Mandalorian’s all-around stronger second season.
+ Diving into Gideon’s schemes
+ Great escape sequence
+ Karga turning around Nevarro, with the help of Cara Dune…
– …but Gina Carano, and Lucasfilm’s lack of comment, make it hard to enjoy Cara’s return
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 11 – The Heiress
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