Our review of The Mandalorian Chapter 14 The Tragedy – Spoilers ahead

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The episode starts off with our heroes Din and Grogu approaching Tython. Tython is the ancient home of the Jedi and is a key planet in Star Wars – The Old Republic MMO.

The play between Din and Grogu on the approach is cute. Mando is clearly developing into the father role for Grogu here. The swearing notably shocks Grogu, and Din’s response is very fatherly.

An ancient temple stands there and Din brings Grogu to the top of the mountain to the seeing stone. The sudden appearance of Slave I (Boba Fett’s ship) is a wonderful intro to the start of the action sequences. Grogu’s activation of the stone and the Force power leads into the first dramatic scene where Din finally meets Boba. This is what the fans have been waiting for since the beginning of the season when Boba Fett is first teased. We have all been wondering how it will go down, and now we know.

It is a fairly standard trope. First they meet and fight, then unite against a common enemy. While a little cliche, it does work here. The fight between Din, Boba, and Boba’s ally (Shand). The dropping of the jetpack is a little to obvious as a plot point, but will let that go. The reveal of Jango as a Mandalorian foundling is a real WOW moment. We now know that Boba’s armor is legitimately his by the Creed. This Is The Way. The approaching troop lander cuts our conversation short, and sets up the best fight scene in the series so far.

Mando’s first priority of saving Grogu is further establishing him as the father figure. Rather than battle, which he initially leaves to Boba Fett, Din goes back for Grogu. His inability to break the force barrier, and repeated tries, show his priorities and love of Grogu. We then jump back to the battle, already in full swing. Boba Fett’s shattering of the Stormtrooper’s plasteel armor with a gaderffii stick is just plain epic. It frames the bounty hunter in all his lethality. Shand’s crushing of the cannon is reminiscent of Indiana Jones, which often gets a nod in Star Wars. The stormtroopers are clearly good shots in this episode, reminding us of Obi-Wan’s statement in A New Hope – “Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.” Boba Fett jumping in to save the day in full armor and kill a squad of stormtroopers is a classic rescue motif. The fact that high is slightly big for his armor is a great attention to detail be Favreau and Filoni. Boba Fett taking out the 2 transports is a fitting end for the battle and once again shows the power and his mastery of the armor.

The destruction of the Razor Crest is a sudden jolt with the return of Moff Gideon. OUR BELOVED SHIP IS GONE!! The rifle, the carbon freezing chamber, and all the other goodies – gone!

This has lead to a lot of speculation as to what will happen next. Will Mando get a new Razor Crest? They are a pretty common class of ship, so that may be possible. Will he get the Slave I? That would be an epic handoff. Will he get an all new ship? The idea of a new ship is interesting. With all of the collectables built around the show, this is distinctly possible. How he would outfit it to the previous spec is questionable since all his money was presumably destroyed in the Razor Crest. Our personal bet is the handoff of Slave I. This could still provide new collectables (making Disney happy), give Din a specced out ship, and would be a fitting closing to the legend of Boba Fett.

The Dark Troopers, another video game tie in, very cool. As Grogu is exhausted from his Jedi ritual, they are able to make off with him back to Moff Gideon. Din’s panicked, successful, attempt to ensure that Boba does not injure Grogu shows that he will not give up. Also the dichotomy between Din Djarin reference to Grogu by name versus Gideon’s references as The Asset shows the different connections they have.

The chain code and Mando’s acceptance of Boba Fett’s legitimate claim to the armor is a touch of foreshadowing we believe. Having said that Jango fought in the Mandalorian civil war, we believe, will lead into future interactions with Bo Katan and her pending civil war. The return back to Nevarro and enlist Dune to help directly and with getting the New Republic involved. We got more foreshadowing last episode at the end when the Republic pilot talks about there being something going on. The fact that they don’t believe it in the Core Worlds leads into the idea that they might get involved if the Outer Rim can show proof about Moff Gideon. This could lead to an epic space battle. We can only hope.

The final scene where Grogu is beating on the stormtroopers begins to show that Grogu is starting to remember his training. The violence also shows that Ahsoka’s warning is valid, in that he may be headed for a Dark Side encounter. The stun and shackles is every parents dream. A gun that puts a grumpy child to sleep and little cuffs to keep them from breaking anything. So useful for parents of young children.

In conclusion, as we said in a previous post, we are moving into the second movement in this opera. Afters some victories, our heroes experience their first major setback. Some alliances are made and some are renewed. We can see that we will have some plot building as well as some down moments for Din Djarin and team to come. I expect several more episodes in this genre until we enter the third movement in the last 2-3 episodes of the season.