Josh

[7.4/10] I don’t know how to feel about this episode. There’s parts that had my blood pumping, parts that tugged at my heartstrings, and parts that had me scratching my head. But let’s start with the thing that sums up all of those things at once.

Luke Motherfucking Skywalker! When an X-Wing flew by I wondered. When Grogu put his little hand on the security screen I suspected. And when I saw that trademark green lightsaber I knew. The Jedi was back, and in a lot of ways, he was perfect.

He is an effortless badass, in the way you would expect Luke to be nine years after Return of the Jedi. The episode builds up the Dark Troopers so much, making them seem so formidable, that it speaks to his power when he’s able to march through them without hesitation. He deflects and slices and even crunches one up from the inside, with the fluidity and strength of a Jedi Master. For a split second, I was a kid again, watching my hero save the day with the type of power and precision ten-year-olds dreamed of on the playground.

There’s a lot of nice moments in the build there. The otherwise unflappable Moff Gideon is deathly afraid, indicating how powerful Luke is better than any force move or lightsaber swing ever could. The way Grogui’s ears perk up when he arrives and he’s transfixed by the security camera tells the audience that the Force connection is strong here, in a visceral way. And the removal of Luke’s hood is a “holy shit” moment, the man who fought the Emperor is back.

But then he starts speaking, and he doesn’t quite sound like Luke circa Episode VI, and he has a video game cutscene face, and tons of shots he’s in conspicuously stop at the neck, to the point that the whole thing feels kind of awkward. R2-D2 shows up, another cameo from elsewhere in the Star Wars Galaxy that makes you go “Cool!” until you realize it’s not really necessary for this story. And then you start wondering if, you know, Grogu was killed by Kylo Ren.

In short, it stops being about The Mandalorian and starts being about the other corners of this universe. In a way, it’s natural for Luke to show up here. If Din’s quest is to return Grogu to the Jedi, then Luke is the most prominent one confirmed to be around in canon at this time. There’s other options, but he’s the one who makes sense.

And yet, after a first season that, but for the darksaber, utilized elements and inspiration from elsewhere in canon, without invoking much of the way in characters or vital links to other stories, the arrival of the protagonist of the Original Trilogy caps off a season in which Mando met Bo-Katan, and Boba Fett, and Ahsoka Tano, with far more direct connections to past and even future events. It takes some of the oomph out of this story, which feels like it’s gotten away from Din and Grogu and started to play more like Episode VI and a half.

At the same time, I’d be lying if I told you my heart didn't break just a little bit when Mando had to bid farewell to The Child. There’s a low-burning tragedy to the notion that Din went to all this trouble and effort to rescue Grogu from Moff Gideon, risking his life and struggling through so much in the process, only to have to send him on his way almost as soon as they’re reunited.
Both Pedro Pascal and the puppeteers who handle Baby Yoda do a superb job of selling the emotion of that moment: Din wanting to do the right thing for this child he loves so much while he swallows the pain of losing him, and Grogu not wanting to be parted from his surrogate dad but feeling the pull of the Force. There’s such a moment of intimacy, trust, and love when Din removes his helmet so that his son can gaze upon his visage and Mando can look back with his own eyes. When he tells Grogu, “We’ll see each other again,” it’s as much for the audience as it is for The Child.

“The Rescue” also gives Mando one hell of a lightsaber battle. If anything, this episode often feels too clockwork, with bits and pieces setup in prior episodes coming together with too little friction or difficulty. But I’d be lying if I said that the battle pitting Grand Moff and his darksaber against Mando and his beskar steel spear didn’t get my blood hot with the insanity and tension of it.

Frankly, Gideon does a little too much monologuing here for my tastes, both in the lead-up to their fight (did we really think he would give up The Child?) and once he’s captured. But his sudden but inevitable betrayal is well staged, and their ensuing skirmish of dark energy versus beskar captures the imagination.

The same goes for Mando vs. the Dark Trooper. Their fight is appropriately desperate for our hero, as we see lots of his usual tricks fail against such an indomitable mechanical brute. The beskar spear is a good tool and a plausible out for Mando, but it’s nice to see our seemingly undefeatable champion kicked around and beaten down like he was nothing, thereby showing that he is mortal and fallible when necessary. Plus, his “out the airlock” bit for the rest of them does a nice job of providing a “work smarter not harder” solution and setting up the fireworks for later.

The rest of the action is solid. There’s a nice sense of escalation as we go from this coalition of the willing’s subterfuge to get aboard Moff Gideon’s cruiser, to the Mandalorians, Dune, and Fennec kicking stormtrooper behind in a rough and tumble way, to tougher challenges that require jetpacks and guns as club and the sort of teamwork that comes from four badasses operating in their element.

The episode also returns to the sense of perspective that’s been the soft theme running through this season. When our heroes capture the doctor who’s been taking Grogu’s blood, one of his escorts laments that the galaxy cheered while millions died on the Death Star and decries the Rebellion as terrorists. It’s an interesting flipped view of how the events of the first Star Wars trilogy are presented.

At the same time, we get more Mandalorian infighting, which is interesting. Bo-Katan doesn’t accept Boba as a genuine Mandalorian, recognizing his voice and snapping that he was “donated.” Fett’s not any friendlier back, calling Bo-Katan “Princess” and getting into a cantina brawl with Sasha Banks in the proud Star Wars tradition. In a franchise that is, almost by nature, black and white, I like seeing these shades of gray and internecine conflicts among factions, even as they’re forced to work together.

The episode uses that as (presumably) a springboard to what the show looks like without Grogu. (Somewhere the merchandisers are crying.) It looks to be a War of Mandalorian Succession, with Mando having won the darksaber in battle and Bo-Katan being unwilling to accept it as just handed to her. It suggests a major complication with the potential retaking of Mandalore using the cruiser and the darksaber which allows one to lay claim to the throne, creating plenty of avenues for conflict whenever season 3 rolls around.

(As an aside, it’s been a while since I watched Bo-Katan in the cartoons, but wasn’t she just given the darksaber by Sabine last time? Is there some nuance I’m missing there?)

Much of this is exciting or outright fistpump-worthy. There’s good battle sequences, increasing tension, solid plans, and thrilling confrontations. But until that grand goodbye, it doesn’t have the same emotional heft or thematic substance that the best episodes this season have had. Most final acts in genre stories for television and film are action-heavy, and bigger on spectacle than they are on sentimental catharsis. I think I just wanted more of the latter, prior to the last few minutes of the episode.

In season 2, The Mandalorians horizons broadened. It brought Mando and Grogu’s story to new locations, linked them up with faces both foreign and familiar, and brought back allies and enemies who had since been left for dead. The finish didn’t hit all the highs I might have hoped for, but it’s still been an extraordinary dose of Star Wars that’s added depth to this universe and to its major characters.

I think that’s why as much as I jumped out of my seat at the sight of Luke, I don’t need more of him in this show. The story of Din Djarin, the friendships he’s forged in his travels, and the son he rescued and bid farewell too, are more than enough on their own.