Dark past, dark mines, dark waters. All this and a bit of historical lectures—in the recap of the second episode of the new season of The Mandalorian.
The second episode turned out to be more interesting, more energetic, and generally better than the first. The Mandalorian is once again formidable, but vulnerable—he can be wounded, captured, even killed, which is a breakthrough for Star Wars. There's also a lot of talk about the history of Mandalore and how difficult it is to find not even the right path, but any path at all. An endlessly charming spectacle.
Previous recaps:
Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 2 of The Mandalorian Season 3
On Tatooine, in the Mos Eisley spaceport, Peli (Amy Sedaris, our old acquaintance) is swindling a Rodian—Jawas, in cahoots with her, have stolen parts from his speeder, and she sells them back to him at a markup. At the height of her scheming, Din Djarin arrives with the kid, and Peli is thrilled to see them. She hugs Grogu (whom she promised in The Book of Boba Fett never to call that) and rejoices that he made a sound: "First word! He called me Peli!"
However, the Mandalorian has come because he's looking for parts for IG-11, which even the Jawas don't have. Peli foists an astromech droid on him, "built for adventure" that once served the Rebels, but is cowardly and, as she warns after the sale, has weak wiring. Interestingly, this is the very droid R5-D4 from the original trilogy, the one Luke and Uncle Owen bought before R2-D2.
With the astromech, and apparently forgetting about the plans with IG-11, Din and Grogu approach Mandalore, and Djarin clearly wants the kid to feel the moment's significance. He tells him about the once beautiful, flourishing planet, destroyed by squabbles, wars, bombs. All the things, in short, that tend to destroy beautiful planets. Din recalls songs of Mandalore's past, shows Grogu the satellite planets: he grew up on Concordia, Bo-Katan from Kalevala (the planet Kalevala, wow!); and teaches him to read maps and navigate space, because that way you'll never be lost. If only it were that simple.
Din admits it's his first time on Mandalore; they break through the planet's atmosphere and land on the rocks. There's nothing there but rocks and ruins—the surface is crystallized. The Mandalorian sends R5 into a nearby cave to check the air, but the droid disappears around a corner. Annoyed, the Mandalorian tells Grogu he'll be right back (in the movie Scream, he wouldn't have lasted long after that line) and goes after R5. In the darkness, he is attacked, and quite successfully, by some creatures, but Din dispatches them with his sword and knife (he still can't handle the sword properly).
Returning to the ship, Din learns from the rescued droid that the local air is breathable, and the toxicity of Mandalore is a myth. But all the other stories, alas, are true. In the once beautiful underground passages leading to the mines, the phrase "These aren't mines, they're a tomb" involuntarily comes to mind; everywhere are lizards and remains. When the Mandalorian stops at the helmet of a compatriot and picks it up, it turns out to be a trap, and Din is carried deeper by a strange creature—a giant cyborg spider with an eye (?) or a whole creature inside. The kid tries to save his companion, but Din tells him to go for help from Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), which Grogu does (on the way, he impressively shoves aside one of those savages the Mandalorian was fighting).
Bo-Katan, meanwhile, is sitting in her castle on her throne (maybe she should do some crossword puzzles) and is not at all happy to see Din's ship, planning to finally say goodbye to him. But when the former ruler of Mandalore sees the lone kid in the pilot's seat, she rushes to save Pedro Pascal without hesitation (and who wouldn't?), flying off with Grogu on her own ship.
Already on Mandalore, as the kid points the way, Bo-Katan gives him a short lecture series on her people's history: once they got along well with the Jedi, she fought alongside some of them (those who watched The Clone Wars or Rebels probably remember a lot); she remembers Mandalore differently and once ruled this planet; once everything was different, and the longing for the past, for what remains only in songs that no one will sing anymore, looking at the bombed-out world, is the central theme of the episode.
The shared longing for the past is interrupted by a fight with those creatures Din defeated with the dark saber. They are called Alamites, it turns out, and once they lived in the depths, on the outskirts, but now they've grown bold. Bo-Katan dispatches them with no visible effort and just as easily frees Din in a nearby cave. Masterfully wielding the Darksaber, she cuts down the cyborg and in the next scene is already preparing soup for the Mandalorian.
The soup, known and loved by all Mandalorians, Din has never tasted, which Bo-Katan finds somewhat ironic. She doesn't understand the Mandalorian's desire to bathe in the Living Waters and doesn't recognize the Way, but after his impassioned speech, she agrees to take him there, since Din would get lost on his own. As the heroes (a dysfunctional family, practically) walk through the abandoned mines, Bo-Katan recalls her past: how she was a princess of this planet, how she too entered those waters and swore to follow the Way, and how it was all nothing more than a spectacle the royal family had to put on for their subjects.
She also remembers how proud her father was of her, and Din unexpectedly remarks (he sure knows how to keep a conversation going) that he would have liked to meet him. Bo-Katan replies that he was a great man and died defending Mandalore. At that moment, Din stops and respectfully says, "This is the Way." Bo-Katan, though she believes neither in the Way nor in her comrade's sectarianism, is unexpectedly moved by this simple but touching gesture.
When they reach the Living Waters, Bo-Katan decides to finish Din off with historical lectures and reads the content of a memorial plaque: once there was a Mythosaur here, ridden by Mandalore the Great, and that's when things really got going. While she's reading all this, the Mandalorian steps into the water and begins reciting the oath we heard in the first episode, but unexpectedly sinks like a stone.
Bo-Katan, with her jetpack, dives in after him and retrieves her comrade, but in the depths of the water, she sees a large eye, belonging, obviously, to a not-so-small creature. She sees the Mythosaur, and surfacing with Din, looks straight into the camera in horror, which somehow shows through her helmet. It seems the myths weren't lying.
Impressions
A wonderful episode. Ghosts of the past, ancient monsters, an unexpectedly charming and promising duo of Bo-Katan and Din Djarin. Katee Sackhoff shines; she has something to play, and it's beautiful. Almost all our assumptions from the previous recap came true, except it seemed the quest with the water ritual in the Mandalorian lake would take longer. But so much the better.
Perhaps the most interesting part is the awakening of the Mythosaur, a mythical creature whose rediscovery, according to prophecy, promises the rebirth of Mandalore. What does this new twist bring? Apparently, Din and Bo-Katan will now gather the Mandalorians and return home. Unless, of course, they fall out over the Darksaber (which belongs to Djarin, but truly obeys Bo-Katan—an interesting conflict) and the division of power. Overall, the scale and seriousness that such a setup promises will greatly benefit the series and reveal Din in a new light—first he cared only for himself, then for the kid, and now he has a chance to move to the next level of responsibility.
The most interesting part of the episode, of course, is related to the different paths and the Way that Mandalorians choose. Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin see Mandalore, its past, and probably its future differently; she is a princess, he is a lone gunslinger, and watching this incarnation of "The Lady and the Tramp" is amazingly interesting and joyful.
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