Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyThe Mandalorian
Disney Plus
Season 2 Episode 6
Chapter 14: The Tragedy
From the first few minutes of the episode there is the sense that things are about to go south for Mando and the Kid.
Mando and Grogu (still getting used to it) have finally made it to Tython in order to get the little guy onto the stone and have him reach out with the force to choose his own destiny. Unfortunately, we all know things are not going to be that easy and that is confirmed by the appearance of a very familiar ship in the skies over Tython and a really intense standoff with its occupants.
Ming-Na Wen returns as sharpshooter and mercenary Fennec Shand who has been rescued by the person many of speculated made his appearance last year in the series, Boba Fett. Temuera Morrison returns as the character who is in search of something Mando has that belongs to the bounty hunter. Something he is willing to trade Grogu’s life for. Unfortunately, the arrival of a third party puts everyone on the defensive with Mando unable to remove the child and his reluctant allies being surrounded by Imperial forces.
Morrison and Ming-Na Wen give great physical performances as they deftly fall into the action beats of this episode. The idyllic mountain top setting could only mean an episode that was uniquely action based and director Robert Rodriguez doesn’t skimp on it. That turns out to be part of what makes the episode less effective in many ways. There’s been a lot of story build up over the last few episodes so there had to be an action heavy episode coming to lead the audience into the finale with the stakes being raised.
The problem I had was that much of the action felt like it dragged on too long. There were too many shots of Mando trying to retrieve Grogu and it was one time too many because there was no variety. He could have joined the fight sooner and his reasons for staying felt artificial and forced. What follows are some great and surprising moments, but the episode felt packed with things it didn’t need and moments that didn’t feel connected.
Ultimately, the episode did what it was supposed to and got the characters where they need to be for the finale as well as additional stakes and possible surprises to come but it lacked the heart, character development, tension and visual beauty of the previous episodes.
The Mandalorian S02XE06
