I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and I can’t think of a better way to top it off than a new episode of The Mandalorian. With the great escape he had in the last one, fans are eager to see where he will be headed with the child to hide away from the grasp of the collapsed empire. Rumors have been circulating that we will finally meet Cara Dune and see how she will team up with the Mandalorian. She is an intriguing character and it will be exciting to finally see her in action and on-screen.
The child, Baby Yoda, Yiddle, or whatever you prefer to call him is the focus of the Mandalorian’s attention right now and none of us expected us to see such a human side to him. Although we can’t see his face we can feel his emotions for baby Yoda and it’s a great addition to the show. His rough exterior has been broken by the cutest creature in the galaxy.
A New Home
The Mandalorian, in search of a new hiding spot for the child, stumbles upon a more desolated planet. A lush green planet that’s population mostly consists of krill farmers and small settlements seems like a perfect place to hide out for a while. While traveling, we get to see the child mischevious personality as he messes with his space ship and the Mandalorian’s fatherly tendencies as he sits him on his lap to keep him out of trouble. He’s delicate with the child and cares deeply for him.
The last episode we saw him put his life on the line to save the child from the clutches of the Empire and the bounty hunter guild, so that goes to show how much he is willing to do for him, so heading out to the outer rim of the galaxy doesn’t seem too awful, especially if it will be peaceful. Unfortunately for the Mandalorian, nothing comes easy and the planet he lands on may be free from what’s left of the Empire, but they have their problems.
We start in a peaceful looking town on the planet Sorgen, with beautiful blue krill floating around and people working in the fields. They all seem to be content with their quiet lives, but then we hear some rumbling and know it’s trouble. The village gets raided after being hit with some heavy artillery and they take their entire harvest. Maybe this won’t be such a good place for the Mandalorian to hide out for a while.
The Dune
Upon landing The Mandalorian heads into a bar to scout the location and get some information on the location and the locals. One thing to note, is when he tells the child to stay on the ship, he turns around and there the child is at his feet. This is beginning to show the bond that the child has for him and show how they are becoming inseperable. He notices someone in the corner, she looks war-torn and experienced, perhaps he notices that she used to be a rebel. He tries to get some information on her by giving the waitress a nice tip, but she just doesn’t get it and next thing we know, she vanishes.
He heads out to go find her and asks the waitress to keep an eye on the child, but he’s a slippery little guy. Cara finds him before he can find her and takes him by surprise. It was our first glimpse at Cara Dune and her fighting abilities and we were very impressed, she kind of kicked his butt and had him beat. She took a couple of good punches, too. Next thing we know Mando is on the ground trying to use his flamethrower but she has him beat and just steps on his wrist. Once they both pulled out their guns on each other, the child wanders up and looks as cute as ever with his soup.
Mando just needed a partner to help him settle into this planet and Cara is the perfect person, an ex-shock trooper for the rebellion, she knows how to fire a weapon and what war is like, a perfect component for Mando and his journey. The two team up and it’s back to his ship to plan the next move. The type of character Cara Dune is fitted perfectly for Mando and the way the show is going.
The Job
Back at the ship, two farmers seek their help for protection against the raiders we saw at the beginning of the episode. Desperate for help, they offered up everything the village had for them to hire the Mandalorian, it wasn’t much especially since the krill from their last harvest was all stolen.
At first, Mando isn’t intrigued by the job and especially not with what they are offering, but once he discovers the farm is in the middle of nowhere he seems much more interested. He is willing to take the little credits they had to offer, along with lodging, in exchange for his protection.
There went the humanness we got to see in Mando when he showed so much affection for the child. He had no desire to help the desperate farmers, but bounty hunting is a complicated profession. Why put your life on the line for such small pay? Especially for someone as notorious as himself. But, he’s a smart man and takes it for the protection of the child.
The village
The Villiage the farmers take the three back to is happy to see that they were successful in bringing back help. They are reliant on their harvest and need to get the raiders off their backs if they want to survive. They take them in with open arms and Mando gets along nicely with one of the widows in there.
Here, the humanness comes back to Mando as he interacts with her, we see a softer side of him that, again, we didn’t expect. We could see, even with the helmet on, that he was checking Omera out. Omera was pretty interested in himself, too. She doesn’t have the slightest idea of what he may look like, but his rough exterior and his mysterious aura must have been intriguing for her.
They share a moment and a question finally gets answered, how does he eat, or drink, or wash his face? Well, as long as he’s alone he can take the helmet off. The metalsmith wasn’t clear when she asked him if he has ever taken his helmet off, he replies with no, so we got the impression that he never takes it off. When Omera asks about it we learn he hasn’t shown his face to anyone since probably around the time he was found by the Mandalorians. It’s nice to get some clarification there and understand more how his life as a Mandalorian works always having to follow the code.
Cara and Manda go out to scout what they will be up against when they learn they will be fighting some raiders who got their hands on an AT-ST, which is practically unstoppable for such a small village like theirs. We get to see Cara’s tactical mind go to work as she comes up with a plan to stop the walker in its tracks, she points out to utilize the land around them. It was wise of Mando to pick her up because she’s already proven herself very useful and the fight has yet to begin.
The Showdown
After training the villagers on how to shoot a weapon or use a spear, Cara and Mando go and provoke their camp to get them to come to the village, where they can use the trap they set against he walker. They blow some stuff up and run back to the village with the walker hot on their tails. So far so good, Cara’s plan seems to be working flawlessly so far.
The walker finally gets to the village, but he smart about not stepping into the water and ultimately the trap they laid for him. He hesitates and decides to shine a light on the villagers lined up ready to fight, he opens fire and next thing we know, they are getting fighting the raiders, blasting at one another and charging at them with spears. It’s up to Mando and Cara to get the walker to fall for the trap.
Once again, we see Cara’s quick thinking and brilliant tactical mind play a role in defeating the walker. I think Cara is more brave than stupid to throw herself into the line of fire and be the bait to get the walker to fall. She takes cover in the water and takes a shot at the walker to get its attention. After a few shots at her, the walker has no luck and looks like his only next move to stop her is to step forward to get a better angle, but that’s when she takes a great shot through the window and takes the walker down.
She is a mastermind and a great fighter, she seems like she will be the perfect addition to the team and protecting the baby. Cara Dune’s character was a key component of this chapter and the survival of the child. She played a huge role in protecting the village.
The Fob
Finally, peace has been restored on this quiet planet, but Mando is smart enough to know that their efforts will bring attention to this small town. The child gets along with all the other children in the village and it seems like the wisest thing to do is to leave him under the care of Omera. When he brought it up I could feel the tears coming to my eyes, this can’t be goodbye, we still need to watch him grow up!
When Mando goes to ask Omera if she is willing, she mentions to him that he should stay, too. Then, she tries to take off his helmet and this solidified that they have feelings for each other. The way she reaches out and the fact that Mando let her start to lift shows that he desires a taste of that simple, peaceful life, but he knows it’s not his calling an stops her from taking it off.
While this is happening, we can see a bounty hunter has found where they are and has Mando in his sights. He then pans over and sets his aim on the child, where he zooms in more and has a clean shot. The next thing you hear is a loud gunshot and Mando reacts. Thankfully, Cara was patrolling the perimeter and snuck up on the bounty hunter and took him out before he could pull the trigger. She saved the child’s life and showed how important she is. I hate to say it, but maybe it was a good thing that bounty hunter showed up. What would we do without our baby Yoda?
I have spoken
Chapter 4 of The Mandalorian was another great episode. This one didn’t stray from the Western feel and told a great story. The journey between Mando and the child will continue and their bond will only grow stronger. Unfortunately, Cara and Mando will go their separate ways for now, but I have a good feeling they’ll paths will certainly cross again.
Back to the road again for Mando and the child as they head back to the Razorcrest to find refuge elsewhere. This episode was surprising to see Mando open up the Omera the way he did. You could hear the emotion in his voice as he explained to her his childhood and the helmet situation. You could see in her that she felt for Mando and understood his pain. They were an interesting duo and a pleasant one at that. Hopefully, their paths will cross again, soon.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to subscribe! Happy holidays and may the force be with you!