'The Mandalorian, Season Two' - Episode 12: 'The Siege'

‘Mandalorian Monday’? More like ‘Mandalorian Monday Night’… I’ve only just stopped working (and half of that was sorting out mistakes that I’d made) and it’s been a nightmare the whole way through. It’s official, I hate today but there’s still an episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ to talk about so lets do it, shall we? This week’s episode saw the return of some old friends, an old enemy the Child actually ate something that he was supposed to eat. It’s all happening here… ;o)

The ‘Razor Crest’ is in no shape to get our Mandalorian and Child to their destination so it’s back to Navarro for some repairs and to catch up with some old friends, who are doing very well for themselves now that the planet is just about free from Imperial control. I say ‘free’… There’s one base left and once that’s out of the way, Navarro can finally prosper. Greef Karga and Cara Dune make Din Djarin (yep, I’m going to call him by his name from now on…) an offer that he’s happy to take up but what other secrets does this Imperial base hold? And Din Djarin is about to learn why you never let just anyone make repairs to your ship…

‘The Siege’ is that crucial part of a series where the transition stops and you can see how the rest of the series is going to play out. I for one am really glad that we’re finally here as the last couple of episodes, good as they were, have felt like filler to me. Good filler, very good filler, but filler all the same. Now we get to see what’s on the horizon and while there are no big surprises about who the villain is (I mean, duh…), there are some nice little hints about why Moff Gideon wanted the Child and what he may still have in store for it. Now that’s what I was after… A reason to keep watching over and above cool spaceships and gunfights. I also can’t help but wonder if they are going to try and link this show to the last three films and that’s the other reason why I’ll be watching. I’m sure that Disney will be after tying everything together where they can, it will be interesting to see if and how this show informs what happens with the First Order.

But back to ‘The Siege’. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the hints of what is to come, ‘The Siege’ would be another ‘Imperial Shootout’ episode; fun but very much seen and done before. In a way that’s cool because that’s really what Star Wars is about, pulp adventures in space where the good guys always win. ‘The Siege’ does all that brilliantly, especially with that alternative take on the ‘Trench Run’, hearkening back to the original films without copying them too much. Having said all that though… It might just be me and Star Wars, it might be the show, either way though, I’m after a little bit more these days. ‘The Siege’ does show Navarro beginning to bloom (and is that TC-14 teaching the children? I like to think that it is) and the Child is as ambiguous as ever with it’s use of the Force, maybe showing what can happen to a young Force user when they don’t have a mentor… ‘Dark Side Yoda’ is probably still unlikely (it is Disney…) but it’s fun to think what could happen. ‘Hungry Dark Side Yoda’?

Moments like these are few and far between here as ‘The Siege’ prefers to be all about the gunfire and mad chases which to be fair, I needed to see after the weekend and the garbage fire that was work today. It’s cool but I’d like to see Din Djarin and the Child just have an episode that builds up the dynamic between them instead of Din having to rescue the child which, lets be honest, is probably going to happen next week.

I’m stuck between wanting some actual story and just wanting the cool shootouts etc and that’s not the show’s fault, more a case of me re-evaluating my relationship with the franchise. Lets see what next week brings…