Mandalorian 16 Rescue Television 

Five Thoughts on The Mandalorian‘s “Chapter 16: The Rescue”

By | December 18th, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

I cannot stress enough how many spoilers follow. Please, please, for the love of the Force, stop reading this unless you’ve finished watching “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” including the post-credits sequence. To ensure no one accidentally sees a spoiler, you can find my review underneath the lyrics to the Life Day song, “A Time to Celebrate,” from The Star Wars Holiday Special.

We celebrate a day of peace
A day of harmony

A day of joy we can all share
Together joyously

A day that takes us through the darkness
A day that leads us into might
A day that makes us want to celebrate the light

A day that brings the promise
that one day, we’ll be free

To live, to laugh, to dream,
To grow, to trust, to love, to be.

Let’s dig in.

1. Fan service can sometimes be good

One year ago to the day, I published my review of The Rise of Skywalker. In that review, I never use the term ‘fan service,’ but looking back, I should have. The Rise of Skywalker tried to jam all the things it felt fans wanted to see into one film, and in the process, made a bad film. If someone had described all the events of “Chapter 16: The Rescue” to me, I would’ve guessed that this episode would suffer a similar fate. But while this episode does do a lot, it does all of it in service to both the story of the series, and the overarching Star Wars story.

Even the most controversial decision on paper, actually, is the one that makes the most sense. That decision, of course, was to bring in Mark Hamill and a boatload of CGI in to give us a Luke Skywalker cameo. When Grogu reaches out with the Force to a Jedi five years after the Battle of Endor, who did we really expect to answer? If you’re playing logic in a galaxy far, far away, Luke was the only Jedi who made any sense to answer that call.

From a storytelling perspective, it is hard to argue with that decision. However, the de-aging CGI is still pretty shaky, and Luke looks a bit too smooth and soulless to be as moving as that scene should have been. But it also sets Grogu on a journey that has so much possibility. Is he with Luke when he creates the new Jedi academy? Is he killed by Ben Solo and the Knights of Ren? I tend to think the answer to both of those is no, and I think that we’re likely to see more Grogu in the future, if only because he is easily the most popular Star Wars character since the Original Trilogy.

2. Mandalore 101

This episode dumps a lot of Mandalorian knowledge into conversation in ways that make it not feel as expository as it maybe should. Because both Boba and Din are outsiders to the Mandalorian culture that Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves hold so dear, they can act as teachers to the audience about things like the siege of Mandalore by the Empire and basic Mandalorian politics.

The darksaber gets a lot of play in this episode, and we see what is, in many ways, the ultimate Mandalorian battle between the darksaber and beskar. The scene that preceded it was great, and allowed us to get a little more with Moff Gideon before his eventual defeat. Giancarlo Esposito is so good in this role, and I hope that, as captive, he is a part of future stories. Gideon realizing the power of the darksaber is a nice bit of differentiation between the ‘standard’ Imperial mindset, which was far more militaristic and less interested in relics of the Force or symbolic items.

The understanding that Bo-Katan cannot be recognized as the true leader of Mandalore without defeating Din in combat is also a very interesting set up for future stories. Din’s desire to just give over the darksaber, yielding without question, is a really good piece of writing, even if it seems simple. He doesn’t care about the darksaber, so why shouldn’t he yield? Well, because he sees how powerful and important it is. E1 S1 Mando would’ve kept it and killed Bo-Katan if she tried to take it from him.

Continued below

3. Did anyone get what they really wanted?

The collaboration between Bo-Katan and Din was one of convenience, and the idea that both would get what they wanted out of the situation. Din got to rescue Grogu, and got him to one of ‘his people,’ but I’m not entirely sure that he still saw that as his primary goal anymore. He knew it was what was best for Grogu, but he clearly had a connection to the kid that was far beyond anything he’s ever had before. The ease in which, two episodes in a row, he removed his helmet for the sake of Grogu shows that being a Mandalorian means less to him than being part of the ‘clan of 2’ with Grogu. That clan has now broken up.

And Bo-Katan, while she got an Imperial cruiser, does not have the darksaber, at least not yet. I don’t get the sense that she’d be against fighting Din, but she probably recognizes that it wouldn’t be fair or right to do so. I think there is a version of this story that leads her to believe that in building a new Mandalore, some old rules have to go away, and maybe this is one of them. I also think there’s a version of the story that has Bo-Katan shoot Din in the back of the head while his helmet is off and taking the darksaber, but that’s likely too dark for Star Wars. But that’s how it would go if this was a Martin Scorcese film.

4. The Book of Boba Fett

In the series’s first post-credits sequence, we see Boba Fett and Fennec show up in Jabba the Hut’s palace and lay waste to an older, fatter Bib Fortuna, and his cadre of slaves and guards, with Boba eventually taking his seat on Jabba’s chair, with Fennec by his side. After that, a title card: “The Book of Boba Fett. Coming December 2021”

I’ve gone back and forth with whether this is a new series, or season 3 of The Mandalorian, but with the timeframe mentioned on the Disney Investor’s Day video, it seems like this is the next season of The Mandalorian. While I am still not a huge Boba Fett fan, I actually think that this is a good thing for the series as a whole.

This allows the series to become more of an anthology series, focusing on various Mandalorians and returning to certain stories after time away. I wouldn’t be surprised, as my friend Zach Wilkerson pointed out, to see seasons focusing on Bo-Katan or Sabine Wren in the future. Hell, maybe we even get a season on the Death Watch sect that Din was raised by. One thing I’m not entirely sure of is if we will ever see another Din season of the show.

5. The future for Din Djardin

While I think that the series may never be singularly focused on Din ever again, I doubt that this is the end of the character. I think that there will be future appearances on The Mandalorian, I also think that he may be part of the new Rangers of the New Republic series. This is part of why we got so little information about the series initially, and would also point to how changed he is. I can’t see Din returning to being a bounty hunter, sans ship and with a new view on life. I also can’t see him returning to Death Watch, as he has broken ‘the way’ now.

A path that makes the most sense, perhaps, is to join up with folks like Cara Dune. In fact, I think it’s likely that he is a part of the Rangers of the New Republic series, alongside Cara. That would allow the Din story to go on, while also allowing the series to change focus.

But in case this is the end for Pablo Pascal on The Mandalorian, let’s take a moment to focus on just how amazing his performance was, both this season and in the first. He has shown so much growth in a role that allowed him precious little speech and even less facial expression. This is one of the the weirdest star making turns I can recall, but anyone who doubts his skills needs to have their head examined.

Continued below

Stray observations:

– They sprung Dr. Pershing, but…where did he go? Is he with Boba on Slave-One? Was he just dropped off on the Imperial ship? Will he have a role in the New Republic?

– It is both great and totally not surprising that they let Mercedes Vernado give Boba Fett a tornado DDT.

– The score to this series continues to whip, and Ludwig Göransson continues to add new touches each week. This week’s powering up of the Darktroopers in a rhythmic pattern was a really clever moment, and incorporating “The Force Theme” makes me cry every single time.

– R2D2 being enamored with Grogu was lovely.

– While I want Luke and Grogu stories, I hope they’re animated so we don’t get creepy CGI Luke anymore.

Thanks for reading! There will be more on this episode on Tuesday’s episode of Force Ghost Coast to Coast, if you’re interested in more discussion on this season.


//TAGS | The Mandalorian

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

EMAIL | ARTICLES



  • -->