The Mandalorian recap: Mando helps old friends on a new mission

As expected, the Razor Crest has had some trouble reaching the former jedi Ahsoka Tano in its dilapidated state. Things have gotten so bad that Mando has to depend on Baby Yoda to do some electric work in the bowels of the ship. Going about as well as you would expect when you give a toddler two live wires, Baby Yoda accidentally electrocutes himself but after some broth, the hearty little fellow seems ok. As Mando lifts the bottom of his helmet to drink and we marvel at seeing our first glimpse of Pedro Pascal’s chin this season, Mando thinks they need to head to Nevarro for repairs before they can make their way to Corvus.

On Nevarro, the Armorer’s abandoned forge is being raided by some Aqualish bandits when the new Marshal of Nevarro, Cara Dune (Gina Carano, deep sigh), arrives and dispatches them all with ease. Comforting the Armorer’s pet who was about to be eaten, Cara collects the credits strewn about to return them to their rightful owners.

That Mando manages to land the Razor Crast is a minor miracle and he’s met by Greef Karga (the always welcome Carl Weathers, who also directed the episode) and Cara. Mando jokes that he hopes his credit is good enough for repairs and Greef gets his best people on it while snatching Baby Yoda away like any good baby-hogging uncle would.

As they walk through the streets, it’s obvious Nevarro is newly prosperous thanks to the work of Cara in cleaning up the town. Mando admits his ship is looking so bad because of a run-in with the New Republic and Greef thinks they should leave the Outer Rim alone. If the Empire couldn’t get it under control, how can the New Republic think they can? For so long we’ve seen the New Republic as the good in the fight between good and evil and The Mandalorian continues to grey up matters by showing how many planets resist its rules and bureaucracy.

Nevarro’s cantina is now a school being run by a female protocol droid who sounds just as officious as C-3PO. To Mando’s opposition, Greef puts Baby Yoda in school for the day. How the kids are supposed to concentrate in Baby Yoda’s presence, we do not know. (In a small Easter egg, one girl sports the same three-bun hairstyle as Rey so I’m sure the internet will decide that’s her mom any minute now.) Baby Yoda isn’t so into the galactic geography lesson but spies a nearby student eating what looks suspiciously like french macaron shells. Baby Yoda puts his hand out for one but after the kid denies him, he takes the whole pack by the Force (Is food stealing a new Force power or a very old one?)

Mando sees that Mythrol (Horatio Sanz), the bounty he caught in the first scene of the pilot, has been released from carbonite after Greef allowed him to work off the debt he incurred after some creative accounting as the magistrate’s book keeper. Mando says he’s only here for repairs but since the Razor Crest is in such bad shape, Greef points out he has some time on his hands and they need his help. There is an old Imperial base outside of Nevarro’s safe green zone. The base has a skeleton crew of troopers but for some reason it hasn’t been abandoned and it’s filled with heavy weaponry. Greef wants the Imperials off his planet to make it safe and increase the chance they could become a trade anchor for the sector. Reluctant at first, Mando agrees to help once he hears that destroying the base would finally free the planet.

As they head out to the base via Mythrol’s speeder, Mando finds out that the base is powered by a reactor and if they overload it, they can destroy the whole thing. Mythrol, who is more comic relief than an effective team member, drops them off at the base’s front door and wants to take off but once Greef offers him more years off his debt, he reluctantly agrees to help. Mando takes care of getting them into the base himself by jetpacking ahead and dispatching several troopers. The base isn’t quite as empty as they said but if they get the reactor to explode, it will take everyone out.

After knocking out all the security cameras, they make their way to the reactor perched over the planet’s lava flow. Greef orders the reluctant Mythrol to drain the coolant lines, which he does, giving them 10 minutes before the base is going to blow. As they flee, they find Imperial scientists purging the base’s drives of information. Once the scientists are dead, they discover this isn’t a military base at all but some kind of lab. Visually recalling both Attack of the Clones and the vat of Snokes we saw in The Rise of Skywalker, the vats of misshapen bodies look like some kind of Imperial cloning experiment gone wrong.

As Mythrol looks through the remaining files on Greef’s command, he finds a holo from Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), the Imperial scientist we saw running tests on Baby Yoda in season 1. Turns out he wasn’t just running tests but had taken Baby Yoda’s blood to transfuse into a donor body. But since the body rejected the blood, Pershing is advising Moff Gideon to suspend the experiment for now since they doubt they will get another donor with a higher M-count and he couldn’t take that much from the Child without killing him (Does the M standing for midi-chlorian? Most likely). While this explains why Moff Gideon wants Baby Yoda so badly, just who could need a new body with a high midi-chlorian count? Could it be a certain emperor we thought died when Darth Vader threw him into the Death Star’s reactor and turned up decades later much to everyone’s surprise? Just a guess. Maybe it’s for someone else.

Mando thinks it’s an old holo since Moff Gideon is supposedly dead but Mythrol notes the recording is only three days old. Once Mando realizes that Baby Yoda is still in danger, he jets off to get the child and takes down several troopers on his way out.

Greef and company (that sounds like a restaurant) flee via the Trexler Marauder ship they spied on the way in, unfortunately smashing Mythrol’s speeder during their bumpy exit. Demonstrating that the scout troopers haven’t improved their speeder skills since the Battle of Endor, several crash as they start chasing the ship leaving three remaining. Greef mans the guns and takes one down while Cara smashes another to bits against the canyon walls. Greef gets the last before the trooper can set off his detonator.

They aren’t out of the clear since four TIEs have taken off from the base as it exploded and are in hot pursuit. Cara grouses that Greef isn’t hitting the TIEs but when he hits one, it promptly explodes so close to the ship that it takes out the guns.

They are almost back to the green zone but just as another TIE takes aim, the Razor Crest jets past and takes the rest out. As Baby Yoda continues to munch on his stolen snacks from the newly restored cockpit (Greef’s people really work fast), Mando takes out the last of the fighters to the cheers of Greef, Cara, and Mythrol.

Mando’s joy doesn’t last too long once Baby Yoda starts vomiting up his cookies. As he tries to clean up the child vomit (been there, done that), Greef suggests they get a drink before he leaves but Mando wants to get Baby Yoda out of Gideon’s way.

After Mando takes off, we see New Republic Captain Carson Teva again, who is in Nevarro to interview Greef about the base explosion. No wonder Imperials are marauding around the Outer Rim with these X-wing pilots being stretched so thin. When Carson asks Greef about the Razor Crest, the latter says he never mentioned the ship and reminds the captain that this isn’t Coruscant. Carson seems to know Greef isn’t telling the whole truth but doesn’t see the point in pushing it.

Carson runs into Cara on the way out and compliments her on the job’s she’s doing as marshal and mentions the New Republic could use a soldier with her record. She demures but Carson tells her he knows something is going on out here. They don’t believe it back on the Core Worlds (Leia and Mon Mothma, what are you doing?) and Carson says they can’t stop whatever is going on without local support. Noting Cara is from Alderaan with all that entails, Carson mentions he served during the planet’s destruction and asks Cara if she lost anyone. Cara responds, “I lost everyone.” While offering his condolences, he places a New Republic badge next to her and takes his leave as Cara eyes it warily.

On an Imperial ship, we see a holo from one of the mechanics Greef had working on the Razor Crest who confirms that the device has been planted as requested. The Imperial officer reports to Moff Gideon that a tracking beacon has been installed on Mando’s ship and confirms he still has the asset ie. Baby Yoda. As Gideon swears they will be ready and smiles ominously, he turns to take stock of the Dark Trooper suits being prepared for use. It’s obvious that he’s right and Mando and Baby Yoda are headed for big trouble.

Related content:

• The Mandalorian reveals a fan-favorite character in season 2, episode 3
• Lucasfilm executive defends The Mandalorian's controversial Baby Yoda moment
• Mandalorian guest star W. Earl Brown reflects on his most famous roles