The Mandalorian returns to Nevarro at the behest of his former Guildmaster, Greef Karga, who offers to help him kill The Client, who had been sending hunters after The Child, in addition to putting Nevarro under Remnant occupation. Having good reason not to trust Greef, Mando quickly puts a team together, hiring Cara Dune and Kuiil.

The plan is simple enough: Use The Child as bait to secure a meeting with The Client. Once they're alone with him and his four guards, Greef's bounty hunters take out the guards and the Mandalorian kills the client.

Naturally, it all goes sideways from the word go.

Tropes:

• Answer Cut: When Mando decides that he needs someone to watch the Child, Cara asks him if he knows someone he can trust. Cut to the Razor Crest landing near Kuiil's camp.
• Avengers Assemble: The first half of the episode is Mando gathering all the allies he's made for a final confrontation with the Imperials on Nevarro.
• Back from the Dead: IG-11 has been rebuilt by Kuiil since his "death" in Chapter 1.
• Bathos: When Greef Karga is wounded and poisoned by the flying creature, the Child reaches out to Force heal him and Greef cries out, "He's trying to eat me!"
• BFG: Cara eagerly borrows a heavy repeater rifle from Mando's Wall of Weapons.
• Building Is Welding: Whether rebuilding a Killer Robot into a Robot Buddy or building a more comfortable hover-pram.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • The Scout Troopers standing guard outside the town turn out to be the ace up Moff Gideon's sleeve, as they are monitoring communications and overhear the Mandalorian's message to Kuiil, allowing them to intercept Kuiil and take the Child.
  • Kuiil and IG-11 from the first episode, and Cara Dune from "Sanctuary" are recruited by Mando as backup.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Greef Karga has been hired by the Client to bring in the Mandalorian and/or the Child, but Greef secretly offers Mando help to get close enough to kill the Client. However, Greef is secretly planning to kill Mando and take the Child. Greef changes his mind and kills two of his own hunters to save Mando after the Child saves his life.
• Cliffhanger: The Mandalorian, Cara, and Greef are pinned down in the cantina by dozens of Stormtroopers while two Scout Troopers have managed to take the Child from Kuiil.
• Clown Car: The only explanation for how three Blurgs big enough to serve as mounts for fully-grown people were able to fit inside the cramped confines of Mando's ship.
• Death by Transceiver: When Gideon heavily hints during his monologue that he already knows that the crib is a bluff, Mando immediately comms Kuiil for a status update. Meanwhile, Kuiil is too busy riding his blurrg as fast as he can to the Razor Crest as he's pursued by the Scout Troopers. We keep switching between the two scenes as Mando desperately tries to get a hold of Kuiil, which eventually cuts to Kuiil having been shot down and the Scout Troopers taking the Child.
• Death of Personality: Thanks to the Mandalorian's headshot, Kuiil had to rebuild IG-11's brain from scratch effectively making him an entirely different person. The Mandalorian still doesn't trust him, but is willing to tolerate his presence because Kuiil vouches for him.
• Decapitated Army: Invoked; both Cara and Greef think that if Mando kills the Client, his ragtag bunch of stormtroopers will decide Screw This, I'm Outta Here. Mando doesn't think it will be this easy. Ultimately inverted: it turns out the reason the Imperials have ramped up their presence is because Moff Gideon has arrived and taken control of the operation. In the end, Gideon kills the Client himself, turning that portion of the plan into a "Shaggy Dog" Story.
• Double Take: Mando's initial reaction to the Child Force-choking Cara, as he doesn't understand immediately what's going on.
• Dwindling Party: They lose one of Greef's hunters and two of their Blurgs, and almost lose Greef himself, when they are attacked by flying pterosaur-like creatures. Things get worse later when two Scout Troopers on speeders take out Kuiil himself and steal the Child.
• Easily Forgiven: Given that Greef and Mando unsuccessfully tried to kill each other and failed, Greef declares he's going to call it even. Of course he's setting Mando up to be killed, but there's no indication that he holds a grudge; in fact Greef really does want the Client dead, because having a strong Imperial Remnant presence around is bad for business.
• Enemy Mine: The last time Mando and Greef met, they tried to kill each other. Greef is planning to finish the job before he has a change of heart.
• Evil Wears Black: The Death Troopers who are entirely willing to gun down their own side. However they're quickly backed up by an APC of stormtroopers in pristine white armor.
• Extremely Protective Child: As the Child is just an infant, he has no concept of right and wrong yet, only that the Mandalorian is his father figure whom he has grown to love. This leads to him choking Cara Dune when she was about to win an arm-wrestling match with the Mandalorian, thinking she was an enemy and hurting him.
• Five-Man Band: The Mandalorian and company form one for the final episodes.
  • The Leader: The Mandalorian, captain of his ship and overall main character.
  • The Lancer: Cara Dune, a close friend of Mando and his equal in combat.
  • The Smart Guy: Kuiil, an elderly engineer who is very handy with tools and droids.
  • The Big Guy: IG-11, the rebuilt assassin droid whose combat programming is dormant.
  • The Heart: The Child, whom the Mandalorian has a close relationship with and later is instrumental in Greef's change of heart.
• From Bad to Worse: The plan goes completely sideways when it turns out there are far more Stormtroopers than Greef initially let on. It continues going downhill when Moff Gideon disposes of the Client and arrives to personally deal with Mando... with a retinue of Death Troopers and a sizable army of Stormtroopers at his back. To make matters even worse, Gideon was aware of their plan and had already sent his Scout Troopers to recover the Child, killing Kuiil in the process.
• Giant Flyer: So big they even try to carry off a blurrg.
• Gladiator Games: Cara is shown fighting for money with the two opponents connected by some kind of energy rope.
• Guns Akimbo: Greef Quick Draws and kills the two bounty hunters who are about to take down Cara and Mando.
• Hard-Work Montage: A flashback shows Kuiil repairing and retraining IG-11.
• Healing Hands: The Child uses the Force to heal Greef this way. Greef initially thinks the kid is trying to eat him.
• Heel–Face Turn: Greef decides to switch sides after the Child saves his life.
• Hollywood CB: Subverted with the comlink: when Mando calls Kuiil on it, the scout troopers are able to pick up the broadcast. Note that due to the futuristic setting (and no real official word on how Star Wars communication tech works), it might have been plausible for some kind of handheld communication device to have some encryption or privacy that would prevent or hinder third parties from intercepting the signal, but here the comlink is treated as a conventional radio, where anyone can listen in.
• Hope Spot: It seems for a moment that Kuiil will make to the Razor Crest, only for the Scout Troopers to gun him down meters from the ramp.
• I Owe You My Life: Karga intended to hand Mando and the Child over to the Imps in order to secure peace for his town, but after the Child saves his life he changes his mind.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: A rare heroic variant: During the nighttime ambush, none of the team can reliably land a shot on monsters less than ten feet away, even with repeating blasters!
• Interesting Situation Duel: Cara is doing the "tied-together duel" version, with some kind of energy beam preventing the combatants getting too far apart.
• Internal Reveal: Cara and Greef learn about the Child's powers. Kuiil was already told about how the Child lifted the Mudhorn, but seeing it in person gives him a better idea of what the Child's powers are.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Moff Gideon refers to the Child as "it" during his monologue, establishing that he views the infant as a tool to further his goals and nothing more.
• It's the Only Way: When Mando agrees to go along with the Trojan Prisoner ploy that Greef suggests. He'll know the Client will only continue to send hunters (not knowing the Client is only working for someone bigger).
• Jumped at the Call: Cara isn't interested in the job, until Mando says there are Imperials involved.
• Jump Scare: The pterosaur attack is very unexpected and comes out of nowhere, as they suddenly appear from the shadows while the group is calmly bivouacking. With high-pitched shrieks for additional shock value.
• Mythology Gag: The Imperial transport briefly seen dropping off Gideon's troops is based on a classic Kenner Star Wars toy, the Imperial Troop Transporter.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Kuiil lampshades his No Name Given status by tersely reminding the Mandalorian that he has a name the latter can use to address him.
  • While new villain Moff Gideon gives a monologue outside, Cara openly wonders who the heck he is.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • The Client offers everyone a drink in order to mark "the closing of our shared narrative". He's gunned down not long after.
  • Gideon's statement that "You may think you have some idea what you are in possession of..." is a wink at the viewers, who (unlike the Mandalorian) know the significance of the Child's species but not much else about it.
• Meaningful Background Event: While Mando and Cara are in the cargo hold of the Crest discussing the upcoming op, neither of them notices the Child eavesdropping on them. A minute later, the Crest veers off course with the Child steering.
• Motive Rant: The Client rants about how the Mandalorians never needed to resist the Empire, and the Empire objectively improved every single system they conquered, which is far better than what the New Republic can say. Considering it's the Empire he's talking about, the crowning example of Fascist, but Inefficient, Mando doesn't even bother arguing with him.
• Nature vs. Nurture: Kuiil contends that droids are merely a reflection of those who command them, and thus the rebuilt IG-11 should be judged by how Kuiil raised him. The Mandalorian believes that, regardless of what Kuiil has him doing now, IG-11 is fundamentally a killer because that is what he was built for.
• One-Sided Arm-Wrestling: Averted until the Child intervenes in the Mando vs. Cara match.
• Papa Wolf:
  • When Greef Karga removes the Child from his new crib, we get a close-up of Mando reaching for his blaster. His hand stays on his weapon until Greef puts the Child down again.
  • Inverted with the Child when he thinks his father figure is fighting with Cara when they are merely arm-wrestling, he proceeds to force choke her to protect him.
• Pet the Dog: After the Child heals his wounds, Greef confesses to our heroes that he and the other bounty hunters (that he kills immediately before doing this) were going to double-cross them so that they could steal the baby, but after the kid saved his life, he can't bring himself to do it.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "You may wanna check again." Moff Gideon to the Client.
• Properly Paranoid:
  • Right from the start, the Mandalorian knows that Greef Karga's offer of amnesty in exchange for killing The Client is less than genuine, so he brings some loyal backup along with him to Nevarro. Karga himself confirms he was planning to backstab the Mando when he kills his own backup and switches sides.
  • Mando agrees to go to the Client as a prisoner, but refuses to take the Child with him, only the hover pram. This turns out to be the correct decision as he's walking into a trap, though not one Greef is involved in.
• Psychic Strangle: The Child starts Force-choking Cara, thinking she's the Mandalorian's enemy when the two are arm-wrestling. The Mandalorian quickly talks him down.
• Rebel Relaxation: The Scout Troopers slouching on their speeder bikes on the outskirts of town. Of course it's the Imperials who are the rebels now.
• Retired Monster: Following Kuiil's repairs, IG-11 now performs duties more suited to a protocol droid such as serving tea, preparing meals, and other menial household chores.
• Running Gag: Cara keeps complaining to Greef about there being more than four stormtroopers as he initially claimed every time more turn up. It culminates with an entire army of stormtroopers deploying outside the building. With Death Troopers. And air support!
• Shout-Out:
  • The music when the Child heals Greef's arm is more like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial than Star Wars (also by John Williams, of course).
  • A Robotic Psychopath is reintroduced after an apparent Heel–Face Turn, offering tea. Ring any bells, Doctor Who fans?
• A Simple Plan: One which begins going wrong even before they arrive in town when the party is attacked by flying beasts. It goes further wrong when The Client has far more Stormtrooper guards than expected. And then Moff Gideon shows up...
• Solemn Ending Theme: Instead of the main theme, the end credits play a somber and ominous song, reflecting the Darkest Hour ending of the episode.
• Starter Villain: The Client and his troopers are gunned down by Moff Gideon's troops.
• Tattoo as Character Type: Cara Dune has a Rebellion tattoo on her right bicep which is much more visible than the tiny one on her cheek. Greef advises her to cover it up when going to meet the Imperials.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Cara is not happy at working with Kuiil, since he once served the Empire. Kuiil is equally unhappy with Cara treating him like the Imps who enslaved him.
• Tempting Fate:
  • As they're camping for the night, Greef assures the Mandalorian that nothing will go wrong. Not only does everything go wrong with their plan, but pterosaur creatures attack the party the moment he speaks those words.
  • And speaking of the plan, Greef and Cara both figure that they can easily kill the Client and either turn or eliminate his mooks, openly discussing how they'll pull it off. They don't figure on Moff Gideon and his Elite Mooks crashing the party.
• Trojan Prisoner: The plan eventually morphs into the Mando pretending to be Greef and Cara's prisoner so they can get him in the room with the Client.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: The Child uses Force Choke on Cara while she is arm-wrestling with the Mandalorian.
• Two-Part Episode: With requisite cliffhanger.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: The Client points out that the New Republic has only led to chaos whereas the Empire guaranteed order, enabling trade and security.
• Wham Episode: Moff Gideon kills the Client to become the new antagonist, and his Scout Troopers kill Kuiil and steal the Child.
• Wham Shot: After periodically switching between Kuiil fleeing to the Razor Crest with the baby in hand while the Scout Troopers pursuing him grow closer and the trio in the cantina being confronted by Gideon, the final cut shows the Child in the sand being scooped up by the Scout Troopers and another shot of Kuiil's corpse.
• You Have Failed Me: Gideon has the Client and his Stormtroopers killed, since the Client had been tricked and it was a useful way to kill the Mandalorian in the same stroke.
• You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With:
  Moff Gideon: You have something I want. You may think you have some idea what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine. It means more to me than you will ever know.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Mando tries this by bringing in the hover pram with its cover closed for the meeting with the Client, while Kuiil takes the Child to safety in the Razor Crest.