The Mandalorian review: “The Jedi” is the best episode of the season so far

“The Jedi” serves up the best action in the season so far, names Baby Yoda, blows the doors off the show’s mythology, and is generally all-around awesome.

RECAP

Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), lately of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels) confronts mercenary Lang (a somewhat frail-looking Michael Biehn) and magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), the brutal warlords in control of a fortified city on the forest planet of Corvus. Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda arrive at the half-burned planet and are immediately taken to see Elsbeth, who offers Mando a pure Beskar spear as reward for eliminating Ahsoka. Mando accepts.

Mando hunts down Ahsoka. They duel until Mando announces he’s been sent to her by Bo-Katan. Ahsoka immediately gravitates to baby Yoda, entering into an unspoken, motherly communion with the Child. We learn baby Yoda’s true name is Grogu and that he was raised by the Jedi masters in their temple on Coruscant. Sensing much fear in Grogu and worried that his attachment to Mando makes him vulnerable to the Dark Side (not unlike a certain Anakin Skywalker she once knew), Ahsoka originally refuses to train him.

Wanting Ahsoka to take Grogu under her wing, Mando offers to assist her in freeing the city from Elsbeth’s grip, who is terrorizing the citizens. After overwhelming the guards and battles droids, Mando and Ahsoka confront Lang and Elsbeth respectively, and defeat them both.

Ahsoka is looking for Elsbeth’s master, Grand Admiral Thrawn (a BIG name in Star Wars lore!) The population celebrates the demise of their cruel overlords and Ahsoka gives the Beskar spear to Mando; he plans to turn Grogu over to her, but she sends him on a quest to seek out more Jedi instead.

REVIEW

Enter the much ballyhooed Ahsoka Tano, wielding double lightsabers and slicing and dicing goggle-faced bad guys! The Mandalorian gives her a nice action-heavy intro that will delight fans of Ahsoka from her Clone Wars days and announce to everyone else that this is not someone to be messed with; she comes off like a complete boss. “The Jedi” luxuriates in its opening act, lingering on shots of the gloomy alien landscape, with a dash of cute Baby Yoda humor added to lighten the mood a bit. The episode is visually stunning throughout, one of the most atmospheric entries of the show yet.

Rosario Dawson’s performance as Ahsoka is triumphant — in fact, it’s so awesome that I’ll be annoyed if we don’t get to see her again, preferably often. The Mando/Ahsoka duel (I wish it had been longer) immediately proves how valuable the Mandalorian armored suit is in battle with a Jedi; not even light-sabers can slice through it! Dawson brings the perfect balance of strength and softness to Ahsoka. When she and Mando team up, it’s a pairing made in Star Wars heaven. The light saber action isn’t too bad, either.

There are strong themes of motherhood and fatherhood running through this episode. It’s not hard to imagine an alternate version of the story where Mando, Ahsoka and Groku form a kind of superhero family unit. Toss in “auntie” Bo-Katan and weirdo “uncle” Mythrol and boom, whatta crew! It’s not going to happen but one can dream.

A key episode for the series, “The Jedi” flings open the door of The Mandalorian’s universe. We get info on the the ancient Mandalorian-Jedi enmity, the origins of Baby Yoda/Grogu, and mentions of Jedi Master Yoda and the Force, plus lots of star power in the form of Dawson and Biehn. And, of course, there’s the mention of Admiral Thrawn, who could be an excellent villain if the show brings him in.

Watching “The Jedi,” I really felt like I was seeing a Star Wars legend unfold.

EPISODE GRADE: A+

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