Every episode of The Mandalorian season 2, ranked worst to best

Image: The Mandalorian/Disney+

“Chapter 13: The Jedi”

I’m a sucker for lightsabers and the Force. I’d come to love The Mandalorian for how it’s different, but there’s nothing that can top lightsaber fighting for me. And “The Jedi” gives us some great lightsaber action along with the live-action debut of Ahsoka Tano, another popular character from the animated series. This episode had a lot to live up to and it didn’t disappoint.

Rosario Dawson does a fantastic job of bringing emotional depth and maturity to a character fans had seen grow from padawan to rogue Jedi master throughout The Clone Wars and Rebels.  In the hands of her creator, showrunner Dave Filoni, this Ahsoka is everything we want her to be and more: a superb warrior with an unflinching determination to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Now that we know Ahsoka is getting her own show, we can tell that this episode is about setting up her solo adventures. But it doesn’t sacrifice the story about Din and Grogu. In fact, we learn more about Baby Yoda than ever before, including his name and what he was doing before Mando found him in the series premiere!  We learn that Grogu’s abilities are directly tied to his attachment to Din, which Ahsoka realizes is very dangerous. Filoni also slips a reference to Grand Admiral Thrawn in there, all without making the episode feel overly expository.

But it all comes back to the fight sequences…The white lightsabers Ahsoka wields are some of the coolest I’ve ever seen. She’s terrifying as she moves silently from enemy to enemy, leaving none alive in her wake. And seeing a beskar-vs-lightsaber duel was one of the best action moments of the series so far.

The episode works in a lot of visual and thematic references to samurai and western movies, adding another layer. Both of these were strong influences on the original Star Wars movies and George Lucas’ filmmaking style. Seeing them come together so elegantly in this episode was a treat.