Star Wars:The Mandalorian "The Reckoning" Spoiler Review

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Still living with the consequences of saving Yiddle and on the run from the guild, the Mandalorian receives an olive branch from Greef Carga. Unable to run the guild effectively because of the Imperial remnant that’s taken over Nevarro, Greef needs the Mandalorian’s help. Assisninating the Client (Werner Herzog) and getting the remnant off Nevarro for good.

Feeling uneasy but responsive to the idea, he recruits two friends to help him make it off the Nevarro alive. Finding Cara Dune back on Sorgan fighting for credits and Kuiil on Arvala-7 living the quiet life, he finally has his team put together. Since we last saw Kuiil he’s salvaged and rebuilt IG-11 not to be a bounty hunter, but to protect his farm and provide whatever help the Ugnaught may need.

Mando and the gang make their way back to Nevarro and meet with Greef just outside the city, flanked with muscle of his own. The uneasy alliance make their way to the city and discuss their plan to take out what’s left of the Imperials. Their plan is simple, use the Mandalorian and Yiddle as bait to get the Client into the room, and then kill him.

The journey was long and they set up camp to rest and prepare for the mission. When Greef casually says “Nothing can go wrong” surprise, surprise , everything goes wrong. Out of the darkness, mynocks come down from the sky and attack the crew, killing two blurrgs, one of Greef’s crew, leaving Greef horrifically injured. And if not for Yiddle's incredible healing powers, the poison would have killed Greef.

Thankful for saving his life Greef double-crosses his muscle and reveals they had planned to turn on the Mandalorian before they reached the city. Instructing Kuiil to take Yiddle back to the Razor Crest, Greef, Mando, and Cara go into the city to complete the initial plan.

They find the city crawling with stormtroopers and make their way to their meeting spot, the cantina. The meeting doesn’t go well for both parties when Moff Gideon(Giancarlo Esposito) crashes the party, killing all the stormtroopers in the cantina and Werner Herzog in the process. Leaving the Mando Crew pinned and Kuiil desperately running to the Razor Crest, chased by Scout Troopers. The episode ends as we see the dead body of Kuiil and the troopers with Yiddle in hand.

Right off the bat, I have to say how much I love this episode, which is a relief after the previous two weeks of disappointing stories.

Let’s start with the Mandalorian crew. After almost a season of wondering if we’d ever see all the character’s on the poster finally together, we get our wish. Mando, Cara, Kuiil, and IG-11 all cooperating and working as one cohesive unit.

Just like when she was first introduced in “Sanctuary” Gina Carano standouts out in the episode. Once again bringing that intensity and physicality that I loved from her first episode and somehow making her more intimidating and cool. The more I see from her character, the more intriguing she gets to me.

What else has she done that’s made her such a wanted commodity in the New Republic and what is she hiding from?

I love how quickly she changed her mind to help the Mandalorian in the end though. Getting involved because she just hates the Empire and wants to help destroy it.

Cara Dune is a badass!

Kuiil, on the other hand, is the calming influence of the group and each episode he’s in, he only gets better. His interactions with Cara in particular show just who this Ugnaught is. He’s lived 3 lifetimes of servitude, never truly in control of his destiny until very recently.

He’s a sympathetic character that has a lot of offer to the series which makes his death so sad and meaningful. He’s had a life filled with service and I can’t help but feel like it was taken too soon. Never truly making up for the lost time when he was indentured.

While I enjoyed seeing IG-11 again, I’m not quite sure where he fits into the story. It was fun seeing Kuiil bring him back to life and fixing him as well as that montage of IG learning to do things again. That being said, that’s all I got from him this episode because he doesn’t do much besides offer tea and food. I’m hoping for a pay-off in the final episode of the season, but there just wasn’t much for him to do here.

After seven episodes, we finally got our most significant amount of screen-time from Carl Weathers as Greef and I think he works well in the show. Bringing that charisma and heart that Weathers is known for as well as playing an instrumental part in the story.

His reason for turning on his muscle made sense to me and shows that he’s more than just a bounty hunter. Barring some last-minute turn in the finale, there’s a reason that he understands why Mando didn’t turn in Yiddle. He has a conscious and a sense of honor and I’m glad he finally has a chance to shine.

Speaking of Yiddle, we’re finally getting a little bit more context on what his powers are and why the Remnant wants him so badly. Giving us two “oh wow” moments for very different reasons. The first one showcasing his power with the force, choking Cara in the middle of an arm wrestle with the Mandalorian. A shocking moment that is more reminiscent of Sith Lords than Jedi.

Is there darkness in our little green friend?

The next moment coming from when he miraculously heals Greef and saves him from dying. Completely healing the wound from the mynock attack and turning Greef into an ally. As a big fan of the force and the greater mysteries in the series, I love seeing stuff like this. Not only is it cool to see coming from a baby, but it also makes the universe feel much, much bigger.

I was really surprised to see the Imperial Remnant with as many stormtroopers as it did. The last time we were there, the hideout made it seem like there was a dozen at most on the planet. Seeing not just a small Remnant, but what appears to be well organized and stocked force has scary repercussions for the galaxy.

We’re still about 25 years away from The Force Awaken so it’s nice to have a little bit more context on what happened to the Empire after Jakku.

Finally, I have to talk about Grand Moff Gideon because good GOD am I excited about what he brings to the show. In about a minute of screen time, he may be my favorite part of this episode. Giancarlo Esposito brings the same sauce that made Gus Fringe in Breaking Bad so frightening while making it feel completely different. His rage and command of the moment are front and center and I just hope they don’t kill him off too early next episode.

I have to mention the direction of Deborah Chow because she somehow tops herself with “The Reckoning”. Making us truly care about our cast of characters and giving us some spectacular tension and stakes and set up for what should be an amazing finale.

After two less than stellar episodes “The Reckoning” bounces back in a big way. It moves the story forward while giving the audience some great interactions between our cast of characters. As well as a lot of tension culminating in an emotional cliff hanger that sets the finale up for greatness.


Rating: 9.5/10

Just like that, we're already at the season finale! Remember, next week's episode doesn't drop until Friday the 27th. Look for our reviews then!

In the meantime go see a Star War! Enjoy The Rise of Skywalker guys!

Godspeed Rebels!

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