Entering Disney+ as its flagship series, The Mandalorian takes place in between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens, after the fall of the Empire, but before the rise of the First Order. The show follows a titular mandalorian, a bounty hunter with armor similar to what Boba Fett wore, and his adventures through the galaxy. We enter the series with him scouting out a location where a bounty is, a bar on an desolated ice planet.
A Mandalorian Walks Into A Bar
The opening scene takes place inside of this bar, with our lead (Pedro Pascal) looking to defend his bounty from a bunch of shady-looking aliens about to kill him. Defense, in this case, meaning killing all of them in a loud and unsubtle fashion. The bounty, looking as rightfully scared as ever, is given a choice. He can either be “[brought] in warm” or “[brought] in cold” when shown a bounty puck, an object that displays the hologram of the bounty and shows how much they’re worth. He chooses to be taken in alive.
They arrive at the ship and after a brief quarrel with an ice monster, take off into the stars for Mandalorian to collect his due. The bounty, curious of the ship and curious as to how to escape, looks around the vessel to find weapons, armor, and other bounties frozen in carbonite. He turns around to see Mandalorian, and receives the same treatment. To be brought in cold, suddenly has a few different meanings. They arrive at the planet Mandalore, a hub for criminal transactions and activity in the community.
The carbonite people get offloaded and what we see is now a world overrun by chaos. It seems that in the wake of the Empire’s fall, order has yet to be restored across the many planets scattered throughout the galaxy. Mandalorian meets our next character, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), who gives him multiple new pucks/options to go after, but to no avail. None of them pay well. So, another option is given. An under-the-table job for a strange man (Werner Herzog) leads to an empty location with stormtroopers, nervous doctors (Omid Abtahi), and triggers ready to get pulled. None do get pulled in the end, and our lead leaves with a mission to take in a 50 year old creature at some planet he can only track on a given fob. He’s payed in “Beskar” steel, with the promise of more to come if the job is done correctly, with the bounty preferably alive.
The Natural Order Of Things
He then goes to a blacksmith and forges a new shoulder plate from the steel he has been given. The sequence in which he’s given this plate is intercut with flashbacks of what appears to be a traumatic past on the planet where his parents get murdered in a war of some kind. Future episodes will have to clarify.
The next planet is a desert looking, rocky place where a new friend is struck. An Ugnaught named Kuiil (Nick Nolte) teaches Mandalorian to ride a strange mounted beast called a blurrg, before using that as transportation to get to the bunker that awaits him and his target. He meets an IG-11 bot (Taika Waititi) there, who’s also set out to get the bounty. After a small skirmish they enter the building where the bounty is. Turns out, it’s nothing more than a small baby, one of Yoda’s species. The Mandalorian kills IG-11 before he can kill the baby, and the episode ends. Maybe he’s more than just a killing machine after all.
Conclusion
The next episode looks to deliver more spaghetti western inspired action, a clear inspiration for Favreau in the development of this series, combines with a new continuing thread following the Mandalorian and his new Yoda baby. Episodes premiere every Friday for the next few weeks.
The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+.
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