➤ The Mandalorian 2x05, the review: an epochal episode for the Disney + series 🎮

Finally we did it. We arrived at the highlight of The Mandalorian 2, to the episode of the Disney + series that we had been waiting for since before the season began, when we discovered that the excellent Rosario Dawson (she was Nurse Claire Temple in the Marvel series of Netflix, among other things) would play no less than Ahsoka Tano, a character Star Wars fans have come to love over the years after a not-so-convincing debut in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie.

His presence, we knew, would mean great things for The Mandalorian and the Star Wars multimedia universe all. Indeed, episode 13 represents a gigantic, glittering intersection where different media pass: written and directed by Dave Filoni, the brilliant behind-the-scenes puppeteer of the Star Wars universe for many years now, The Jedi is a majestic episode in virtually every respect. In our review we explain why.

The Jedi

The Mandalorian 2x05, the review: an epochal episode for the Disney + series

I send and the Male child finally arrive on Corvus, the planet indicated by Bo Katan Kryze where a Jedi named Ahsoka Tano would roam. Din Djarin's goal is always the same: to deliver the Child to one of these legendary sorcerers to protect him from the Empire which, as we discovered last week, is still looking for the little one to continue his gruesome experiments. On CorvusHowever, Mando must decide whether or not to accept a new mission from Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth who presides over a city, torturing its inhabitants: the reward is a spear of pure Beskar, the target is Ahsoka Tano. On a collision course with the Jedi, Mando will discover some important information about the Child ... starting with his real name.

Analysis of a very rich episode

Ahsoka Tano is obviously the great protagonist of this episode. He appears right at the beginning, in a spectacular scene that highlights his ferocity and determination. If you are unfamiliar with this character, his behavior may seem strange to you and ... very little Jedi, just saying. You are not all wrong. Ahsoka, in fact, is not exactly a Jedi as she abandoned the Order in the finale of The Clone Wars fifth season. The story of this heroine is quite complicated; we suggest you a nice review of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, or a careful reading of some wikia, but in general you should know this: Ahsoka was Anakin Skywalker's padawan and her estrangement was one of the causes that led the Chosen one on the path to the Dark Side . In this sense, Ahsoka Tano, although he has never appeared in any film - except for his voice, which incites Rey along with other Jedi in the final battle of The Rise of Skywalker - is a character of extraordinary importance in the saga of George Lucas.

Seeing her in flesh and blood was priceless. We have followed this heroine for years: we have seen her become a Jedi, then a spy, we have seen her die under the blows of her own master and then unexpectedly return to the scene. Rosario Dawson he interprets it with a combination of grit and calmness that give us back the Asoka we have known, only more adult and wiser than in the past, but no less lethal with his white lightsabers. We see her again in the company of the owl that Star Wars fans know well, on a different planet than usual, in a deserted and mysterious swamp that is so reminiscent of Dagobah.

From this point of view, The Mandalorian pays homage to an entire saga with a handful of scenes full of meaning from a visual and narrative point of view. It is Ahsoka, finally, who reveals the story of the Child ... who we now know his name Yellow. The background helps us better understand what has so far been a walking gag and a merchandising icon, opening a very interesting glimpse into its future and that of the Disney + series.

Filoni fills the episode with quotes; puts Obi-Wan Kenobi's words in Ahsoka's mouth when explaining to Mando what the Force is, mentions Yoda (finally!) and the purge of Coruscant, the "best of all" Jedi and his passage to the dark side. The Mandalorian returns to being Star Wars: a generational saga of fathers and sons, now reflected in the relationship that the Mandalorian and the Child have established. On the action side, the episode does not disappoint at all. After the start of the gun cotton, it continues along a more staid central sequence but so full of suggestions and information that the minutes slip away like water between the fingers. Paradoxically, the final sequence is not an explosive riot of computer graphics and pirouettes. In that city, in the confrontation between Mando and Lieutenant Lang (Michael Biehn, Corporal Hicks of Aliens!) And between Ahsoka and Magistrate Elsbeth there is all the Star Wars by George Lucas: the combination of western cinema and the chanbara trend in a space fantasy. Two dry clashes, a confrontation between gunslingers and a sword fight, a lot of tension and synthetic dialogues.

Already the city, oriental in architecture with its torii at the entrance, contextualizes the figure of Ahsoka, practically a ronin, a wandering samurai, just as the Jedi were the samurai of space in Lucas's imagination. As usual, Filoni demonstrates a sensitivity and knowledge of this universe that has no equal. The episode is not only splendid to see and hear, but also to be absorbed. Within minutes, Filoni canonize even video games set in the Old Republic. The HK-87 droids, first seen in live action, are a variant of the HK-47 model we met in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, while Tython is a planet that we visited in BioWare's MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and which only recently re-entered the Disney canon by appearing in the official Doctor Aphra comic series. While Filoni enjoys sowing these pawns, he does even more: he takes a good lunge for Star Wars Rebels fans, mentioning the grand admiral Thrawn, another character who made his debut in the Legends novels and who has returned to the canon only a few years ago.

In closing, the episode offers the Mandalorian a new mission that will probably keep him busy until the end of the season, if not beyond, and that could question his connection with Grogu and the future income of the Disney: the latter, in particular, make us think about the most obvious and optimistic solution to the intrigue, but on the other hand Filoni might have some surprising moves in mind that would put the whole series back from a different perspective. I'm only sorry to have left Ahsoka on Corvus: she too, despite her legendary aura, joins a cast of guest stars who appear and disappear for many episodes. But this chapter 13 of The Mandalorian may also have been what calls himself a backdoor pilot, and who knows we won't see Ahsoka any longer in a live action series of her own. The potential for new adventures is there and no one ever told us what happened to the Jedi before The Force Awakens.

Comment

Resources4Gaming.com

9.5

The Mandalorian 2x05 was an hour of great television, and not only because it staged for the first time a flesh and blood version of the beloved Ahsoka Tano, but also because it is a technically excellent episode in practically every respect. . Dave Filoni wrote and directed a phenomenal chapter of Star Wars that will remain in the memory of fans as much as the best films of the saga.