Let's talk about the eighth episode of the second season of The Mandalorian, The rescue, in which Din Djarinn will put together a team to rescue Grogu from Moff Gideon.
Today is Christmas Eve and to celebrate, we bring you the latest article on the second season of The Mandalorian. The rescue is an extremely eventful episode, in which it is very difficult to get bored. Personally, I think it closes this second season very well, putting the well-deserved word "end" to certain storylines and opening new ones.
Before moving on to the actual article, I remind you that last year we wrote a series of lore insights on the entire first season of The Mandalorian! You can find these articles in the following links: 1 × 01, 1 × 02, 1 × 03, 1 × 04, 1 × 05, 1 × 06, 1 × 07 e 1 × 08. THU instead you can find the review of the first season. At the following links you can find my reflections on the first two episodes of the second season of The Mandalorian: The sheriff, The Passenger, The Heir, The Siege, The Jedi, The tragedy e The avenger. In this articleInstead, we talked about the recent controversies that have arisen around the figure of Gina Carano. In this other article, then, we talked about the body-shaming suffered by Temuera Morrison.
ATTENTION: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Short synopsis de The rescue
After recovering the position of Moff Gideon and the Doctor Pershing, the cloning scientist who had studied Grogu, Din Djarin is ready to take the last steps before recovering his adopted son.
He and Boba Fett then go to recruit more precious firepower, namely Bo-Katan and the young Koska. Although the two Mandalorians are not at all happy to see Boba Fett, to whom they do not fail to address vitriolic comments on his nature as a clone, Bo Katan e Koska however, they agree to help Din save Grogu. Bo-Katan's only request is to be able to face Moff Gideon her, so that she can recover the Darksaber and be able to reclaim the throne of Mandalore.
The assault on Gideon's ship
Thanks to information revealed (even quite willingly!) By Pershing, Dinn's party devises an action plan to board Gideon's ship and disable the Dark Troopers before they fully charge. Aboard an Imperial shuttle, our heroes pretend to be on the run from Slave I, piloted by Boba Fett, so they can "find refuge" in Gideon's ship.
Once aboard, Cara, Bo-Katan, Koska and Fennec blaster their way (not necessarily used as a ranged weapon) to the bridge to look for Gideon, while Din tries to stealthily defuse the Dark Troopers. And if the main group has no problem getting to their destination, Din will have less luck, ending up facing a single Dark Trooper, who seriously risks killing him with the sheer mechanical strength of his punches. It will be the spear of Beskar to save the life of the protagonist, who can then continue towards Grogu's cell.
The recovery of Grogu and the Darksaber
However, once he arrives, Din finds a nasty surprise waiting for him: Gideon, in fact, knowing very well what the aim of the attack was, is waiting for him right in the child's cell, darksaber unsheathed. With all the skill of his bluffs and fencing, Gideon puts Din in serious trouble, but in the end the beskar of the armor and spear will give the protagonist the necessary edge to disarm and capture the Moff.
Thus, having recovered a sleepy Grogu, Din takes Gideon and the Darksaber to the bridge, where his companions await him. Bo-Katan, however, is anything but happy: in fact, as an amused Gideon reveals, Bo-Katan will not be able to claim the Darksaber without having won it in combat. Not willing to clash with Din, Bo-Katan therefore rejects the Darksaber, despite the Mandalorian offering it to him repeatedly.
The arrival of the mysterious Jedi
The philosophical differences will have to wait, however, as the Dark Trooper platoon expelled from the ship is returning to board it. Our heroes prepare for battle by barricading themselves on the bridge, knowing full well that they can never win against so many killer droids. But as the Dark Troopers punch their way through the bridge's armored doors, a lone X-Wing lands on the ship. The droids stop and turn, turning their backs on Din and his group: a far more formidable danger has caught their attention. It is a silent Jedi dressed in black who, with his green lightsaber, makes his way through the ranks of the Dark Troopers with inhuman ease.
The warriors are suspicious and Gideon tries to kill himself and Grogu with a desperate move, but in the end the droids are all destroyed and Din opens the doors of the bridge, welcoming the Jedi, who calmly puts down the lightsaber and takes off. the hood. IS Luke Skywalker, recalled by Grogu on Tython.
Luke invites Grogu to go with him, but takes care to inform Din that the child, before he goes, wants permission from his adoptive father. It's painful for Din to say goodbye to his son right after saving him, but he tries to do the best thing for him, and lets him go. First, however, to greet him, he takes off his helmet, finally showing his face to Grogu. Also encouraged by a friendly R2D2, Grogu leaves his father and follows Luke, who promises to train and protect him at the cost of his own life.
Positive elements de The rescue
Where to start? This paragraph could become a bit of a list of all the things I liked about de The rescue, because there are so many.
I Dark Troopers they are beautiful, very well thought out and animated. Their musical theme, then, in its electronic tamarraggine, remains in the head and certainly impresses. Hope to see them in action again. Gideon he reconfirms himself as a good antagonist, capable of exerting different types of threats and adapting to the situation, losing without becoming macchiettistico. I must then of course make an honorable mention to all-female team by Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan and Koska. In fact, as many have already commented, it is a moment girl power handled extremely well, with great naturalness and in a very organic way with respect to the plot.
But let's now come to the center of the episode.
Luke Skywalker
Luke's arrival is very well built from my point of view. Its strengths are two: the rhythm and the game between expectations of the characters e viewers' expectations.
In fact, the single X-Wing arriving in time of need is an unexpected and not very useful help, from the point of view of the characters, but it is a very clear omen for the spectators. Thus, we have on the one hand the increasing realization of who the newcomer is by the characters, and an increasing recognition of him by the spectators, until even their acquaintances do not end up coinciding when Luke takes off his hood.
Luke's inexorable advance: the power and calm of the Jedi
Il rhythm of the meeting helps a lot, thanks also to the excellent use of the soundtrack. After the pounding rhythm of the Dark Troopers' punches, the subsequent silence and delicate music portend the arrival of something important, but also extremely different from what we have seen so far. After creating fear in the viewer and characters towards the Dark Troopers, seeing how these assassin droids turn to face a single man gives a thrill, despite the contemplative chorus.
The music that accompanies Luke fits perfectly with his character, calm and serene even as he makes his way through a platoon of Dark Troopers. His advance is calm, but inexorable and efficient. We perfectly see his masterful use of Djem So, as he proceeds by slaughtering droids. And in the last corridor, we see him making his way through the Dark Troopers with a style that cannot fail to remind us of Vader in Rogue One, while boarding the Rebel ship.
Luke's arrival makes us realize just how great the difference in strength and destructiveness is between ordinary people, however gifted they may be, and a fully trained Jedi. Taking up what we had seen in Clone Wars of Tartakovsky with Mace Windu, and in general in everything The Clone Wars by Filoni, some Jedi alone are worth as much as an army. They are forces capable of breaking the balance in the Galaxy and taking the clash to a whole other level. And for this they must be careful of the battles they fight.
A soulful tribute
Finally, Luke's arrival is a moving tribute to his character. Not to mention the return of Mark Hamill The last Jedi (which no, I did not appreciate it at all, as I also said Thu), and without counting its shape in Rebellious, we haven't seen Luke Skywalker on screen in a very long time. And, of course, we didn't see this Luke Skywalker: the protagonist at peace with himself that we had left behind Il ritorno dello Jedi. Huh The rescue, Luke appears as a Patronus of Harry Potter: it is a happy reminder of our past that comes to save the day.
Still, it's not just a pure nostalgia effect either. In fact, this Luke interfaces with the present of The Mandalorian remaining faithful to its classic characterization, but in the meantime it helps to close the Grogu storyline with consistency. Nor is he an extremely intrusive character, as the episode quickly shifts the emotional focus to Din and Grogu, leaving them fully protagonists of the The rescue.
The separation between Grogu and Din
In general, I believe the second season of The Mandalorian he developed the character of Din Djarin very well. By questioning his beliefs, the protagonist has grown a lot, re-evaluating their priorities. Personally, I really enjoyed Din and his story arc, becoming very fond of the character.
I was therefore very happy with how it was decided to close (for the moment) his relationship with Grogu. Their separation was very sweet and gave me a tear, thanks also to the excellent performance of Pedro Pascal. However, despite the melancholy, I also found it absolutely necessary to close the Grogu storyline, so as to be able to give more space to the telling of Din Djarin's story, in the next season.
Negative elements de The rescue
Also for this episode I have no particular criticisms to make. In general, The rescue it's a great final episode, which keeps the tension high and leads to many resolutions.
There are just two things that bothered me slightly. The first is the fact that Cara Dune, when Luke showed up, showed no signs of recognizing the hero of the Rebellion. Of course, probably not everyone can know that Luke is a Jedi, nor will everyone be very familiar with his appearance. However, from a former Alderaan-linked Rebellion soldier like Cara (who will probably know, at least by name and by sight, Leia) I would have expected a greater familiarity with the Rebellion's war heroes.
Another thing that tends to make little sense is that Bo-Katan cannot receive the Darksaber from Din. Of course, it may be that in the meantime the Mandalorians have resumed their old habits, as the beautiful people of de state say The insolence of R2D2 in this article. Therefore, perhaps the Mandalorians would no longer trust Bo-Katan after her failed defense of Mandalore, unless she shows up having defeated the Darksaber and thus proving she is still a capable warrior. However, the temporal proximity between The Mandalorian e Rebellious makes this costume change a little weird. We hope to have more information next season.
Conclusions
Despite the bitterness of seeing Din and Grogu separated again, I really enjoyed this season finale.
I found The rescue well directed, with great rhythm, great music and excellent action scenes. The episode points to an emotional involvement on multiple levels, focusing on the public's affection for Grogu and on Din's empathy towards pain. There is also an emotional involvement based on the affection of the spectators towards characters like Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett. In fact, it's hard not to get excited about the return of the calm and kind Luke from Return of the Jedi, or not to feel empathy for Boba in his verbal confrontation with Bo-Katan. Finally, it is difficult to remain indifferent to the separation of Din and Grogu.
In short, in my opinion The rescue is one of the best episodes in the series since it combines action with emotional involvement and moves the story very well, closing several storylines and opening new scenarios for the third season of The Mandalorian, and for the television series about Boba Fett. Overall, it seemed like a great way to end this beautiful, beautiful season.
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