Hands down, “The Siege” was my favorite episode yet of the Mandalorian. From relying on character development laid over the long slog through season one to carry most of the episode to finally providing some answers (which only led to more questions, but it was great to get some confirmation regarding the villainous plans of Moff Gideon after mere hints), I have absolutely no qualms about this one. I know, I know, as someone who has been pretty hard on what amounts to a children’s series up to this point, it’s crazy that an episode like “The Siege” could get me praising the series, but here we are.
So, why did “The Siege” work so well from start to finish? Well, for one, it trusted that its audience would care as much about the fates of Cara Dune, Greef Karga, and Mythrol as they do about The Child. Sidelining the series’ biggest draw for much of the episode is always a risk, but this episode proved that even when he’s off screen – hell, even when Mando is off screen – the series can work just fine. But it only works because of the time the series spent developing Cara and Greef back in season one. As I have said time and again, The Mandalorian works best when it doesn’t require Mando to carry the emotional and dramatic weight of the series. This week, as has been the case multiple times throughout this season, the burden was laid on far more capable characters than our leading man. It was fun to watch the quartet break into the Imperial base and get into a gun battle with the remaining Stormtroopers and Imperial soldiers. It was even more fun to watch the chase back from the base to the Navarro market with only our trio of guest stars working like a well-oiled machine (ok, with two working like a well-oiled machine and Mythrol staying out of the way). Again, while much of season one was needlessly long exposition, the time we were able to spend with the show’s supporting cast has paid off in spades this season. Again, I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll see of these three characters – Cara certainly seemed to be contemplating getting back in the game after speaking with the X-wing pilot from the New Republic, which might mean she ends up going toe-to-toe with Moff Gideon before long – and I can’t wait to see them once more.
Now, speaking of the long, drawn out exposition of season one, it never should have take this long for the show to reveal what Moff Gideon needed The Child for. But, after twelve long episodes, we finally have some idea just what was going on down on Navarro back in season one: Gideon wants to use The Child’s blood (with its high Midichlorian count) for genetic augmentation experiments. Now, just what those experiments are trying to accomplish we still don’t know. My best guess is to imbue Force sensitivity or powers in those without them, as that would be the simplest explanation and this series tends to lean into the easier explanations whenever possible (not a criticism, mind you, I’m fine with simplicity when dealing with big Star Wars ideas like Midichlorians). After all, if the remnants of The Empire end up with that kind of power at their disposal, well, that would be pretty awful for the fledgling New Republic.
This was a delightful episode, full of fun suspense and some good old fashioned Star Wars visuals (the episode was directed by Carl Weathers, who also played Greef). I continue to be amazed that, four episodes into season two, I’m having this much fun with a show I had all but written off back in season one. With Mando’s ship all fixed and a course laid in for Corvus, I’m hopeful that we will get the chance to meet Ahsoka Tano next week. Although, since Moff Gideon now has a tracking device on the Razor Crest, there’s a chance he’ll get to meet her next week as well.
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