The Mandalorian: Season 2, Episode 6 'The Tragedy' Recap and Review
The arrival of Boba Fett could only do so much for this seemingly rushed episode
On paper, ‘The Tragedy’ should be a knockout of an episode; the return of Tamara Morrison’s Boba Fett, the visit to the ancient Jedi planet of Tython, and the first shot of the Darktroopers in action. This episode was packed with returns, reveals, and peek into what to expect in the final two episodes of the season but I found it all a tad underwhelming. I’m not saying the episode is bad because it is not and to compare this episode to the previous one would simply be unfair, so when I look at why I felt this way I can only come up with the core of the episode: the meeting of Din Djarin and Boba Fett. The two Mandalorians felt… off in certain ways that kept me from immersing fully in the story.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead
The episode begins with a moment of bonding with Din and Grogu aboard the Razor Crest as they approach the planet of Tython. After finding the seeing stone they are immediately confronted with Boba Fett’s ship the Slave 1. Din wants to leave but the ritual has begun and Grogu is inaccessible. Din confronts Boba Fett who simply wants his armor back. It’s then revealed that Boba is not alone, he has brought with him the sharpshooter Fennec Shand played by Ming-Na Wen. She was rescued and repaired by Boba and now owes him a life debt. After a brief standoff, Din removes his jetpack and forgets about it for the rest of the episode. They chat for a little bit and Boba offers Grogu’s safety for his armor back but before they could agree, an Empire Troop Carrier interrupts their conversation. Stormtroopers pour out of the ship and a shootout ensues. Mando goes back to the child, tries again to grab him, unsuccessfully, and Fennec picks them off one by one while Boba rips through them with his Tusken Raider staff, also known as a Gaderffii. As things get hairy for Fennec, and the arrival of a second troop carrier doesn’t bode well, Din arrives to help her. And just as things get harrier for those two, Boba flies in to save them. As they gain the upper hand, a blaster bolt appears through the clouds and obliterates the Razor Crest. Moff Gideon sends a small group of Darktroopers to retrieve the child. Din sees this and races to Grogu but is too late, Grogu has been captured. As Din rummages through the wreckage of the Razor Crest, retrieving his Beskar Spear and Grogu’s favorite ball, Boba Fett reiterates his promise to keep Grogu safe. Boba takes Din to see Cara Dune for information on Mayfeld, played by Bill Burr in season one, and to recruit her to help of course. Aboard Moff Gideon’s Starship, Grogu tosses around a few Stormtroopers before being taunted by Gideon and the Darksaber before being stunned and shackled.
The first question that popped into my mind after completing this episode was: Why did Din forget about his jetpack? So much of the conflict could have been prevented if he just would have put his jetpack back on. I realized that I only ask these sorts of questions when watching film or television when a character comes down with a case of ‘the stupids.’ Like the scientists in Alien: Covenant removing their helmet on an alien planet or Peter Quill having a moment while Thanos was literal fingertips away from being defeated. There were moments like this for Din throughout the episode. Din tried to get through the force field around Grogu and giving up to do something else twice and the only reason it wasn’t three times is that the second attempt knocked him out cold. He spots the Darktroopers heading to them and doesn’t even attempt to find his jetpack, resulting in him losing Grogu at the last second. Oh, and I can’t forget him pulling a Leroy Jenkins and running in the middle of the firefight to “help” Fennec only to quickly lose advantage requiring an assist from Boba Fett. Speaking of Boba Fett, was that Boba Fett? The character is completely different from his first appearances in the Empire Strikes Back. I don’t just mean his appearance without the armor being similar to Darth Vader without the helmet; his reserved, smooth and menacing aura from his original outing was replaced with that of that mouthy little kid from the prequels. I believe that that kid grew up to be this guy but is that really the Boba they should have revived? His evolution of character feels jumbled up, I could see the Attack of the Clones version growing up to to be both his original version and this new one separately. But placing this character after his Empire Strikes Back version feels out of place. Even seeing the Darktroopers in ‘action’ felt like a wet firework. They fire to the planet's surface like rockets, all shiny and new, then they pick up the child and go. No resistance. I suppose this was meant to be Din’s race to the ship moment from Nick Nolte’s Kuiil in season one but instead of the tension I was supposed to be feeling, I had a growing sense of confusion as to why Din hadn’t put on his jetpack this whole time. This episode is the shortest this season and the final moments of the episode still felt tacked on to extend runtime.
So much of this episode feels like it repeats itself, or is drawn out, but oddly rushed at the same time. The episode was written to service the ‘moments’ of the episode versus them occurring naturally through the logical passing of the timeline. Din had to leave his jetpack so that the Darktroopers could get away just in time without Din being able to pursue. Din had to get knocked out by the force field so he could have his heroic moment saving Fennec and to give Boba time to set up his heroic moment directly after Din’s. And those ‘moments’ were checked off the episode like a list one after another, stuffing the episode with plot developments that were causing it to burst at the seams. Find Tython, find seeing stone, Boba Fett introduction, confrontation, and reconciliation, Stormtroopers, final-form Boba Fett, Razor Crest destroyed, Grogu kidnapped, finale team-up set-up; that is literally the entire episode. I will say the episode had its moments but even those moments had strange elements from the cinematography that hurt a bit. The lens glares during Boba’s introduction of the Stormtroopers to the floor threw me during both of my viewings. This episode was cool, in the same sense as seeing Michael Bay’s Transformers on screen is cool. Unfortunately, the Mandalorian adopted the same writing and pacing problems as the robots in disguise in the process.