Mando is back once again and has been given his final task by Greef Karga. What is his final task? Head back to Nevarro, bring The Child (Baby Yoda), and kill the client who hired Mando to bring in Baby Yoda back in Chapter One. Mando has been a wanted man ever since his betrayal to the Guild and his client. And in doing so, he has become the sole protector of The Child (Baby Yoda).
This series throughout its current run has slowly laid the groundwork for a much bigger battle/threat. Who is that threat? While we get a glimpse of him at the end of the episode, we aren’t entirely sure. But this threat is armed to the teeth and he wants Baby Yoda for himself. Clearly, both the client and Mando were the middlemen in this whole ordeal.
To backtrack a bit, we see the return of Gina Carano’s Cara Dune, Taika Waititi’s IG-11 Droid, who was presumed to be dead at the end of Chapter One but was salvaged and reprogramed by Kuill. Mando isn’t too fond of Kuill’s decision to reprogram IG-11, solely because the droid sole purpose is to kill.
The return of these characters was great, I was growing a real gripe with these characters being one and done. I wanted to see more IG-11, more Kuill, and of course, mora Cara Dune! These characters were marketed way too much to just be reduced to “characters of the week”, so I’m glad we go to see them again and it looks like two out of the three will be back for the season finale.
As for Baby Yoda and that Force Choke, MAJOR questions need to be asked about this little fella. We all know that Yoda’s species are all Force Sensitive. Baby Yoda while not in full control of The Force just yet has been able to pull off some pretty awesome feats. One of the biggest questions being asked around the internet is this, “Is Baby Yoda evil?”. Is he? I don’t think necessarily think so, but outside of him being one of the main reasons everyone tunes in to The Mandalorian each and every week, my biggest question is this, what is Baby Yoda’s purpose in this series? Why is this little guy so important?
The big twist for this episode was that Greef Karga’s invitation of commission to Mando was simply a setup. A setup to kill Mando, his team, and take Baby Yoda for himself and hand-deliver it to the client personally. Greef has a change of heart after Baby Yoda saves his life, in turn, he suggests to Mando that they work together to kill the client instead.
The team arrives on Nevarro and meet with the client. Greef Karga’s initial plans go awry as reinforcements are sent in as backup, although subtly. Karga stalls the client before they’re interrupted by a phone call. It’s not long until Nevarro is attacked, the client is killed in the process, Mando, Greef, and Cara are now pinned down by a massive horde of Stormtroopers and Shadow Stormtroopers. Moff Gideon stands tall and ready to lay waste to Mando and company as he asks them to turn Baby Yoda over to him.
On the flipside, Kuill is rallying back to the Razor Crest with Baby Yoda in hand, the call is intercepted by the guards outside Nevarro. The chase is on! Kuill nearly arrives at the Razor Crest before we cut to one of the guards grabbing Baby Yoda from the ground as Kuill lies on the ground, presumably dead.
Overall, Chapter 7 is one of my favorite episodes and while I have some gripes and questions about the series overall so far, I’m hoping the finale delivers on what it has been leading up to this entire time.