The Mandalorian: Chapter 11--The Heiress

 The Mandalorian: Chapter 11--The Heiress, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Bryce Dallas Howard

Wow, just wow!! What an episode!! And not just because of the obvious big reveals, but the timing was perfect, there was oh so sweet romance, and even the comedy was on point. From the first moments of the episode (I almost typed film lol), I was on the edge of my seat with excitement and joy!!

First off, we have the beautiful and terrifying entry of the Razor Crest into Trask's atmosphere. So vivid and real!! And it didn't hurt that it mirrored the re-entry of Apollo 13 into Earth's atmosphere in the movie of the same name (Bryce is Ron Howard's daughter and he directed Apollo 13! Such a sweet homage). I knew Din, The Child, and Frog Lady would survive, but man oh man were those few moments of fire and rattling ship intense! Then, upon landing, the landing gear are finally functional again by a stroke of luck and everything seems to be playing out perfectly with a smooth settling down of the ship...only to have the landing gear say, "Nope!" and the Razor Crest tumble sideways into the ocean (see below)!! That was my first out loud exclamation, how could things get any worse for Din at this point?!?

Comedy-wise, we get the lovely Mon Calamari in the cable-knit sweater who just harrumphs at the Razor Crest's obvious problems and yet agrees to fix her up...for a price. The fact we see a Mon Calamari wearing a fisherman's sweater is funny enough, but later we see his Mon Calamari feats of engineering and dang if they weren't hysterical!! There are cables connecting everything and holding it all together (see below). So many cables, that Din has to even reach around them to pilot the ship!! And let's just say these cables don't keep out every single denizen of the sea...

As for the romance, we witness Frog Lady reuniting with Frog Dude and their reunion is so incredibly sweet!! They are overjoyed to see each other and you can feel the love between these two--it is deep and caring and beautiful (see below). We also get to see the eggs hatch post-fertilization...that was quick and completely biologically impossible lmao, but the baby frogs were adorable regardless and even The Child was adorable with one of the hatchlings (see below)...although I had a lingering fear when he was playing with the water the baby was swimming around in that he might do the unthinkable. Phew that he didn't!!

It just gets better from here with Din and The Child hitching a ride with some Quarren to seek out the other Mandalorians. The head Quarren on the ship discusses his pet Mamacore, a carnivorous beastie that lives in a grated off sub-section of the middle of the ship. He tells Din that him and The Child might enjoy watching it get fed. So the two saunter over to the edge of the pit, the captain opens the grate, and he drops a net-full of fish down into the water...revealing a creature with a round, sharp-tooth-lined double-mouth who's ravenous (see below). This appears on the surface to be dangerous as is, but then the Quarren captain bats The Child down into the water (he's floating in his pram--see below) and of course Din dives in after him. Take a guess at what these Quarren were really after?? Yep! Beskar. Oh my goodness this extended moment from the fall of the child into the water to Din grabbing at the now-closed grate above to escape had me freaking out!! 

...and then!!! The first big reveal happened and I couldn't contain myself!! Now I keep myself very spoiler free so I had no idea that Bo-Katan was rumored or said to be on the show. As soon as I saw the night owl patterns on that Mandalorian helmet (see below), I kept saying, "They're doing it!! Oh my God, they're doing it!!!" And yes, it was Bo-Katan Kryze herself beneath that Night Owl helmet and talk about utter elation!! Another animated to live-action character?!? This is connected story-telling at its very best and I am so here for it!! Bo-Katan must be "The Heiress" of the title--love this!! Not only do we have an amazing character reveal, but we also have a backstory reveal for Din in that we finally get some answers about the whole not taking the helmet off thing!! We've known that's not a typical Mandalorian trait from what we've seen in "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels" and we learn here that Din is a "Child of the Watch." We did already know that he was rescued during the Clone Wars by members of Death Watch. And we know that the Armorer has horns on her helmet. So could these be a Mauldalorian offshoot? Descendants of Death Watch? An all-together new Mandalorian cult? According to Bo-Katan, the Children of the Watch are religious zealots who separated from the rest of Mandalorian culture some time ago...I really hope we get to know more!!

In regards to action, this episode had it in spades!! Bo-Katan and her two fellow Night Owls, Axe Woves and Koska Reeves (see below--Bo-Katan in the middle, Koska on the left, Axe on the right), kick a** along with Din on a Gozanti-class Imperial cruiser (see below) filled with weapons that Bo-Katan wants to use to take back her home!! The four fight valiantly and get all the way to the cockpit as Bo-Katan's ultimate goal is revealed...to repossess the Darksaber!!! She knows Moff Gideon has it and is desperate to find him and retake her planet's heritage to seat a new Mand'alor. To keep the plot moving though, things can only go so well and the hunt for the Darksaber is delayed for her yet again...

And finally, we get the second big reveal...Bo-Katan tells Din to go to the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus where he will find...Ahsoka Tano!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Again, I was exclaiming, "They're doing it!! They're actually doing it!!" with great joy!! I cannot wait to see a live-action Ahsoka and of course I'm wondering what this means for Sabine/Ezra/Thrawn...have the young knight and the grand admiral been found yet?? Will we see Sabine?? I was sure there would be a "Rebels" spin-off series detailing the hunt for the two, but if Ahsoka is stationed on just one city on one planet, that must mean the hunt is over... So many possibilities!!! I CANNOT wait!

So a wonderful episode that possessed some truly brilliant story-telling!! This show is definitely where it's at!!