*RECAP INCLUDES SPOILERS*

When we last left our Mandalorian, he was flying into the metaphorical horizon with Baby Yoda in hand, or rather in ship. In this week’s episode, we open with him delivering said baby to The Client, played by Werner Herzog. Breaking Mandalorian code, he asks what will become of the baby once he has been delivered. It seems our Mandalorian may have a heart after all, and its been stolen by one cute little edamame baby.

Once he reluctantly leaves the baby in The Client’s hands after receiving a hefty payment of many Beskar tiles, he returns to the armorer to have his Beskar melted and made into new pieces of armor. The amount of Beskar he possesses seems to grab the attention of other Mandalorians within his vicinity and we are given some insight into the relationships they have with each other and their society. From what we can gather, it seems like the few Mandos we see are the last of a dying breed, due to “The Great Purge.”

Upon receiving his sweet new threads, Mando returns to Greef Karga to receive his next assignment. Again breaking character, he asks what will become of the Yoda Baby. When he receives no concrete answer, he takes his next assignment and returns to his ship to hunt his next target. In a sudden change of heart, he decides not to go after the next bounty and instead return to rescue his newfound baby. With his new armor and some new weaponry, Mando finds it pretty easy to swoop in and rescue the Yoda baby from what seems like an experimentation table within The Client’s lair. It’s his escape that he realizes will be more difficult.

Because this package was so important, many other bounty hunters still have the original tracking fob. Upon discovering that Mando is trying to leave the planet with the baby in hand, they realize they want this new bounty for themselves.

In true space western fashion, we are treated to an epic shoot out scene, where Mando jumps and barrels over a speeder carrying cargo boxes and uses them to shield himself and the Yoda Baby from incoming fire. When all hope seems to be lost and all of his firepower is out, the rest of the remaining Mandalorians fly in to save the day. I say fly in because each of them is outfitted with a super sweet jet pack. Declaring “This is the way”, Mando salutes them and makes his escape but not before encountering Greef Karga one last time. In the closing scene, we see Mando leaving the planet once again with his Yoda Baby by his side.

Directed by Deborah Chow, who just so happens to be the first woman ever to direct a live-action Star Wars production and is tapped to direct the upcoming Obi-Wan series, does an amazing job with the overall tension that has been so present throughout the first three episodes. The Baby Yoda rescue scene is something incredible to see and, of course, Ludwig Göransson’s score matches it beautifully.

The Lore

We’re going to immediately talk about the container the Beskar is held in. This container literally has an entire run dedicated to it at every Star Wars Celebration convention in recent memory. The name for this container in the Star Wars universe is a Camtono but in reality, it’s an ice cream maker. Another time that we’ve seen a Camtono is in a brief scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Cloud City is being evacuated and we see a man in the background running with what seems like an ice cream maker. This led to Star Wars fans creating an entire backstory and naming him Willrow Hood. Like I said, at every Star Wars Celebration a “Running of the Hoods” is held in which cosplayers run around holding ice cream makers, honoring the legend himself.

In the scene at the armorer’s, we learn that the beast Mando defeated in the previous episode is called a Mudhorn, and he admits that his defeating of the Mudhorn was not a legit defeating as he received some help. We then get some insight into Mando culture as one of the Mandalorians (voiced by Jon Favreau, did you catch it?) tosses the Imperial stamped Beskar in disgust and mentions a great purge and them being the last of the warriors left.

We don’t really know much else about the purge they talk about but we do see some more flashbacks into Mando’s life before donning the helmet. We see the same battle scene we see in the first episode, with what seems to be Mando as a child, and his parents dressed in red robes running from incoming fire. We see some Clone Wars-era droids and it ends with Mando hiding.

When the purge is mentioned we also hear some talk again about the Mandos never removing their helmets and being in hiding, which makes the shoot out at the end all the more important because not only does one Mando come out of hiding to aid in our Mando’s escape, but THEY ALL do, meaning that they risk being found out.

I’m hoping we get some more flashback footage and more insight into the great purge and their new upbringing of foundlings in the next few episodes. Episodes of THE MANDALORIAN will be released weekly each Friday on Disney+.

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[TV Recap] THE MANDALORIAN EP 3 - Nightmarish Conjurings