- This episode of Nerdist News
is sponsored by Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order.
Here's how the shocking ending to the Mandalorian
episode seven sets up the finale.
Now despite everything going on
in the wide world of Star Wars this week,
there's one thing that every fan can agree on.
This week, the Mandalorian delivered
one of its finest episodes yet
with chapter seven, the Reckoning.
And we're reckoning that the week and a half
we have to wait to see the Mandalorian season finale
is going to be excruciating because of that one thing
that happened, oh and then that other thing!
It was cool, and thrilling, and scary,
and well, it was all just pretty awesome.
But we're not gonna mention what those things were
until after this handy dandy spoiler warning,
because this episode of Nerdist News
is gonna dive deep into everything that happened
in this week's Mando.
So if you haven't seen it yet,
please take the 45 minutes or so to watch it,
and then come back and watch this.
- We all will be quiet.
- However, if you're sticking around,
why not take this moment to both like and subscribe?
So what happened in this episode?
Well, after several one-off stories,
all the threads get tied together
when bounty hunter, Guild Boss Greef Karga
offers a job to the Mando to kill the Client,
in order to rid the planet Navarro of its imperial presence.
Now in order to return, the Mandalorian gets
to keep the child and will be in good standing
with the Guild once more.
Sounds like a win-win situation, right?
What could possibly go wrong?
- It's a trap.
- I actually think there might be another way
to describe this.
- No, don't, it's a trap!
- Oh, you thought we were gonna do the other one,
but (chuckles).
- It's a trap! - Gotcha!
Anyway, even though the Mando enters
into this obvious trap of his own volition,
he tries to get the odds in his favor
by calling in his pals Cara Dune
and the Ugnaught Kuiil to back him up,
along with the newly rebuilt IG-11.
But now he's just kind of like T. Robot
voiced by Taika Waititi.
Oh my god, I just solved it!
- T. - Now a quick side note,
baby Yoda seriously needs a teacher
to instruct him on the right and wrong ways to use the Force
because look, we get it,
he wants to protect the Mandalorian,
but Force choking isn't the way to go about that.
There are rules to this game
and they only involve arms, you baby!
Now of course, the plan to betray the Mando goes belly up
after good Greef Karga has a change of heart
when the wee baby Yoda saves his life
by healing him with the Force.
A new plan concocted between the Mando and his friend-os
to allow them to go through with their original plan
of taking out the Client, but there's a twist.
And it all goes south, unfortunately,
when the Client's boss, Moff Gideon, straight up murders him
and like a bunch of Stormtroopers
in an attempt to recover the baby for himself.
- I would like to see the baby.
- And in true tragic Star Wars fashion,
this episode ends with the Mandalorian pinned down
inside the cantina while the wee baby Yoda
is in the hands of the Empire
after Kuiil gets mercilessly gunned down.
Needless to say, in episode seven,
things are looking pretty grim.
So where does this leave us for the finale of this season?
I mean look, this is a classic Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid situation the Mando finds himself in.
He's surrounded by a bunch of fresh looking troopers
in the storm and death variety,
all in brand new, shiny armor.
Things could not be worse for him.
- You said four.
- Well, there are more.
What can I tell you?
- Well, if we add in all of the evidence
we've seen from the trailers so far,
we can assume that Moff Gideon will personally
get his hands on the wee baby Yoda
to whisk it off in his cool-ass TIE Fighter,
because we've literally seen that shot
of the Mandalorian hanging on for dear life.
Plus it looks like the Mandalorian's finally
gonna get his jet pack,
which probably means we can expect to at least
see the Mando-clando or the leftovers of their covert
in some form or another.
Now this episode will hopefully answer
one of the biggest questions of the entire series,
what does Moff Gideon, and by extension the Empire,
want with the baby?
- I would like to see the baby.
- Does he wanna make more force-sensitive clones
to bring back the Empire?
Is he secretly working for the First Order?
Does the baby's Midichlorians somehow tie
to Palpatine's return, as was teased
in the episode nine trailer?
Now a few weeks ago, the description for the season finale
revealed that the Mandalorian is gonna come up
against an unexpected enemy.
At the time, we posited this would be Boba Fett's return,
as he was hinted at in episode Five.
We still think this could be the case,
however to be fair, anyone we recognize
from the Empire or the nascent First Order
could also fit that description.
The other big X-factor still in play
is the newly rebuilt IG-11.
Will the Mando need to put his life
in the hands of what he hates most, a murder bot?
Will the droid seek revenge for the death
of his sorta-father Kuiil?
Or did the droid's old programming somehow come through
and now IG-11's the one that killed Kuiil
and let the scout troopers scoop up that wee baby Yode?
Now considering how much screen time was given
in this episode to how IG-11 had been reprogrammed,
we'd expect that he's gonna wind up being a major asset
in the season finale, and the Mandalorian's
gonna have to wait to do what Kuiil told him to,
and trust the Ugnaught's work
in order to get out of this mess.
But we'll just have to wait and see how
that all shakes out when the season finale
of the Mandalorian drops on December 27th.
But tell me, what do you folks think?
How will the Mando get out of this mess, though?
What do you wanna see in the show's second season?
And did that ending leave your jaw on the ground, too?
Let's discuss. (upbeat music)
Thanks again to Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
for sponsoring today's episode.
You play as Cal Kestis, a Jedi padawan
who narrowly escaped the purge of Order 66
following the events of episode three, Revenge of the Sith.
On a quest to rebuild the Jedi Order,
you must pick up the pieces of your shattered past
to complete your training,
develop new powerful Force abilities,
and master the art of the iconic lightsaber,
all while staying one step ahead of the Empire
and its deadly Inquisitors.
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is available now
on XBOX One, PS4, and PC.
(upbeat music)
(electronic chiming)