The Mandalorian season 1 episode 1 recap
After months of hype and anticipation, The Mandalorian has finally premiered the first of its eight episodes on the fresh streaming service Disney+. The pilot sees the titular bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal), also known as Mando, taking on a mysterious job for a large bounty.
Piece of Ravinak
The episode opens with Mando walking into a cantina on an unidentified ice planet, heading straight to the bar as two ruffians hassle a blue alien named Mythrol (Horatio Sanz) in the corner. With one of the two’s drinks being spilled during their interaction, he angrily approaches Mando at the bar and a break fights out in which he takes both down. Though Mythrol thinks he’s saved his life, Mando reveals a bounty puck for him, offering to take him alive or dead. As they head to Mando’s ship, they are attacked by a Ravinak from under the ice, narrowly escaping without killing the large creature. As Mythrol tries to bribe his way to safety, he discovers three other bounties frozen in carbonite and is ambushed by Mando and frozen as well.
The Middle Man
Following his ease in finishing the jobs, Mando brings his cargo to Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), a businessman who issues out bounties to various hunters across the galaxy. During their conversation, we learn that Imperial credits are no longer the preferred method of payment following the fall of the Galactic Empire, especially in the Outer Rims. Learning there aren’t many bounties paying well, Karga informs him of a secretive mission that doesn’t hold a bounty puck and requires Mando to meet face-to-face with the one putting the bounty out. Though initially skeptical, he decides to take the job and heads out.
The Mystery Begins
Mando enters a surveilled room guarded by four weathered Stormtroopers to meet with The Client (Werner Herzog), who offers him a large sum of a metal property Beskar to complete a mysterious task for him. After a tense stand-off between Mando and the four Stormtroopers following the arrival of Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), the minimal details are revealed in which the target can be located by a tracking beacon and that he is 50 years old. While both The Client and Pershing would prefer the target be brought in alive, the former grants Mando the opportunity to bring them back dead, albeit for a reduced reward.
Meet the Tribe and Young Mando
As part of down payment, The Client paid Mando one bit of Beskar, which holds great value to Mandalorians and brings it to the Armorer (Emily Swallow). She relishes at having the material, saying it is good to have it following The Great Purge and having it returned to the tribe. She proceeds to melt it down to form a new shoulder pad for Mando while saying the excess from the melting will still be used for the Fondlings. Mando recalls he once was a Fondling and is plagued with flashbacks to his life as a child on his home planet, which was ravaged by war and he was hidden away by his parents during an attack that seemingly didn’t bode well for the two.
Two New Partners in Crime
Upon arriving in the new planet on which the target is hiding, Mando is attacked by two bull-like creatures known as blurrgs, but is saved by Kuiil (Nick Nolte), an Ugnaught moisture farmer who offers to help the bounty hunter find the target. After spending the night at Kuiil’s home in which he reveals other bounty hunters have tried and failed to retrieve the target, the two head off to the secretive bunker they’re hiding at. Kuiil refuses payment from Mando for assisting, as he says those who come to the planet are seeking peaceful lives and the large community protecting the bounty are nothing but mercenaries bringing death and destruction.
While conducting recon on the area, Mando is beaten to the punch by a bounty droid named IG-11 (Taika Waititi) who attacks the group first, sending them into the nearby structures on lockdown before either of them can get in. The two strike a deal to split the bounty down the middle as they work together to kill all of the guards, nearly losing their lives as IG-11 threatens self-destruction numerous times as part of his protocols while dozens of guards, including a minigun operator, pin them down. After defeating the crowd, they make their way inside to find the bounty.
A 50-Year-Old Baby
With seemingly nowhere in the room for a 50-year-old humanoid to be hiding, Mando pulls out the tracking beacon, only for it to point to a sphere sitting atop some cargo off in the corner. Upon opening it, it’s revealed the target is actually an infantile member of Yoda’s species, which has never received a name in the Star Wars canon. Given he passed some years prior to the series, it’s not the fan-favorite green lightsaber-wielding Jedi, but rather another of his kind, which notably age at a slower rate. As Mando processes the revelation, IG-11 prepares to kill the infant, saying his bounty order called for its killing. In order to save its life, Mando shoots IG-11 in its head, seemingly killing it as the episode ends with him reaching out his hand to the little alien.
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