‘The Mandalorian’ finally went full ‘Star Wars’ this week with the highly aniticpated live-action debut of Ashoka Tano. Mando has finally landed on the planet Corvus and it is his mission to search for the Jedi, Ashoka Tano. After a rocky meeting the two meet and team up to free a village from their horrible leader. ‘Chapter 13: The Jedi’ is directed by Dave Filoni.

Let me start by saying that I am very new to the television world of ‘Star Wars’. I am still very early on in ‘The Clone Wars’ and I haven’t even touched ‘Rebels’ yet. That being said, there was a clear global anticipation for this episode which even made me excited for it. Having seen the episode, I can gladly say that we are finally getting somewhere with this season. I really enjoyed this episode, seeing Ashoka in live-action was a visual treat, she lit up each shot she was in, she is that striking in live-action. Dawson’s performance was subtle and layered. You can visibly seen the amount of pain and betrayal she has been through since Order 66 and Anakin’s turn. The lightsaber battles were great, I love show she incorporated the force into her fighting style, we don’t get to see it that much in the movies. xHowever while I enjoyed the episode immensely, I couldn’t help but feel left out.

Ashoka (Rosario Dawson) gives a warning to city of Calodan in the epic opening scene.

This episode goes insane with the references and the set-ups. Not only did we get post-Rebels Ashoka but we are getting Thrawn and even potentially Ezra or Luke which is insane. Despite not having seen a single episode I do know of the immense hype surrounding Thrawn. Knowing that these characters will make an appearance was both exciting and disappointing to hear. Of course it’s exciting becasue we get to see more of that animated world bleed into live-action. Then again, not everyone has seen ‘The Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’. The first season felt independent in story, it was it’s own contained adventure with new, exciting characters to love. This season’s enjoyment really depends on whether you have enough knowledge about the two previous shows. It’s bittersweet that you have to do research before watching this show.

Ashoka and The Child now Grogu bonding over The Force.

We also get to know a lot more about The Child or should I say Grogu! I was so taken aback by that reveal I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess it’s a cute alien name but we have all collectively decided to name him ‘Baby Yoda’ so it’s gonna take a while for this name to stick. The same goes for Mando whose name was revealed in the Season 1 finale, we still call him Mando so that backfired. Apparently Grogu was thought the ways of the force but since he’s still an infant he’s still pretty new to the entire concept. I love how he trained with Mando and managed to learn that force move, I hope we get more of that in the future. What seemed a bit familiar is how it’s basically borrows from ‘The Last Jedi’ with a force-sensitive character who is finding their way has an equal possibility of going to the light and the dark side of the force. Of course this time it revolved around a baby which is honestly slightly hilarious when you think about it.

Overall I enjoyed this episode of ‘The Mandalorian’, I do hope that this show doesn’t start to rely too heavily on previous material and just be it’s own thing. I don’t mind a couple cameos here and there but Thrawn and Ezra sound like they might be integral to the story. Guess I got some binging to do! Sorry for the late review I promise things will be up-to-date by next week and until then, this is the way!