The Mandalorian Chapter Ten Review

*Spoilers for The Mandalorian Chapter Ten ahead!*

Friday is my favorite day of the week for various reasons, but mostly because we get new episodes of The Mandalorian. My thoughts on Chapter Ten are pretty similar to most of the opinions I've seen so far. This episode definitely wasn't as strong as Chapter Nine, but I still found plenty of things to appreciate in it! My favorite part of this episode is the further exploration of the relationship between Din Djarin and the Child. The Child began as a meaningless bounty for Din, yet here he is protecting him as if he was his own. I thought the different moments between the two throughout this episode were really cute. I especially love the moment when the Child runs into Din's arms in the beginning of the episode. Din really has become a father to the Child in every sense and I think this episode was important for showing that. We've seen Din protect the Child from danger throughout the whole series, but this episode introduced an interesting fatherly teaching aspect that strengthens that bond. Not only does Din protect the Child but he also disciplines him and teaches him boundaries and rules. One of my favorite parts of this episode is super subtle but really cute... it's the part when the Child is trying to eat another egg and Din tells him no and wags his finger at him. This is such a simple gesture that shows all the responsibilities that Din has taken on with the Child beyond just simply protecting him. I really love this concept and the fact that Din has to reunite the Child with its own species makes me super sad, I don't ever want to see them separated!

I also felt that the X-Wing pilots brought an interesting perspective into the show as well. We've seen Din have run-ins with the remnants of the Empire through the inclusion of Moff Gideon and Stormtroopers, but we haven't seen him at odds with anyone that was part of the Rebellion before this episode so I'm glad they included it. I'm probably reading into it too much but I think this signifies the fact that Din is essentially an absolute neutral in the universe. The Skywalker trilogy, at its surface level, is all about the subjective "good" side and "bad" side. Of course, when you watch the story in its entirety and see the redemption of characters like Anakin and Ben Solo, it becomes clear that there's much more complexity in this concept. But what I mean by neutral is that Din doesn't necessarily fit into the mold of either the empire or the rebellion. He is completely independent of that association and has found himself at odds with both which I think is a pretty cool representation. He is clearly good at heart but occasionally has questionable methods which has been revealed through some of his bounty hunting. This just sort of strengthens the overall story that is present in all Star Wars which, in my opinion, is the focus on the very thin and subjective line between good and bad. Even though this is a seemingly random episode I think it's still pretty on-brand for Star Wars for this reason. I know this is like a mega-deep analysis of something pretty small but that was the thought that came into my head when Din was almost arrested in this episode and I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

Lastly, I know that one of the biggest complaints about this episode is the fact that it doesn't necessarily further the plot in any way. I do understand this complaint and I agree that it doesn't add anything specific to the plot, but I do think it will lead us into the discovery of the next Mandalorian, hopefully in Chapter Eleven. The purpose of this disastrous excursion was to find the Mandalorian that the Passenger's husband has seen on her home planet. So while this episode may not have contributed anything specific to the plot, I do think it was a good lead into the new search for a Mandalorian.

What are your thoughts on Chapter Ten? Were there parts you enjoyed or did you feel that it was a pointless filler episode? Do you think we'll be seeing another Mandalorian in the next episode? Let me know at:

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