The Mandalorian Chapter 12 review: Mando makes a fascinating discovery

The Mandalorian stumbled onto some interesting information in Chapter 12 of the series.

The incredible Carl Weathers directed the most recent episode of The Mandalorian that has graced our screens, season 2 episode 4. Titled “Chapter 12: The Siege,” we finally had the return of not only Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga but close ally Cara Dune (Gina Carano) as well.

In this episode, the Mandalorian made a trip to the place where it all started: Nevarro. Now, the land was generally at peace. Greef ran things, and Cara Dune was the marshal. Of course, as we know from the last episode, the Mandalorian was on his way to finding Ahsoka Tano to learn more about the Jedi. But first, he had to make a pit stop to repair his destroyed-beyond-belief ship, the Razor Crest.

And so, Mando was greeted by his two friends upon arrival, but it wasn’t going to be just any old pit stop. Greef and Cara Dune revealed to Mando that while their land was mostly at peace, there was still an old Imperial base that was being occupied, and they needed Mando’s help to destroy the place once and for all. Mando agreed, and the gang (along with The Mythrol) joined forces to take the base down. Along the way, the four found out that it wasn’t just an ordinary base; it was a lab. And in there seemed to be clones of some sort being kept in liquid chambers. Not only that, but a hologram message relayed from Dr. Pershing to Moff Gideon (who they found out is still alive) disclosed some information about needing The Child’s blood and others with a high “M-count.” (We’re assuming midi-chlorians.)

While the adventure was starting to feel like another filler episode, that reveal by Dr. Pershing was absolutely huge. And it finally began to peel back the curtain as to why the old Empire wanted The Child in the first place. Fans already found out last year that Dr. Pershing has an interesting connection to Kamino, the location in the prequels that was home to the cloning facility. So the pieces are really beginning to fall into place. There was also a small reveal at the end of the episode with Moff Gideon aboard his large Imperial ship in a room lined with something that resembles Empire troopers in all black. The troopers (or whatever they are) were a bit hard to see — but all that, of course, is to continue to keep the mystery alive about Moff Gideon’s plan, which I’m excited to see unfold.

This episode certainly raised the stakes for Mando and Baby Yoda now that they know Moff Gideon is actually alive and now that we know their ship is being tracked by him. As a Moff Gideon fan myself, I’m glad they’re finally bringing him back into the mix. We’re already halfway through the season at this point, so it’s good we’re starting to know the reasons behind his master plan.

Although this episode was pretty intense (the chase through the canyon was particularly exhilarating), it also had a fine balance of comedy as well. Horatio Sanz really shined as the Mythrol, especially after being a scene-stealer in season 1. The Saturday Night Live alum has always been consistently hilarious, so it was great to see him stand out a little bit more in this episode. The scene with Baby Yoda in class, too, was something completely unexpected and equal parts cute and hilarious. The entire episode could have been “Baby Yoda Goes to School,” and I would have been fine.

Lastly, this episode did have a tiny goof Game of Thrones style. A crew member was captured on camera in full “normal guy” clothes. Unfortunately and apparently, it looks like the crew member wasn’t fully out of the shot enough, and that gaffe made it into the final cut. Still, it’s nothing too worrisome, and it doesn’t detract from the episode by a longshot. But thankfully, things are really heating up this season, and we’ve only got four more episodes left until it comes to a close.

What did you think of Chapter 12 of The Mandalorian? Let us know in the comments!