4x02 Heroes of Mandalore (2)

[5.7/10] This episode, in contrast to its lead-in, had a lot of problems. Let’s start with the fake out with Sabine’s mom and brother. Some allowances have to be made for this being a kids’ show, but I always wrinkle my nose at that sort of schmuck bait, and it turns what was already an unsatisfying pair of deaths into a nigh-pointless swerve.

That, however, could be forgiven if the episode it leads into were better. The problem with the second half of “Heroes of Mandalore” and the whole opening hour of the season to be frank, is it’s a bunch of missions in lieu of telling a story. The story is “We need to do X; then we do X,” and there’s not much more to it than that, which works fine when you’re introducing the season and just want to reacquaint the audience with the characters (see also: Captain America: Civil War) but at some point you have to actually craft a narrative and not just a series of obstacles.

The obstacle here is that the Empire is using a prototype weapon Sabine designed when she was a cadet that reacts with Mandalorian armor in a way that fries whoever's wearing it. The episode tries to wring something out of this, with Bo Katan and other rando mandos considering her a traitor for designing it in the first place, but it never really works. Everyone we meet is really overwrought and quick with their recriminations against Sabine, and while you can chalk some of that up to the warrior culture, it feels like a quick way to try to add personal stakes to Sabine blowing up the prototype.

The same goes the episode’s antagonist, Gar Saxxon’s brother, who is the standard issue megalomaniac who wants to rule Mandalore and is trying to use the weapon to accomplish this, even it means turning it on his own countrymen. The episode is really heavy-handed on both fronts, with the “how could you” business sent Sabine’s way scanning as pretty cliché and unconvincing, and Saxxon’s “I’m loyal to Palpatine” “No, the Empire will use it against our people!” routine fairly stock as well.

It all leads to another big action scene where our heroes infiltrate the facility where Saxxon is housing the weapon and they destroy it. It’s supposed to be Sabine’s redemption and new Saxxon’s downfall, but it’s all so paint-by-numbers, and the dialogue all so wooden, that it’s hard to care. (Though I’ll admit, Sabine reversing the polarity or whatever to make the weapon attack stormtrooper armor rather than Mandalorian armor is a solid turn, even if the episode clumsily sets it up earlier.)

The episode also relies strongly on a lot of awkwardly-delivered and/or undercooked Mandalorian lore and history. Sabine explaining to Ezra why the Mandalorians can’t just wear different armor is too exposition-y. And Bo Katan receiving the darksaber and becoming leader again is almost completely undeveloped. We get one scene of Katan lamenting that she couldn’t be a leader, and then a bunch of undifferentiated fighting where she offers some banalities about what the future of Mandalore could be, and then suddenly she’s the leader again. There’s not enough meat on the bones to make her assuming the mantle of regent again meaningful.

Nevermind the fact that she talks up Sabine’s prowess as a fighter and leader in a really awkwardly-written way. It’s emblematic of the way this episode spends way more time telling than it does showing, to its detriment.

Overall, this is a weak followup to the airy but fun first half of the season premiere. Part 2 tries to be more weighty and meaningful, and comes off hokey and dull instead. Let’s hope it’s not a sign of things to come.