“Chapter 11 – The Heiress” was written by Jon Favreau and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. After landing on the estuary moon of Trask, Mando (Pedro Pascal) finally finds the group of Mandalorians he’s been searching for, led by Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff).

As the previous episode ended, Mando and the Frog Lady (Misty Rosas) are headed to their destination, the estuary moon of Trask, occupied by the species of Mon Calamari and Quarren. Upon landing the extensively damaged Razorcrest, the Frog Lady reunites with her husband, Frog Man (John Cameron) while Mando is receiving information of where he may find fellow Mandalorians. Overall, this definitely felt like the secondary half to an incomplete story, that being last week’s episode. A Mon Calamari bartender sends him off on a boat with a few Quarrens who then attempt to kill The Child by feeding him to a mamacore. Mando dives into the water after him and they trap him in the cage with the creature. This is when Bo-Katan, played by Katee Sackhoff, who voiced her in “The Clone Wars,” and two other Mandalorians, Koska Reeves (Sasha Banks) and Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides) come to his rescue. I knew Bo-Katan was going to show up sometime but I never knew when. Her sudden appearance is what truly shocked me, but that’s only because I’ve seen all seven seasons of “The Clone Wars.” Sackhoff’s performance is translated from animation to live action perfectly and she just looks stunning. Personally, I think Dave Filoni created characters showing up is awesome, but if you haven’t seen “The Clone Wars” or even “Rebels,” context from those shows will lead to a much more sophisticated story here. Much of what happens in this episode may not be comprehended well by those who aren’t fans of those shows. If fan service and major world-building is what Jon Favreau and his team are trying to accomplish, “this is the way.”

After the Quarren are easily eliminated, the three Mandalorians take off their helmets which leads Mando to question their loyalty. Bo-Katan responds with the most developed explanation we’ve had to this argument. As we know from “The Clone Wars,” Bo-Katan was born on Mandalore and a former member of Death Watch. Mando was raised in a cult of religious zealots and considered a Child of the Watch, devoting his life to never taking off the helmet. I thought it was funny how mad he got when they took their helmets off because this isn’t the first time this happened and Pedro Pascal is the only Mandalorian that has shown up that hasn’t been able to frequently take their helmet off. I’m sure that could be changed going on, especially if The Child is to return to his kind. That makes you wonder, can this show even function properly if “Baby Yoda” is no longer featured? The audience has begun to adapt to the reality that this show is not “The Mandalorian,” but “The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.” 

Bo-Katan later said she was not the one to help find the home of The Child; this was the biggest eye-rolling moment in Star Wars since Rey kissed Kylo Ren. She won’t tell Mando anything else unless he helps them on their mission to overtake an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser transporting weapons. When the Captain (Titus Welliver) on the freighter learns of their breach, Moff Gideon appears on a hologram. We’ve only heard of how evil Giancarlo Esposito’s Gideon is in the finale of last season. Here we get to see it firsthand when he tells the Captain to kamikaze the ship into the ground. That plan is attempted but ultimately fails so the Captain is forced to kill himself with an electric-cyanide pill for the Empire. We learn that this isn’t the first Imperial ship that Bo-Katan raided, that’s because she’s been looking for the Darksaber this entire time so she can claim back her home planet of Mandalore, which Gideon possesses. I truly hope this show can continuously pull off episodes like this one, but that’s all we can do…hope. 

Frankly, I was surprised that Bryce Dallas Howard directed this episode because she directed one of my least favorite episodes last season. Her action scenes have leveled up in a big way and are relatively similar to what the animated show delivers. I understand that she’s primarily an actor, but if you need to task someone with executing something so spectacular, go to someone who’s experienced. This week’s episode was an excellent redemption and I do hope she directs episodes in later seasons as well. As for what I’ve been saying in prior reviews, I stand corrected, the length of an episode will not determine the outcoming quality of it. But, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, this show is taking way too many pit stops. Next week will already be halfway through the season and there has been very little plot progression; each person we meet is just a messenger to get to the next. However, Mando does learn that the person he needs to go to next is a Jedi located in the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus, that Jedi being none other than Ahsoka Tano.