I suppose the best place to begin with my reactions to the episode is in the beginning. Because when I saw the title page say "The Tragedy" I immediately knew that there was not going to be a happy ending to chapter 14. When I saw the setting that was supposed to be Tython, I immediately thought that this must be the episode Robert Rodriguez was directing. Because all of those exterior shots looked like they might have been done in the Texas hill country. And if you know anything about Rodriguez, it's that he loves to work in Texas.
I liked the design for the seeing stone atop the Jedi temple ruins. That kind of a henge is reminiscent of stone circles in the British isles. I just wasn't expecting the Force to create an energy barrier around Grogu while he was reaching out. The barrier, and Grogu's exhaustion clearly set up what was going to happen shortly thereafter.
So just who was Grogu reaching out to? That's got to be one of the biggest questions coming out of this episode. It seems likely based on what happened in chapter 13 that it will not be Ahsoka. Two other possibilities come to mind. One would be Ezra Bridger. Ezra was last seen with Thrawn, who we now know Ahsoka has been tracking down. Does she believe that finding Thrawn could lead her to Ezra? There's a rumor circulating about an actor who may have been cast as Ezra. Another possibility is Luke Skywalker. During the week someone posted what looked like an illustration of Sebastian Stan as Luke, post ROTJ. Other possibilities include de-aging effects, which we've seen used in other franchises. But Mark Hamill has stated that he's done playing Luke (despite coming back here and there for various uncredited voice roles). Could there be more Jedi out there? It's a possibility, especially since Grogu was another survivor of Order 66. I was also somewhat reassured when i saw him using the Force in his cell. He can take care of himself, to an extent.
And then there's Boba Fett! After 40 years of this character being regarded as one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy, we finally get a payoff. His standoff with Din Djarin was fantastic. And partnering up with Fennec Shand? I guess I should have expected that Ming Na Wen would return, because she seemed more significant than a one and done sort of casting choice. But back to Boba... wow. Tem Morrison delivered a great performance! Intimidating as can be, and his action scenes were great. He just picked apart so many of those Stormtroopers with the Gaffi stick. And his scenes provided more character development for Boba Fett in 15 minutes than the character has had in 4 decades, barring one or two Clone Wars episodes.
The ships in the episode were pivotal. Seeing Slave I fly in as Grogu sat atop the seeing stone told you that something big was going to happen. And the Imperial troop dropship was a nice new addition. It looked like a cross between Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator and the First Order landing craft. The Imperial light cruiser came into play, of course. And then there's the Razor Crest.... I'm still looking forward to getting mine. But it's going to be a little awkward!
It looks like Mando is going to have quite the crew to bust out Grogu. And it seems like Mayfeld may be the key to tracking down Moff Gideon's Imperial remnant.
