So…..where do I begin with this episode?  If you are a fan of the Star Wars animated series “The Clone Wars” or “Rebels”, this is probably the closest thing we’ve seen to a live-action episode.  And this shouldn’t be a surprise, the episode was directed by Dave Filoni, who was one of the main creative minds behind both of those shows.

The second season of “The Mandalorian” continues to keep improving week to week, diving deeper into the larger Star Wars universe and giving us Star Wars fans more to enjoy.     There are so many great things about this episode that connect “The Mandalorian” to the animated series, especially with Ahsoka Tano making her live-action debut, along with some Loth Cat appearances and the mention of a major character from “Rebels”.  But that’s not all; we even learn Baby Yoda’s real name and gets a little Force training.  There isn’t even a build-up to Ahsoka being revealed, the opening scene is just her going all out to get what she wants.  It’s fierce and pretty epic!

There is little doubt that this show has been very inspired by Samuari-Western’s. Still, in this episode, it’s not just inspiration it’s a full-blown Samurai as we get to see Ahsoka jumping from rooftop to rooftop, before meeting the episode’s villain in an Asian style courtyard for an epic duel.   The whole vibe of the planet feels different to anything we’ve seen so far, the mist, the classic Asian fortress and weird looking animals that eat trees.

With hundreds of episodes of “Clones Wars” and “Rebels”, so much has been set up in advance, my only negative thought about this episode was how the smaller details would be lost on anyone who hasn’t watched the animated series.   When Ahsoka said who she was after, I did actually gasp out loud, because I knew who they were and the importance of it.  Many will not. I still think the show did a great job of filling in the gaps, especially with Baby Yoda’s history with the Jedi and what’s happened to him since “Revenge Of The Sith”.  The ending didn’t go exactly where I thought it would have, but I very much doubt this is the last we’ve seen of Ahsoka and ultimately no doubt we will see more Jedi coming to our screens soon.

This episode continues the trend of an impressive second season; each episode continues to build on the lore of Star Wars, planting these characters within the larger universe.  I loved this episode and will be watching it again later this weekend.

Chapter 13 is a major step forward for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and was much more than a monster of the week or filler episode.   It was simply incredible!

Rating 5 out of 5

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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