Last week The Mandalorian provided us with parallel stories that ended in tragedy. This week, we continue on Bo-Katan’s journey for discovery. Joining her is Grogu, who must examine his past to embrace his future. Both are lost in their paths after decades of survival. With Din, they may have found their path. Directed by Carl Weathers and written by Favreau & Filoni, The Mandalorian – “Chapter 20: The Foundling” opens doors for new beginnings.
The Recap – The Mandalorian – “Chapter 20: The Foundling”
At the Mandalorian camp, the Children of the Watch continue to battle. as they train and show off their skills, Grogu meditates with a group of rocks. Din picks up Grogu and asks him to learn with the other foundlings. As they walk away, the rocks turn out to be hermit crabs. They scurry back into the waters to avoid becoming Grogu’s next snack.
Din brings Grogu over to the other foundlings. They wrestle in the sand, and Din pushes Grogu into the ring. Bo-Katan questions whether Grogu should be in the ring. Din believes in him, and they get ready to fight.
At first, Grogu is uneasy. The other foundling shoots him twice in the chest with no resistance. Din lets Grogu know they can show off his skills. On the next point, Grogu hops around his challenger, scoring three points in a row. Immediately after the match, a pterodactyl-like creature snatches a foundling and flies away.
Paz and Din follow by jet pack. They run out of fuel and think hope is lost. However, Bo-Katan arrives with her ship and follows from a safe altitude. She tracks the creature back to its nest and then returns for reinforcements. Paz, Din, and others join her to save the foundling.
Grogu stays behind with the Armorer. She teaches him about the forge and how it exposes weakness. The sparks of the forge remind Grogu of a memory. We watch him relive the assault on the Jedi Temple during Order 66. Jedi Knights die saving Grogu while Clone Troopers open fire. A Jedi, Kelleran Beq (Ahmed Best), dual-wields sabers and flies away on a speeder bike with Grogu as his co-pilot.
The speeder gets hit in transit and begins losing power. Beq keeps it flying, bobbing, and weaving through Coruscant traffic. Grogu grows scared and closes the shield on his transport. They land hard, and when Beq’s friends ask if they should wait for survivors, they are attacked. Beq takes Grogu on the ship, and they jump to light speed.
We return to the present, where the Armorer completes work on a breastplate. The plate is made for Grogu. The Armorer puts it on him, and he smiles.
Bo-Katan, Din, and the team land their ship and continue to find the foundling. They get close but are losing daylight. They make camp for the night, and they stop making food to eat. Bo asks Din how she’s supposed to eat while wearing her helmet. Din says you have to find a place in solitude, but Paz lets her know that as leader of the war party, she gets to stay by the fire. The other Mandalorians step into the shadows.
The next morning, they scale the mountain. The climb is hard, but they slowly make progress. When they reach the summit, they see the Raptor/pterodactyl is not present. However, Paz rushes into the nest, looking for Ragnar. When Bo tries to stop him, he says Ragnar is his son. The Heat signatures in the nest are not Ragnar, but instead the baby raptor/pterodactyl babies. The mother emerges and takes flight with Ragnar in his clutches. The Mandalorians give chase, and a battle ensues in the skies. Din eventually separates Ragnar from the creature. The creature crashes into the water and is eaten by a mosasaur-like creature.
The group returns home with the foundling in tow. They are celebrated for their service, especially Bo-Katan. The baby raptors/Pterodactyls were brought back, and The Watch will care for them (since they accidentally killed their mother). The Armorer notices that some of Bo’s gear received damage in the fray and invites her for repairs. They assume Bo will want Nite Owl armor, but Bo-Kayan requests one of the pieces feature the Mythosaur on it. The Armorer agrees and gets to work on the pierces.
Before she attaches the piece, Bo comes clean about what she saw. At first, the Armorer humors her. It’s a very good sign for a Mandalorian to see a Mythosaur vision. When Bo-Katan insists, the Armorer realizes there’s truth in her words. She responds “This is the Way,” as Bo observes the Mythosaur insignia.
The Mandalorian – “Chapter 20: The Foundling” Episode Breakdown
We hope you like Bo-Katan. Otherwise, this is going to be a long season. For the second episode in a row, the story moved away from Din and towards the other characters. This proves smart, as Bo-Karan’s journey of rediscovery opens new paths for Filoni and Favreau to explore. Din discovered himself and his purpose in the previous seasons. He already mastered these skills.
For Bo, she found a new connection with her people and her ancestors. She had become so disconnected from the ways of her people that this opportunity serves as a second chance at life. This episode title serves many masters and allows Bo’s discovery of these customs to serve as one of those titles.
The episode title clearly draws from two other sources as well (and they’re both actual foundlings.” The obvious choice becomes Grogu, who continues to showcase that his talent is unmatched. For a creature so small, he still makes it dangerous to underestimate him.
The second is the rescue mission. A foundling named Ragnar is meaningful as a mission and a son. Paz’s reveal helps entrain the efforts of Din and Bo on the tribe. After being shown a lesson by Grogu, Ragnar’s skirting of death helps him grow as a foundling as well.
The big takeaways many will have stem from the very dangerous sequence around Order 66. There’s long been speculation about Grogu’s survival. We now know he was in the literal temple during the attack, and he left with a Jedi. Kelleran Beq never crossed minds as our savior and arguably raises more questions than answers. However, how cool was it to Ahmed Best to return to Star Wars and just show out? The actor’s struggles after playing Jar Jar Binks are well documented, so having him return and save the day is one of the best things to come from Filoni’s collaborations on this show.
