‘The Mandalorian’ – Season 2 – ‘The Heiress’ – Review
Season Two of The Mandalorian continues to go from strength to strength, and Chapter 11: ‘The Heiress’, introduces us to an amazing new collection of characters, while also bringing forth some incredible kinetic action set pieces.
Bryce Dallas-Howard returns to the directing chair with ‘The Heiress’, and this episode is the best yet as it kicks into high gear with an exploration of Star Wars lore and some compelling action scenes. After delivering the Frog Lady to her husband on the moon of Trask, in what is one of this episode’s most heartwarming moments, the Mandalorian sets off to find more of his kind, who he has been told reside on the planet. This quickly leads to a compelling action scene and the introduction of one of Star Wars most intriguing characters in the form of Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze.
Previously a major character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze, is an incredibly sharp, Machiavellian character who steals the entire episode and sets up an amazing conflict in regards to what the audience has expected from the behaviour of the Mandalorians. Particularly the fact that she and her followers remove their helmets, something we have previously learnt was sacrilegious to Din Djarin. From here we learn that Bo-Katan Kryze is a member of the ancient Mandalorian house of Clan Kryze, and who was born on Mandalore and took part in the war of the Great Purge. It’s also revealed that Djarin is a member of a fanatical sect known as The Watch, who are regarded as religious zealots given their reverence to the ancient ways. All this detail is amazing to witness and it definitely gets you amped.
‘The Heiress’ only gets more interesting as Djarin is forced into a heist alongside Bo-Katan and this leads to an all-out spaceship hi-jacking that showcases the full range of a Mandalorian fighting force and just how lethally effective they are. From full-on blaster fights to brutal hand-to-hand combat moments, action junkies will be gripping their seats with the energy that Howard showcases on the screen in ‘The Heiress’. Alongside the intense close quarter battle, and the episode’s nerve-racking crash landing opening, the presence of a divergent history of the Mandalorians, and the incredible design of Bo-Katan’s armour and her obsession with an ancient Mandalorian weapon keeps things interesting and really amps up the stakes for where this series will go next.
While I would have thought it hard to improve on the epicness of ‘The Marshal’, ‘The Heiress’ is a compelling piece of narrative storytelling and engages your mind as a viewer. The presence of such amazing Star Wars lore is a thing of beauty and audiences will be well excited with all of the details that they learn here. To date, this is my favourite episode of The Mandalorian and I was gripped by the energy, action and narrative that was presented in ‘The Heiress’, it really is a story of pure beauty on behalf of Howard’s direction. Plus, there are some adorable moments with The Child as well.
‘The Heiress’ takes The Mandalorian in an entirely new direction and sets up a very interesting new turn for the following episode. You can bet that we’ll be there to find out what happens next.
The Mandalorian streams every Friday on Disney+
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
