The Mandalorian: Chapter 9: The Marshal – Review

Although the first season of Disney+’s The Mandalorian debuted a full year ago, it honestly doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. But one of the biggest reasons why the show is still fresh in my memory and millions of others too is because it is one of the most exciting, and most memorable television/streaming shows in years.

And despite the fact that this is a show that takes place within the Star Wars universe, you don’t even have to be a massive fan of that series to fully enjoy and appreciate The Mandalorian. Take my mom for example – she doesn’t love the Star Wars movies (she thinks they are just okay), but she binged The Mandalorian in practically no time. Each episode plays out like the best Saturday morning cartoon that never actually happened. And no, this show isn’t animated, but it very well could be and it would (probably) be just as good.

I know it may sound silly to even clear the room with this in a review of a brand new season of a television series, but if you have not yet finished the first season of this excellent science-fiction space opera, I highly recommend you do so first before continuing on reading this article, because there will be some spoilers for that first season, particularly its finale. In addition, there will be some spoilers for this episode as well, so if you haven’t seen Chapter 9: The Marshal, please do so before reading.

Last December, we left off on an incredible high note with our titular hero finally being able to make a temporary escape from danger with Baby Yoda (or the Child) after a long and treacherous battle with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). Some friendly faces were lost along the way, but against all odds, the Mandalorian and everybody’s favorite Baby Yoda made a daring escape. But, with a final shot showing Gideon emerging from his crashed fighter with a darksaber, millions of fans all around the world were eager to see what would happen next with our beloved characters.

Courtesy of Disney+.

And while Chapter 9: The Marshal doesn’t answer your burning questions that you most certainly had after Chapter 8, it still wonderfully sucks you back into this magical yet deadly world that becomes more fun to explore with each passing episode. I’m glad it’s not the type of show that you can binge in an entire day because I would be able to do that with no problems. Instead, Disney+ releases one episode per week, meaning at the end of every episode, you’ll be clamoring for more, but you just have to wait to see how the journey continues.

This episode introduces a brand new face to the roster, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) who gets into a little bit of a tussle with the Mandalorian, making for one masterfully suspenseful scene. However, this is stopped short when what appears to be an earthquake that shakes the grounds of Tatooine, causing both men to set aside their differences and go investigate. It’s not long after that they discover a Krayt dragon is wreaking havoc in the area and needs to be stopped.

But that doesn’t go without some sort of a price. The Mandalorian discovers that Vanth stole some Mandalorian armor and wants it back. Vanth makes a deal with Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) and says if he helps him defeat the dragon, he will give the armor back. Up for a challenge and wanting to help save the day, Din agrees and the two set off to the dragon’s hideout and begin making a plan as to how they will kill it.

I won’t get into too much more after this point, but trust me, the showdown between Din, Vanth, and their allies against the Krayt dragon gets remarkably chaotic and boasts some truly groundbreaking visual effects that you just don’t see in the television realm these days. Visual effects this expensive are usually saved for the big blockbuster movies.

Overall, this was yet another magnificently entertaining and hugely exciting episode of The Mandalorian and a riveting start to the second season. We can only hope that it will get even more insane from this point onward, and it looks like that is going to be the case. Time will only tell…

Series Information

Certificate: TV-14

Cast: Pedro Pascal, John Leguizamo, Amy Sedaris, Timothy Olyphant, Temuera Morrison, Isaac C. Singleton Jr.

Series: The Mandalorian

Network: Disney+

Directed by: Jon Favreau