The Mandalorian Chapter 12 recap: Imperial secrets revealed

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 reunites old friends, reintroduces old enemies, and unravels the Star Wars universe as we know it. Strap in for a bumpy ride!

The second season of The Mandalorian is taking fans along for an expansive journey through the beloved Star Wars universe while tying into the established mythos, and The Mandalorian Chapter 12 takes that mission seriously.

For the Disney Plus show’s most ardent fans, every scene feels like that meme where Captain America says he understood a reference. New fans may miss the nuances, but it gives them a reason to find out more and engage with other properties beyond the show and the films, to discover the animated properties, comics, and books.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12, ‘The Siege’, sees Mando and the Child reunited with old friends, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano), as well as one of Mando’s old bounties, Mythrol (Horatio Sanz).

This follows various valiant attempts to repair the Razor Crest with the Child. Mando may be an efficient bounty hunter, but he clearly has much to learn about his adopted son. Asking a foundling to repair circuitry will never go well. At least the shock that the Child receives from crossing wires doesn’t do lasting damage.

Unfortunately, for Mando, this won’t be the only shock in The Mandalorian Chapter 12. What appears to be a routine stop at Nevarro for repairs turns into something much more dangerous.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 – A Little Help for Friends

We learn in The Mandalorian Chapter 12 that Karga and Dune have joined forces to keep the planet Nevarro safe and thriving.

It hasn’t been easy. While Karga has taken over the planet’s administration, Dune is now the Marshal and has to deal with unsavory characters collaborating in cantinas. She makes short work of them and wins the gratitude of an adorable space-weasel in the bargain, but this is only one part of the problem.

As the Razor Crest is handed over for repairs to two of Karga’s ‘trusted’ engineers — we can’t really trust anyone in Star Wars — Mando is briefed on Nevarro’s biggest threat.

An Imperial facility on the far side of the safe green zone has been a thorn in Nevarro’s side. The Imperials refuse to die even if the Empire is gone. Mando would be an asset in a siege of the base. There’s nothing much to do while the Razor Crest is undergoing repairs, anyway.

The Child is safely ensconced in a school, a new development on Nevarro. He immediately uses his Force abilities to steal a fellow student’s pack of blue macarons when the boy refuses to share. This is a terrible moment, especially after the incident with the Frog Lady’s spawn,and Mando will have to educate and discipline his charge eventually.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 – The Siege

The Imperial facility was not supposed to be heavily guarded, but Karga and Dune’s information is incorrect. When they arrive with Mando and Mythrol, the designated getaway driver who ends up being coaxed into helping them take the base, the place is crawling with Stormtroopers.

The quartet manages to make their way to the lava flow control room, and Mythrol powers the system down. It will take some time, but the lava will overflow and destroy the place soon enough.

Unfortunately, escape isn’t as easy. There are Imperials everywhere, and their numbers slow the team down and change their escape route. Right into a room that houses a series of bacta tanks that house malformed entities within. This facility wasn’t for war, Dune notes. It’s always been a lab. Mythrol searches for more information and brings up a holo-message.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 – The Message

We had seen Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) way back in Season 1, but his return as a hologram in The Mandalorian Chapter 12 fills in a lot of gaps for fans. In Pershing’s message, he speaks of his failing experiments, the beings in the bacta tanks, and how they have run out of the Child’s blood. It appears that the subjects are being infused with the Child’s blood because of his high M-count, the midichlorian count directly related to Force-sensitivity. The only way to continue is to get more of the Child’s blood, Pershing says to the unseen Moff Gideon.

Mando doesn’t immediately recognize that the Child is in danger. He believes the message to be old because the last time he saw Moff Gideon, he was falling to his death. But Mythrol finds the message’s date — three days ago. There is no time to waste. Mando blasts off to rescue the Child, while Karga, Dune, and Mythrol cover him against the Imperials.

The situation looks bad until Dune comes up with a plan. Mythrol had noticed a transport on the platform. The others hadn’t thought much of it, but Dune realizes that the vehicle is their escape route.

They make an inelegant landing from the platform, and destroy Mythrol’s landspeeder in the process, but at least they get away. Not for long. This facility is well-manned. Where the Stormtroopers failed, scout troopers are sent on speeders to mop up the mess. Fortunately, between Dune’s driving and Karga’s shooting, they put an end to the troopers.

But this gives the Imperials time to get to their TIE fighters. Even though the station is engulfed in lava around them, the fighters still pursue the Nevarro citizens. Fortunately, Mando and the Child appear in the Razor Crest, go for a wild ride after the fighters, and save the day.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 – Something Sinister This Way Comes

All that excitement hasn’t changed the plan, Mando and the Child end The Mandalorian Chapter 12 by saying goodbye to their friends and heading off to find Ahsoka Tano. Meanwhile, the siege on the Imperial base attracts the attention of the New Republic. Captain Carson Teva returns with questions about the attack and the Razor Crest, all of which Karga expertly deflects.

Frustrated, Teva turns to Dune. He recognizes her as a former rebel and mercenary. Something is happening in the Outer Rim, says Teva, and the core planets don’t know much about it.

But Dune says nothing, even when Teva asks about her home planet of Alderaan and whether she lost anyone. “I lost everyone,” says Dune, still not revealing any details of what she’s learned about the Imperials and the Child. But as Teva walks back to his X-Wing, Dune seems to look after him, almost like she’s questioning her loyalties.

Dune has good reason to. On an Imperial star destroyer not far away, Moff Gideon is informed that the Imperial informant was able to place a tracker on the Razor Crest. It was one of the ‘trusted’ repairmen! Gideon is pleased to hear it as he turns to look proudly at a room full of menacing dark suits.

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 – Big Reveals

Writer and showrunner Jon Favreau clearly has a deep understanding of the mythos and elements of the universe. Alongside Dave Filoni, Favreau is building out a universe that is lived-in, rich and intertwined.

The beings we see in the bacta tanks may be nods to Snoke, a Palpatine clone, as we learned in The Rise of Skywalker. We know from The Clone Wars series that Palpatine was interested in cloning himself when he saw how successful the Jango Fett clones were. It makes sense that following Palpatine’s physical death, the cloning process would have gone into overdrive. That’s assuming these are the clones, of course. Nothing is certain yet.

The suits at the end of The Mandalorian Chapter 12 are a bit harder to place. These could be a version of the Dark Troopers seen in Star Wars videogames or a completely new type of Imperial weapon.

Fans are going to love the way this show ties into the larger Star Wars universe. Each episode has brought characters and concepts from the expanded universe — Cobb Vanth from the books and Bo-Katan Kryze from the animated series. It’s possible that videogame concepts could be added soon.

Final Thoughts: The Mandalorian Chapter 12 Encompasses Everything Star Wars

The Mandalorian Chapter 12 was an action-packed homage to A New Hope. The episode, directed by Carl Weathers, was an incredibly enjoyable ride. That Weathers, and Bryce Dallas Howard, the director of Chapter 11, are fans of the universe comes across in the loving rendition of the universe and story on-screen.

As enjoyable as the episode is, I would be remiss not to point out that Gina Carano has been making anti-mask statements on her Twitter recently; this follows incidents of her mocking people for adding pronouns to their bios. Many fans are calling for Cara Dune to be written out or recast, but it’s obviously too late for this season.

Star Wars is a massive franchise, and giving a platform to someone who makes dangerous statements during a pandemic should be cause for concern. We will have to wait and see whether the show’s creators listen to fans and advocates and make a change in future seasons.

What did you think of The Mandalorian Chapter 12? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Mandalorian streams weekly on Disney Plus.