"Chapter 7: The Reckoning" is the seventh episode of the first season of the television series The Mandalorian. The episode was directed by Deborah Chow, and aired on Disney+ on December 18, 2019.
An old rival extends an invitation for The Mandalorian to make peace.
Aboard the Razor Crest, the Mandalorian receives a hologram message from Greef Karga, the head of the Bounty Hunters' Guild. He tells the Mandalorian that the Client has imposed "despotic" rule over his city, which has impeded the Guild's business. The Guild considers the Client a mutual enemy but cannot get close enough to him to take him out. He offers the Mandalorian a proposition: to bring the Child back to Nevarro as bait to eliminate the Client. If he succeeds, the Mandalorian gets to keep the Child and Greef will clear his name with the Guild. He says that a "man of honor" should not live in exile and awaits the Mandalorian's response.
The Mandalorian looks at the sleeping Child and reflects on Greef's offer before taking the Razor Crest to hyperspace. Arriving on Sorgan, the Mandalorian returns to the common house where his acquaintance Carasynthia Dune is engaged in a boxing match with a male Zabrak fighter. The two box while attached to a laser tether. The Zabrak is stronger but Cara manages to gain the advantage and defeat him. Several patrons as well as the bested Zabrak pay her.
The Mandalorian soon enters with the Child, asking her if she was looking for some work. He tells her about Greef's proposition, adding that they are providing the plan and the firepower. Cara says she was advised to lay low since there is a bounty on her head. However, she changes her mind when the Mandalorian tells her that they are fighting against an ex-Imperial warlord.
Aboard the Razor Crest, Cara asks if his contact knows she is coming. When the Mandalorian says Greef does not, Cara replies that this could be a problem but says that it is the contact's problem. The Mandalorian and Cara go to the armory to fetch weapons. Cara asks the Mandalorian if he trusts their contact. The Mandalorian confides he doesn't but says that they can't keep running from hunters and that the Guild won't stop hunting until the Child is dead. He says that he needs her help.
Just then, the Child toys with the starship's controls, causing it to veer sharply. The Mandalorian and Cara regain control of the Razor Crest. Cara says that they need someone who can watch over the Child and asks the Mandalorian if he knows someone they can trust.
They travel to the Kuiil's moisture farm on the planet Arvala-7. Kuiil remarks that the Child has not grown much and thinks that he wasn't genetically engineered because he looks too evolved. The Ugnaught quips that Cara Dune was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora. The Mandalorian introduces Cara and explains that she served as a rebel shock trooper. Kuiil says that he served on the "other side" as an indentured worker but paid his debts before freeing himself.
A reprogrammed IG-11 enters, offering to serve some tea. Cara and the Mandalorian raise their blasters but Kuiil tells them to lower their blasters. Kuiil explains that he found IG-11 in the encampment and brought the disintegrated droid home; staking the flotsam as his own in accordance with the Charter of the New Republic. He repaired IG-11 despite little remaining of its neural harness. He explained that the droid had to relearn everything from scratch. While the droid had difficulty performing tasks, Kuiil spent time reinforcing its development with "patience and affirmation." He says that IG-11 came to develop a personality based on its experiences, becoming more skilled at its tasks. The Mandalorian still distrusts IG-11 but Kuiil insists that the droid will still protect. IG-11 offers tea.
He later tells Kuill that he wants to hire his services. Kuiil is unwilling to put himself into another being's services since he freed himself from indentured service. The Mandalorian wants to hire Kuiil to look after the Child. Kuiil offers to reprogram IG-11 to serve as a nanny but the Mandalorian doesn't want that droid near the Child as it had tried to kill it. Kuiil says that IG-11 had been programmed to do so. He opines that droids are not good or bad but are neutral reflections of those who imprint them.
The Mandalorian disagrees but the Kuiil tells him to trust him. He insists that IG-11 will come along. Kuiil won't accept money but says he is doing it to protect the Child from Imperial slavery. He vows to make sure that the "old ways" are gone forever. The Mandalorian agrees and Kuiil convinces him to let the blurrgs come along as well.
The blurrgs are penned aboard the Razor Crests cargo hold. Cara Dune and the Mandalorian engage in a game of arm wrestling. Thinking the Mandalorian is in danger, the Child strangles her until the Mandalorian tells him that Cara is their friend. Kuill says that the Child is curious but Cara is frightened. Kuiil now understands the Mandalorian's encounter with the mudhorn but is unable to name the phenomenon. Cara questions how Kuiil walked free of Imperial indentured servitude. Kuiil says he bought his freedom with the skills of his hands and the labor of three human lifetimes; telling her not to doubt him.
The Mandalorian enlists Kuiil's help in padding the Child's pram. Kuiil says this is a way to prove how he freed himself from servitude through his craftsmanship. While Kuiil works on the pram, the Mandalorian asks Cara if she had been to Nevarro. Cara hasn't been to Nevarro but says that the New Republic lost a lot of forces there. She explains that the city is dug in pretty deep and that there is no cover. Cara says that it stayed Imperial until the end of the Galactic Civil War.
The Mandalorian says that the Client was a former Imperial officer and that he took out an Imperial safe house. He thinks there are more ex-Imperial forces there. The Mandalorian distrusts IG-11 and refuses to allow him to look after the Child.
The Razor Crest lands in a remote part of Nevarro. They are met by Greef Karga and three other bounty hunters including a human, Nikto, and a Trandoshan. Greef explains that he had arranged for a rendezvous in a remote location because the town is now run by ex-Empire forces. The Mandalorian, Kuiil, and Cara ride blurrgs while IG-11 stays behind on the ship.
Greef suggests that the former rebel shock trooper stay behind to guard the ship from Jawas in the lava fields. The Mandalorian insists that Cara is coming. Greef relents but advises Cara to cover her rebel tattoo. Greef also gets permission from the Mandalorian to look and hold the Child, whom he finds cute. Greef advises them to travel across the lava fields and find a place to camp for the night since it is approaching dusk.
That night, they set up a camp fire and grill a four-legged beast. Greef remarks that the Child is a carnivore based on his eating habits. Greef and the Mandalorian go over the plan which involves entering the common house, show the Client the bait, and then kill him at the table. When the Mandalorian asks about his reinforcements, Greef claims that they are mercenaries but the Mandalorian is skeptical. Greef says that there are only four bodyguards and that nothing can go wrong.
Just then, a native reptavian descends and bites Greef's arm. The traveling party is attacked by several winged beasts. The Mandalorian seals the Child in his pram. He and his companions fires at the winged creatures. The winged creatures capture a blurrg and the Trandoshan bounty hunter. One of the winged creatures tries to catch another blurrg but is shot dead. The blurrg is hit by friendly fire. The Mandalorian manages to drive the creatures away with his flamethrower.
Greef's right arm is badly wounded by the winged creature, whose bite contains venom. Greef thinks that his end is near. Cara tells him not to be so dramatic and asks if anyone has medpacs. None of them do but the Child manages to heal Greef's arm with the Force. Greef, Kuill, Cara, the Mandalorian, and the other bounty hunters are amazed by the Child's powers.
The following day, the group continue their journey. Greef's two remaining hunters attempt to ambush and kill the Mandalorian and Cara. However, Greef shoots his associates dead. Greef admits that their initial plan was to kill them and take the "kid." Greef says that he couldn't go through with it after the Child healed him. Greef convinces the Mandalorian and Cara to spare his life, saying that the Child won't be safe if he is killed. He tells them the Client is obsessed about the Child.
Cara doesn't believe him but Kuiil convinces her and the Mandalorian to hear Greef out. Greef says they share a mutual interest in eliminating the Client. He proposes using the Child as bait to get to the Client. The Mandalorian comes up with a plan to turn himself in so that he can kill the Client. Cara thinks this is insane but the Mandalorian says that is the only way.
The four come up with a plan to bring the Child's pram as a decoy but to send Kuiil and the Child back to the Razor Crest. Cara will come along with the decoy pram. The Mandalorian tells Kuiil to engage ground security protocols once he gets inside the ship. Kuiil vows to keep the Child safe and tells Cara to cover her stripes.
Kuill rides back to the ship with the Child on the remaining blurrg while Greef and Cara bring the restrained Mandalorian and the pram to the town. They encounter two scout troopers on 74-Z speeder bikes at the gate. The scout troopers demand a chain code from Greef, who complies. The three find that the town is full of stormtroopers. Greef explains that the Imperials increased their presence after the Mandalorian busted their safe house.
The three enter a cantina where they meet the Client and four stormtrooper bodyguards. Greef tells the Client that he and Cara have brought the Mandalorian and the Child. Greef takes an interest in the Mandalorian's beskar armor. The Client gets an RA-7 protocol droid to serve Greef a drink as a reward for closing their deal. The Client talks about the folly of Mandalore resisting Imperial expansion and claims that the Empire improves every system it touches; bringing safety, prosperity, trade and peace. He compares Imperial rule favorably to the state of the galaxy following the revolution, which he claims has only brought chaos and death.
The Client asks to see the Child. Greef claims that it is asleep but the Client says they will be quiet. One of the stormtroopers informs Greef that he has received an urgent call. A stormtrooper sets up a holoprojector while the Mandalorian gets Greef to unbind his restraints and pass him a blaster. Cara thinks their odds are bad.
The Client speaks with Moff Gideon who asks if they have brought the Child. The Client says that it is sleeping. Gideon tells him to check again. Death Troopers open fire on the cantina from outside, killing the Client and his stormtroopers while the Mandalorian, Cara, and Greef take cover behind a table. The RA-7 protocol droid is hit in the crossfire.
The Mandalorian, Cara, and Greef soon find the cantina surrounded by a row of death troopers. An Imperial Troop Transport arrives carrying a contingent of stormtroopers. Cara realizes they are outnumbered. The Mandalorian contacts Kuiil by comlink and tells him to flee. However, their conversation is intercepted by the scout troopers, who race after Kuiil on their speeder bikes.
Shortly later, Moff Gideon arrives on an Outland TIE fighter with retractable solar collectors. He exits the TIE fighter and tells the Mandalorian and his companions that they have something he wants. He claims that they have no idea what they have. As the Mandalorian contacts Kuiil, the scout troopers close in on their speeder bikes.
Gideon says that the Child will be his in a few moments, as Kuiil approaches the Razor Crest and lowers the ramp. Gideon adds that the Child means more to him than they will ever know. The Mandalorian contacts Kuiil, but he does not respond. He and his blurrg steed had been shot dead by the scout troopers. A scout trooper scoops up the Child.
Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau with members of the 501st
The episode was filmed from October 29 to November 12, 2018, immediately following "Chapter 3: The Sin" and "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian." All three episodes utilized many of the same cast and sets. Members of the Star Wars costuming fan organization the 501st Legion participated as extras, since the producers did not have enough stormtrooper costumes.
- The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season One
- "Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season One Companion" — Star Wars Insider 201
- Star Wars: The Mandalorian: Guide to Season One