"Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore," an episode of the live-action television show The Mandalorian, is the second installment of its third season. Rachel Morrison took on the role of director, and the episode was made available on March 8, 2023.
On Tatooine, a planet, the locals are celebrating Boonta Eve with festive fireworks. Inside Hangar 3-5, Peli Motto, a mechanic, is in a dispute with a Rodian customer about the repairs needed for their speeder. Motto emphasizes the extensive list of missing components, stating that she'll need to source them from the Mid Rim, estimating a repair time of about two months. When the Rodian voices their displeasure, she offers to expedite the process, but only if they pay half the cost upfront. After the Rodian begrudgingly pays, she mutters about having to work on Boonta Eve and regrets not charging more for the inconvenience.
Motto signals her DUM-series pit droids to ensure the Rodian is out of sight before summoning some Jawas. She reveals that she's been collaborating with them in a scheme: they disassemble speeders, and when the owners seek repairs, she charges them for the service but reuses their original parts, disguised with paint. The Jawas request credits in return for painting and reassembling the parts, a demand Motto reluctantly agrees to after a brief show of resistance.
Din Djarin's N-1 starfighter then makes its appearance. Motto dismisses the Jawas, instructing them to dismantle another speeder. She enthusiastically praises the sound of the N-1 starfighter's engine, and despite Din Djarin's satisfaction with its performance, she promises to give it a tune-up regardless. She then inquires about Grogu's whereabouts. When Grogu pops up from the cockpit and uses the Force to jump into her arms, she's overjoyed. She suggests to Djarin that Grogu might be uttering his first word, Peli.
Ignoring her remark, Djarin announces that he's there for business. Motto inquires about the nature of his business, speculating that he might be planning to confront Boba Fett or deal with a potential return of the Hutts. When Djarin clarifies that he only needs a droid component, she expresses her disappointment but instructs the pit droids to call the Jawas back to assist with Djarin's request. Upon learning that he needs an IG-series memory circuit, she jokingly calls him a "grandpa," pointing out that IG memory circuits are no longer in production. When the Jawas return, she asks them in Jawaese if they possess the memory circuit Djarin is seeking, but they inform her that they don't have the part.
When Djarin complains about the urgency of fixing his droid, Motto suggests he purchase the run-down R5-series astromech droid she has in the hangar bay. Djarin explains that he requires a droid capable of spelunking, rendering an astromech droid useless for his purposes. When Motto presses for more details, Djarin reveals his intention to visit Mandalore and his need for an astromech that can precede him and assess the atmosphere to ensure it's safe to breathe. The astromech, R5-D4, begins to tremble and retreat, but Motto orders it to stay put, asserting that it's as capable as it was when it was fighting for the Rebellion. She then offers to reinstall the N-1's astromech port so the astromech can copilot, and to sell him the droid at half price, along with a complimentary oil bath.
Djarin accepts, and as night descends, Djarin, Grogu, and R5-D4 are inside the N-1, nearly ready for takeoff. Motto scolds the droid, encouraging it to be braver, and then warns Djarin that R5's circuitry is delicate and shouldn't be relied upon. When Din objects, reminding her that she claimed it was built for adventure, she closes the cockpit and pretends not to hear him over the engine noise, as the starfighter ascends into the sky.
As Djarin and Grogu approach Mandalore, Djarin reassures Grogu that despite its intimidating appearance with turbulent stormclouds, it was once a beautiful and vibrant planet, as depicted in the songs he knows about Mandalore. He tells Grogu that it's the homeworld of their people, and every Mandalorian can trace their ancestry back to this planet and its beskar mines. He admits that he's never been to Mandalore either, having grown up on Mandalore's moon, Concordia. He points out Concordia, visible from the cockpit, and then Kalevala, reminding Grogu that it's where Bo-Katan Kryze resides. He then points to the scope, which displays the three astronomical bodies he mentioned, explaining that Mandalorians must be adept at reading maps to avoid getting lost.
As the ship descends through Mandalore's atmosphere, the clouds batter R5-D4, causing the ship's systems to flicker. After breaking through the clouds, Djarin suggests that the fusion bombs from the Great Purge of Mandalore disrupted the magnetic field around the planet, preventing any communication from exiting the atmosphere. The ship lands in a clearing surrounded by sharp fragments of green trinitite, and Djarin instructs R5 to scout ahead and assess the atmosphere within the mines. R5 reluctantly heads off in the direction Djarin indicates. When Grogu expresses concern about R5, Djarin assures him that they can monitor it on the scope, which shows a dot slowly moving away before suddenly disappearing. As Djarin tries unsuccessfully to contact R5 via comms, the ship's systems flicker again. Djarin attributes it to atmospheric interference but, yielding to Grogu's distress, exits the ship to find R5 after pressurizing his helmet.
Djarin enters a dim, green cave, cautiously approaching a precipice that reveals the ruins of an underground city. He is abruptly attacked by three Alamites wielding clubs. Although Djarin manages to shoot one Alamite, the remaining two assault him with their clubs, causing him to drop his blaster. Unable to reach his blaster, Djarin draws the Darksaber, but his swings are awkward due to the blade's weight. After injuring the second Alamite's leg, Djarin manages to knock his opponent over the edge into the ruins below. He stabs the third attacker with the Darksaber before throwing him over the edge. After defeating the Alamites, Djarin hears R5 beeping and discovers the droid overturned in a pile of rocks. After setting it upright, Djarin and the droid return to the starfighter.
Upon receiving the atmospheric readings from R5-D4, Djarin confirms that the air is breathable and declares that Kryze was correct, Mandalore is not cursed. He takes Grogu into the cave, pausing at the precipice and informing Grogu that this was once the Civic Center, where Kryze instructed them to go. He uses his jetpack and Grogu uses his hovering pram to descend past the twisted metal skeletons of buildings, pausing on a girder to tell Grogu that the mines are further down and they are on their own from here. They continue descending down a well, past ancient water pipes, before landing at the bottom.
They proceed through a large tunnel with water pipes branching off it, and several reptavian creatures observe them, unnoticed by Djarin. Turning into a smaller tunnel, Djarin notices an old Mandalorian helmet among the debris beneath their feet. While he is distracted by the helmet, a trap is triggered, and Djarin is captured by a Spider Tank with an organic eye. It places Djarin, now confined in a metal cage, onto a rack resembling a rotisserie spit. The mechanical arachnid then lowers itself to the ground, and a smaller mechanical being with six limbs and quills on its back emerges. Grogu observes all of this from the shadows, having left his pram for a better view. After the creature disarms Djarin and wanders off to retrieve some cables, Grogu approaches Djarin and attempts to free him with the Force, but when a piece of the machinery holding the cage snaps off, the clang alerts the creature.
Djarin, his voice weak, urges Grogu to find Kryze, as the creature attempts to electrocute Grogu with a staff. It misses, and Grogu reaches the pram and speeds off towards the surface. He manages to evade one of the reptavian creatures that lunges at him but is confronted at the cave entrance by an Alamite. He Force pushes the Alamite away from the cave mouth and races to the ship, closing the canopy just as a reptavian creature crashes into it in an attempt to reach Grogu. Grogu points at the viewscreen as the ship ascends.
Kryze's footman droid appears before the throne in Kryze's castle, announcing an unexpected guest. As she spots the N-1 through the throne room's narrow windows, she declares, "Let's get rid of him once and for all." However, instead of Djarin, only Grogu is in the cockpit. Upon seeing this, Kryze asks what happened to Djarin; when Grogu responds with only babbles, she orders her droid to download the data from the astromech to determine their location.
Her ship departs from Kalevala and heads towards Mandalore, carrying R5, Grogu, and herself. As they approach the same clearing where Djarin landed, she gazes upon the ruins of a city, the dome that once enclosed it represented by the twisted steel rising from the ground. They land, and Kryze and Grogu enter the cave, reaching the precipice that offers a view of the ruins of Sundari. Kryze tells Grogu that her family once governed this magnificent civilization, which has now become a tomb. She then descends towards the floor of the well, with Grogu following in his pram.
As they navigate the cavern, Kryze tells Grogu that she knew some Jedi, and that Jedi and Mandalorians once had a good relationship. She asks Grogu about his Force abilities, assuming he must be skilled if he found his way to her on his own. When they hear a noise, she signals Grogu to retreat and cautiously moves forward, observing a crystalline patch on the ceiling. She fires at it with her blasters, causing three Alamites to fall to the floor. They charge at her, and a brief fight ensues before Kryze emerges victorious. She asks the observing Grogu, "Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?" She then identifies the beings she fought as Alamites, explaining that they once lived on the surface, in the wastelands between their domed cities. She wonders what else survived, considering the Alamites' ability to endure the Purge.
Meanwhile, the creature that captured Djarin connects him to a small droid with transparent tubing, through which Djarin's blood begins to flow. He groans in pain, but before too much blood can be extracted, Kryze shoots the pump droid. The creature stuns her multiple times with its staff, but Kryze manages to seize the fallen Darksaber from where the creature dropped it while disarming Djarin, and she uses it to absorb the next bolt of electricity before preparing to fight the creature with the saber and her shield projector. She wields the saber with far greater ease than Djarin did in his fight against the Alamites, and she impales the creature through the chest.
As the creature falls, she turns her attention to Djarin in his rotisserie cage and tries to wake him. While she says she's going to free him, he manages to croak out a warning that the creature was behind her. It had managed to crawl away from its metal body to return to the mech suit, and Kryze has to fight it with the Darksaber and her shield. She severs several of its limbs and ultimately destroys it, hacking it into pieces.
Kryze frees Djarin and builds a fire, over which she warms up a powdered soup. He eventually stirs, groaning, and sits up from where she had propped him against a rock. Kryze points out that she saved his life. He responds by asking how she found him, to which Kryze replies that Grogu found her, and praises his navigational skills. Kryze was right, Djarin acknowledges—Mandalore is not cursed. Kryze, however, questions this, stating that nothing remains of the great society that Mandalore once was. She once ruled here, she says, but there is nothing left for her to hold onto.
She brings a cup of soup to Djarin, who asks what it is. She finds it ironic that he has never had pog soup, which she claims is a staple for all Mandalorians growing up. After he finishes the soup, Djarin gets up. He ignores Kryze's protests that he should rest, and when she offers to take him back to her ship, he declines. He must continue to the Mines of Mandalore, where he can immerse himself in the Living Waters to redeem himself. When Kryze points out that the waters themselves have no magical properties, he responds by asking what they are without the Creed—what do they represent? He credits the Creed with ensuring the survival of the Mandalorian people in the diaspora. He acknowledges that he will always be indebted to her for saving his life, but he cannot accompany her until he has immersed himself.
Following this speech, Kryze offers to guide him to the Waters, as he would never find them on his own amidst the devastation of the ruined city. As they walk through the ruins together, Djarin expresses difficulty imagining the city filled with Mandalorians, as it appears to have been destroyed centuries ago. Kryze explains that it was not long ago, but the Empire sought to erase their memory as a form of punishment.
Djarin tells Kryze that it must be painful to see the city in ruins, when she had once witnessed it in all its glory. Kryze responds that what truly pains her is the Mandalorian infighting before the Purge; that Mandalorians were killing each other for reasons too complex to explain, and thus they could not withstand the Empire's wrath when it arrived.
Before Djarin responds, they reach a gate and enter a much older part of the city: the mines themselves. Kryze reveals that she has visited the Living Waters before, as a child. She recounts how, as a member of the royal family, she publicly recited the Mandalorian tenets, but it was merely a performance for their subjects: a spectacle of a princess reciting the tenets while her father looked on with pride. Djarin suggests that her father was proud, and that he would have liked to have known him. Kryze responds that he was proud of her, and that he was a great man who died defending Mandalore. In response, Djarin stops, and when she turns to face him, he solemnly proclaims, "This is the Way."
They arrive at the Living Waters, a large pool of water accessible by a wide stone staircase. Before he enters the water, Kryze insists on reading him the commemorative plaque near the steps. It states that the mines date back to Mandalore the Great, and it is believed that they were once the lair of mythosaurs. The plaque also notes that the mythosaur skull was adopted as the symbol of their planet because Mandalore the Great tamed the great beast. When she notices that Djarin has not reacted to any of her words, she asks if he is alright, but he does not respond. Instead, he removes his jetpack and weapons and steps into the pool, reciting the ritual words: "I swear on my name and the names of the Ancestors that I shall walk the way of the Mand'alor, and the words of the Creed shall be forever forged in my heart."
As he finishes, he suddenly disappears underwater, having walked off the shallow ledge and fallen into the deep trench beyond. Kryze dives in after him, using her jetpack to propel herself to the bottom. She finds Djarin's seemingly lifeless body and carries him towards the surface, again aided by her jetpack. On the way up, they pass a massive reptilian creature with white horns, whose eye opens as Kryze's helmet light illuminates it: a mythosaur. They speed away, reaching the surface, where they lie on the steps, Djarin wheezing and coughing as he revives. Kryze takes deep, labored breaths as she gazes out into the waters.