The Mandalorian Season 1 Recap

With humble beginnings as the very first Disney+ original on the streaming service, The Mandalorian had a lot riding on its success. It's safe to say that it not only met expectations, but exceeded them by quite a bit. The show went from under-the-radar original to one of the most beloved stories in all of the Star Wars universe. We were introduced to many original characters, combined with a complex and fascinating storyline. It's a lot to remember! If you want to relive all the important moments from Season 1, then you came to the right place! We've recapped the entire season for you to help you refresh your memory.

The Mandalorian Season 1 Summary

The Mandalorian, a lone bounty hunter traversing the galaxy in his ship, the Razor Crest, finds himself in a tumultuous situation when he receives a peculiar job from his contact at the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, Greef Karga, while on the planet Nevarro. Given a location only, Mando finds a compound containing the Client and Doctor Pershing, protected by a band of disheveled stormtroopers. The Client entices Mando with a tracking fob only, along with the information that the bounty is fifty years old.

The fob leads Mando to Arvala-7, where he meets the wise Ugnaught Kuiil. Kuiil teaches Mando how to ride a blurrg so he can reach the location of the bounty safely. Upon reaching the location of the bounty, Mando comes into contact with fellow bounty hunter IG-11. Forced into an alliance, they fight off stiff resistance at the site. Once the coast is clear, Mando and IG-11 search the building for the target. They come across a pram; Mando opens it to find a small, green child with large ears. IG-11 tries to shoot the Child, but Mando shoots first.

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Mando escorts the Child back to the landing site of the Razor Crest, encountering even more bounty hunters. They find just the skeleton of the Crest remaining after having been scavenged by Jawas. Kuiil mediates a trade between Mando and the Jawas: if Mando can bring them a Mudhorn egg (sooga!), then they will return the parts to the Crest. Mando and the Child encounter the Mudhorn, who is protective over the egg to say the least.

Mando, injured and almost killed, is saved by the Child when he uses the Force to hold the Mudhorn in the air and away from Mando. The Child, sleepy from his efforts, and Mando, injured and muddy from his encounter, return to the Jawa’s sandcrawler with the egg. Reunited with his ship’s parts, Mando and Kuiil reconstruct the Razor Crest. With his ship back in functioning order, Mando and the Child lift off for Nevarro.

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Back at the Client’s compound, Mando redeems the bounty for a massive amount of beskar. Leaving the Child with Doctor Pershing, Mando heads for the Mandalorian covert in the Nevarro sewers. There, he gives his beskar to the Armorer, who forges it into a brand new set of armor to replace his damaged set, as well as whistling birds, which is a specialized weapon that is scarce but can down multiple enemies at a time with ease. Mando then reunites with Karga at the cantina for his next assignment, but his mind remains on the Child. So, he returns to the compound, infiltrates the area by taking out several stormtroopers, and threatens Doctor Pershing until he hands over the Child.

Cornered, Mando is forced to use the whistling birds on the surrounding troopers. Not out of the woods yet, bounty hunters flock to the streets to stop Mando from leaving with the Child. Suddenly, several Mandalorians from the covert arrive to hold the bounty hunters back while Mando and the Child make their escape. Karga follows him onto the Razor Crest, where Mando is forced to shoot him to escape. Mando and the Child quickly take off to put distance between themselves and the threats.

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With a large target on his back, Mando lands on the remote planet of Sorgan. There, he finds a common house with food for the Child. While the Child eats, Mando investigates the area and is taken out by Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper. Not wanting to step on her toes, Mando and the Child return to the Razor Crest. There, a pair of locals approach him to ask for assistance in protecting their krill farming village from raiders. Mando pays Dune for her assistance. There, he meets Omera, to whom he admits that he’s not taken off his helmet in front of others since he was a child.

Mando and Dune discover that the raiders travel in an AT-ST walker, and because of that, they try to convince the villagers to abandon their homes and start anew. But, the villagers insist on staying, so Mando and Dune train them to fight. They devise and perfectly execute their plan: the villagers and Dune lure the AT-ST to step down into a krill pond, and Mando charges it with a grenade to blow it up. Victorious, they remain in the village for a period of time. Mando contemplates leaving the Child at the village, but then he hears blaster fire. Cara Dune had shot a bounty hunter with a tracking fob leading directly to the Child. No longer safe, Mando and the Child depart the village.

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Mando’s next destination is Tatooine, where he docks the Crest in Mos Eisley. Peli Motto, the attendant at the hangar, promises to watch over the ship while Mando is gone. She hears a noise coming from the ship, and there she finds the Child. She promises to watch over him, calling him “Bright Eyes.” Meanwhile, Mando enters a very familiar cantina in a very familiar booth to meet a young man named Toro Calican, who is seeking tutelage on bounty hunting. Their target? Sharpshooter assassin Fennec Shand. The pair head out into the Dune Sea on speeders, using flash grenades to blind Shand. This stifles her accuracy to the point where she doesn’t kill them, but she does force Mando’s speeder to crash.

Calican and Mando still manage to capture her, but Mando has to double back to get another form of transport. Shand informs Calican of the hefty bounty on Mando’s head to try to convince him to release her. But, Calican shoots her in the abdomen instead and heads back to Mando’s hanger. Taking Motto hostage and holding the Child in his arms, he greets Mando when he returns. After a brief standoff, Mando shoots Calican and leaves with the Child in the Crest.

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Landing on an unknown space station, Mando greets an old acquaintance named Ranzar Malk, who has a job for him. Malk introduces Mando to his crew for the job: Migs Mayfeld, former Imperial sharpshooter; Burg, an intimidating Devaronian; Zero, the droid whose official designation is Q9-0; and Xi’an, a flirtatious Twi’lek. They board a New Republic Correctional Transport, and Mando leads the group to the control center whilst taking down several sentry droids. They intimidate the only living crew member on board for the cell number of their target. Approaching the cell, they rescue a Twi’lek named Qin, the brother of Xi’an.

Then, the mercenaries lock Mando in the once occupied cell. Mando escapes and encounters the mercenaries, locking up Xi’an, Burg, and Mayfeld in a cell. He shoots Zero when he gets back on board the Razor Crest but spares Qin so he can collect the full cut. Returning to the space station, Ranzar Malk orders Qin to kill Mando, but Mando puts a tracker on Qin. Three New Republic X-wings show up and shoot down Malk’s escape ship and fire on the space station. Mando and the Child make a clean getaway.

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While aboard the Razor Crest, Mando gets a holo from Greef Karga on Nevarro. He speaks of horrible conditions in the city because of the Client, and since he and Mando now have a mutual enemy, he suggests they team up to kill the Client. If their plan works, Mando keeps the Child, and Karga’s city will be returned and his reputation restored. First, Mando needs a crew. He returns to Sorgan to recruit Cara Dune and also returns to Arvala-7 to recruit Kuiil to watch the Child. Whilst discussing the situation with Kuiil, IG-11 appears, serving tea to the crew. Mando is obviously hesitant, but Kuiil ensures he’s reprogrammed the droid to be a caretaker. IG-11 then becomes the babysitter, and Kuiil brings his blurggs as well. The crew makes the journey to Nevarro, and they meet Karga in a remote area where they can’t be spotted. 

Karga has his own crew with him, which he shoots when he has a change of heart. They were going to kill Mando and his crew and take the Child to the Client, but after the Child healed Karga’s life-threatening injury, he couldn’t do it. They devise a plan to enter the city involving the Child’s pram being used as a decoy to make the forces in the city believe they have the Child with them, but in reality, Kuiil would take the Child back to the Crest. The plan is set into motion, and the crew meets with the Client at the cantina in the city. Karga pretends to still be working against Mando, but it’s all part of the ploy.

The Client asks to see the Child, but they refuse. A stormtrooper then sets up a holo to connect the Client to Moff Gideon, the one in charge of the vast Imperial forces just outside of the cantina. He asks if the crew brought the Child, but the Client is too vague for Gideon’s liking, so he instructs his troops to fire on the cantina. The Client and his personal cadre of troopers die in this violence, while the rest of the crew hole up. Mando tries to get in touch with Kuiil to check on his and the Child’s progress, but he’s unable to reach Kuiil. That’s because Kuiil was shot by scout troopers, and the Child is now in their possession. 

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As the scout troopers wait outside the city for more instructions regarding what to do next with the Child, IG-11 comes to the rescue by killing the troopers and reclaiming the Child. At the cantina, Mando and the crew are trying to figure out how to escape. They find a sewer hatch, and as they’re trying to break through to it, Moff Gideon reveals a lot of personal and, up until now, unknown information about the crew members: that Cara Dune is a survivor of Alderaan, which motivated her to become a member of the Rebellion; that the Mandalorian’s name is Din Djarin, a survivor of the Siege of Mandalore and the Night of a Thousand Tears; and he refers to Karga as “Magistrate,” suggesting that if he cooperates that he would get a promotion.

Gideon offers to negotiate with them to surrender, but if they won’t, his forces will destroy the cantina. The crew discusses these new revelations, which bring forth new revelations: “Mandalorian” is not a race, it’s a creed; and that Din Djarin is a foundling, rescued by Mandalorians during a Separatist attack on his planet. Because of Djarin’s history, he knows about Moff Gideon: that he used to be in the ISB during the Great Purge of Mandalore, and that he’s a war criminal. Gideon decides to send an incinerator trooper into the cantina. 

Since Djarin is greatly injured at this point, he decides to stay back and protect their retreat through the now unsealed sewer grate. However, this is unnecessary when the Child uses the Force to hold back the fire from the flamethrower, covering the group’s escape. Down in the sewers, Mando needs medical attention, but can’t remove his helmet in front of other people. But, IG-11 is now programmed for caretaking and isn’t a person, so Din Djarin allows the droid to apply bacta spray to heal him. They regroup and head to the Mandalorian covert, but find many Mandalorians dead. The only one remaining is the Armorer, who explains that the Child may be a Jedi due to his abilities. She also tells Djarin that the Jedi were enemies of Mandalorians, but the Child is not an enemy, but Djarin’s foundling. She forges Mando’s signet - the Mudhorn, and informs him that he’s now a clan. Her last parting gift to Din Djarin is a jetpack.

The group leave the Armorer where they found her as stormtroopers rush in. She remains and fights them off with her forging tools. The group takes a lava boat to get to the surface. Waiting for them at the end of the tunnel is a massive amount of stormtroopers. IG-11 decides to sacrifice himself by activating his self-destruct and wading through the lava to the opening of the tunnel. The group escapes into the plains of Nevarro, but Moff Gideon is closing in on them in his TIE fighter.

Mando uses his jetpack and grappling hook in combination to reach the TIE and plant a detonator on its wing joint, downing the fighter. The group parts ways, and Mando buries Kuiil. He gives the Child his mythosaur necklace, and the Razor Crest takes off from Nevarro. Returning to Gideon’s crash site, a blade of black outlined in white energy carves a hole out of the TIE, allowing Gideon to climb out of the wreck. The blade he used wasn’t just any blade, but the infamous Darksaber.

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Conclusion

And that brings us to the end of Season 1 of The Mandalorian! What'd you think of the season? Let us know in our Discord community or by reaching out on our socials! Want to get a refresher on Season 2? You can read our recap here.

You can watch all available episodes of The Mandalorian, exclusively on Disney+.