The Marshal

Spoiler Alert!

If you have not watched Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian, you may want to stop reading now. (You can come back when you’re done watching.)

When you’re ready, scroll down.

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The Creature

The Krayt dragon is a giant, carnivorous reptile. It is the apex predator on the desert planet of Tatooine. It burrows under the Tatooine sands to hunt its prey of banthas, Jawas, Tusken Raiders, and humans. It produces a gel-like acid to digest its food. And, as if its huge size and gigantic teeth weren’t formidable enough, the Krayt dragon can also project its acid to dissolve organic tissue.

Previously, we got to see the skeletal remains of a small Krayt dragon in the sands behind C-3PO after he and R2D2 landed on Tatooine in A New Hope. Obi-Wan Kenobi used a Krayt dragon call to frighten away the Tusken Raiders when they were pillaging Luke’s landspeeder.

But now, finally, we get to see a Krayt dragon live on screen.

The Scene

Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian is titled “The Marshal.” Like Chapter 5, “The Gunslinger”, this episode is a straight homage to Western movies. Mando is searching for other Mandalorians to help him bring The Child back to its race. He soon learns that there is a Mandalorian on Tatooine.

The Western motif is evident when Mando slowly enters the town of Mos Pelgo. Mando steps into the town’s saloon. The Child plays with a spittoon.

The Marshal enters the saloon wearing Mandalorian beskar armor. But not just any beskar armor. This is Boba Fett’s armor!

(Bounty hunter Boba Fett fell into a Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon in Return of the Jedi. But since Boba Fett was a fan favorite, everyone suspected that he must have survived. The appearance of his armor here provides us with a little glimmer of hope.)

Mos Pelgo’s marshal is, of course, not Boba Fett himself. The marshal’s name is Cobb Vanth.

Moments later, when Vanth casually removes his helmet, Mando realizes he isn’t a real Mandalorian. Mandalorians are never to remove their helmets in the presence of others. Mando demands that Vanth hand over the armor. When he refuses, there is going to be an old-fashioned Western duel.

The duel is interrupted by the appearance of the Krayt dragon that has been terrorizing Mos Pelgo. It swallows a bantha and goes back to the abandoned Sarlaac pit for now. Eventually, though, the Krayt dragon will get tired of banthas and come for the whole town. They need help.

Vanth agrees to give Mando the armor in exchange for Mando’s help in ridding the town of the Krayt dragon.

As the two set out together, Vanth explains how he came to possess the beskar armor. To put it simply, he purchased it from the Jawas. Where did the Jawas get it? Well, perhaps Boba Fett was able to crawl out of the Krayt dragon’s belly after it ate the Sarlacc. Beskar seems impervious to Krayt dragon acid. Then Jawas could have pulled his armor off. Or maybe Fett exchanged the armor for food and water. In any case, Vanth acquired it from the Jawas and used the armor to protect the townspeople from the Mining Collective, who had invaded Mos Pelgo after the destruction of the second Death Star.

But even with the armor, he couldn’t take on a greater Krayt dragon alone.

The Action

The rest of the episode is all about the residents of Mos Pelgo and the Tusken Raiders working together, along with Mando and Vanth, to slay the Krayt dragon.

There has long been animosity between the townspeople and the Tuskens. The Tuskens kill the townspeople. The townspeople kill the Tuskens.

But now they must put their distrust aside to destroy the leviathan. Their only hope is joining forces and working in unison.

The Tuskens promise to never harm the town again, unless provoked, in exchange for the Krayt dragon’s carcass.

Thus forging an uneasy alliance, the Tuskens and townspeople work together with their weapons and explosives to kill the Krayt dragon outside its pit. But nothing seems to have an effect on it. The Krayt dragon even spews its acid on the Tuskens and townspeople, dissolving them.

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So it’s up to Mando. Mando activates Vanth’s jetpack, much like Han Solo accidentally did to Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi, sending him safely away. Mando then allows himself to be swallowed by the Krayt dragon, along with a bantha loaded with explosives.

Mando uses his Amban Phase Pulse Blaster from inside the belly of the beast to make it open its mouth. He then uses his jet pack to fly out and detonates the explosives to slay the leviathan. Mano’s beskar armor has protected him from the Krayt dragon’s acid, and no harm is done to the armor or Mando.

The townspeople and the Tuskens are finally free from the Krayt dragon’s terror.

The Tuskens butcher the Krayt dragon’s remains, even mining the pearl from it. (These pearls are incredibly valuable. In the Star Wars novels, Han Solo once paid his way into a sabacc game with a pearl.)

Vanth then returns the armor to Mando, as promised. The two part ways as friends.

Finally, we see a heavily scarred Boba Fett, finally making an appearance as he watches from a sand ridge.

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The Dragon

The Krayt dragon terrorized the Tuskens and the townspeople. But they could never defeat it because they were too busy fighting each other. Only after they worked together could they overcome their enemy under the sand.

We Christians are daily terrorized by the red dragon of the devil (Revelation 12). It is a giant, carnivorous reptile. It is the demonic apex predator.

The red dragon has seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. St. Michael and his angelic army fought against the red dragon and threw him down to earth. Now it attacks us – terrorizing humanity as it works to lead the whole world astray (Revelation 12:9).

We are ineffective against the dragon because we distrust each other. We unjustly judge each other’s motives and motions. We cannot repel the attack of the dragon because we are too busy attacking each other.

Fellow Christian soldiers, this should not be.

Jesus Christ has already vanquished the red dragon, that Ancient Serpent, when he crushed its scaly head under his nail-pierced feet. The serpent is slain. The dragon is defeated. The enemy has been eviscerated.

The Armor and The Alliance

Though the Satanic dragon has been conquered, it is wounded and angry. It cannot defeat Jesus. So, it turns its attention on Jesus’ followers – us.

Each of us must armor up.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to take a stand on the evil day and, after you have done everything, to stand. Stand, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness fastened in place, and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace tied to your feet like sandals. At all times hold up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Ephesians 6:11-17

We must work together with our Christian brothers and sisters.

“Brothers, I am making an appeal to you using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask that you all express the same view and not have any divisions among you, but that you be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility consider one another better than yourselves. Let each of you look carefully not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4).

Respect and honor each other. Take each other’s words and actions in the kindest possible way. Turn the other cheek to them (Matthew 5:40). Walk an extra mile with them (Matthew 5:41). Love your enemies. Pray for each other. Pray with one another (Matthew 5:44).

Daily put on your gospel armor. It is much stronger than beskar. March alongside your fellow Christian soldiers. Go into battle against the wounded red dragon. Fight with this promise in mind: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).