The Passenger
Warning! Chapter 10 is the scariest of all the episodes! Not because of the snow spiders. But because The Child is a stone-cold assassin!
Spoilers Ahead.
At the beginning of the episode, Mando leaves Mos Pelgo with Mandalorian armor, but no Mandalorian. He is still searching for other Mandalorians to help him deliver The Child back to its race.
Mando enters the Tatooine cantina from A New Hope. The bartender is the same droid from Jabba’s palace but now reprogrammed to operate the bar. Mando receives information on other Mandalorians from Dr. Mandible – a giant ant – who is playing sabacc with mechanic Peli Motto.
In exchange for the information, Mando must transport a passenger – a Frog Lady – with her spawn in a clear tube. He needs to deliver the Frog Lady and her eggs to the inhabited moon of Trask, where the Frog Lady’s husband will fertilize the eggs. These eggs are especially precious because they are the last spawn of her life cycle.
The eggs are fragile and will be sterilized in light speed. So Mando must transport his passenger at sub-light speed to Trask. It is a long, tedious trip.
The Child gets hungry. It gets into the eggs and slurps down a few. (It definitely likes frogs, since we witnessed it eating a frog in chapter 2.)
During the trip, they encounter two New Republic X-Wings on patrol. (One of the pilots is The Mandalorian executive producer, Dave Filoni.) The Rebel pilots recognize the Razor Crest from the prison break in chapter 6. They open their S-Foils into attack position, and the Razor Crest is forced to flee to a nearby ice planet.
The Razor Crest hides from the X-Wings in an ice canyon. But the ship crashes through the ice and is severely damaged. Due to the extreme cold at night, Mando wants to wait until morning, when it’s warmer, to make repairs.
The Frog Lady uses the severed head of Q 9-0 – the droid Mando shot in chapter 6 – to translate her frog language to speak to Mando. She says she can’t wait. Her spawn will die. “I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to.”
When Mando says, “The deal is off,” the Frog Lady chastises him for breaking his Mandalorian oath. “I thought honoring one’s word was a part of the Mandalorian code. I guess those are just stories for children.”
The Mandalorians are very big on honor, as is shown numerous times in Star Wars: Rebels. So Mando immediately gets up and gets to work repairing the Razor Crest.
Honoring his oath does look silly, though. It even turns out to be dangerous.
While he’s working on the repairs, the Frog Lady warms herself and her eggs in a hot spring in one of the snow caves. The Child is there, too. He’s still hungry. This time he eats a spider egg. This awakens all kinds of snow spiders – dozens of tiny and medium ones, and even a gigantic one! The spiders chase the group and swarm inside and over the Razor Crest.
The small group is about to become spider food.
As Christians, we are called to remain faithful to our oaths.
- The oath you made as a parent or grandparent at the baptismal font for the baptized infant. You promised to “bring up [the child] in the way of the Lord and to instruct him in the truths of God’s saving Word so that he may grow in faith, serve God with a Christian life, and remain in his baptismal grace unto the end.”
- The oath you made before the Lord’s altar at your confirmation. You promised to “continue steadfast in [the teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church] and to endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it.”
- The oath you made before the Lord, your spouse, and your guests on your wedding day. You promised to “be faithful to him/her, cherish him/her, support him/her and help him/her in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live.”
These vows may look silly to the world.
- You get up early for worship while everyone else in your neighborhood is still asleep.
- You abstain from sinful behavior while everyone else around you is engaging in every abhorrent action.
- You miss basketball practices, catching up on sleep, and overtime hours so you can listen to your pastor preach Christ crucified.
- You give your hard-earned money to support God’s kingdom work in your church. You volunteer at a homeless shelter to help feed and clothe the less fortunate in your community.
- You dry your tears with the hope of the resurrection on the Last Day for your Christian family member.
None of this makes any sense in a world where oaths, vows, and promises mean nothing. Where professional sports’ contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. Where politicians make wild promises during every election cycle. Where there is no-fault divorce. Where salespeople will sell you extended warranties you don’t need, and where people in authority abuse their positions of power.
This is the kind of world where those who remain faithful to their vows look silly.
This is also the kind of world where those who remain faithful to their vows stand up and stand out.
The two X-Wing pilots find the Razor Crest just in time to kill all the snow spiders. (Rebels are way better shots than Stormtroopers!) They give the reason why they rescued the Mandalorian: “We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-6-9-11. However, onboard security records show you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm’s way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Daven from the New Republic Correctional Corps” – (all from chapter 6).
The Rebel pilots respect Mando because he was faithful to his Mandalorian code in capturing wanted criminals and protecting a New Republic Lieutenant.
Who knows how God will bless us as we remain faithful to our Christian vows?
- The baptized child you prayed for as his godparent is now a strong Christian teenager. Though these are difficult times, he doesn’t waver from his baptismal faith.
- The college student who was confirmed 6 years earlier, she resists the temptations to skip classes, get drunk, or move in with her boyfriend. Her classmates recognize there is something different about her and accept her invitation to join her at her campus ministry Bible studies.
- The husband who stays by his wife’s side, holding her hair back as she pukes her guts out after another round of chemotherapy. The wife who cares for her husband, even though he doesn’t remember her anymore because of his dementia.
The world notices faithfulness to these vows. Our family appreciates faithfulness to these vows. The Lord grants faithfulness to these vows.
The Lord commends faithfulness to these vows. “Well, done my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
Michael Zarling
For the first 8 years of my ministry, I served at Faith Lutheran Church, an exploratory congregation in Radcliff, KY. I presently serve at Epiphany Lutheran Church and Wisconsin Lutheran School (WLS) in Racine, WI. I am also very involved with our youth as the WLS head soccer coach and the head counselor for WELS Training Camp, a youth camp for 3rd – 9th graders. I have been married to Shelley for 20 years. Together we have 4 beautiful daughters – Abigail, Miriam, Lydia and Gabrielle. We also have 2 dogs – Messi and Mia – named after Lionel Messi and Mia Hamm (the Zarling family really likes soccer!)
