After the disappointment of the last three Star Wars films, season one of The Mandalorian had rejuvenated my love for the franchise. The Child became a fan favorite for practically everyone, so I eagerly anticipated the return of this season, which is an adaptation of Lone Wolf and Cub. Warning- some spoilers.
The Marshall
The Mandalorian (aka Mando) wishes to return The Child to his own people, and when he hears of a Mandalorian in the Tatooine town of Mos Pelgo, he goes to investigate. But when he arrives he discovers the town’s marshall, Cobb Vanth, is simply wearing Boba Fett’s armor that he bought years ago. Mando and Cobb strike a deal, that Mando can get the armor if he helps defeat a krayt dragon that is terrorizing the town. This opening episode had a simple monster of the week storyline, but Timothy Olyphant as Cobb was easy on the eyes.
The Passenger
Mando takes on a passenger, the Frog Lady and her eggs, who needs to travel to her husband who can fertilize her eggs, in exchange for intel on other Mandalorians. The Child views the eggs as tasty treats and was slyly swiping at them all episode. While escaping capture, they crash land on an icy planet and barely escape from ice spiders before being rescued by some pilots from the New Republic.
The Heiress
Mando, the Frog Lady and The Child finally arrive on the planet Trask where the Frog Lady’s husband awaits. He directs them to an inn where Mando meets three Mandalorians, led by Bo-Katan Kryze. He discovers they follow a looser Mandalorian creed, as his sect is considered very extreme and others do not follow his rules of not showing his face. Bo-Katan Kryze wishes for the Darksaber that Moff Gideon acquired at the end of the first season to help her reconquer Mandalore. Lots of epic fighting scenes!
The Siege
Mando and The Child take a detour to Nevarro where they are reunited with their former allies Cara Dune and Greef Karga who have taken law-keeping roles there. Mando helps destroy a remaining Imperial base and a laboratory from the scientist in the first season who wanted to do experiments on The Child. I loved the chase scene with the Stormtroopers on speeders.
The Jedi
Ahsoka is alive!!!! Found on the outskirts of the city of Calodan on the planet Corvus, she is helping fight the evil magistrate, and her Jedi skills are evidently still quite strong. Mando believes she can help train The Child. It is revealed after a Jedi meld that this Baby Yoda creature’s name is Grogu and he had been in training as a Jedi before the Empire rose and he has been in hiding since, masking many of his powers. While Mando helps Ahsoka defeat the town’s cruel oppressors, Ahsoka declines to take on Grogu as his attachment to Mando is too strong and she wishes to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn (plot for her spin-off!). Rosario Dawson played the live-action Ahsoka beautifully and I was very happy with the character’s portrayal.
The Tragedy
Following Ahsoka’s advice, Mando takes Grogu to the ancient temple on Tython. There Grogu connects with the Force sending a signal out to any remaining Jedi in the universe. But of course, it all goes to hell when Moff Gideon arrives and deploys stormtroopers to capture Grogu. And who shows up but an older and scarred Boba Fett with his sidekick Fennec Shand and he wants his armor back! The three end up working together to fight the Stormtroopers but alas they are not successful.
The Believer
The evil Empire better not hurt my darling Grogu!! Mando enlists Cara Dune, who is now working as a Marshal of the New Republic and a prisoner of hers that is an ex-Imperial to help him find Gideon’s ship. Mando has to reveal his face in this episode when he infiltrates a ship that puts him closer to rescuing Grogu.
The Rescue
To help him retrieve Grogu, Mando puts together a powerhouse crew of Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and fellow Mandalorian Koska Reeves to help him retrieve Grogu (although some have their own agendas). The four women kick some ass on Gideon’s ship while Mando retrieves Grogu and obtains the Darksaber from Gideon. But the battle takes a turn for the worse when Dark Troopers (robots that reminded me of The Terminator movies) attack our heroes. But wait- is that an X-wing ship landing? And who is that robed powerful man who is destroying the Dark Troopers with ease? OMG- it’s Luke Skywalker!!!!! After a poignant goodbye between Mando and Grogu (yes, I teared up), Luke & R2-D2 take Grogu off into the great unknown.
Thus ends, season two of The Mandalorian. But SO many questions remain! Is Grogu gone for good? Frankly, we all know what happens to Luke’s Jedi school, so did Grogu avoid death by Annakin just to die decades later by Kylo Ren’s hand? What of the Darksaber? What of Ahsoka? Plus, a new Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett was teased in the end credits that will take place in the same timeline, so will these two series intersect? We also know that yet another series Rangers of the New Republic will be released, and will Cara be part of that (if she doesn’t torpedo her chances with her IRL controversial tweets)? While I have loved this series, I am nervous about the glut of Star Wars spin-offs in the works. Yes, Star Wars is a beloved franchise, but as I have the same worries with Star Trek, sometimes too much of a good thing waters down the original and the franchise becomes too unwieldy. Time will tell. In the meantime- Let The Force Be With You!
-Nancy
*All pictures and gifs are from Disney’s The Mandalorian series*
Graphic Novelty² 
Recent Comments