“The Mandalorian” Season 2 Thoughts

Almost a year after the first season dropped, a second season of “The Mandalorian” came out on October 30 on Disney+, captivating fans all around the world once again. Set in the “Star Wars” universe, the show takes a highly episodic format, with each distinct narrative exhilaratingly full of action-packed fights and missions involving everything from dark robots to giant spiders. Though the “Star Wars” movies are well-known, the franchise’s deeper lore is not, and “The Mandalorian” allows viewers to further explore this universe from a different perspective, learning about new storylines within this already beloved mythos.

“The Mandalorian” mainly focuses on the relationship between the Mandalorian himself (Pedro Pascal) and The Child, a cute green organism nicknamed “Baby Yoda” by fans worldwide. In the season, along with warriors Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), the pair stopped evil forces of the Empire, the iconic antagonists of the “Star Wars” movies, from stealing The Child for experimental purposes. The Mandalorian, also called Din Djarin, finds out that The Child possesses great power, leading him to spend this season seeking out other Mandalorians to help him bring The Child to a Jedi master. Together, Din and The Child travel across galaxies searching for answers, meeting friends and enemies along the way.

Executive producers and directors Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are the minds behind “The Mandalorian.” Along with other directors, these two were tasked with an immense challenge: provide “Star Wars” fans with the same experience they got while watching “A New Hope” (1977) or “The Force Awakens” (2015) for the first time in theaters. There may have been fewer fighting and flying scenes than in the movies, but there was still plenty of action and suspense.

The sets created for the show are stunning and extremely realistic, featuring rocky and grassy mountains, an underground frozen planet, a barren desert civilization (Tatooine, from the original “Star Wars” movies), and of course, outer space. The costumes and makeup are incredible, ranging from the original, shiny Mandalorian suit to the colorful face painting of characters like Cara Dune and Ahsoka Tano.

The second season of “The Mandalorian” did an incredible job of pushing Din out of his comfort zone to make risky but ultimately successful sacrifices and decisions. His character growth from a cold, stubborn warrior to a brave, caring, father-like figure is illuminated in the emotional season finale. The Mandalorians are bound by a strict way of life that doesn’t allow for much freedom, and in the first season, Din was very serious about following the code and respecting his religion. By the second season, however, he’s realized that he has to make some sacrifices for The Child and his allies.

Though it may be a little unusual at first to watch a show in which some episodes aren’t necessarily connected to the main plot, most viewers actually ended up loving the more isolated storylines of this season. All of the stand-alone episodes were action-packed and kept watchers on the edges of their seats, and peppered with hidden details and foreshadowing, providing insight into future episodes. These episodes gave the writers more creative freedom to explore different plotlines and test the audience’s reaction. Some would argue that these episodes are irrelevant, but most would agree that they were great ways to slowly build up to the climax of the series and provide watchers with entertaining and innovative content. In fact, one of the fan-favorite episodes from this season was episode two, one of the stand-alone adventures, which almost worked as a horror movie, being both captivating and absolutely nerve-wracking.

This season of the Mandalorian also provided plenty of fan service, calling on nostalgia by bringing back existing characters and making countless references to previous pieces of “Star Wars” media. “The Mandalorian” as a series takes place only a couple of years after “The Return of the Jedi,” so there was plenty of content for the writers to work with. Of course, one of the main allusions is having Din travel to Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home, in the first episode, and other references include reintroducing Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) from the animated Clone Wars series, a few characters from the previous season, and one huge surprise in the final episode. The first season didn’t have any cameos like these, so it was very exciting to see some references this time around. On the other hand, the show would be just as great a stand-alone epic in its own world. Din is without question the main character and central focus, and nostalgic “Star Wars” references are more of a side dish, meant to please the audience rather than define the show. Bringing in these characters does create potential for spin-offs though, including “The Book of Boba Fett,” which is confirmed to come out in October 2021.

All in all, “The Mandalorian” has enchanted “Star Wars” fans old and new alike, all over the world. The characters, plot, set design, and costumes are all on point, and the dialogue is riveting, sprinkled with bits of humor and emotion throughout. Due to its popular reception, “The Mandalorian” has been renewed for a third season, expected to air toward the end of 2021. Aside from “The Book of Boba Fett,” there have been several other rumors of spin-offs. Looks like the “Star Wars” universe has no intention of coming to a close.