It’s been almost a year since Disney+ launched and brought with it a multitude of content to look forward to. While Marvel has a slew of TV shows that are going to drop on the streaming service, Star Wars fans were blessed with the first season of the Mandalorian. With Jon Favreau steering the ship, and a constant stream of top tier directors creating each episode, we were treated to a new form of Star Wars storytelling, and it worked a treat. And it looks like Season 2 is going to continue that level of quality, and then some. The most recent trailer has garnered nothing but praise from the fans, so lets look at what we’re most looking forward to as we prepare for the first episode on October 30th.
1.More Baby Yoda
Top of the list, we have everybody’s favourite little green alien, Baby Yoda. Right from the outset, this little guy stole the hearts of everybody who watched the show, and everybody who used the internet during the 8 weeks the show was running, becoming an overnight internet sensation. The entire plot of the show revolves around him, and that thread seems to continue into Season 2. In this season we’re going to delve deeper into where Baby Yoda, or “The Child”, comes from, and what Moff Gideon and the Empire as a whole wants from him. We know nothing about his and Yoda’s species as of yet, we have only ever met 3 of them in the Star Wars canon so far and all of them have been powerful in the Force. Whether we will find out more about the species as a whole remains a mystery, however I think we can at least look forward to getting some answers about Baby Yoda and his purpose in all of this. Plus did you see him close up his little floating cot when Mando tells him to? Come on, he’s simply adorable.
2.The Jedi
It should come as no surprise that second on this list are the lightsaber wielding, Force manipulating galaxy police we all know and love. From the trailer, it’s clear that the galaxy has largely forgotten about the Jedi, or at the very least they are more of a story than reality. This makes sense considering that the Jedi more or less disappeared about 40 years before this show had started and even then the vast majority of citizens of the galaxy would never have even seen a Jedi. The Mandalorian has made the connection between Baby Yoda’s ability with the Force and the fables of the Jedi from the past. What’s even more exciting is that the connection that the Mandalorian and his culture have to the Jedi is the Great Mandalorian War, which is a period of history we have yet to really delve into in Star Wars canon. What’s more, while Star Wars as a franchise has more to offer than just the Jedi and the Force, it was the one thing missing from the Madalorian Season 1, so it’s exciting we’re getting more of it this season.
3.Ahsoka Tano
This one is for those of us who have spent the time to watch The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series. Ahsoka Tano started out life as Anakin Skywalker’s pretty annoying Padawan in the Clone Wars. As the series went on, fans of the show grew to love Ahsoka as her character grew and she became a bit of a badass. We thought we had seen the end of her when she left the Jedi Order and went off on her own journey, that is until she showed up again in Star Wars rebels, this time as a lone Force wielder in the fight against the Empire. She didn’t play as big of a role in Rebels, but that didn’t stop her being equally badass, with and awesome white lightsabers and a fantastic face off with Darth Vader in the Season 2 finale. This will be her first appearance in live action, and the fact that she’s going to be played by Rosario Dawson only adds to the excitement.
4.Moff Gideon
What would any great Star Wars story be without a great villain? Played by Giancarlo Espocito, the mastermind behind Breaking Bad’s Gus Fring, Moff Gideon is a mysterious character, well, because we know very little about him. He showed up at the end of Season 1, quickly dispatched Warner Herzog’s character and nestled himself neatly into the position of main antagonist to Mando. Dead set on obtaining his prize, Baby Yoda, it sure seems like he will stop at nothing, not even ruthlessly killing his own men, to do it. He is a Moff, which means he is of high rank, which also shows that the remnants of the Empire still have some hierarchy intact. Also, he now has the Darksaber, which we will get into later. Giancarlo Espocito already gave us one of the greatest villains in television history, and one of the greatest seasons, so who’s to say he can’t do it again.
5.Mandalore
We thought we might get a bit more of Mandalore and the Mandalorian culture in Season 1, but it seams we’re going to get more than enough to make up for it in Season 2. It’s interesting to see the new Mandalorian culture that has cultivated post-Empire, but the Mandalorian culture still has lots to explore, and hopefully we delve deep into it in this new Season. There is so much history to this planet, from the wars with the Jedi to the lineage of the Darksaber and the warring clans. And even beside all of that, they look cool and use jetpacks, so what’s not to like? I mean, that’s all it took to make Boba Fett, a guy who barely ever speaks and ends up falling into a land-squid aliens mouth, one of the most well known movie characters of all time. It seems there are plenty of Mandalorians still around, and a group of Mandalorians is a formidable force, they seem to be the best warriors the galaxy has to offer that don’t use the Force.
6.Bo Katan and the Darksaber
Again, this is one for the fans of the Clone Wars and Rebels. Bo Katan is one of the fiercest Mandalorian leaders and a great warrior. She was a formidable fighter during the clone wars and managed to unite the clans of Mandalore under one banner at the end of Rebels. She is confirmed to be returning once again in the Mandalorian Season 2, which only lends more credence to the idea that we are going to delve deep into Mandalorian history, of which Bo is a huge part. What’s also interesting is that she is going to be played by Katee Sackhoff, who also voiced her in the show. It’s rare for a voice actor to go on to play the live action version of their character, so this is an interesting choice. It’s going to be an interesting narrative around the Darksaber, which Bo Katan was wielding the last time we saw her at the end of Rebels, but now is in the possession of Moff Gideon. How did it get from her to him, and what significance will it play in this Season? Time will tell. I hope a lot, since it is the coolest lightsaber we’ve seen, and that’s saying something!
The Mandalorian Season 2 comes to Disney+ on Friday, October 30th 2020. Tune in to see all the things mentioned above and a whole lot more!
Wow! Did you see the leaks about Baby Yoda? And Baby Yoda’s name is apparantly Grogu! I just love the Mandalorian. What a great story.