The long awaited second season of The Mandalorian is almost upon us. Here are three things that we absolutely loved from Season 1. (Spoilers. Obviously.)
When the idea of picking our favourite bits from the first season of The Mandalorian was first raised, what sprang to my mind immediately wasn’t Pedro Pascal’s taciturn bounty hunter, or Greef Karga’s frequent, delightful outbursts of “MANDO,” or even the cute hijinks of Baby Yoda, it was these two knuckleheads from the finale.
These two biker scouts, responsible for the kidnapping of Baby Yoda and the murder of one of the series’ few recurring characters, provided a unique and hilarious insight into the world of Star Wars and the shattered Empire, that I didn’t even know I wanted!
Initially introduced as cool, efficient killers, accompanied by a menacing soundtrack, a slight delay while waiting for clearance to enter town gives the show time to shed a little light on life as a low-level Imperial lackey. Bored with a job they don’t understand, trying to stay out of the way of their terrifying, quick-to-murder boss, it’s a surprisingly grounded, funny take on the Empire’s foot soldiers, as Adam Pally and Jason Sudeikis squabble while Pally tries to sneak a peek at The Child.
The fact that they have in their possession what Moff Gideon is looking for, he has actually won, but doesn’t know it yet because everyone is too afraid to interrupt him, plays beautifully into the career opportunities in the Empire as depicted in the middle trilogy.
These two goofballs even have time to engage in a little light target practice. Every single shot going way, way wide of the mark, is another nice call back to the legendary aiming prowess of the Empire’s “f inest.” The cherry on the top of this being that this particular flavour of Imperial Trooper are often referred to as “Imperial sharpshooters.”
It’s a very light opening for a tense episode that flirts with darkness and sheds light on a corner of the Star Wars universe I’d never thought of before. More of this in Season 2 please! in fact, do the bounty hunters from Empire next you cowards! The world needs more Bossk!
The only correct answer to this question is The Child, aka Baby Yoda. Seriously.
The squeals that erupt every time The Child is on screen is so annoying I’m surprised my cats haven’t tried to murder me yet. Don’t think being cute is enough? Well what about the fact that The Child is so OP that it’s ridiculous?
Like when The Child stops a rampaging Mudhorn? You’re welcome Mando.
Or when The Child stops an honest to God wall of fire? You’re welcome everyone that was about to be burnt to a crisp.
Or when The Child used the force to heal Greef Karga? You’re welcome Greef.
Okay, so there was that one time when The Child tried to force choke Cara Dune when they were arm wrestling. How was he supposed to know that that was just fun and games? Come on, he’s just a child (aged fifty) for heaven’s sake!
Long story long, The Child is the most interesting character on The Mandalorian. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni could have just made a cute toy of a MacGuffin for the series and it would’ve worked just fine. But by going that extra mile in giving The Child force powers, they’ve made what could have easily been just a Disney toy department executive’s wet dream, into something more. We now have some idea as to why Moff Gideon wants The Child so badly, and why The Child is so important to the universe.
My favourite thing about The Mandalorian is a little more abstract. Yes, I too loved those two rempits on speeder bikes. Yes, I squeal every time I see Baby Yoda. But the thing I loved most about Mando was just how much it felt like Star Wars. Which, I know, is something increasingly difficult to define given how much of it there actually is and how little any of it feels like Star Wars.
For me, those last three movies in the trilogy were there to fill a hole. Like that Deadwood movie. Or the last Game of Thrones novel – if it ever gets finished. I’m not really “excited” like I once was, but the completist in me needs it in order to mollify my addictive personality. The Rise of Skywalker was merely a long overdue conclusion to this thing that I’ve dedicated far too much of my life to. And when it was done, I was happy that we could now just move on to something new.
The Mandalorian was that new something. The irony being that it didn’t really do anything drastic or different, but rather make a bold – and welcome – return to core principles. For all of its scale, Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi still felt like intimate stories. There was always a much bigger universe out there, but the reason we connected so deeply with those movies was because of character. It’s why Rogue One was as good as it was. It’s why The Mandalorian is as well.
Go ahead and rewatch the second episode of the season and you’ll see what I mean. It is the perfect encapsulation of everything that is Star Wars. A frontier adventure, replete with a compelling MacGuffin, a deadly Mud Horn battle, killer one liners, and thieving Jawas.
Returning to the franchise’s Kurosawa inspired roots didn’t hurt either.
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