This piece contains spoilers from the first season of The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, and Star Wars Rebels.
The first season of The Mandalorian was a masterpiece. The first live-action Star Wars TV show was the first time since the end of the original trilogy that the tales of the galaxy far, far away truly united fans. It was just that good.
The big surprise of season one was the reveal of the Child—a character commonly referred to as “Baby Yoda.” Everything the Child did—from playing with the controls in Mando’s Razor Crest cockpit, to hugging his leg at the end of the season—made him the true star of the series. The Child’s adorable antics made him an Internet meme, and made the show less about Mando and more about his personal story.
For the average viewer who might only have seen the Skywalker Saga movies and hasn’t seen the canon animated TV shows, The Mandalorian’s first season was probably just a solid TV show starring an objectively adorable baby. But for big Star Wars fans like myself, who are fans of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian seems like an exciting follow-up to everything that’s happened in the animated shows.
With the new trailer released and the second season’s premiere only a few weeks away, everyone who enjoyed season one has a lot to look forward to. If you look beyond Baby Yoda, the biggest Star Wars fans have a lot of high expectations and hopes for the second season of The Mandalorian.
To begin: what do we already know about season two? Well, based on the first trailer, the Armorer from season one tells the titular character that he must take the Child back to his people. She also tells the Mandalorian about the wars that took place between the Mandalorians and Jedi centuries before the show takes place. The premise is great because we all want to find out more about the Child’s family, but it remains vague, and leaves fans hoping and speculating about things to come.
We also know about some of the casting updates. New Zealander Temuera Morrison is set to return to the Star Wars universe as bounty hunter Boba Fett. Morrison also played the role of Mandalorian bounty hunter, Jango Fett, in Attack of the Clones (2002), the second Star Wars prequel film.
Boba Fett is Jango’s son, and was the first Mandalorian to appear on screen in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Having Fett on the list of characters is interesting because he supposedly died in the Sarlacc at the beginning of Return Of The Jedi (1983). With Morrison returning as Fett, hopefully we can get an explanation about how he survived, and what he’s been doing since he got out of the Sarlacc’s belly. The Mandalorian is set five years after the events of Return Of The Jedi, so he must have been busy with something.
Another casting addition is Rosario Dawson, who is set to play Anakin Skywalker’s Clone Wars Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Over the years, through her incredible character development, Ahsoka became a fan favourite. After surviving The Clone Wars, she played a principal role in the establishment of the Rebellion in Rebels.
After Rebels, we don’t know what’s happened to her, other than that she’s alive and well. Hopefully, The Mandalorian can answer those questions. I’m also excited to see when Ahsoka meets the Child for the first time. As one of the only former Jedi alive at that point in the saga, will Ahsoka join the Mandalorian in trying to get the Child back to his people?
At the end of the first season of The Mandalorian, Giancarlo Esposito’s character Moff Gideon emerged from his crashed TIE Fighter with a black lightsaber. For viewers who had never seen the animated shows, that moment was probably confusing; but for us diehard fans, we’re wondering how the Empire got a hold of the Darksaber.
In the animated shows, the Darksaber is an ancient Mandalorian weapon traditionally held by the leader of the Mandalorian people. In The Clone Wars, the weapon was held by the Mandalorian terrorist Pre Vizsla, who lost it to former Sith lord Darth Maul.
In Rebels, the young Mandalorian member of the Rebel Alliance, Sabine Wren, found the Darksaber, and passed it off to Bo-Katan Kryze—the Mandalorian warrior who led the people of Mandalore to liberation from the Empire.
But how did Moff Gideon acquire the Darksaber? That’s a question I really hope the show answers this season. We know an event called “The Great Purge of Mandalore” took place sometime after Rebels, but we don’t know what exactly that entailed. At some point, perhaps during the Great Purge, Bo-Katan Kryze must have lost the Darksaber to Moff Gideon. Thankfully, I have a feeling we will get that answer because Katee Sackhoff has been cast to play Bo-Katan.
Finally, I hope we can finally get some answers about the Child’s people and species. The Child is the same species as Yoda, but in the Star Wars movies and TV shows, we know very little about where they come from, or even who they are. All we know is that they are strong with the Force, they age slowly, and they live long lives.
We might get some of these answers from the Jedi Master Yaddle, who appears in the Jedi Council scenes of The Phantom Menace, but disappears from the screen for the rest of the movies. If Yaddle—who is of the same species as Yoda and the Child—is still alive during The Mandalorian, perhaps she might be able to draw a connection to the Child’s home world and species.
I have many other questions about Star Wars I hope get answered in the new season of The Mandalorian, but these are the biggest ones that I think the less devoted fans should think about.
With Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau in charge of the show, I have a good feeling that Star Wars fans are in safe hands. Filoni and Favreau did a great job of tying in different plot elements of previous Star Wars media into season one, so they have to cross an even higher bar than before.
At the end of the day, I’m still very excited to see the next set of adventures starring the Mandalorian and the Child as our titular character tries to get his little green friend back to his people. But, if you look beyond Baby Yoda, the new season of The Mandalorian has the opportunity to resolve the unanswered questions we diehard Star Wars fans want answered.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
