Dear Disney+, (in my best Moff Gideon impression:) “You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments it will be mine. It means more to me than you will ever know… Oh, you’re releasing the first chapter of the second season of The Mandalorian at midnight on Thursday? Cool-cool.”
The Mandalorian is back! Be warned, there are SPOILERS ahead. Here’s what went down:
Our favorite babysitter, Din Djarin, aka “Mando” is already bringing “the child” to the shadiest of places on his quest to find more Mandalorians who can help him find a proper Jedi to dump the kid on. Nods to Star Wars canon are abound from frame one. It wasn’t clear on the first viewing whether the graffiti we saw around town belonged to Sabine Wren, but this footage will surely be dissected. We’ll know soon. Whether the popular Mandalorian heroine from Rebels did some of the tagging doesn’t have to be explained though. Her influence is there. As is the nod to the “second” Star Wars for us older folks. The Snow Trooper painted on the wall below the golden protocol droid was likely a hint that although this first episode is a light adventure, the season is probably going to get dark. Expect Season 2 of The Mandalorian to be The Empire Strikes Back to the series’ literal “A New Hope” to the franchise.
Mando’s Beskar armor is still a prize sought by all the shady creatures. When he is double crossed and outnumbered as a guest at a Gamorrean death match he’s forced to used more of his “whistling birds” to dispatch the threat. The Twi’lek guard tells him to “enjoy the fights.” He does, and he walks away with information even more valuable to fans than the character. Gore Koresh tells him of a Mandalorian on Tatooine. Yeah, he’s our guy. No, newb. Not that guy. The other guy. He’s at Mos Pelgo. Mando leaves his informant to a cruel fate, reminding us he’s lawful neutral with a side of chaotic neutral. People die around the Mandalorian. It’s good to remind of of this early in the episode and early in the season.
Mando pays a visit to his most neutral contact on Tatooine, Amy Sedaris. He offers up way too much exposition to the unlikely ally to get what he needs, but she points him in the direction of Mos Pelgo, a city lost to bandits so long ago it’s no longer on any of the maps. Is this a backhanded swing at the sequel trilogy? You decide. I’m just glad we don’t need a map to Cobb Vanth. Yeah, it’s that guy. We all knew it. If you read the Aftermath series you’ve done your due diligence. Cob Vanth is dressed in Boba Fett’s armor.
Mando rolls into town like a cowboy on a borrowed speeder bike, and the folks of Mos Pelgo are less than impressed. They’ve seen Mandalorian armor before. Their marshal wears it. He got it from some Jawas. The Boba Fett armor he’s wearing bestows Vanth with the courage (and somehow ability) to take care of the town. It’s a clout suit. That’s what it is. But Din Djarin has a shinier clout suit, and he wants the armor because clearly Cobb Vanth is a phony in a costume. Timothy Olyphant plays too cool for a guy who should appear a dirty thief, and in the armor he’s still no Boba. Only one of them will walk out alive. Or so we’re told. When a krayt dragon enters the scene priorities change. Don’t fall for the inevitable click bait “Ben Kenobi’s voice heard in The Mandalorian” links that are bound to show up starting tomorrow. The sound you hear is an actual krayt dragon. The first we see alive on screen, and this thing is massive. It’s Tremors meets The Meg. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Dune Sea.
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So now we go from western to medieval fantasy. Time to slay the dragon. Deals are made, and Cobb Vanth makes the noble promise to hand over the armor without a fight if Mando helps him slay the dragon for the sake of Mos Pelgo. Having sent the Mining Collective away (a group of baddies who are reminiscent of Corporate Sector officers from the Brian Daley Han Solo novels, particularly Han Solo at Star’s End), Vanth has fulfilled his character’s necessary arc. Any more will be painful. Let’s leave Vanth in the novels from now on.
Together Vanth and Djarin seek the help of local Tusken Raiders. Mando speaks “Sand” (as coarse as it is it gets everywhere, even Din Djarin’s high school language department). After Mando makes Vanth play nice with the natives they work out a plan to kill the krayt dragon. The Sand People ride in single file here as they should have every time we’ve seen them (Thank you, Jon Favreau). It reminds u that no dialogue is wasted in Star Wars Episode IV. The Child is just a passenger and witness for the entire episode (Thank you again, Jon Favreau). It reminds us of the reason for this show’s title.
We learn that this particular krayt dragon made a home in an abandoned Sarlacc Pit. That’s how tough this creature is, and it finally explains why the Sand People ran off when Ben Kenobi bellowed its call back in 1977. They’re tough too. The Sand People are explored a bit more as actual people, instead of soulless creatures. Their warring culture is illustrated with an array of weapons we’ve never seen before. Their giant crossbow razor projectile launchers are going to make a great toy. I’m sure they’ll have a catchier name though.
The krayt dragon isn’t a mudhorn. As similar as this showdown looks (monster emerges from and escapes to the safety of its cave to do battle and recover from its wounds) these rounds of fighting are far more entertaining. We get Mandalorian jet packs, stomach acid baths, and bantha snacks. Not like Scooby snacks. The banthas are the snacks. It’s comical and terrifying at once.
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Overall this episode should have been stronger, but two things will be revealed below that you may want to hold out for. If you’re a “no spoilers” person you shouldn’t have read this far anyway, but this last warning comes with dramatic urgency missing from the meat of the episode. Here comes the sauce: We finally get to see the recalled missile our mail away Boba Fett action figures were supposed to have. Cobb Vanth did the honors. It looked awkward, as aiming a backpack launched missile might look, but there was an audible applause around the world when we all saw that happen.
Oh, the other spoiler? Who are we kidding? We knew he was coming this season. Temuera Morrison observes the conclusion from a distance like Aurra Sing. The Jango Fett actor is a grown up Boba Fett. He’s alive. Alive again. It’s canon again. Boba Fett is confirmed to have escaped from the Great Pit of Carkoon. His armor was not just spit up after he got ate up. He’s made a new life. While we wait for Moff Gideon to show up again this season (and hope for Ahsoka Tano, maybe Ezra Bridger, or anyone else from Rebels) we can only assume Boba Fett got to town a minute too late. He wants his armor back.
My prediction: Fett goes like Maul went; a loved character resurrected for a few last hurrahs, but who will ultimately face the same fate he had in his cinematic tenure. Boba Fett will most likely be dead by chapter 16. This town isn’t big enough for two. This will serve to show us Din Djarin is no joke. The joke was Cobb Vanth, and I don’t mind if he goes out as well.
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