The Mandalorian: Season 2

 

Based on: Star Wars by George Lucas

Created by: Jon Favreau

Produced by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, John Bartnicki

Starring: Pedro Pascal (Din), Amy Sedaris (Peli), Gina Carano (Cara), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan), Ming-Na Wen (Fennec)

This show definitely got a lot better in season 2, and I can't imagine how much better the upcoming third will be. I'm glad I buckled down and watched it! 

First I'd like to address my questions following the first season's finale. My first one regarded Din's purpose: this seems to be an ongoing search. I'd venture to say he isn't even sure what his purpose was himself. He's excellent at being a bounty hunter and I think that's pretty much what kept him going prior to the series premiere/finding Grogu. Since then, his purpose has evolved based mostly on Grogu's needs: hiding, protection, and then finding others "like him" to train him. But over season 2 and a little of season 1, he's encountered other Mandalorians who seem to be instilling in him a sense of self and pride in his own race and Creed. This especially seems to be coming from Bo-Katan, a Mandalorian who has declared her own purpose of reestablishing Mandalore for the Mandlorians. But is Din's own allegiance greater for Grogu or for Mandalore? Or, perhaps, the Creed--is this synonymous with Mandalore itself, or separate? In my opinion, all of this has yet to be seen. 

Bo-Katan's (and her teammates) first appearance, helping rescue Grogu. Her different interpretation of the Creed (removing her helmet) leads Din to question what the Creed means

We do know more about Grogu, but still not as much as I'd like. It's established this season that the new antagonist, Moff, has been taking blood samples from Grogu in order to study its fore sensitivity and transfer this to other soldiers. The process doesn't seem inherently harmful to Gogu, but it's definitely not desirable and the research has appeared deadly for the blood's recipients. Not to mention Moff is a bad Empire dude and the research will be used for bad things. But I'd still like to know more about where Grogu came from originally, how the Empire found him, and if there are others of his species. 

No those aren't food Grogu!! I wonder how many the poor frog couple lost. :( 

The season itself--much like the first--seemed to consist of a lot of stand-alone missions. Whether Din is repairing his ship or doing a friend a favor in exchange for information (the most common thing), he goes on a lot of missions to infiltrate a base or to protect a people. This isn't a complaint in itself but the trend is getting a tad old. 

A side quest with Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant)

Another side quest with two characters I like a lot, Fennec and Cara

But this format does allow for a lot of good character development and exploration of new locations. Many of these stand-alone missions are to help old friends and it's great to see Din reaffirm old alliances. It was especially a treat toward the end of this season that Din only had to say "The kid is gone" to any old friend of his, and they where immediately up in arms to help him take Grogu back. That was very endearing. 

Unsurprisingly, my two favorite episodes were those with Ahsoka and Luke, since I've seen about half of The Clone Wars animated series where Ahsoka is introduced and the main character. I grew to very much love her over what I've seen, though she's several years older here. It was just amazing to see her back, in her prime, and standing true to the Jedi values that Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan instilled in her. I personally don't think all of those values are 100% healthy, but it was still 100% fantastic to see. And of course the end of the finale was the best; watching Luke single-handedly decimate a large fleet of deadly androids was sooooo satisfying. 

You could say I was pretty excited to see this older Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson)! (Even though her appearance was spoiled.) Not sure why she has two lightsabers... perhaps that's explained later in Clone Wars