Everything You Need to Remember About 'The Mandalorian' Before Season 2
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It's been a long year, but Disney's The Mandalorian has finally returned to restore entertainment, balance, and, most importantly, Baby Yoda, to the socially distant galaxy.
Created by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal, the series may be the most Star Wars Star Wars property since the original trilogy, taking the franchise back to its aesthetic roots —mixtures of western tropes (for The Mandalorian: the desert crossings, the Mexican standoff at the cantina, and the no-named cowboy who must save the village from outside invaders) and Biblical motifs (the powerful child hunted by the empire)—all set against some campy B-storylines and pew-pew-pew-pew.
Yes, there are still awkward scene transitions through spiraling "wipes" and Storm Troopers being terrible shots—except now they also punch babies, reinforcing the decades-long connection between the Empire and the Third Reich. (We get it, they are the bad guys.)
But that's what we love about Star Wars: it's just fun.
Still, behind the fun is basically an encyclopedia of planets, and peoples, and plotpoints, and we all need a bit of a refresher.
Here are five story points to keep in mind going into Season 2.
Mando is Din Djarin
While the name means nothing to us, it apparently means a lot to one very powerful character (more on him in a bit). What we have learned about Djarin (we'll keep calling him "Mando") is that he was orphaned, taken in by the Mandalorians as a "foundling," and raised and trained as a warrior. His family was likely killed in an attack during the clone wars, which explains his hostility toward droids (he watched them slaughter everyone he knew.)
As a member of the Mandalorian order, Mando swore to "the creed," part of which involves never showing his face to a living being. Throughout the first season, however, Mando contends with varying codes of duty. He questions his bounty hunter assignment, even reneging on the agreement and rescuing The Child. He considers removing his helmet and staying to live on a farm in Sorgan. He even reverses positions on personal creeds, including his hatred of droids.
The tension between duty and intuition will likely continue to be Mando's major character struggle. His current mission seems, for now, to reconcile these conflicts: he is to protect The Child and return The Child to its home.
Mando will be joined by Cara Dune and Greef Karga
Karga's loyalty remained in question for most of Season 1. He was about to betray Mando and take The Child before the campfire attack left him gravely wounded. When the Child saved Karga, he made a character 180 and vowed to help Mando completely. At the end of the season, Karga told Mando he planned to remain on Nevarro and resume guild activities, suggesting he's returning to full-time bounty hunter leader. Though, trailers for Season 2 put Karga alongside Dune and Mando as they escort The Child.
Dune, mysterious for much of the first season, was revealed in the standoff to be from Alderaan, the home planet of Leia Organa, which the Death Star destroyed at the beginning of A New Hope. Like Mando, Dune's friends and family are likely dead, explaining her loyalty to the New Republic. And since the Child seems to be a threat to the former Empire, Dune isn't going anywhere. The enemy of her enemy is her (very cute little green) friend.
War criminal Moff Gideon is very much still a thing
Nazi—er, we mean Empire—war criminal and remnant leader Moff Gideon (played by exprt TV villain Giancarlo Esposito) first appeared in Chapter 7 during the standoff (and killed his own men). His knowledge of both Dune and Mando suggests the Empire's intelligence network is still very much intact. Mando also somehow knows Gideon, though it's unclear now what their history might be.
At the end of the season, we see Gideon emerging from his crashed Tie Fighter, wielding a darksaber, a black-bladed lightsaber. We get it, we get, this dude is the series' villain.
The Child is most definitely a Jedi
Just about every Star Wars fan will have recognized The Child as belonging to Jedi Master Yoda's species. And if we had any doubt The Child was a Jedi, it uses the force in Chapter 2. Case closed. More surprising, however, is how unfamiliar many characters are with the Jedi order. To Mando, Dune, and Karga, the Jedis remain shrouded in mystery (they're called "wizards," similar to how Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen refers to "Ben Kenobi" as an "old wizard" in A New Hope) Their ignorance highlights just how removed the galaxy's inhabitants are from events in the original trilogy—and the awareness of Luke and Vader and literally every major battle of the war. So far, Gideon is likely the only character who understands the Child's powers.
The Child is now bound to Mando by "the creed"
The Child is now explicitly Mando's responsibility. The Armorer tells Mando in chapter 8 that The Child, like himself, is a "foundling," someone whose safety is the responsibility of The Mandalorian. "By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father," the Armorer tells him.
Reuniting the Child with his own kind will serve as the primary narrative for the second season.
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