The Mandalorian, Season 2 (2020) Review

“You are a disgrace to your armor”

https://youtu.be/eW7Twd85m2g?is=-dYHEWaGKgNCIvnZ

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED SERIES. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Disney+ scored big time on launch day with the first live action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, that it arguably became one of the better projects Lucasfilm has pulled off in the Walt Disney era to the point where some would deem it better than the movies that were released in the 2010s. So with instant praise, fans were seated for Season 2 that for sure exceeded expectations.

PLOT

The season premiere ‘Chapter 9: The Marshal’ picks up after the events of Season 1. Bounty Hunter Don Djarin is tasked to track down the Jedi for his foundling to be raised with, as he is one with the force much like the species he is related to of the late Master Yoda. He chooses to seek out other Mandalorians that can direct him to possible Jedi. He returns to Tattooine after overhearing a Mandalorian in the area. There, he meets Cobb Vanth who is a marshal that wears armor that belongs to Boba Fett. Mando deems it disrespectful for him to have it due to not being an actual Mandalorian and demands it back. Vanth offers to do so in exchange for his help against a Krayt dragon. He pulls this off after convincing a local tribe of tusken raiders to coexist with villagers of Mos Pelgo. Once he departs after Cobb returns the armor as promised, Boba watches from afar, revealed to have survived the Sarlac Pit.

‘Chapter 10: The Passenger’ shows Mando transport a frog lady and her fragile eggs to the moon Trask where she’ll reunite with her husband who will do the fertilization, in exchange of information finding more Mandalorians that’ll help him find more Jedi. In a sunlight travel, he gets spotted by X-wing pilot Captain Carson Teva and demands him to surrender after a prison break he was responsible for. When Mando refuses, it leads to him crash landing in the ice planet Maldo Kreis. As he tries preparing his ship, Razor Crest, the child stumbles onto a nest meant for an ice spider. At first they encounter a swarm of hatchlings and immediately run for it when their mother chases them all. Thankfully, Teva finds them and kills all  the spiders. Understanding that Mando did in fact apprehend his accomplices from the prison break, he lets him go and carry on with his task. 

‘Chapter 11: The Heiress’ shows Mando reach Trask and drop off Frog Lady to reunite with her husband. At an inn is where he asks for other Mandalorians and a fisherman offers to take him to some, only to try ambushing him for his armor. Thankfully, he is saved by a trio of actual Mandalorians led by Bo-Katan Kryze. She is much different from Djarin’s teachings of ‘The Way’ taught by Children of the Watch because she is royal born and casually removes her helmet. She enlists him to seize weapons from an imperial freighter in exchange for directions to a Jedi. Aboard the freighter however, she admits she intends to take over the ship intending to reclaim Mandalore. She confronts the imperial captain (Titus Welliver) of the Darksaber, but he quickly kills himself after admitting Moff Gideon still has it. Once the hijakcing is a success, Bo-Katan directs Mando to the forest planet of Corvus where the Jedi Ahsoka Tano is last spotted.

‘Chapter 12: The Siege’ shows Mando return to Nevarro due to the need to continue repairing Razor Crest. Magistrate Greef Karga & marshal Cara Dune are willing to have that taken care of and as that happens, they ask for his help to destroy a remaining imperial base. There, they uncover Doctor Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) run a laboratory conducting experiments on the child’s blood that has a high midi-chlorian count. The group destroys the base and by the time Razor Crest is fully repaired, Mando uses it to destroy the TIE fighters. As he leaves, he remains unaware of a tracker planted by an imperial spy. 

‘Chapter 13: The Jedi’ shows Mando and the child reach Corvus to find Ahsoka. She has been there for some time because magistrate Morgan Elsbeth has rounded the city to live in fear thanks to her personal mercenary Lang and knows of the whereabouts to imperial leader, Grand Admiral Thrawn who hasn’t been seen for over a decade. Mando meets Elsbeth who offers a beskar spear to kill the Jedi. He doesn’t take the offer when meeting Tano, as the force senses the child’s official name to be Grogu who was training before Order 66. She agrees to help the child with training only after dealing with Elsbeth. As they save the citizens by killing all guards including Lang, Ahsoka takes Elsbeth into custody when she refuses to give Thrawn’s last location. Tano gives Mando the spear, but explains she can’t train Grogu due to their attachment and directs them to planet Tython where the child can contact other Jedi in the galaxy and decide his own fate.

‘Chapter 14: The Tragedy’ shows the Mandalorian and Grogu teach Tython’s ancient temple and as the child meditates surrounded by an energy field, Djarin meets Boba who demands his armor back. He doesn’t come alone however as he has Fennec Shand by his side having saved her life by giving her cybernetic enhancements. He gets it back and dawns it when fending off stormtroopers, but dark troopers are able to capture Grogu and destroy Razor Crest. As Boba reveals his biological father Jango was a Mandalorian foundling, he keeps the armor and agrees to help Djarin get the child back. Boarding his ship, Slave 1, Mando reaches out to Cara for help.

‘Chapter 15: The Believer shows Cara take Mando to pick up Migs Mayfield from custody for his assistance in narrowing down the coordinates to Gideon’s cruiser that is holding Grogu captive. Boba, having refurbished his armor, cannot go with Mayfield to the imperial mining hub due to being Jango’s cloned son will make him most recognized, resulting in Mando to go with the latter and pass through the terminal to get the coordinates. With a face scan needed, Djarin does the absolute in removing his helmet to see the coordinates. Before leaving however does Mayfield kill his former superior Valin Heiss over past atrocities. They escape with the assist of Cara, Boba & Fennec and in return, Cara lets Mayfield go. Before making his way to Gideon does he warn him of his rescue mission. 

The season finale ‘Chapter 16: The Rescue’ shows Mando enlist Bo-Katan for the assist in rescuing Grogu, after officially arresting Pershing. She agrees due to the promise of claiming the darksaber that’ll help her inherit Mandalore. The mission does become a success when the women fend off the stormtroopers and Mando bests the dark troopers by ejecting them into space. He does defeat Gideon in combat with his beskar spear, but this becomes problematic because it makes him the darksaber’s rightful owner that can only be earned by single combat and he doesn’t even want it. Before either can find a compromise, they are accompanied by the legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker who wipes out the remaining dark troopers, confirming he was the one Grogu contacted before abduction. As Djarin says goodbye to the foundling, the season ends in a post credit cliffhanger with Bona returning to Tattooine alongside Fennec, claiming the throne of Jabba’s Palace by killing Bib Fortuna.

THOUGHTS

For a Star Wars show that took the world by storm, there was no denying everyone was gonna be hooked for what would come next. Since this was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, no one was gonna make any excuses to miss it either. Head writer Jon Favreau and showrunner Dave Filoni knew how to maintain the balance of still coming off like a western, and slowly pull it into main lore fans are familiar with. With multiple acclaimed filmmakers involved, the pacing felt very fluent. If you ask me, the technical aspects peaked this season compared to the next. The use of ILM was a beautiful mix with the actual set pieces and costumes used to make the show all the more lifelike than before. That doesn’t take away the great puppetry that gives so much character to the adorable Grogu. I dig the name better than Baby Yoda, so I’m glad we have something for us to remember better. Just seeing him take blue macaroons from a young king during class had me laugh the most. Best of all, Ludwig Goransson’s score still slaps. The VFX would peak with each episode. Creatures like the krayt dragon and ice spider were already bone chilling to witness, but then more ground leveled threats like darktroopers were a surprise. Again, the big strength this season has is connecting itself to the lore of both movies and past shows. Cobb Vanth was introduced in the Star Wars novel Aftermath and he leaves a good impression in the single episode. Due to his lead performance in FX’s Justified, actor Timothy Olyphant was able to portray the Marshal as a fair leader who knew exactly how to get his way without the need to be greedy which is hard to pull off & maintain in this galaxy. Ahsoka is arguably the best character to come from the animated medium and while the timeline of her death remains a mystery, it was still a delight to see her again. Being the live action successor to what Ashley Eckstein’s voice performance is not an easy feat, yet Rosario Dawson made it look so in her guest appearance. What she does best is apart from embracing such independence that’s defined her is the wisdom she’s learned from her mentors. Like Anakin, she knows the risk of emotional attachment thus believing she won’t be able to get through to Grogu the way Luke would try. Speaking of which, it was a badass climax for the greatest protagonist to bring things together. With a shoutout to body double Max Lloyd Jones and a de-aged Mark Hamill, it felt like we were back in the 80s and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He steps in at this point (and has R2-D2 by his side) because he makes it his duty to rebuild the glory of the Jedi order with the foundling. The results may have not gone as planned as shown down the line chronologically, but at least he chose to make an effort restoring a legacy that was bigger than his own. If I’m gonna mention Easter eggs real quick, I did dig IG-11’s statue made in his honor for his sacrifice in Season 1, but the experiments in Pershing’s laboratory do foreshadow the rise of Snoke who was Darth Sidious’s earliest of clones. Apart from the fan service being well executed, I think this season is the strongest thus far because it teaches how true devotion comes from preferring love over the dogma of religion. If you overfocus on the morals that define you rather than the actions that help others, then you’re never gonna be pleased with the life you live. Mando knows this because while grateful for the second chance he had being raised by the Watch, he knows he’s more proud when doing right by Grogu. Brendan Wayne & Lateef Crowder were great stand-ins for the stunts/fight scenes alongside Barry Lowin, but it won’t take away the emotional weight Pedro Pascal brings as the voice of the character. Djarin did have a technicality last season to remove his helmet in order to save himself but this time, he takes it off twice in a row in relation to Grogu, proving how much he loves him like a son. When he did so as they said goodbye, he did it to make sure he remembered who he was and that’s just a bittersweet decision. Due to the people they were surrounded with, it really motivated him to do right by him throughout. You already know Giancarlo Esposito makes Gideon a great villain since he not only was ruthless enough to order others to sacrifice themselves for his gain, but almost manipulated Mando & Bo-Katan to fight each other for the darksaber as a distraction. Thankfully, that didn’t happen due to Luke’s arrival. On the other hand, Diana Lee Insonato succeeded in stirring up the pot as Elsbeth. What she differs from other antagonists is that she’s far more tyrannical thinking this is best for what’s left of the Empire. Little did she think the combo of a Jedi and Mandalorian would usurp her at the best time possible. For a second season, it sure doubled up in terms of allies. Carl Weathers showed Karga to be more humble while still pragmatic and Cara remains as absolute as before. Considering she originated from planet Alderaan before destruction as many remember in A New Hope, this backs her motive to be a rebel to the very end. Sadly, this was the last time we’d see the character onscreen due to Gina Carano’s political views getting her fired from Lucasfilm. However, Season 3 placing her as a recruit to New Republic Special Forces is an ideal write off since the character loves the action as much as the former athlete. The only other new character I’d like to give a shoutout to is Teva. Portrayed by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, this is a guy that can think practical for those who are on the same side. He could’ve been hard headed to the point of ignoring Mando’s right with the wrong, but he knows the New Republic needs all the allies they can get to keep the Empire from regaining momentum. He knows Mando is honorable, thus returning the favor and that’s all one could ask for in the trying times they were in. It felt inevitable Ming Na Wen would return as Fennec and continue being lethal yet loyal in her line of work, but did not expect a familiar face to bring her back to the fold. Temeura Morrison first played Jango and the clone troopers in the prequel trilogy before voicing Boba in the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back, so you bet your ass it was a big surprise for him to survive the Sarlac Pit as many fans theorized and regain the one thing he had left to define him. He’s all about honor just like Mando because his father taught him of it before dying, thus being helpful in saving Grogu. Why does he want to take over Tattooine that leads to him having an unresolved spinoff? It is because he wants to escape the mercenary work he had to live for so long and have stability for a change. Did it look worth it? The Rise of Skywalker could imply maybe not. It then felt like a dream come true for Katee Sackhoff to have a live action appearance as Bo-Katan after voicing the character in the animation medium. Like the preceding shows, she’s all about ambition in terms of restoring Mandalore despite the different background she comes from compared to Djarin. She couldn’t have anticipated that someone on her side would unintentionally get the darksaber before her, but at least Season 3 resolves her setback. Also, it was pretty cool to see Simon Kassaindes and wrestler Mercedes Vernado as fellow Nite Owls Axe Woves & Koska Reeves who share Bo-Katan’s pragmatism despite being hot headed. Last but not least, Bill Burr exceeded my expectations returning as Mayfeld from the first season. His standoff with Valin Hess is a great acting scene for this season alone because confronting him of the bloody fallout of Operation Cinder does it remind viewers some wars aren’t worth the hassle due to the unnecessary casualties that come with it on both sides. If your brethren are treated expendable, then that’s your realization of being on the wrong side. With Richard Brake showing Hess to be as remorseless as best superiors, it was definitely the right thing to shoot him down despite the risk. This season was a blast, but even the fun stuff has some confusing moments to pick up on during a rewatch. Like it’s obvious Grogu’s adorability is the reason Cobb chooses to make a deal with Mando, but he should’ve left him with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) if he didn’t want him roaming around. He didn’t bother letting Frog Lady watch him or a class at Nevarro, so that’s inconsistent on his end. And talk about the luck of accuracy for Teva when shooting at the remaining ice spiders and not specifically damaging Razor Crest more than it already is. I don’t even think Bo-Katan needed to be secretive to Mando that she was after the darksaber when taking the freighter because due to their different backgrounds, it’s obvious he would never want that kind of power. I do scratch my head wondering what would Karga do with the remaining imperial base if Mando never came back, but what makes him guarantee the Empire is gonna back off? If leaders like Gideon and Thrawn are still around before the First Order becomes a reality, Karga should be a little worried about a comeback. It also feels like an empty threat for Elsbeth to say she doesn’t care of the citizens yet doesn’t wipe them out to mess with Ahsoka. For a villain as cold as she claims, she’s definitely holding back. I can then believe Boba must’ve picked the tracker signal left by the spy, but how is he get there faster than the troopers? They’re all using hyperdrive in this case, so it shouldn’t be much of a difference. While I don’t blame Mando for trying to sneak attack the troopers after Grogu, he could’ve just stuck with the jetpack to better results. And he makes the same mistake of leaving Razor Crest open which officially costs him this time. As I scratched my head about if Boba got a new jetpack or just refurbished it like the rest of his armor, I then wonder if Mayfeld’s past clearances should even still work if he’s now a prisoner. Definitely a big design flaw for security protocol if you ask me which is the same issue that got the Death Star destroyed. Ignore these things however, then you’ll still see The Mandalorian as a great second season that straight up peaks with what it had in store for all viewers. If you have Disney+ and enjoyed the first season, see this follow-up now.