Written by Brennen Hautzinger, Staff Writer
Disney’s The Mandalorian is a nice edition to the new Disney canon line of books, movies, and tv shows. Fans can now look forward to a second season of The Mandalorian to premier in late 2020.
When the concept was first released, Star Wars fans were ecstatic about the possibilities that could emerge from The Mandalorian. Many people including myself were excited for the style in which The Mandalorian was produced, and it was handled excellently. It is fashioned in a Western style but with the twist that it takes place in space.
Traditionally Mandalorians were bounty hunters and the first episode reveals that The Mandalorian we are following is in fact a bounty hunter. This seals the deal behind the choice to make The Mandalorian a Western.
Produced and directed by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, many fans regard this as the ‘saving grace’ for the Star Wars franchise as a whole, considering that Dave Filoni created The Clone Wars animated series that premiered on Cartoon Network in 2008, with a seventh season premiering on Disney+ on Feb. 17. Together the two managed to recreate a chunk of the Mandalorians, steering it away from a species of people as seen in The Clone Wars and Rebels and instead looking to the Mandalorians as a culture, similar to the way author Karen Traviss envisioned them in the Star Wars: Republic Commando book series.
The plot of The Mandalorian in season one is very light with several nods to other aspects of the Star Wars Universe. As the series progresses the story builds and we gain more insight into the various characters the Mandalorian meets along his journey.
The Mandalorian himself — whose name isn’t revealed until the last episode — is the main character of the show along with his wingman, the mysterious ‘Child,’ or for those of you meme enthusiasts, Baby Yoda. Together they travel the galaxy looking for a safe place to escape the bounty hunters sent by the Empire due to The Child’s force sensitivity. The Mandalorian focuses on the Mandalorians role as The Child’s protector and his duty to both him and his Mandalorian clan as well as his obligations to the Bounty Hunters Guild. The Mandalorian finds himself at times in conflict with himself over various situations he finds himself entangled in.
The second season will focus on the rise of a new enemy that the Mandalorian must face, Moff Gideon, the perpetrator of the Great Mandalorian Purge. The character building and world building is phenomenal in season one, and I have very high hopes for the future of the series. I am excited to see what the second season will bring to us. I rate The Mandalorian four and a half out of five stars.