Thoughts on The Mandalorian S2: Chapter 9-The Marshal

Mandalorian Spoilers Ahead!!!

So it finally arrived, and Star Wars fans are ecstatic about the first episode of Season Two of The Mandalorian. With good reason–as young Anakin would say, it was “wizard”, “rugged”, and “savage”! High praise, indeed.

Where to begin? Well, I love this show because it appeals to so many people, even those who aren’t uber-fans of Star Wars. My husband is a casual fan of Star Wars (he’ll go see the movies with me and enjoys them, but pretty much forgets them after that!), but he LOVES this show. And one doesn’t need to know everything about Star Wars to enjoy it.

Having said that, if you ARE an uber-fan, then this show provides delightful easter eggs that are so fun to pluck! With this episode in particular, there were a few:

• Cobb Vanth. This is a character who appears in the Aftermath trilogy of books by Chuck Wendig. I’m going to go ahead and admit that I didn’t know that, as I haven’t read the books–yet. I learned about him after I watched the show. Still, it’s awesome that F&F (Favreau and Filoni) are mining some of the EU content out there and making fans happy by doing it. And I just have to mention that Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) has the most perfect teeth I ever saw.
• Anakin’s podracer. Again, I didn’t notice this right away, but on first seeing it, I thought, that thing looks awfully familiar! And when I learned it HAD been Anakin’s, I just got happy-fan goosebumps!
• The Krayt Dragon. Not what I expected, but very cool. I’d heard of krayt dragons on Tatooine, mostly from the Kenobi novel by John Jackson Miller, and the descriptions in that book do not match up to this krayt dragon. No matter, it’s not canon anyway. This krayt dragon is quite impressive, and definitely gave me some Dune-like vibes. I also didn’t know that they had pearls inside them. Those Jawas are going to be styling!
• And of course, Boba Fett’s armor, and possibly (and very probably), the man himself. I never understood the fascination with Boba Fett, but I have no objections to him being in the show (if that was indeed him at the end–and let’s face it, who else could it be? Rex? Some random clone? Doubt it). My theory is that Boba will go after Mando for his armor, and Mando will trade the armor for information on the Jedi. Possibly, if Boba can prove he’s a Mandalorian (which opens another can of worms: is he a Mandalorian? Let the fan arguments begin!) But Boba must know something of the Jedi, I would think. Anyway, that’s my theory. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.

And of course, there’s still holdover questions from Season 1: What is Moff Gideon’s game? How did he get the Darksaber? Will Bo-Katan make an appearance, as she’s the last Mandalorian (that we know of) who was in possession of it? How will Greef Karga and Cara Dune play a part in this season? Who else might show up?

And the tantalizing tidbits from the S2 trailer: who was that hooded woman? Is that snowy planet Ilum, where the Jedi went to get their kyber crystals? Will Mando actually meet Jedi? Ahsoka? Ezra? Luke? So many cameo rumors, but we’ll just have to be patient and wait to see what happens.

Fridays can’t come fast enough!

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