The Mandalorian: S2 Chapter 9–The Passenger

Mandalorian Season 2 Spoilers Ahead!

If you’re a parent, the second episode of Season 2 of the Mandalorian might have struck a chord with you.

First you’ve got Din Djarin, trying his best to parent the Child, who clearly is in his terrible two’s stage despite being 50 years old. Din keeps telling the little devil to stop eating Frog Lady’s eggs, and guess what? He doesn’t listen. Sound familiar, Mom and Dad? Clearly Mando isn’t feeding his little one enough to get him through his growth spurt. Lots to learn.

Then you’ve got Frog Lady herself, who is trying to get her eggs back to her husband on the planet Trask to be fertilized. They’re not quite children yet, but they’re the potential of her future pollywogs, and so she’ll trust this Mandalorian she doesn’t even know to get her where she needs to go. She figures out the little green rascal is eating them, and so clutches them protectively at the end of the episode.

And then we have the big spider mama herself, coming out in full force to protect her horrible little creepy crawlies, because, once again, the Child is eating other creatures’ babies. But because we hate spiders, we don’t care if those babies get disintegrated or squashed; in fact, we feel a deep need for them to be destroyed.

Anyway, as a Mom I just kind of noticed these parent/children dilemmas and parallels in this episode, and thought it was interesting.

I’ve heard a lot of people complaining that this episode disappointed them, was “boring,” or was just filler, compared to the first episode. And maybe that’s true–from a certain point of view, of course. We’ve gotten so used to extraordinarily good content that we expect it all the time. Or we were just so pysched about Boba Fett, we wanted them to follow up with him immediately. I get it. I do, too. And I’m chomping at the bit to see Jedi. Any Jedi. And who knows if we’ll even see them this season at all? As any Jedi master will tell you, we need to utilize patience, young Padawans.

Personally, I thought The Passenger was anything but boring. The fight with the scavengers/bounty hunters at the beginning, the chase with the X-Wings, and the frantic escape from the spiders–how can any of that be boring? I was on the edge of my seat with the spider thing, I can tell you, because for me, spiders are the stuff of nightmares. Anyway, I thought it was quite entertaining, and the humor–a big part of Star Wars–was abundant and wonderful in this episode. Seeing Dave Filoni as Trapper Wolf again was a nice touch, and a good reminder that the New Republic is out there doing its thing, and don’t you forget it! Also, I think my favorite new alien is Dr. Mandible.

So I’m just going to file this one under “creature-feature” fun and move on, anxiously awaiting next week’s episode. Maybe then we’ll get the answers we’re hoping for.

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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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Mandalorian Fever

I haven’t written any posts on the Mandalorian here, mainly because I watched it before I began this blog. It doesn’t mean I don’t LOVE it.

Like everyone else, I’ve been patiently waiting for Season Two, and we’re finally on the home stretch. I’ve watched the long-awaited trailer, and it re-ignited my excitement for this fantastic Star Wars show.

I’m not one to microscopically break down a two-minute trailer, but what I saw did bring out the goosebumps. I especially loved the voice of the Armorer telling our Mando that he must bring the Child back to his own kind, and the way to do that is to find the long, lost Jedi. As a huge Jedi fan, I can’t begin to tell you how excited that made me.

There have been some rumors that perhaps Mando’s journey will bring him to Luke Skywalker. Personally, I doubt it–I think Disney is pretty much done with Skywalkers–but if I’m wrong, that’s just fine. I’d love to see Luke again. I’d love to see ANY Jedi again, even a new one we haven’t met.

There’s also been a lot of speculation about who the mysterious woman in the cloak is. Some say Sabine, some say an Inquisitor. Again, I wouldn’t be averse to seeing Sabine–but I also don’t want Season Two to devolve into Cameoland. I’ve heard Ahsoka will be there, possibly Bo-Katan, Boba Fett, and on and on and on. I love these characters, but The Mandalorian is its own thing–it proved that in Season One–so it doesn’t necessarily need all these known characters from Star Wars. I get it that the Dark Saber brings many associations with it, including important characters related to its history. But maybe it’s simply on to the next phase of its existence, and doesn’t need anyone from the past.

Having said that, I’ll take whatever they throw at us. Because I know that no matter what, it will be great.

The Mandalorian S1.2 “The Child” matures quickly...

Do you have any theories about Season Two of The Mandalorian? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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And by the way, this is my 66th post on Star Wars: My Point of View.