So. I saw the finale of The Mandalorian in two sittings. I saw 20 minutes of it during my 15-minute break at work (whoops) and then the rest on my 30-minute lunch break at work. If I had not been at work, I definitely believe that I would’ve cried at that finale. To quote myself from Twitter, “Frink you, Disney. Frickin’ frick you.”
Spoilers from here on out.
The entirety of The Mandalorian season two was an incredibly slow burn. In fact, it felt like the slowest burn in the entire star system. Anywho, regardless of its watered-down pacing, it was still an exciting season to witness. From the cameos of all the legacy characters to the re-introduction to season one characters, The Mandalorian season two packed quite a lot into its eight-episode season, despite suffering the “Force Awakens Treatment” [a.k.a. repeating nearly the same story from its successor, i.e. The Force Awakens vs A New Hope]. The finale is a mixed bag of emotions because of what happened… and what… didn’t happen. Let’s discuss.
Honestly, where to begin? There are many videos out there already that go over the events of the season finale scene by scene (my favorite is done by Star Wars Theory) and explains a bit of backstory, so I won’t go over the events, but I will ask MANY questions and give my speculations on what will be coming to the future of the “Mando-verse” as I will now refer to it as such (#Mandoverse, get it trending on twitter).
Here are 7 questions I accrued (not the most correct usage of this word) from the finale of The Mandalorian season two:
- What does Moff Gideon want with Grogu’s blood exactly?
- What of the clone doctor dude (whose name escapes me)?
- Why Grogu and not any other child?
- What happened to broom boy?
- How is Boba Fett alive and how will that tie into The Book of Boba Fett?
- Why was Ahsoka not present in the finale…?
- Where the heck is Sebastian Stan?
What does Moff Gideon want with Grogu’s blood exactly?
The first and foremost question that everyone has been asking is, “What the heck does Moff Gideon want with the child?” throughout all of season one and most of season two. It wasn’t until some episode, of which exactly I remember not, where it was revealed that Grand Moff Gideon wants Grogu’s (HUAGH) blood for an undisclosed reason. We are not given a straight answer at any given moment just a subtle reminder that Star Wars seems to not know, yet again, exactly how to commit to a single idea (i.e. Rey’s heritage and now Grogu’s… everything). This is proved with Gideon telling/teasing Din Jarin that he already got from Gorgu what he wanted (*whispers annoyingly* Grogu’s blood). Perhaps we will discover why Gideon wants him in Mandalorian season 3… perhaps we will never find out. But my theory on how the Mandalorian series finale will be touched on later.
What of the clone doctor dude (whose name escapes me)?
Literally, I can never remember his name. I feel like Disney wanted an Alexei from Stranger Things 3 type of character, but forgot that he existed and only remembered when we needed some semblance of an ominous explanation. (Guys, I truly liked this season, I sound harsh cuz cynicism… and click-through rates). This guy obviously has more to him than meets the eye. After all, he is a clone doctor working for the Empire, and in what recent edition have we seen the bad guys using cloning technology to achieve a greater purpose? That’s right the Rise of Skywalker. Here’s the thing… I don’t fully believe this is what is going to happen, and I will touch on that in a little bit in the future of Star Wars bit. All in all, he does serve a greater purpose behind the fallen Empire’s plans, but I do not fully believe it will be for Palpatine or Snoke.
Why Grogu and not any other child?
I mean, why? Like… why? Bro, is there not any other child out there? I know the clone doctor dude said something along the lines about Grogu being the only one with a high midiclorian count (“mc count”) that they have encountered. In the comics, there was a list of all the force sensitive children in the galaxy and it was destroyed or something. I don’t remember. It was in the Vader comics (good read, 10/10 would recommend). But, still. There is bound to be another, more concrete reason why it has to be Grogu and not any other force sensitive child. I mean, is Luke not hunting these children down himself for his new Jedi academy? Speaking of, can we – I am going to reserve that comment for the future of Star Wars bit. All in all, I want to know why Grogu is important. If it is just because of his midiclorian count and that’s it, the entirety of the Mandalorian story goes to down the drain so fast. It is imperative to treat your characters with care, especially for their reasonings and development.
WHICH THIS ALL BRINGS ME TOMY BIGGEST QUESTION…
THE HECK IS BROOM BOY?!
The broom boy from The Last Jedi. That ideology that there are more force sensitive children out in the galaxy was touched on once and then forgotten in The Rise of Skywalker. Where did he go? I feel worst for him. That is all.
How is Boba Fett alive and how will that tie into The Book of Boba Fett?
I feel like… most of the people in this show lives under rocks or under contracts because, yo, ain’t NOBODY be bringing up important stuff like, “I. THOUGHT. YOU. GOT. EATEN. BY. A. SARLACK. BOBA.” But, nah, it is entirely ignored. Obviously, Star Wars wants to save that for his own long overdue show The Book of Boba Fett (WHICH IS AN AMAZING TITLE, BT-DUBS), but not even a tiny mention of anything. Just a reminder that he is Jango’s son… over… and over… and over again… it was a real treat to see him in action and in actual action. I have seen a lot of comments online that he “looks like the same Boba Fett we once loved before we was treated poorly in Return of the Jedi” … Uh… he didn’t do anything in any movies. He’s this unsung, undeserving hero that is given so much credit, yet the only thing he’s done is get defeated by a blind guy whomst he wasn’t even fighting. This seemed like an entirely… oddly shifted Boba, but still incredibly cool. I just wanted to know how the heck he survived and why he wasn’t with his original armor and why he waited SO long to get it back? He could have totally annihilated Cobb Vance, so why didn’t he?
Why was Ahsoka not present in the finale…?
So, like… Mando had all this help, right? I understand that they wanted to shoehorn in the final battle because of alleged behind-the-scenes drama with Pedro Pascal (Mando actor) and Rosario Dawson, buuuuuuuuuuuut… why wasn’t Ahsoka in that finale? I wasn’t expecting Bo Katan at all to return for the finale, but she and Sasha Banks both came back (and it was AMAZING. I genuinely liked their episode, and I loved their return), whereas Ahsoka was nowhere to be found. Honestly, that final battle seemed a bit forced. Gideon’s monologue was full of pride and beamed with confidence, exactly what a powerful villain needs. I was expecting Mando to leave with the child only to be met with Ahsoka to fight Gideon for an epic lightsaber battle. I did appreciate the usage of the pure Beskar javelin (it’s not a spear, it’s not a staff. It’s a javelin) as it was used against Ahsoka foreshadowing its use for the final battle, but I think that whole battle was too short and it was just a little awkward. Obviously, they needed room and time for Luke Skywalker’s great, but still lacking fight scene, but it was still cool nonetheless.
Where the heck is Sebastian Stan?!
Okay, I am not going to lie… Even though I saw the X-Wing… Even though I saw the black robe… the black boots… the actual lightsaber hilt… even throughout the whole decimation of the Dark Troopers and the immense force power that Luke displayed… I still thought, “Well… it could still be Ezra… heh…” Yes, I was disappointed it wasn’t Ezra Bridger from Star Wars Rebels, but I was still geeking out when Luke walked through the smoke and then he… revealed… his… CGI face… hm. That was off putting, to say the least. I fully accepted Luke Skywalker when he walked in. There was no dying that it wasn’t him. However, I thought, “oh, boy! Here we go! My boy, Seb, gon’ be officially announced!” but that never happened. Instead, we got Mark Hamil once again. I’m not fully complaining. I think Kathleen was all “People hated Solo and ROS made a lot of money, let’s do the CGI again!” Girl, people boycotted Solo because of The Last Jedi, not because of Alden Ehrenreich, aight?
The appearance of Luke was kind of cool, but a bit fan servicey. Some say it undermines the story of The Mandalorian, whereas others say this is exactly what Star Wars needs at the right time. I say that Ezra Bridger would have been a better choice for the narrative. However, it is fine. Going forward, however, it will be hard to transition to a new actor because we already got CGI Mark Hamil, where we could have had Sebastian Stan in a brand new role. This would have solidified a possible spin off (or maybe a trilogy starring Sebastian Stan as Young Luke, Billie Lourde as Young Leia Organa, and Alden Ehrenreich as Young Han Solo written and directed by yours truly [me]). I wonder why he wasn’t cast. Maybe because of his current commitment to the MCU side of Disney. He would be a perfect fit for the role of young Luke Skywalker, but only time will tell.
I will say… in the picture above… that does look surprisingly a lot like Sebastian Stan’s jaw… call me a weirdo, but maybe this was done on purpose to allow a window for homoplasy Luke still in the near future.
Finally, what will the future of Star Wars look like from here on out?
Get ready, this will be a lengthy section as we have a lot to discuss.
First, what will happen to Grogu, and will we ever see him again? People are saying that Grogu’s fate is now revealed as Kylo Ren destroyed the Jedi temple and killed the young Jedi-in-training (actually, it wasn’t Kylo. It was retconned in his Kylo Ren comic series, also a good read, but a dumb retcon. 8/10 would recommend). However, I don’t think that is the case. It can’t end that way because there are still more questions and mysteries behind Grogu than we have answers to. Where did he come from? What of his species? What of his pull to the dark side? Who saved him from the Jedi temple? (Personally, my bet is on two people: Ezra Bridger or Anakin, himself. There are hints toward Anakin, but we will get to that in a different post). Anywho, Grogu still holds weight to this story, or potentially any other story, but he and Mando are not done yet. In fact, they are from it. My theory is that The Mandalorian will “take a break” with The Book of Boba Fett to fix the drama with Pedro Pascal. I’m pretty sure that series will be a combination of current events with him being the king of the underworld with flashbacks of how he came to be a bounty hunter, work with the empire, and escaped from the Sarlack Pit. We will likely see cameos from Luke, Grogu, and Mando, but just as cameos, to keep tabs. Jon Favreau said we will see in this series how the First Order came to be, so my guess is the series will see a bit of a time jump to when Grogu is a bit older, perhaps a “teenager” and has honed his skills a bit. He will feel resentment from Mando never coming to find him and we will have to deal with Mando finally finding him after so long and dealing that Grogu now has a disdain for Din Jarin and will they will have to rekindle that bond they once had. It will hurt emotionally, but it will be a nice story. The series will end with a direct lead that Grogu was chosen to be the surrogate for Supreme Leader Snoke or even Palpatine. I feel that is where they are heading, but I am hoping not.
You see, the rumor is Star Wars is planning to retcon the trilogy series with the Ahsoka live-action series. The logo (featured above) is said to contain the Veil of the Force, which was featured in the Rebels series as a means for time travel. If this is true, there is no reason to head toward the Palptatine and Snoke reveal. I think that is why they kept the real reason why Gideon wants Grogu, because Star Wars is still trying to figure out if they want the Trilogy series to be official canon, or simply be forgotten Star Wars EU. If that is the case, Grogu could, in fact, choose to be the first Mandalorian-Jedi hybrid. He could even be the first true grey Jedi. Who knows? Only time will tell.
As far as the official season three of The Mandalorian… some say The Book of Boba Fett will act as that season three. Whether true or not, Mando’s initial mission is, oddly, complete and now he is left with the Dark Saber and a new ideology to deal with. Will he and Bo Katan ever fight for the right to rule Mandalore? Or will Bo Katan simply accept the blade as the whole “cultist zealots” that Din Jarin comes from is the same mindset that Bo Katan has for the Dark Saber and needing to defeat your opponent to claim it as your own? This will be an interesting topic to tackle the idea that old traditions are better than new traditions and vice versa may not always be true. Of course, we will see Gideon, probably in prison at best, but he was a phenomenal villain and I enjoyed his addition to the Star Wars canon greatly.
Last, The Rangers of the New Republic series will likely star Gina Carano as Cara Dune. She is an amazing character and I don’t see how this series will not be about her seeing her new role in the New Republic. However,… could this series be a Star Wars version of Marvel’s A-Squad? It is so hard to miss in the finale. I saw it coming when they were doing their briefing before the mission. I noticed it was all girls and two guys. Women are becoming more and more prominent in media nowadays, deservingly so, however, is it getting too the point where it is too much? Most times, it comes at the expense of men, but this time it did not and it was done beautifully. The way these women interacted and fought made me giddy and I was here for it! My speculation is that Disney is waiting to see how things fold over with Pedro Pascal to see where they will place Bo Katan and Koska Reeves, in the Mandalorian season three or in the Rangers of the New Republic. Either or, Cara Dune deserves her own spotlight. She has the HRE (Human Relatable Element) that every story needs to have. She’s such a compelling character; one that comes form Alderan, and I want MORE. Will this series also feature Mayfield joining the ranks to fight against the remaining Empire? That would be AMAZING.
Conclusion
The Mandalorian season two, although slow to get going, picked up and picked up fast. I did enjoy watching and keeping up with The Mandalorian each week. It is far from the perfect show, but there is very little about which to complain. Overall, the finale served as a jumping off point for what I am calling The Mando-verse, a self-contained mini universe within the overarching Skywalker Saga series. I am excited for the content that is to come, and I am grateful to be alive to witness it. I just hope one day I can be a part in creating content for the ever-expanding universe.
If you have any comments, questions, or ideas of your own, comment on this post, and let’s start a discussion! I would love to hear from you.
Check out my YouTube channels Ivan Montero for vlogs, trailer reactions, and reviews, and Ivan Montero Creative for short films and sketches. I have both an art Instagram, @ivanmonterocreative, and a photography Instagram, @ivanmonterophoto. I also have a Red Bubble and it would be a pleasure if you could take a look!
Thank you for your time!
~ Ivan