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The 11 most important pieces of Star Wars canon we learned in The Mandalorian Season 2
More like Manda-LORE-ian, am I right? Hahahaha! Is this thing on? OK.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian left fans with a bucket of Star Wars lore and connections that proved bigger than a Krayt Dragon. Pretty much every chapter gave us something new, brought someone back, or turned a concept on its head. It was a lot. A whole lotta lore, make no mistake!
How does one steam it all down to the 11 biggest points of interest? Who knows, but here we go anyway. These are the 11 new (or revived) bits of canon that really stick out, the ones that seem like they will have huge ramifications for future episodes of the series, as well as the million other Star Wars series, movies, books, comics, and games currently being made. These connections also enhance the movies and shows that we've already seen, which may be the biggest gift of all... not counting cold hard cash stuffed in a pillowcase. That's the best gift.
Strap on that jetpack, scrub that bantha's tooth, and swig that spotchka. Time to boat on in.
**WARNING: From this point forward, there will be spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2. All of it. If you are not caught up on the full season, then get outta here, Dewey! You don't want this! Get OUTTA here!**
Boba Fett survived, and Jango was a Mandalorian foundling
Back from the dead, a-holes! We saw Temuera Morrison watching Mando (Pedro Pascal) speed off at the end of Chapter 9, but it wasn't until a few episodes later that he came flying in on Slave I. Morrison was definitely playing Boba Fett. He survived his little encounter with the Sarlacc after all. Fans rejoiced.
Not only did Boba return, he returned with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), and this confirmed that he was the one who walked up to her body at the end of Chapter 5 all the way back in Season 1. With his ship and Fennec's assistance, he helped Mando by laying waste to a bunch of Stormtroopers. Then he got his armor back, and he proceeded to — there's no other way to say it — kick unholy a**.
Along the way, he showed Mando his Clone chain code, and revealed that his father, Jango Fett, was a Mandalorian foundling. Jango did not simply steal some Mando armor, he earned it, he fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars, and therefore every Clone of him (Boba included) has some Mando heritage in them. This is no small detail, and it has forever changed (once again) the way we look at the Clones.
Moffi-chlorians and possible Snoke jars
As the famous saying goes: "Moff Gideon is a messy bitch who loves drama."
Why did Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) want the Child? Why was Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) involved? We found out. It was all about the Child's blood, and Pershing makes note of an "m count" at one point, all but saying "midi-chlorian." He says this in a holo that our gang is watching while hanging out in a lab, which is filled with aborted cloning experiments that would certainly make Stannis Baratheon jealous.
Theories about the Moff wanting the Child's midi-chlorians for his own cloning uses are now very valid, and the scene in the lab takes it one step further. The snippet of score heard in the scene is very similar to Snoke's music from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which means that the Moff could be helping the secretly alive Palpatine clone Snoke.
Palpatine has contingencies for days, so while most of the Imperial Remnant is off with Rae Sloane rebuilding in the Unknown Regions, the Moff could have special orders to stay behind, get a stew going, and make that decrepit old phantom menace a digital puppet for Andy Serkis to play in the sequels. The Moff is still around (thankfully, nobody beats Esposito at anything, ever), so more of this plan (or a totally different plan) will likely be revealed in the future.
Unrest on Tatooine
The death of Jabba the Hutt left a power vacuum on Tatooine. We read a little bit about it in Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, but this season went all in. It took a character from those books, Cobb Vanth, and had Timothy Olyphant portray him.
Having scavenged Boba Fett's armor (read about in the books and seen here in a flashback), he tried to do good as the Marshal of Mos Pelgo. He dealt with the Mining Collective that moved in right as the Empire moved out. He's a good man and after Mando helps him, he hands the armor over to him. Eventually, it ended up with Boba, which brings us to the real void left in Tatooine crime.
Vanth may still play Marshal, but on the other side of the planet (in the post-credits scene of the season), Boba Fett and Fennec Shand strut into Jabba's palace, blow an older Bib Fortuna away, and seemingly take power. We're led to believe that the disparate crime syndicates vying for power on this planet will now have to answer to Boba and the spotchka-swiggin' Fennec.
We'll get much more of this story, because that scene ended with the tag "The Book of Boba Fett coming in December 2021."
Granted, this caused a bit of confusion at first. The question seemed to be whether The Book of Boba Fett would be a whole new series or act as the third season of The Mandalorian. Is it going to be a Disney+ original film? Is it going to be an ice show? Will Olyphant show up on it? Will anyone ever let Katie McGrath use her beautiful natural accent in a movie or show?
After some clarification on The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau's part, we now know Boba's "book" will be an entirely new series, and will go into production ahead of Mando Season 3. We assume it's bound to feature Tatooine, Fennec, and crime. He's gonna fill that void right good. He also killed Bib Fortuna, so eh wunna wunga.
The New Republic was worried, but not worried enough
We know from the book Star Wars: Bloodline (by Claudia Gray) that the New Republic did not take the threat of a rising dark power seriously. The events of that book take place years after this season, but even so — Leia Organa was on the case. The Senate doesn't listen to her. The only ones who listened ended up joining the Resistance that she had no choice but to form.
This season confirmed that there were some in the New Republic who sensed shenanigans long before that. They knew that something was happening, something was not adding up, and it was pointing to something bad. The main character putting the pieces together in Season 2 was Captain Carson Teva, played by beloved Kim's Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.
We saw him act as a detective, chasing down leads like Space Columbo and seeing connections that everyone else was ignoring. Red flags were going off for him left and right, so it's nice to know that not everyone was ignorant. These investigations will possibly form the basis for the new series Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee should star in it, in our humble opinion, because Captain Teva is smart and we want more of him. OK, see you.
Bo-Katan Kryze wanted it all back
Life following Star Wars Rebels wasn't easy for Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). We were worried about her ever since we saw the Moff whip out the Darksaber at the end of Mando Season 1, and this season she came back to personally let everyone know that she wanted that bad boy back.
For the second time in a year, we listened to Kryze talk about needing to retake Mandalore. She knew that the Moff had it, and when Mando met her, she was all about building a fleet to take him on. What proved pivotal this time (and didn't when she received the Darksaber before), was that Kryze had to win the Darksaber in combat.
Sabine Wren just gives it to her in Star Wars Rebels. Bo-Katan obviously didn't hold onto it for long, so this time? This time she's playing for keeps. She's read the rules three times, and we almost see her fight Mando himself in order to gain the one sword to rule them all. He wanted nothing to do with it, but that didn't matter.
What ultimately happens to her, or to Mandalore? The sequel trilogy doesn't touch it, and books and comics have stayed away from it too. All we know for certain is that Bo-Katan survived (yay), she wants that Darksaber, she wants to rule Mandalore, and she wants those photos of Spider-Man.
The Children of the Watch
Mando meeting Bo-Katan and her squad was a huge moment, because the Kryze Mandos had no problem taking their helmets off Rebels style. Din Djarin was aghast, because it's something that his little group of Mandos does not do. We heard all about it last season, and it continued into this one. ("This is the way.")
Turns out that not all Mandos follow the same creed. It's a way of life, not a species, and though, yes, this is the way, there are apparently multiple ways. Bo-Katan tells Djarin that the group he was brought up in is a cult called the "Children of the Watch." Their way is to bring Mandalorian culture back to a more ancient tradition. That tradition involves eating and sleeping with your helmet on. It's like a fit bit or a friendship bracelet. That thing stays on.
Djarin didn't have a reunion with the Armorer (Emily Swallow) this season, but we imagine he now has more than a few questions for her. We do too, so let's get that interrogation going ASAP. We also got the feeling (possibly) that not all Mandalorians respect the tradition of foundlings. Kryze treats Djarin with respect, but she does not show the same respect to Fett later on.
That may have to do more with him being a Clone than a foundling, though. She remarks that she's heard his voice countless times (the voice of the Clones, naturally), so maybe she was shaming him for that instead of shaming him for his father being a foundling. We'd write more about this but it's hard to type with these helmets on, they just don't let us take them off. Ever.
True believers paved the way for the First Order
The war was over, the Imperials lost, and only a smattering of them remain. What's the point in holding on when it is very clear that you've lost? If you're a true believer, there's always a reason to never stop never stopping.
Imperial Officer Valin Hess laid out the reasons for why the Imperials are still at it, and it's not because of revenge. They're still doing what they are doing because they believe. They believe that their way was better, and that it will be again. The galaxy will crave order (a First Order, perhaps), and it's only a matter of time.
Hess thankfully got blown away by Migs Mayfield (Bill Burr) so he's not believing in anything anymore... but there are more. From the Client (Werner Herzog) last season to Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) in this one, it became more and more clear that the Imperial Remnant isn't just continuing the fight because it's fun. It's keeping the batteries running long enough for another Empire to rise, for the New Republic to get lax, and for the galactic citizens to get complacent.
This is exactly what happens in the Sequel Trilogy, and the seeds of it are right here. It made us scream at the television before lighting it on fire and tossing it into the street. Take that, Imperial Remnant!
Ahsoka lived, and Thrawn probably did too
Ahsoka Tano lived! Rosario Dawson assumed the role in live-action this season, paving the way for her own spin-off series. We knew that she was still around thanks to the Star Wars Rebels epilogue, but then Dave Filoni kept being Dave Filoni and dropped the possibility of "Ahsoka the White" showing up to go off with Sabine Wren in that epilogue may not take place before Ahsoka's appearance here. It may take place after. Star Wars chronology is never a straight line, blah blah blah, thanks for the headache, Dave. Also, thank you for making our dreams come true. Want to get that in there.
Whether that epilogue has already happened or is yet to come, Ahsoka being alive and kicking diapers in this time period is definitely the real deal. Not only is she here, she's on the hunt for, good lord, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
So, Thrawn "Art Master" General is still in the mix somehow. The last time we saw him, the Purrgil were zooming him away with Ezra Bridger. Has he returned? Have both he and Ezra returned? Have Ahsoka and Sabine already found them, brought them back, and are now on the hunt for Thrawn again? Does Thrawn still love art? What did he think of Tenet?
Star Wars: Ahsoka will likely deal with all of this. For now, it was astounding to hear Dawson say his name. It was great to see Ahsoka in live-action, too. We enjoyed Dawson in the role. She's a great Ahsoka, though Ashley Eckstein will always be our Snips.
His name is Grogu, and he's a survivor
Baby Yoda no more! Child no more! Little man has a name, and thanks to Ahsoka, we learned what it is.
Grogu. Say it. Love it. Live it. Tattoo it on every inch of your body.
Ahsoka's long Force conversation with Grogu also gave out other details about the little man's life. He was raised in the Jedi Temple, and he escaped Order 66. How he escaped (and who may have helped him do so) is not known, but he was there.
Ahsoka didn't end up training him, either. She passed on the job, saying that his attachments to our main Mando and his fears were too strong. She almost recommended that his abilities be allowed to fade, something that Rey's parents would manage later. Djarin doesn't go for that, so Ahsoka has him take Grogu to Tython (of Knights of the Old Republic fame) to send out a Force group text.
Who was on the other end when Grogu reached out?
Grogu trained with Luke Skywalker
Luke motherf***ing Skywalker, that's who. Not only did Grogu find Luke, he found Luke played by Mark Hamill, assisted by digital magic. (With actor Max Lloyd Jones handling the action sequences.) Perhaps Grogu found Leia, and Leia told Luke? Unsure. All we know is that Luke showed up to save the day in the season finale.
So much of Luke's history in this time period has yet to be told. Between his appearance in the game Star Wars: Battlefront II and some sequences in the comic The Rise of Kylo Ren, there's a lot of time unaccounted for. There's even more time between the flashbacks in that comic and the destruction of Luke's Jedi Temple that we see flashes of in the sequel trilogy.
Somewhere in there, Luke went and saved Mando, Grogu, and the rest of the gang. R2-D2 was with him (and he definitely seemed to recognize Grogu), and Luke took Grogu to begin a new era in the little man's life. Grogu, for at least a little while, was trained by Luke Skywalker himself.
If that doesn't make you feel something, then we are amazed that you've read this article as far as you have.
The Clan of Two was separated
As amazing as it was to see Luke Skywalker back in action, it was also heartbreaking. Grogu going off with Luke meant that the Clan of Two that has been the beating heart of this series would be parted.
Din Djarin did things this season that he never would have done were it not for Grogu. To protect his son (don't @ us), he took his helmet off in front of people. He did it again when saying goodbye. He lost his ship, made many enemies, and broke at least three ribs. He didn't care. He loved his son.
Hopefully, this pair isn't separated forever. Djarin tells Grogu, with his helmet off, that they'll see each other again. We really hope so. Pedro Pascal (almost always in a helmet and full armor) made magic with one of the greatest puppets ever created. We wanted them to be together forever.
Not to be! For at least a little while, this found family had to part ways. We're thinking about that about just as much, if not more, than Return of the Jedi-style Luke Skywalker showing up. Pedro and the puppet. Karabast.
As great as all of these reveals and additions are, what they do more than anything else is open up entirely new bags of questions. There are so many things on the board now, things that we did not think would be there, and the galaxy far, far away is once again full of mind-bending possibilities. Such is the way of things.
We're gonna need at least 10 or 11 new shows to suss all of this out. They'd never do that, though, would they. Oh wait, that's exactly what these crazy SOBs are doing.
BONUS: Rodians like their meat well-done
This may have been the biggest bomb of them all, so it's getting a special bonus entry of honor. In case you've ever looked at a Rodian and wondered how they like their meat, this mystery has been solved.
When Mando returns to Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) with a huge chunk of Krayt Dragon meat, she has her droid Treadwell give it a roast. She chides the droid to keep it medium rare — she then says that she's not a Rodian.
Because of this line, we can safely deduce that Rodians like their meat well and truly cooked. Burnt all the way through, maybe. Rey's parentage? Pish. Grogu's name? Eh. Meeber Gascon's hidden agenda? Nah. This right here is the true mystery of Star Wars.
The next time a Rodian comes to your barbecue and asks for a burger? You won't have to ask him how he takes it. Thanks to The Mandalorian, you already know. Macklunky, mudscuffers!
