Some twists will be explained, too.
The trending headline is, “Pedro Pascal is Suffering Severe Back Injury from Carrying Entire Star Wars Franchise”.
Clearly a joke but admit it… he totally did — along with his friends.
The Mandalorian season 2 was beyond amazing — the fandom is still in awe, and well, some are still emotional in absorbing what just happened.
SPOILER ALERT: Don’t say I didn’t warn you. For the record, I haven’t picked up my jaw back from the floor.
The Mandalorian Chapter 16, “The Rescue”, brings another season of the Star Wars live-action series to an end… and as always, still managed to build a whole new beginning.
The Mandalorian season finale set up the future of the Star Wars spinoff – with both Grogu and Mando finding themselves walking unexpected new paths.
The Mandalorian season 2 has answered a lot of questions.
We now know why the Empire wanted Grogu so badly: they are attempting to find a way to extract the his midichlorians and thus implant Force-sensitivity within anyone they choose.
Which means the Empire can create an army of Force-sensitive super-soldiers. Thus making it real menacing.
Season Finale
The Mandalorian season 2’s finale opens with Mando putting the Dejarik pieces in place to attempt to outmaneuver Moff Gideon. A quick space chase as Boba Fett tracks down Omid Abtahi’s Dr. Pershing, now confirmed to be a cloning specialist. With Pershing’s schematics of Moff Gideon’s ship in hand, the gang – that’s Mando, Boba, Cara, and Fennec – head out to another planet to boost their numbers.
Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze and Mercedes Varnado’s Koska Reeves are back. The duo mentions they have heard Boba’s voice a thousand times (why: they fought alongside the clones, who all sound the same) and Koska matches Boba in combat; both nice touches.
The former head of Mandalore has lost her kingdom and desperately wants it back, and will do anything, including step over Mando, to retrieve the Darksaber, yes the one with Moff Gideon.
Women Warriors
Can I just say this, Star Wars stepped up the girl power. It features a sequence where four incredible female warriors — Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) — deftly take an Imperial cruiser as a quartet.
Every female Star Wars fan wanted this: women working together to get things done, to fight! What’s made it more special? They literally told one another they had each other’s backs.
While everyone else is cheering for Mando facing the first Dark Trooper that got out, I was rooting for the empowered women.
It was a truly inspiring scene for a long-time Star Wars fan like yours truly, and it was done without the self-congratulatory pat on the back other films have employed for their “girl power” moments. Snappy salute!
The Rescue
To continue, Mando had made the mistake of warning Moff Gideon he was coming to get the Child. But still, that “You have something I want” scene from the previous episode was just awesome and created a whole new level of excitement.
Unfortunately, the former member of the Imperial Security Bureau saw through this strategy.
He abandons the bridge and instead waits for Mando in Grogu’s cell. In truth, Moff Gideon is simply playing for time, willing to sacrifice even his bridge crew in order to stay alive.
Moff is ruthless and intelligent, he is well aware he has assets in play that can defeat the strike force with ease; the Dark Troopers, a platoon of them.
The Trick
Moff Gideon initially tells Mando he will allow him to take Grogu in exchange for the Darksaber. Assuring Mando he has taken what he wanted from Grogu, his blood.
From the looks of it, was pretty convinced it was a too-good-to-be-true offer.
It is a trick, however, and Gideon triggers the Darksaber and attempts to cut Mando down while his back is turned. Fortunately Mando’s armor incorporates a significant amount of beskar, which is resistant to a lightsaber blade.
Mando is able to use the beskar spear, which was given to him in this season’s episode 5, to defeat Moff Gideon, disarming him.
The New Mandalorian Ruler
The Darksaber is a weapon of enormous cultural significance to the Mandalorians, and as a result it stands at the center of Mandalorian tradition. It was forged over a thousand years ago by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi Order, and it became a symbol of Mandalorian unity.
Moff Gideon reveals the Darksaber cannot be given from one person to another – it can only be won in combat.
So, as far as The Mandalorian is concerned this tradition means Mando – having defeated Moff Gideon in a duel – is now the rightful owner of the Darksaber — making him the new Mandalorian ruler.
Luke Skywalker returns, with R2
Mando and his team manage to capture the Imperial cruiser with surprising ease, but they soon find themselves trapped on the bridge as Dark Troopers pound on the blast doors.
Fortunately, an unexpected help arrive, from a single New Republic X-Wing, which docks with the cruiser; it turns out to be Luke Skywalker himself, played by a de-aged Mark Hamill.
Luke plows through the Dark Troopers with effortless ease. And it was familiar, coming from a scene of his father, Darth Vader.
Luke defeats them as easily as his Darth Vader cut through the Rebel Alliance crew in the final scenes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
In terms of the season’s arc, it makes sense that Luke should be the one who communed with Grogu back on Tython, and he’s clearly the ideal custodian for the kid.
That doesn’t make Mando and Grogu’s farewell any easier to watch. Mando showing Grogu his face was touching and long-awaited.
After the chaos and battle comes R2-D2 sharing a fascinating scene with Grogu, with the two seeming particularly excited to see one another.
There are a lot of theories circulated that it’s possible the two met while Grogu was a Youngling in the Jedi Temple decades ago, and that they recognized each other.
There seems to be a strong connection between the two and it could be because it was R2 who saved Grogu from Anakin Skywalker.
And so, Luke and R2 left with Grogu, leaving Mando and everyone else in the Imperial cruiser.
It feels like The Mandalorian’s first major story arc is now over, and we’re intrigued to see how the show evolves without its central double act.
We thought it’s the end but ‘The Rescue’ saved its biggest reveal — Boba Fett’s return to Jabba’s Palace.
Then that title card appears announcing that The Book Of Boba Fett is coming in December 2021.
Disney+ and John Favreau just handed us an early Christmas gift and I can’t wait for what the new year brings.
From one Star Wars fan to another, “this means more to me more than you will ever know”.
This is the way.
