Vrinda Bachchan
‘Star Wars’ franchise’s hit series, ‘The Mandalorian,’ centers upon a lone bounty hunter traveling across the galaxy to keep safe The Child (the unbearably cute Baby Yoda) that he found for some ex-Imperialists but decided not to give up. At the end of season 1, Mando is tasked with getting The Child safely to the Jedi order. In season 2, Mando, whose real name is finally revealed to be Din Djarin, has to quest across the galaxy to find the Jedi order, all the while protecting and raising The Child that he has come to care for. Here is what we thought of the first episode of Season 2! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 1 Recap
The second season kicks off with an action-packed episode that ends with an explosive revelation that will have ‘Star Wars’ fanatics jumping with joy. The first episode starts with Mando, with The Child gliding alongside him in his floating cradle, going to an underground fight club to see a guy who apparently knows the location of other Mandalorians. Din Djarin is looking for others of his creed so that he can tap into their network and get word on the whereabouts of the Jedi.
A significant difference that we immediately notice, and Mando blatantly states in a forceful dialogue, is that now Mando keeps The Child close to him at all times, as opposed to Season 1, when he used to leave the baby with a babysitter while he went off to handle dangerous situations. After killing a good number of shady goons, Mando extracts the information that another Mandalorian has been seen on the planet Tatooine.
And so we return to Tatooine, but the only other Mandalorian there is a fake one who shocks Mando by taking off his helmet casually. It is a man named Cobb Vanth who is wearing Boba Fett’s armor, which he obtained by trading off some crystals with the Jawas (though how the Jawas came to acquire Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor is unclear).
Understandably, Mando is upset that Cobb Vanth has been wearing the Mandalorian armor even though it does not belong to him, and Mando demands it back. Vanth makes a deal with Mando that he will give him the armor if he helps in getting rid of the giant krayt dragon that has been terrorizing their town. Mando agrees and the two recruit some Sand People and some villagers to kill the pesky dragon.
The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 1 Ending, Explained
None of their attack plans to kill the dragon is working, and the dragon just keeps getting angrier and ultimately, Mando has to fly into the dragon’s mouth and blow it up from the inside out. The villagers and the Sand People celebrate enthusiastically as Mando says goodbye to Vanth and packs up some dragon meat for the road and Boba Fett’s armor next to The Child. As Mando leaves on his speeder, we see a lone man standing on a hill overlooking a classic binary sunset in the background.
When the man turns, we get our suspicions confirmed – it is none other than Boba Fett himself, very much in the flesh! Temuera Morrison is reprising his role as Boba Fett (also Jango Fett in the prequels), the gun-for-hire who fought on the side of The Empire in the original ‘Star Wars’ films. The last anyone saw of Boba Fett was in ‘Return of the Jedi’ when he apparently fell to his death in the Sarlacc pit.
But season 1 of ‘The Mandalorian’ teased his return in the scene where an unknown man in spurs walks up to the lifeless body of Fennec Shand, but we don’t get to see his face. According to the show’s timeline, season 2 takes place five years after the war between the Empire and the Rebellion ended. So does that mean that Boba Fett somehow survived a deadly fall and has been living on Tatooine as a hermit since the events of ‘Return of the Jedi’?
Another thing fans would want to know is how he even managed to escape from the Sarlacc. And what’s his role going to be in Din Djarin and The Child’s story? Fett has his own vendetta against the Jedi (because of how Jedi master Mace Windu killed his father Jango Fett) and the Rebellion. But will Fett be willing to put aside his personal feelings and help get The Child to the Jedi, or is he going to pose a problem for Din Djarin?
Also, Boba Fett knows Luke Skywalker and the Jedi, so that makes him a reliable source of information for Din Djarin and possibly the backstory of The Child. We also believe this is not the last we have seen of Cobb Vanth, and he is sure to come back in an ally capacity later in the season. For now, it seems like Mando will leave Tatooine without meeting Boba Fett, but at some point during the season, the two will have to be brought face to face.
Read More: Where Was The Mandalorian Season 2 Filmed?
