Yup, there are spoilers.
You've been warned.
This is just a highlight reel from the geek world's current flavor of the month: The Baby Yoda and Friends Show! Let's go over the highlights of the last season!
Side Quests
For the first half of the season Mando kept getting embroiled in other people's problems while trying to fulfill his overall goal of finding The Child's people. Notably he had to take the Frog Lady to her husband so they could propagate their species. This particular adventure sparked some momentary controversy as the Child ate several of Frog Lady's eggs, though it was quickly forgotten after the proceeding episode when he was shown playing with a newly hatched frog spawn.
Cameos
For veteran Star Wars fans this season was a skip down memory lane as familiar characters from across the Star Wars universe popped in to say hi. For the traditional junkies we were treated to a return of Boba Fett, who somehow escaped the Sarlaac pit, though not without losing some hair and armor in the process (presumably he crawled out in his underwear). We got another cameo, but I'll save that for later.
Fans of the Clone Wars were treated to Ahsoka Tano, the once unofficial apprentice of Anakin Skywalker. Played by Rosario Dawson, this Jedi was working on tracking down an old enemy when she crossed paths with the Mandalorian. Her biggest contribution though was giving the audience the Child's name, Grogu, from her ability to speak to him through the Force. We also learn that Grogu was at the Jedi temple when Anakin went all Sithy and barely escaped the murder of the younglings.
Deep Star Wars lore enthusiasts were treated to the ice spiders, called the Krykna in the Frog Lady episode. First appearing as far back as the old extended universe books in the 90's, it was fun to see the wanna-be Xenomorphs pop in, even if they nearly killed Grogu. Personally I still want to see the Rancor's home planet where they're ridden by witches.
Crew Up
While the first half of the season focused on finding Grogu's people, the second half focused on getting Grogu back from the Empire. We found out that the Empire is using Grogu's blood on some sort of cloning project (Theory: It's Snoak), so the Empire take the Child for more tests. Mando does a quick lap around most of the planets he's visited and gathers a crew to rescue Grogu. The team Oceans 11's their way onto the ship and the battle is on. It was nice to see that Mando can make friends that are not infants, and the balance of strong female characters, none of which were in chainmail bikinis, shows that Disney is thinking progressively. This was a nice touch.
I Am A Jedi
Of course the biggest moment of the season was when, trapped on the bridge of the enemy ship, an X-Wing docked and out popped a cloaked figure sporting a green lightsaber and a glove, who fought his way towards Mando and his team. The big reveal comes when it's none other than a CGI puppet of Luke Skywalker, voiced by Mark Hamill, accompanied by R2D2! Because of a Jedi... thing... earlier in the season Grogu called out to Luke for some training, and Luke delivered, recruiting him to his new Jedi order.
The heartbreaking piece was when Grogu, through Luke, said that he wanted Mando's permission to go train with the Jedi. The relationship between the Child and Mando has been the heart of the series, elevating it above most Star Wars properties. Saying goodbye, Mando removes his helmet in front of the Child and everyone else on the bridge, letting the Child see the face of the man who has been surrogate father since he was found. Of course Mando's code clearly states that "If you take off the helmet, you can never put it back on,” meaning Mando, his quest complete, has potentially given up his creed.
Predictions and a Fan Theory
Now I've been on record stating that I haven't been a Star Wars fan for years because I thought the entire thing was a bloated fan-driven mess of nonsense, but I can now state that I'm a fan of Star Wars again. Well, at least I'm a fan of Grogu and Mando. For me personally as much as I loved The Mandalorian, I don't want any more of it. I feel that the story has been told, that the characters are done and that adding more to it would just ruin a beautiful thing. Disney has already announced a handful of new shows coming out this year in the Star Wars universe, including a spin-off with Boba Fett, to which I can only look at with skepticism and hesitancy. This is what turned me off Star Wars to begin with, the oversaturation of content, and my prediction is that with resources stretched across multiple shows the quality is going to go downhill pretty fast.
Now if that didn't get you down after a fairly positive post this is sure to do it: People have wondered what happened to Grogu between Mandalorian and The Force Awakens and I've got some bad news: Remember how Ben Solo went crazy and killed all of Luke's trainees, thus reducing the Jedi to just Skywalker?
Killed all of Luke's trainees.
-JOE
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