The Mandalorian Season 2 Review – This Is Still (Mostly) The Way

When The Mandalorian was first announced for Disney+, many people didn’t know what to expect. But we all know what they hope for. They wanted a show that would take them from the “Skywalker Saga” that had left a bitter taste in their mouths and delivered something else in return. And for the most part, the show did just that. Creating an immediate love and legend for characters like “Mando,” Cara Dunne, and of course, Baby Yoda. And I’m happy to say that this The Mandalorian Season 2 review will reflect my continued love for the show…despite some returning pitfalls and dangerous precedents, it’s setting in certain ways.

But let’s start with the positive, shall we? At the end of The Mandalorian Season 1, Mando was “quested” on a mission to bring Baby Yoda back to his own kind. Many interpreted this to be about his home race (which we still know nothing about even by the end of this season), but rather, the mission was about giving him back to the Jedi. 

So thus, the mission was on, in a trek across the galaxy (or at least certain parts of it) to take Baby Yoda home, and at times that mission was very much worth it.

As the spoilers have no doubt revealed to you, the first Jedi Mando meets is the one and only Ashoka Tano, played by Rosario Dawson. Ashoka got her fame in the Clone Wars cartoon and then became a big part of Star Wars Rebels for parts of certain seasons. Many wondered how she would translate to live-action, and I’m happy to say Rosario killed it. It’s important to remember that Rebels took place just before A New Hope ended (as they reference the Death Star being built), so this is a slightly older Ashoka dealing with Mando and others…and yeah…she’s epic. Still epic, I should say.

The Ashoka episode’s true joy is her interactions with Baby Yoda, who now has a name; Grogu. We also learn his origins with The Force and the Jedi, and it’s a bit more tied into the overall story of Star Wars than you might think. We also see a slightly more jaded Ashoka in that she talks about how “she’s seen attachment ruin a Jedi Knight,” a clear reference to her master (who, if you recall, she saw him in his Vader form in Rebels). Ashoka will be back via her own series, and Dawson will no doubt kill it there too.

Another key Star Wars return is Boba Fett, played by the Clone Wars actor Temuera Morrison, who absolutely owns the role in a way many people will be happy about. And thankfully, he wasn’t just a one-off cameo; he too plays a big role in what was to come in the season.

Oh, and he brought Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand back to life, and for that, we should all be eternally grateful!

And as if that wasn’t enough, we also get the Clone Wars/Rebels veteran in Bo-Katan of Mandalore, whose role in this series doesn’t appear to be close to done.

If you’re sensing a problem in all of these “arrivals,” you’re not the only one. Season 2 of The Mandalorian seems a bit more focused on bringing everything into a connected state than blazing its own path like it did in season 1. Not that I’m not grateful to see all these familiar faces, but for those who HAVEN’T seen Clone Wars or Rebels…that might be a problem as they won’t understand these characters and their importance to the lore. But more on that later.

A big thing that The Mandalorian Season 2 nails is the action. There’s a LOT of great fight scenes here. From a massive battle early on against a Krayt Dragon, to Mando vs. Ashoka (for a short time) to Ashoka versus a big bad, Mando vs. Gideon, the Mandalorians versus…well…everybody, and so on – there’s a good action to be had here. Including an epic “A-Force” style moment that’ll make many ladies happy.

And to be clear, there are many good story elements, too, including one episode where the Empire (for a short time) are actually made out to look like the good guys. Yeah, we know. Plus, there’s Mando and his continued struggle to protect Grogu and finish his quest, and how certain other characters like Bo-Katan and Cara Dunne are trying to find their own place in this world and complete their own life missions.

And then…there’s the ending. Dear gosh, that final episode was powerful, all in the ways that mattered. From the cameos to the intimidating new Dark Troopers (complete with music that will be legendary, no doubt) to the stinger at the end after the credits…there’s a lot to love. It was as perfect an ending as you could have, and I worked hard NOT to get spoiled by news sites, and thankfully I got through before anything could be spoiled for me. 

That being said, there are some real issues with The Mandalorian Season 2. The biggest one is one I noted in my review of the first season: filler episodes. Yes, all seasons of shows have filler episodes, but when your episode count is 8? There’s not really an excuse. But the first two episodes and a couple of others down the line are absolutely filler, and that’s…sad. 

For example, in the first episode, Mando gets a lead on another Mandalorian. Straightforward story mission, right? Wrong. Because it’s NOT a Mandalorian, it’s Raylan Givens (some of you will get this joke) in Boba Fett’s armor. And the whole episode is about Mando and Raylan killing a Krayt Dragon so Mando can win the armor back. Now yes, this place a factor in Boba Fett’s return…but that was a while later. This goes double for the second episode, where it was about taking a passenger to a planet with Mandalorians on it…and monsters and hijinks ensue. And Baby Yoda ate a lot of eggs. Just saying.

Fast forward a little more, and you have two episodes that end the same way, with Empire outposts being blown up. Plus, the ending episodes are very much like the episodes of Season 1. Mando recruits all the allies he made to launch a charge to save The Child from the Empire.

Finally, and this is a big sticking point…it felt as though parts of The Mandalorian Season 2 were more focused on getting the spinoffs lined up instead of focusing on the main story. This can be felt at the end of the season, where we’re left with a closed-loop and yet a major dangling thread that is made even bigger by the stinger teaser of something coming up next year.

To be clear, The Mandalorian Season 2 was good, great at times, but while some moments were epic, others were not needed, they could’ve been formed a little better, and the filler episodes really stick out. If you haven’t seen this yet, go and do so, but don’t go in thinking it’s perfect. It wasn’t in Season 1, and as this The Mandalorian Season 2 Review score will show, it’s not perfect now.