Welcome to a new era for Star Wars.
After a successful first season, The Mandalorian is about to return for another round, and there's once again quite a bit of pressure on the show. Season two will be the first piece of live-action Star Wars since the franchise's flagship Skywalker saga concluded with The Rise of Skywalker. Will it suggest Star Wars' future free of Skywalkers is bright? Given that streaming shows will be all the Star Wars there is for a few more years, Disney better hope so.
We've got plenty of other questions about what's happening on screen, however, including some lingering mysteries from the first season and how some fan favorite characters from previous chapters of the franchise may come into play. (Spoilers for season one and other Star Wars storylines below.)
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1. Why is Moff Gideon after Baby Yoda? One of the primary mysteries of season one never did get an answer: Why did the Client (Werner Herzog) want Baby Yoda, and why does Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) want him now? There have only been small hints, including when the Client ordered his associate, Dr. Pershing, to "extract the necessary material" from the little guy. Given that Pershing's uniform featured the Kaminoan logo previously seen in Attack of the Clones, cloning may be involved.
2. How does Moff Gideon have the Darksaber? The season one finale revealed that Moff Gideon has the Darksaber, a weapon highly significant to Mandalorian lore. We last saw it on Star Wars Rebels, when Bo-Katan Kryze wielded it to unite the Mandalorians against the Empire prior to the original Star Wars. How did it then end up with Gideon years later? It might suggest a grim fate for Bo-Katan, which we could potentially see via flashback, since she's reported to be in the season.
3. Will we see any Jedi? The Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), is setting off across the galaxy to find a "race of enemy sorcerers," so will he actually encounter any Jedi? This takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi, mind you, at which point there are barely any Jedi left in the galaxy. Could he meet Luke Skywalker himself? Or perhaps Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi who no longer identifies as one?
4. What's Ahsoka been up to? It's been reported that we will indeed see Ahsoka Tano, the beloved hero from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, who will apparently be played by Rosario Dawson. Last we saw Ahsoka chronologically was at the end of Rebels, when she set out to find Ezra Bridger, the Rebels Jedi who went missing during a battle against Grand Admiral Thrawn. So what's Ahsoka been up to since then, and has she found Ezra yet?
5. Will we see Sabine Wren? Joining Ahsoka on that mission to find Ezra was Rebels' Sabine Wren, although if Sabine is coming to The Mandalorian, no casting has been reported like with Ahsoka. But might Sabine still make an appearance? It would make sense since Din Djarin will be looking for other Mandalorians, according to a recent clip, and Sabine is one. Some fans have also speculated this could end up being WWE wrestler Sasha Banks' mysterious role.
6. Will we see more of Yoda's species? As The Mandalorian looks to find Baby Yoda a home, this could also potentially involve coming across other members of his species. Might we see other "Yodas" in season two or learn any more about them? Any additional information would be a big deal, as Yoda's species has famously been one of Star Wars' biggest unexplored areas.
7. What was the Great Purge? Last season included plenty of references to events we could use more information on, including the "Great Purge." Apparently some sort of massacre of the Mandalorians by the Empire, it's evidently what pushed the surviving Mandalorians into hiding. But it doesn't seem to line up with any events from The Clone Wars or Rebels, so when and where did this happen, exactly?
8. How many surviving Mandalorians are there? Speaking of which, it still isn't clear how many Mandalorians are left in the galaxy at this point. There were plenty of them in The Clone Wars and Rebels, but The Mandalorian season one suggested few survived the Great Purge, and those that did live "in the shadows." But is this true everywhere? And since the Empire was defeated a few years before the show begins, have any Mandalorians made their way back to their home planet of Mandalore?
9. Have all Mandalorians stopped removing their helmets? When the show heavily emphasized that Mandalorians never take off their helmets, it was confusing for fans of the animated shows, in which we see Mandalorians like Sabine with their helmets off all the time. So when did this practice begin, and is it just followed in Din Djarin's particular circle?
10. Will the Mandalorian learn more about the Force? Our hero appears to barely know what the Force is, as evidenced by his utterly confused reaction to Baby Yoda lifting a mudhorn and trying to heal him. If he crosses paths with the Jedi in season two, might he become more familiar with it this time around, potentially setting him up for a Han Solo-style skeptic turned believer arc?
11. Will the Mandalorian visit Ilum? We got a glimpse at an icy planet in the trailer for season two, which some fans believe could potentially be Ilum. That's the planet the First Order ultimately turned into Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens, and it was also a key spot younglings were taken to in The Clone Wars to gather kyber crystals. A visit here could allow for a satisfying tie-in to both eras.
12. What will happen when Boba Fett and the Mandalorian cross paths? Rumor has it season two will feature the return of Boba Fett, and a potential meeting between him and the Mandalorian should be fascinating. Boba Fett, after all, wears Mandalorian armor like Din, but he's not technically a "real" Mandalorian. If the two come to blows, who will win? And while Din wasn't born on Mandalore either, will he find Boba Fett's apparent status as something of a Mandalorian poser enraging?
13. Did we already see Boba Fett last season? The end of the season one episode "The Gunslinger" featured a mysterious character walking up to the body of assassin Fennec Shand on Tatooine. If Boba is coming back, does that mean this was him, seeing as that episode took place near where we last saw the famed bounty hunter in Return of the Jedi?
14. How did Boba Fett survive? Of course, Boba Fett being in season two would also be the first confirmation in the current canon that he survived Return of the Jedi. Last we saw him, Fett had fallen into the sarlacc pit, which is said to slowly digest its victims over a thousand years. Doesn't sound too survivable, does it? So how'd he live to tell the tale? Let's hope the show doesn't pull a Rise of Skywalker and leave it at "somehow, Boba Fett returned."
