Max Nocerino 
“The main plot of The Mandalorian Chapter 9 delves deep into Star Wars lore and was just awesome”
It’s finally back. John Favreau’s genius masterpiece The Mandalorian has returned for a second season. It starts exactly where you expected it to. Mando is searching for other Mandalorians to help him return The Child to his own kind. He attends a crazy Gammorean blood match and gets information on where he can find another Mandalorian. After being a total badass (as usual), he journeys back to Tatooine.
CREST REPAIRS
Oddly, he doesn’t know where to find other Mandalorians, and it’s still a mystery as to what happened to them. This show does not give up stuff easily and that is one of the best things about it. Upon arriving on Tatooine, he drops The Razor Crest off at the repair place run by that grizzly, middle-aged human woman. I forget her name, but she is very much what I like to call an “Earth human” and is in sharp contrast to Mando in the way she presents herself. She points Mando in the right direction and Mando comes face to face with “The Marshal” Cobb Vanth, who appears to be wearing Boba Fett‘s armor.
Everyone was dying to see Mando fight Boba, but I always thought shoehorning him into the series was silly. We don’t need him. Mando demands the Marshal hand over the armor. Boba’s armor, unfortunately, looks like a Boba Fett Earth Halloween costume, but honestly, that is the only negative thing I can say about this episode. At 52 minutes long; it’s the longest Mandalorian yet. I am amazed that Favreau can squeeze so much of a good tale into just under an hour.
TUSKEN RETURN
One of the best things I loved about the premiere was the new light Favreau (or even Filoni) painted the Tusken Raiders in. Ever since Attack of the Clones, we have been taught to think of the Tuskens as “vicious, mindless monsters”, yet Mando proves that they can be dealt with and they can make deals, help out and be reasonable. It doesn’t excuse what the tribe did to Shmi, but this tribe is not that tribe and perhaps the Tuskens have good apples and bad apples like every other species. Mando can speak Tusken which I thought was odd, but he does say that he spent a lot of time on Tatooine, so that closes up that plot black-hole before it even fully forms.
The Tusken language was humorously featured in the now Legends Galactic Travel Guide book, and it appears to still be a guttural, phlegmy language; yet Favreau has now added tons of hand gestures to it. Favreau also retained the Tusken belief that water is sacred, and sharing some with the Marshal is a big deal.
COBB VANTH
In my opinion, Cobb Vanth is a semi-three-dimensional character, and will probably show up later in the season, but if he doesn’t; I don’t mind. He wasn’t that compelling of a character. He is played by Timothy Olyphant. The whole main plot of this episode delves deep into Star Wars lore and was just awesome. Favreau truly cares about Star Wars and does his research, we’ll say. The end has a great cameo that will make you say “Okay. Not what I thought I saw coming, but okay, that should shut the fanboys up.”
VERDICT
I am so exhilarated for the rest of this season. And Favreau is the best thing to happen to Star Wars since George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. A+ all the way.
The Mandalorian is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus NOW!
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
