One of the important questions of life, the universe, and everything has been answered. No, it is not 42 — that is the answer to the other question. This one is how much cuteness is too much? The answer after watching two episodes of Season 2 of The Mandalorian is cuteness has no tipping point. Watching The Child (or Baby Yoda) coo, gurgle, make goo-goo eyes and scarf down frogs’ eggs makes you wish you could reach into the screen and squish him.
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The Mandalorian is set five years after the events of The Return of the Jedi and 25 years before The Force Awakens . After the destruction of Empire and as the New Republic is finding its feet, there are opportunities aplenty for bounty hunters and mercenaries. The Mandalorians, a highly trained warrior sect with the prized beskar armour making them practically invulnerable, do well for themselves in these frontier days.
At the end of the first season, a Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), takes up the quest of returning the Child to its people. To find out where the baby (he is 50 years old) came from, Djarin has to find other Mandalorians. The first episode of season 2, ‘The Marshal’ is like a space western—not so far from its Star Wars roots right? Man walks into bar and all that.
- Season: 2
- Episodes: 2
- Creator: Jon Favreau
- Starring: Pedro Pascal, John Leguizamo, Amy Sedaris, Timothy Olyphant, Temuera Morrison, Misty Rosas
- Storyline: His quest to return the Child to its people takes the Mandalorian to distant lands to face old and new enemies
Djarin is (reluctantly) told by gangster Gor Koresh (John Leguizamo) that there is a Mandalorian in, believe it or faint, Tatooine. Wonder why Luke was cribbing about Tatooine being a dead end when it is quite the bustling hive of inequity. Djarin heads to Tatooine and meets Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) whose help he takes to find another no-end town called Mos Pelgo. Off he goes, borrowing a bike from Peli.
At Mos Pelgo, he goes into a bar and sees a man with Boba Fett’s armour. Goodness gracious me! When the man takes off his helmet, Djarin realises he is not a Mandalorian as taking off their helmets is against the creed. The man, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) says he got the armour from Jawas. As the town is being terrorised by a massive dragon, Djarin, Vanth, the townspeople and the Tusken raiders get together to defeat it. At the end of the episode, as Djarin rides into the sunset, after Vanth tells him to stay safe, (is there a remorseless virus on the desolate plains of Tatooine as well?) a heavily scarred person watches from the distance…
The second episode, ‘The Passenger’, finds Djarin give a ride to Frog Lady (Misty Rosas) who is on her way to her husband with a container of eggs—the last eggs she will spawn. She has to get to her husband in time to get the eggs fertilised. In return for the ride, Frog Lady’s husband will tell Djarin the location of other Mandalorians.
The episode is not short on thrills or cuteness as the Child gobbles frog eggs, and hordes of spiders attack Djarin’s ship, The Razor Crest. Also exciting is the chase by the X-Wings and Djarin trying to fool the pilots of the New Republic Patrol saying, “May the Force be with you”—goosebumps guaranteed.
The action is thrillingly-staged and there is beauty in the banthas majestically going into the dragon’s lair against the desert-scape. When will the Child show off his mind-bending powers? Hopefully, it would be in the coming episodes. Guess as Vanth comments, “Once in a while both suns shine on a womp rat’s tail...”
The Mandalorian is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar
