The following contains spoilers for the first season of The Mandalorian.
While there a lot of differing opinions on the relative quality of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, one area of the Star Wars universe that had a much easier time of it was the first ever Star Wars live-action series, The Mandalorian on Disney+. From the moment we all got lost in the large black eyes of adorable Baby Yoda, we were all hooked.
Each week we watched the new episode of The Mandalorian and we addressed the major questions that we had. By the end of Season 1, we had a few answers. We know Mando's real name, we've seen his face, and we understand how he came to be a Mandalorian.
However, even after eight full episodes, there's a lot about The Mandalorian that we still don't know, so here are the big questions that we still have that we're hoping to get clarity on in Season 2.
What Does The Mandalorian Have Against Droids?
From the very first episode of The Mandalorian, we saw that, while Mando doesn't really appear to like anybody, he especially doesn't care for droids. He refuses to accept rides from them, he won't let them work on his ship, and he still holds a grudge, even after they've been reprogrammed.
He begins to have something of a change of heart on that last one, as it regards IG-11, the bounty turned nurse droid. Still, whether or not Mando has had a complete change of heart regarding droids or not, we still don't know why he had a problem with them in the first place. The only hint might be a comment he makes to Cara Dune at the end of the season, that in his experience, reprogramming droids doesn't truly change their nature. Who hurt you, Mando?
What's The Mandalorian's History With The Empire?
For a guy who doesn't really seem to like anybody, The Mandalorian has a particular distaste for all things Imperial. Considering he makes his living as a bounty hunter, the sort of profession that usually would pay little attention to politics, this seems a tad unusual, but we never get much of an answer regarding why Mando doesn't even want to get paid in Imperial credits.
Is it all because of the loss of his parents that led to him to become a Mandalorian? Is it because of what the Empire did to Mandalore, the planet that he probably sees as his adoptive home? Some combination of the two? He's ultimately willing to take the job that put him in contact with The Child, knowing of the Client's association with the Empire. So where does he draw the line, and why?
How Do Bounty Hunter Tracking Fobs Work?
Star Wars is what we refer to as a space opera, which, as far as I can tell, is what we call any form of science fiction that doesn't worry too much about the pesky "science" part of all that. Technology is never explained too deeply and we're all supposed to just let it all go and get caught up in the story. Most of the time that works just fine, but I'd really like to understand tracking fobs a bit better.
Tracking fobs appear to essentially be homing devices that lead a bounty hunter directly to their target. They beep faster when you get close, just to be sure you know the person you're looking for is right around here someplace. It's a tracking fob that leads Mando to The Child in the first place, a child who doesn't even have a chain code, which appears to be the Star Wars equivalent of a social security number. Except if you can just know where your quarry is like that, why does anybody even bother running in the first place? How do the fobs know where people are?
Is “The Child” Really A Child?
The character that we all call Baby Yoda is called The Child on the show, but whatever term we use, I really have to question it's accuracy. We're told that Baby Yoda is 50 years old, and certainly while its clear that this race ages differently than we do, a lot of what we see Baby Yoda do feels like something a baby could not accomplish.
For starters, using Force abilities the way baby Yoda doesn't feel exactly child-like. In the episode "The Prisoner," the little guy has the presence of mind, and the ability, to hide from a droid that wishes him harm. He may not be able to speak, but that doesn't mean his mind isn't actually as capable as a much older human. Maybe he's just playing up the "baby" thing in order to remain inconspicuous.
How Fast Does Baby Yoda Age?
We know that Baby Yoda is 50 years old, but we have really no idea what that number really means. He looks and largely acts like an infant, and while he certainly may be smarter than he appears, it doesn't mean that things aren't going to change big time for The Mandalorian Season 2.
Whether Season 2 picks up immediately after the end of Season 1 or not, we could see some big changes from our little guy very quickly. In addition to still being a child at 50, perhaps this alien race goes through adolescence and puberty quickly, meaning we could see The Child become a teenager at the age of 51. We can't assume the kid is going to mature at a comparable rate to humans.
Who Was Our Mystery Man (or Woman)?
Back in Episode 5 of The Mandalorian, called "The Gunslinger" we were left with one of our bigger cliffhanger moments as a mystery character approached the lifeless body of that episode's bounty, Ming-Na Wen's Fennec. The person walked over to her corpse before the episode came to an end, and we've never been given an explicit answer as to who that was.
The major theory at the time was that it was Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon, and that might very well be the case, but then we might have expected a line from him at the end of the series about how he, "just missed them on Tatooine" or something. And if it was the Moff, why did we see him approaching Fennec, somebody he likely had no particular interest in? Perhaps this mystery character hasn't been revealed yet, and more info will come in the future. If so, maybe that means there's a future for criminally under used Ming-Na Wen as well.
What Does Moff Gideon Want With Baby Yoda?
We know that Moff Gideon was the one who ultimately sent The Mandalorian after Baby Yoda, but we still don't really know why. The Client was running some sort of test on it when Mando arrived to rescue him, but we don't now what the purpose of any of it was.
Based on another item in the possession of Moff Gideon (and we'll get there), it would seem that the Moff has an interest in the Jedi or perhaps just general curiosity about the Force. He doesn't appear to be a user, he probably would have brought those skills to bear if that had been the case. Does he want to use the Force and he hopes he can learn more about it by vivisecting the little green dude?
How Many Powers Does Baby Yoda Have?
Over the course of the first season of The Mandalorian we have seen The Child, pick up a mudhorn into the air with its mind. We've seen it heal an otherwise fatal wound to Greek Carga, and push a fireball back at its source. The Child is pulling off Force moves that we haven't seen anybody do before, never mind the fact that this is supposed to be a kid.
So what's next? Baby Yoda's Force Healing was the first time we've seen that ability used in the new Star Wars canon, even if we saw it happen only a couple days later when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered. Could future episodes of The Mandalorian be used to continue to push the envelope of Force abilities and reveal new things the Force can do? Can a baby do a Jedi mind trick?
How Did Moff Gideon Get The Darksaber?
The Mandalorian certainly saved its biggest moment for last. Star Wars fans, especially those familiar with the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels, probably collectively lost their damn minds in the final seconds of the end of Season 1, when Moff Gideon was revealed to have survived his crash, and more importantly, was shown to be in possession of the Darksaber.
So just how in the hell did he get it? To be sure, there's a serious piece of Star Wars history missing when it comes to the Darksaber, so a lot could have happened to this rare weapon in that gap. What may be the even bigger question is why does he have it? Is he a collector of old Jedi relics? Are the darksaber and The Child in some way related?
When Will We Be Able To Stop Calling The Child Baby Yoda?
On The Mandalorian, he's simply called The Child. We all call him Baby Yoda. Both terms exist for the same reason, we have no idea what else to call it. We don't know the name of the race The Child comes from, so we can't just refer to it like that, like calling it "the wookiee" or "The Twi'lik." And of course, The Child has no specific name, at least none that we know.
Based on where Season 1 of The Mandalorian came to a close, we can feel confident that the main focus of the forthcoming Season 2 will be in finding The Child's home world. Perhaps, if Mando is successful, we'll finally learn the name of this elusive race. Maybe Mando will just give the kid a name. Can we please just call it something else?
This sums up all the big questions that we'll have going into Season 2 of The Mandalorian, on the plus side, we have less than a year to wait, as the new season is set to come in the fall of 2020. Hopefully, when it does, we'll get some of these questions answered.
