The Mandalorian Season 2 Premiere: The Marshal

by Chelsea House, GGR Contributor

And we’re back, folks! The much anticipated The Mandalorian Season 2 is finally rolling out it’s episodes, and honestly, it couldn’t be more of a perfect time. I know my husband and I have been eagerly awaiting it since the ending of Chapter 8, so many cliff hangers! So many theories and questions! As can be expected, none of those are answered in Chapter 9, however, it still boasted of some juicy little nuggets. 

We begin with Mando/Din Djarin ( Pedro Pascal ) looking for Gor Koresh (John Leguizamo) at an underground fighting ring. He finds him front and center and immediately asks where the other Mandalorians are that he knows about. He does not answer and instead tries to make a wager to win Mando’s armor. When Mando declines, Gor gets a little intense and decides to take it by force. This does not go well for him or his men, and ends with him hanging upside down on lamp post where Mando finally gets out of him that he last heard of another Mandalorian on Tatooine. 

On Tatooine, we are reintroduced to our mechanic friend from the first season, Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) who got to babysit Baby Yoda for a while. She tells Mando that he should look in Mos Pelgo for his kinsman. Mos Pelgo is a remote place that was a mining settlement after the war and can be dangerous territory. She warns that his ship is going to be too obvious, so he opts to take her speeder bike instead, which makes our green cutie super happy. 

The first glimpse of Mos Pelgo gives off quite the Wild Wild West feel. People are leaning on their doors intensely, and rather unwelcomingly, staring at the newcomers as they pass by. You’ve got everything except for a spit bucket and a tumbleweed, which I’m sure is somewhere around there.

Oh…there’s the spitoon. Okra…gross, get out of there!

To make it feel even more like a western, Mando decides to go inside the local saloon to ask some questions. He speaks to Weequay (W. Earl Brown), explaining that he is looking for someone that looks like him. Weequay states that Mando must be looking for the Marshal then. As if being summoned, a man walks through the saloon doors wearing what looks to be Boba Fett’s old armor!  

RAYLAN!!!!

We learn that the Marshal’s name is Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant – swoon). He explains that he bought the armor from some Jawas and that it has helped him protect the town over the years. After the war, military came and took over the town, turning it a slave mining camp. When Cobb found the armor, he was able to come back  and free the town. In doing so he won the townspeople’s trust and respect. We also know Mando wants that armor (This is the way) so the two strike up a deal: Cobb will give the armor back if Mando helps the town get rid of the krayt dragon that has been terrorizing them for some time now. The two head off in search of ways to kill the dragon. They find a group of Tusken Raiders and discover that they, too, want to get rid of this gigantic pest. 

Let me pause here to also say how much I absolutely adore that they added sign language in such a huge part to the show. I did a little digging and found that the sign language was created with the help of a deaf actor who played a Tusken Raider in season 1 of the Mandolorian named Troy Kotsur. Together they worked to create a “Tusken” sign language that worked with the story and their culture. It’s so awesome that a show with such a loud voice was able to share and advocate for that! 

Unpause. 

The Tusken Raiders take Mando and Cobb to the dragon’s cave where they explain that they have been tracking and studying the dragon for generations to learn its sleep patterns, feeding patterns, etc. They have learned that the beast is the weakest on the belly and that it has a craving for banthas. Poor banthas. They also explain that due to the dragons massive size, their small group is not enough, they need help. So Mando decides to volunteer the folk of Mos Pelgo. A problem with that, however, is that apparently the Tusken Raiders well… raid… and they raided the village causing a pretty big fight or two to happen between themselves and Mos Pelgo’s residents. As the old saying goes “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” So, they decide that the mutual hatred of the krayt dragon is enough to make peace. In return, the Tusken Raiders vow to not harm the townspeople unless the townspeople try to start something first. 

As a group, they decide to burry a large amount of explosives, lure the dragon out enough, and set the bombs off when his belly is over them. Sounds simple enough. So the towns people and the Tusken Raiders set off to work in front of the dragon’s lair (after confirming that the dragon was asleep) where they burry a large amount of explosives as well as plant a large amount of explosives on a bantha. Both groups are set to a detonator. They then begin to lure the dragon out, who thinks that he is just getting a snack. After much labor and loss, they manage to pull the dragon out enough that Mando feels comfortable setting off the explosives. All goes quiet, but just feels off. Cobb states that he does not think the dragon’s dead, Mando agrees, and right on cue, the dragon decides to burst out of the top of the mountain.

This begins a small battle sequence of trial and error until Mando sees and remembers the poor explosive packed bantha. He tells Cobb to get the dragons attention, which Cobb does by launching a rocket at him. When the krayt dragon begins to head towards the two of them Mando pushes Cobb out of the way and the dragon swallows both bantha and Mando. 

The scene is silent. Baby Yoda is unsure of how to feel. Everyone is holding their breath. Then in a glorious burst of sand, Mando and the dragon pop from the ground in a cloud of sand and electric shock. Mando jumps out of the beast’s mouth just in time to hit the detonator which then sets off an explosion inside of the dragon. This time, the dragon is definitely dead. Mando gets the armor from a very grateful Cobb while dragon meat gets carved away from very grateful Tusken Raiders. 

“BBQ and a giant pearl! BEST DAY EVER!!!!!”

The episode ends with a mysterious man standing on a ledge watching Mando ride off back to the Razor Crest. My theory? It’s Boba. This leaves me really unsure of how the next episode is going to go as Boba doesn’t have his mask. So has he rejected the life of a Mandalorian? Will he be helpful? Or will he be an adversary? I guess we’ll find out soon!