Ever since season one of “The Mandalorian” wrapped up last December, “Star Wars” fans have eagerly awaited the next chapter of the Mandalorians adventures with the adorable pop-culture sensation that is the Child — more commonly known as Baby Yoda. Now, with a little over a month until the season two premiere, Disney has finally dropped the highly-anticipated trailer for season two, and it has only stoked speculation about what audiences will see in season two of “The Mandalorian.”
What We See
The trailer opens with a view of some unknown planets from space. After a moment, the Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest, makes its way on screen, albeit in much worse condition than we last saw it. The engines are sputtering, and the back of the ship is almost wide open.
We don’t get any explanation for the sorry state of the Razor Crest before the trailer moves on, showing shots of the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and the Child walking through a city while we hear dialogue from the end of season one, when the Armorer (Emily Swallow) instructs the Mandalorian to reunite the Child with his own kind. The exchange from last season continues as we see clips of the Razor Crest flying past a Tusken Raider with a bantha — apparently we’ll be returning to Tatooine this season — and the Child and Mando on a snowy planet.
As the Armorer talks about stories of “Mandalore the Great” battling “an order of sorcerers called Jedi,” we see an unknown character played by newcomer Sasha Banks disappear in the middle of a busy alien seaport. The narration seems to suggest that Banks’ character may be a Jedi, although there is intense fan speculation about this character being “Star Wars Rebels" Sabine Wren, another Mandalorian who was involved with the early Rebel Alliance.
We then get a variety of interesting clips; the Mandalorian flying beside — and then being pursued by — X-wings presumably affiliated with the New Republic, Mando on a speeder bike on a desert planet that looks like Tatooine, and familiar faces Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). There are shots that seemingly take place on the lava flats of Navarro, one of the major planets from season one, of TIE fighters, stormtroopers, and Mando flying with his jetpack, newly acquired at the end of season one.
The trailer wraps up with one of its funniest moments. The Mandalorian enters what seems to be some kind of alien fight club. While there, he meets with a cyclops-esque alien, and as the two talk, the Mandalorian is surrounded by alien mercenaries, who seem to be after the Child. We see the Mandalorian prepare his whistling birds — a weapon of his familiar to watchers of season one, and in a highly meme-able moment, the Child hurriedly closes the top of his pram, clearly aware of what’s to come. The screen cuts to black and we hear the sounds of the Mandalorian defeating the mercenaries, before we cut back to see the carnage he leaves in his wake. The trailer ends with the Mandalorian reciting one of the most famous quotes from season one: “This is the way.”
What We Don’t See
While this trailer shows lots of exciting new footage, it’s fairly lacking in terms of actual information on the plot of season two. This isn’t surprising, given the fact that “The Mandalorian” is already notorious for closely guarding secrets about the show until its release. However, the fact remains is that the only concrete detail about the plot of season two that this trailer reveals is something fans were already able to deduce from the ending of season one: that it will feature the Mandalorian looking to reunite the Child with “his own kind,” whether that be the Jedi or more of his own species.
The trailer notably doesn’t show Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, last seen at the end of season one emerging from the wreckage of a TIE fighter with the Darksaber, a lightsaber used as a symbol of Mandalorian leadership that has been shown in several animated “Star Wars” TV shows, but never in live action before now. While we get shots of TIE fighters with folding wings like the one Gideon flew in season one and stormtroopers that may be a part of his Imperial remnant, Gideon himself doesn’t appear in the trailer, despite confirmation that he will appear in this season.
The trailer also doesn’t confirm any of the major casting rumors swirling around the show. Rosario Dawson is rumored to have been cast as Ahsoka Tano, the former Jedi apprentice of Anakin Skywalker who left the Jedi Order and became a significant player in the formation of the Rebel Alliance. In terms of the “Star Wars” canon timeline, Ahsoka was last seen in “Star Wars Rebels” venturing out with Sabine Wren to search for the vanished Jedi and rebel Ezra Bridger, so despite Rosario Dawson’s absence from this trailer, the appearance of Sasha Banks and rumors that she has been cast as Sabine Wren have only fueled the speculation that we’ll finally see Ahsoka in live action this season.
Other casting rumors not confirmed by the trailer include Temuera Morrison, the actor who played the clones in the prequel trilogy, as either Captain Rex — a popular character from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” — or bounty hunter Boba Fett, and Katee Sackhoff as the live action counterpart of the animated character she voiced, Bo-Katan Kryze. The trailer has fed speculation of Boba Fett’s appearance in the show based on some equipment shown on the back of the Mandalorian’s speeder bike in one shot, and while Katee Sackhoff doesn’t appear in the trailer, fans still wonder if her character will appear in an explanation of how Moff Gideon acquired the Darksaber, as Bo-Katan Kryze is another significant Mandalorian and the last character to be in possession of the saber before Gideon.
Final Thoughts
While this trailer doesn’t do much to confirm the plot of season two or address any of the major casting rumors regarding the show, it still features a lot of exciting new footage that’ll have fans excited to watch the next season of “The Mandalorian.” As for finding out what actually happens in season two? Well, it’s looking like we’ll have to wait until the season premiere on Oct. 30. Nobody ever said waiting is easy, but hey — this is the way.
You can watch the first season of "The Mandalorian" streaming now on Disney+.
