Through 15 episodes, I've quite enjoyed The Mandalorian. Writer/showrunner Jon Favreau and writer/director/Star Wars guru Dave Filoni have given us a TV series that feels distinctly Star Wars-ian — a fantasy/samurai/Western-inspired adventure splashing around at the fringes of a rusted-out, sci-fi universe — while at the same time carving out space for a brand new cast of characters and plot points free from the burden of the so-called Skywalker Saga. I'm also fond of its rigidly episodic structure, which is a nice throwback amid the heavily serialized television of the streaming era.
So I was psyched for the highly-anticipated season-two finale, which arrived on Friday to an explosion of joy and celebration from the fandom at large … while I was left scratching my head and wondering how anyone thought this could be considered a strong ending for the story of Din Djarin and Grogu (née Baby Yoda). If it indeed even is the ending, which is frustratingly unclear at this time. More on that later! But, for the moment, let's just say I was less than happy with the episode and break down my issues with it point by point.
Deus Ex Skywalker
My first argument is probably my most obvious: Luke Skywalker, fresh off of overthrowing the Empire, swoops into save the day here while Din and company sit around and watch. I don't understand how anyone who has become invested with these characters could be happy with that outcome on a conceptional level. Again, part of the fun of this show is that it finally got away from the thing the Star Wars saga seems so reluctant to move away from — the Skywalker family. Bringing Luke back feels like a desperate dive back into the franchise's endlessly recycled history while Din is left to be a bystander in his own climax. The introduction of Ahsoka Tano into the series earlier this season (in an episode I absolutely loved) worked far better, partially because Ahsoka doesn't come with so much baggage, but also because she didn't eclipse Din's importance to the story. Instead, she was presented as another character floating around the universe who momentarily aids Din in his mission. Luke, however, is presented as the only reason the mission succeeds. (Ask yourself this: If Din and his strike team would have never made it to the Imperial cruiser, would it have changed Grogu's fate? It doesn't seem to me like it would have. Luke, following Grogu's call, would have shown up, kicked ass and saved the little guy anyway. Sure, Din got him to the Jedi temple two episodes back — and we'll credit him for that — but he basically played no part in Grogu's rescue.)
So, okay, we get the momentary jolt of seeing Luke in action in his prime. Although that sensation quickly fades when you realize the scene is a hollow, empty exercise. Young Luke himself is not a great CG effect, suffering from the same plastic-y sheen that plagued Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia in Rogue One. The Uncanny Valley might as well become a Tatooine geographical landmark at this point. (Why is it that Marvel's de-aging tech looks so impressive while Lucasfilm's continues to look considerably worse? Is it because Marvel usually gets to use the actual original actor for reference, while Disney utilizes body doubles? I honestly don't know. It's the same damn company!)
Even if we give the FX a pass, what's to get excited about here? It's obviously not Mark Hamill slicing down those Dark Troopers. It's a stunt guy in a robe with his face covered strolling down the same grey corridor we've seen too many times in this franchise. Who cares? And once the hood comes off, Luke isn't given anything interesting to say or do. He's there in a plot capacity only, with Hamill (who is credited for providing Luke's voice) unable to convey any of young Skywalker's typical enthusiasm and passion. It's the most boring version of Luke possible, and it felt to me like an unneeded apology for The Last Jedi's action-adverse version of Luke Skywalker (who was obviously fantastic and needed no apologizing for in the first place).
I swear sometimes people's brains short-circuit when they see a cool character doing cool things, regardless of context, which is also why so many Star Wars fans adore Rogue One. Nobody cares that it's a movie full of boring characters with boring arcs; they just love that Darth Vader spends five minutes fucking a bunch of Rebels' shit up so the movie gets a pass.
Also, while we're here, can we go ahead and acknowledge the design of those Dark Trooper robots was not great? They would have been AWESOME in a Chopping Mall sequel. Here? Eh, they gave me bad prequel flashbacks.
What's up with Bo-Katan's belief system?
When we first meet Bo-Katan this season, she takes her helmet off and Din has a mini-freak-out over it. The Mandalore culture is basically a religion, and it quickly becomes clear that she's not a hardline evangelical like he is. It set up an interesting dichotomy, with Din a slave to tradition and Bo-Katan being less concerned with the rules. Until that is Din tries to hand her the Darksaber … at which point the roles are completely switched and Bo-Katan is unable to take it unless the two duel for the right to possess it. Uhhhh … what?!
When you employ the sparse narrative structure that The Mandalorian does, these characterizations matter, and when you suddenly reverse course from them for no other reason than to artificially create a few moments of drama, it rings false and feels like a cheat. Bo-Katan is a character pulled from the animated Star Wars TV shows The Clone Wars and Rebels — I've watched the latter but not the former — and maybe the events of those shows could help explain the logic gap here. Although two things: One, no one should be expected to have to watch a completely different show to explain a character's suddenly changing motivations in this one. And, two, Star Wars Rebels has Bo-Katan gladly accepting the Darksaber from another character with no mention of a duel at all! So not only is this turn of events silly in terms of The Mandalorian finale, it doesn't even match up with established lore.
So what happens now and should we be happy about it?
Okay, so here's why my criticisms could potentially be amplified or reduced, depending on where The Mandalorian goes from here. This finale ends with a stinger teasing the further adventures of Boba Fett in something called "The Book of Boba Fett." Now, is that a brand new spinoff series that Disney failed to announce at their investors' meeting last week? Or is "The Book of Boba Fett" actually season three of The Mandalorian, which will shift focus to a different guy wearing similar armor? As of right now, it's unclear. If it's the latter, then take all my complaints here and multiply them by a factor of five. If this was truly the end of Din and Grogu's story, then it feels completely abrupt and unearned. It would be as if Favreau ran into some imaginary deadline and quickly had to scribble down, "And then Luke Skywalker shows up and saves the day. The End." You guys would really be happy with that?! Sixteen episodes of television is not that many, especially to an old-timer like me who grew up watching 22-episode seasons. For such an exciting show — one that renewed a lot of people's faiths in the storytelling possibilities of Star Wars — to suddenly wrap up after such a short time with an awkward, fan-servicey finale feels disrespectful to everything Favreau built over the first 15 episodes.
Or, if "The Book of Boba Fett" is a separate spinoff show (and I'd be fine with that, especially if the wonderful Ming-Na Wen is the second lead), then what happens with The Mandalorian next year? Typically, ongoing TV series build in narrative hooks that leave you frothing at the mouth to know what happens next. It's literally how TV works, and a great season-ending cliffhanger is a time-honored TV tradition. This episode of The Mandalorian had none of that though. It honestly felt like the true and final ending to the story. Will Din and Grogu need to reunite, further reducing this episode's importance to nothing more than a stunt? Is Grogu's story now finished, and we'll next follow Din on a completely different adventure, perhaps on a quest to reclaim Mandalore? I guess that's okay? Pretty unexpected though. Oh, and if that's the case, does that just mean that Grogu goes off to train with Luke only to get slaughtered by Ben Solo and his Knights of Ren a few years down the road?! What kind of ending for Baby Yoda is that?!?! (The clumsy world-building of the sequel trilogy strikes again.)
There's a lot of confusion right now about where The Mandalorian goes from here, and it's something Lucasfilm is going to have to clear up sooner rather than later. I'm a bit shocked that the biggest jewel in the Disney+ crown is at least momentarily under a haze, with no one exactly sure what the show will look like when it returns next fall. Is this all part of Favreau's plan? Did some behind-the-scenes drama shake up his long-term intentions for the series? Is The Mandalorian going to turn into an anthology show? Is Disney really going to shut down the Baby Yoda merchandizing cash cow?
So, yeah, I've got questions to go with my complaints. For many of you, clearly the sight of a young Luke Skywalker showing up green lightsaber in hand was enough to win you over. Maybe this hellish past year successfully killed the my inner-child? Or maybe we're just back to the simple fact that what I want from Star Wars is not at all what everyone else wants from Star Wars. Based on what The Mandalorian had been prior to the season-two finale, I thought Favreau and I saw eye to eye on this. Sadly, it seems like I was wrong.
