'The Mandalorian' Season 2: Will Mando face the Jedi as allies or as his people's greatest enemies?
At the end of last season, our titular Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) was tasked with not the protection of the popularly-named Baby Yoda, but with reuniting the child with his people. The child's species are one of the few big mysteries left in the 'Star Wars' universe, as despite decades of extended universe material across several mediums, Yoda and the child's race haven't even been named, much less explored in depth. 'The Mandalorian' Season 2 seems set to finally give us some insight into this mysterious race, but will he be meeting them as potential allies...or as his people's worst enemies?
When the Empire rose and executed Order 99, it wiped out nearly all of the galaxy's existing Jedi warriors. By the time 'A New Hope' came around, even the knowledge of the Jedi and their faith had been all but wiped from the galaxy's memory. Though Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his allies managed to take down the Empire, with Luke himself taking up the mantle of a new Jedi warrior, he's a long way from re-establishing the Jedi faith throughout the galaxy - meaning the Jedi would be little more than myth to a bounty hunter from the Outer Rim like the Mandalorian.
One person who is more aware of the Jedi, however, is the Armorer (Emily Swallow) - but that knowledge can be a dangerous thing, as the Mandalorians and the Jedi have a contentious history with each other. The Armorer mentions the war between the legendary Mandalorian hero, Mandalore the Great, and the Jedi Order. There were years of conflict between the Mandalorians and the Jedi, and one that ultimately led to devastation for the planet of Mandalore, years before the Clone Wars even began. In a move to utterly decimate the Jedi, Mandalorian warlords set off weaponry throughout the planet that caused a cataclysm, leaving much of the planet scorched and uninhabitable aside from domed cities protected from the planets harsh environs.
Though it was the Mandalorian warlords who set the cataclysm in motion, the Mandalorians never forgot that it happened in a war with the Jedi, and many still bear that grudge. The Armorer, as keeper of Mandalorian lore and tradition, may have passed on that hatred to Mando - in the trailer we see him refer to them as "enemy sorcerers". Though they're both the good guys from an audience perspective, there may be little love lost between the two when they finally meet. Given that Yoda and the child's race seem to all be especially Force-sensitive, it's possible that they're the key to a secret race of Jedi that have been on the run from the Empire for all these years - and they're not likely to be friendly to anyone they perceive as a threat.
You can watch a trailer for the upcoming season below.
Season 2 of 'The Mandalorian' debuts on Disney+ on Friday, October 30.