The Mandalorian: 10 burning questions we have after season 2, episode 1

However, things aren’t quite as simple as they first appear – and in an episode full to the gills with content, fans may be left with quite a few questions when the credits roll. Luckily, we may already have some answers for you – with spoilers for the episode below the drop.

Why does Din Djarin need to track down other Mandalorians?

The point of The Mandalorian season two is that our titular hero needs to track down the society of his young charge The Child – a figure better known to all of us watching at home as Baby Yoda.

However, finding Adult Yodas isn’t so easy – so before he can begin his search, Mando needs to track down some more of his own people so they can help guide him with their own contacts and inside info. Unfortunately, he didn’t do this in season one before they were mostly wiped out, which was also partially his fault. Whoops.

In season two, then, Mando needs to find Mandalorians, to find Yodas. Which is what leads him back to Tattooine anyway…

Huw Fullerton

What is a Krayt Dragon, and have we seen one before?

Yes – the fearsome beastie hunted by Mando, Cobb and their allies in their series has popped up in Star Wars before, most notably in the original 1977 Star Wars movie A New Hope.

However, that Krayt Dragon was already dead, with its long skeleton forming part of the background of Star Wars’ iconic original Tattooine sequence. In other words, it’s a pretty deep-cut Easter Egg showing us a monster we’ve never quite seen in action before (unless you played the 2014 mobile game called Star Wars: Commander).

HF

What was that white sphere the Tusken Raiders were so excited about?

Remember at the end of the episode when the Tuskens excitedly sliced up the fallen Krayt Dragon? Well, this references a key part of their culture: it’s said that the true test of an adult is to slay such a beast and remove the pearl from its stomach. And technically, as it was The Mandalorian who killed the dragon, it belongs to him.

That Tusken who celebrates picking up the pearl? A big ol' thief, folks.

Thomas Ling

What other Star Wars Easter Eggs were in the episode?

Quite a few! We spotted Return of the Jedi’s Gamorrean Guards, a Darth Maul-like Dathomirian, an R5 droid from A New Hope and a nifty little podracer speedbike among others in an unusually reference-heavy episode.

Check out a full list of The Mandalorian Easter Eggs from season two’s premiere elsewhere on RadioTimes.com.

HF

Is Timothy Olyphant playing Boba Fett?

If you’re talking about the guy wearing Boba Fett’s armour and using his weapons…no. That’s Cobb Vanth, a character played by Timothy Olyphant (and taken from Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath books) who we discover in the episode has taken the legendary bounty hunter’s gear for his own purposes.

Vanth isn’t actually a Mandalorian, despite wearing the armour – which is why Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin is so incensed to see him wearing the apparel of one.

HF

Why does The Mandalorian want Boba Fett’s armour so much anyway?

At first, The Mandalorian’s threat to kill Cobb Vanth over his green beskar get-up might seem at tad over the top. However, as is explained in season one of the show, armour is an essential part of Mandalorian religion and culture.

Not only is armour only passed down from generation to generation, but certain tribes – such as the one Pascal’s Mando belongs to – restricts Mandalorians from removing their helmet unless alone. As such, it’s believed that only a true Mandalorian is permitted to wear it.

TL

Have we misunderstood Tusken Raiders all these years?

In the Star Wars movies, the Tusken Raiders/Sand People have been presented as warlike brutes, who attack anyone in their path and even take potshots at podraces. However, in The Mandalorian’s first season we saw a more measured side to them, which is extended in the season two premiere.

The Tusken Raiders of The Mandalorian have strategy, language, culture and some legitimate grievances against the settlers they’ve been clashing with, and overall it’s a much more sympathetic portrait than we’ve been used to for one of Star Wars’ least-explored races.

With hindsight, Anakin Skywalker’s (Hayden Christensen) massacre of the Tusken Raiders (“And not just the men, but the women and the children, too” lest we forget) looks even more shocking. Maybe they were just looking to trade, Ani!

HF

What do Tusken Raiders look like under their outfits?

Tusken Raiders, Tuskens or Sand People: whatever you want to call them, The Mandalorian just offered the closest ever look into their culture. However, we still don’t know what these scavengers look like under their rags and robes.

Do they appear human? We can’t be sure. That’s because in Tusken culture, it’s strictly forbidden to expose any skin – even in death. In fact, there’s only three circumstances when they are allowed to be unclothed: at birth, their wedding night, or at during coming-of-age rituals.

In other words, best arrange yourself a Tusken wedding to get the answer to this one.

TL

Wait, was that Boba Fett?

Yes, it really seems like the caped figure appearing in the episode’s final shot was indeed Boba Fett.

Even though we’ve never actually seen the bounty hunter out of his signature green amour, we know that he looks identical to Jango Fett actor Temuera Morrison. How? Because, as set out in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Boba is the cloned son of Jango.

Although Jango was killed by Mace Windu in Attack of the Clones, Boba survived, becoming one of the most feared bounty hunters.

Okay, there’s always the possibility that Morrison isn’t actually playing Boba Fett. After all, as Jango Fett was the template for the Republic’s clone army, he could be playing any cloned trooper. Indeed, some have speculated that Morrison has been cast as Captain Rex, a commander from animated series The Clone Wars.

However, there’s a key flaw in this theory: it’s likely all clone troopers are now dead. Or, at least very old.

To get them battle-ready faster, clone troopers were designed to age at an accelerated rate (twice that of humans). Assuming The Mandalorian is set nine years after the Battle of Yavin (9ABY) – and most clone soldiers were hatched around 30 years before A New Hope – any trooper would be 80 years old, in clone years. The figure we saw in The Mandalorian? Much younger.

The only reasonable explanation: Boba Fett was in The Mandalorian. It really happened.

TL

Why is Boba Fett in hiding, and how did he lose his armour?

Now we’ve established it was Boba Fett in The Mandalorian, it’s not clear exactly why he’s living alone and without his Beskar steel armour.

The last we saw him, in Return of the Jedi (approximately five years earlier) Boba was wearing his battle gear, fighting Luke Skywalker and the rebels on Tatooine. True, the armour could have been severely damaged after Fett fell into the Sarlacc Pit, but this doesn’t explain how Boba became completely separated from it.

Was the armour taken from him, perhaps as he laid unconscious after a gruelling climb out of the Sarlacc? Did he need to remove it to make a getaway for some reason?

Whatever the reason Boba discarded his armour, it seems significant that he hasn’t yet tried to retrieve it – or left Tatooine. Even without his Beskar plates, he’s a resourceful bounty hunter who could find a way back to civilisation. Instead, he’s roaming the planet’s desert wielding Tusken Raider weapons.

Has Boba become a hermit à la Ben Kenobi? Or, is he hiding on Tatooine in fear from a hidden threat? We may have to wait to find out...

TL

Want to know more about The Mandalorian cast, read our The Mandalorian review or find out when is The Mandalorian set? Check out our suite of content on RadioTimes.com.

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