Well, it's here at last, and it seems the first episode of The Mandalorian has dived
deeper into the Star Wars galaxy than anyone could have expected.
Although the pilot for the first live-action Star Wars series is paced slowly enough, things
really kick into gear during the back quarter of the show's very tidy 39 minutes, and the
episode's conclusion served up a truly exciting treat of a final twist.
The best place to start here is probably with the elephant in the room, or, more accurately,
the little green baby.
Anybody who's engaged with pop culture in the last four decades or so will immediately
recognize the little tyke in the floating pram as being of the same species as Yoda,
the inimitable Jedi Master who schooled Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force.
Now, The Mandalorian is set five years after the fall of the Empire, so Yoda is of course
dead, having passed away during the events of Return of the Jedi.
Here's the thing, though: through the many decades of expanded universe novels, comics,
and encyclopedias based on Star Wars, Yoda's species has never actually been given an official
designation, at the insistence of George Lucas himself.
You may recall that The Phantom Menace briefly introduced Yaddle, another member of Yoda's
species, but even then the species wasn't given a name.
Lucas likely did this in the past to maintain the mystery of Yoda's character, and as far
as the narrative of The Mandalorian is concerned, this could turn out to have been a wise choice.
Since Star Wars is transitioning away from the Skywalkers and their story, it feels like
the right time to pull the curtain away from the mystery of Yoda's people, both as an interesting
expansion of the galaxy's existing lore, and as a means of injecting The Mandalorian with
some well-timed hype.
The secondary surprise behind this literal last-minute twist, is, of course, the fact
that this crucial target for bounty hunters across the galaxy is a baby kept under heavy
guard on a backwater boulder of a planet.
Also noteworthy is the difference between the instructions given to the Mandalorian
and his fellow bounty hunter, the droid IG-11.
While the Mandalorian is heavily-incentivized to bring his bounty in alive, IG-11's instructions
were explicitly to kill, no questions asked.
"This is true."
They are members of the same guild, but were obviously contracted by two different parties
with very different interests surrounding the Yoda-like baby.
So, if even the remnants of the evil Empire aren't particularly keen to assassinate a
baby, who could possibly want the little green guy straight-up dead?
Perhaps more importantly, who could possibly be so invested in the life of this baby that
they'd place it on a distant planet, guarded by dozens of men?
Of course, it's totally possible that the heavy security guarding the baby was put up
by the New Republic, although this isn't made crystal clear, and it could be down to some
totally different benefactor, too.
It's also possible that there are different factions of the former Empire vying against
each other with the specific interests of either protecting or killing the child.
After the end of the Battle of Endor, the Empire became fragmented into a number of
smaller groups competing for power and influence.
It's also entirely possible that another one of these groups will come into play in future
episodes, with our bounty hunters and their young quarry caught in the middle.
Then you've got the Mandalorian himself.
The show's protagonist was given a surprising amount of backstory right up front in this
episode, but his motivations still remain very murky.
For example, he refuses to take Imperial credits as payment for a mission, even though it's
stated they still have monetary value, but he has no problem taking a face-to-face bounty
from an Imperial.
He's also clearly depicted as a hyper-competent and ruthless warrior who always gets his man,
no matter what.
"Look, there must be some mistake.
I can get you more credits."
"I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold."
But at the end of the episode, he's shown tentatively reaching out with a finger to
catch the baby's attention.
This character, all at once a hitman, an orphan, and a fellow just trying to get by, has only
just been introduced, and already it's clear that there's much more to him beyond his capacity
for hunting and killing.
It seems certain that the mystery of what lies underneath that helmet will be a major
focus of the first season of The Mandalorian.
With the first episode in the bag, though, only one thing is certain: if you were a helpless
baby alien stranded alone with half the galaxy out to kill you, this is definitely the guy
you'd want as your protector.
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