The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian first two episodes. Do yourself a favor and don't read this until you've seen it.
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We had a lot of questions following the first episode of The Mandalorian and while the second episode was absolutely excellent, what it wasn't was an episode that answered any significant questions. If anything it only increased the number of curiosities that we've amassed surrounding the new series.
Episode 2 was a bit on the short side – less than 30 minutes long when you take out the credits and the previous episode recap – but that doesn't mean it was short on story. It had a remarkable opening and did reveal one key piece of information about one of our characters. If you need to catch up, you can sign-up for a seven day free Trial of Disney+ by clicking here. Here are the big questions we have following the episode called "The Child."
Do Jawas Just Live On Every Desert Planet?
The Mandalorian is a series that is introducing a lot of new characters to the galaxy, far, far away, but we did get to see one race of creatures we were familiar with in this new episode, Jawas. These tiny hooded aliens were just what we're familiar with, they're traders interested in technology products. They end up stripping The Mandalorian's ship when he leaves it unattended for too long.
We don't technically know what planet this is all taking place on, we don't know that it's not Tatooine, and that would be a pretty wild coincidence if it was. However, if it's not, then that means that Jawas live on more planets than we previously knew, as we certainly thought they were indigenous to Tatooine. If that's not quite true, it would seem that they do still have a preference for desert planets, as this planet and Luke Skywalker's home have a lot in common.
Is “The Child” Really A Child?
From all outward appearances, the character that we're only calling The Child, is exactly that. Based on its size, it appears to be essentially a baby, but based on what we see The Child do in this episode, is that really the case? Because we don't know much about this particular race, it could be the creature has much more mature faculties than we suspect.
The one main thing that we see The Child do is use the Force to keep The Mandalorian from being trampled by a massive beast. That's a pretty deliberate act. Not only that, but the use of the Force clearly takes some effort and concentration, something that most infants or toddlers don't exactly have among humans. The Child can walk, and while it may not be able to speak, that doesn't mean the Child's mind isn't closer to the 50-year-old it is than the baby it resembles.
What Else Can "The Child" Do?
We see The Child use The Force to lift a creature into the air, a pretty standard move for those capable of wielding the Force. However, that's not the only thing that the character tries to do in the episode. The Child takes a serious interest in The Mandalorian while he's taking time to deal with his injuries following the battle with rival bounty hunters. What exactly was it trying to do?
Was The Child attempting to heal the Mandalorian? It seemed quite interested in his wounds. It might have simply been the sort of curiosity that tiny kids often have, but maybe it was more. The idea of using the Force to heal isn't new, but most examples of it come from the old extended universe, what's now called Legends. Still, those Legends stories have frequently inspired the new canon, so it's certainly possible we could see Force Healing before this season is over.
Is This The Last We’ll See Of Nick Nolte?
At the end of the new episode of The Mandalorian, we said goodbye to the character Kuiil, voiced by Nick Nolte. He provides our hero with invaluable help in both of the first two episodes of the series, and he's going to be a character that we won't soon forget, which is why it's not so much fun to consider the fact that we may not see him again.
It seems highly unlikely that the story will bring us back to this planet again, at least not this season. The Mandalorian has done his job, retrieved his target, and left. There are also several characters that we know are going to become part of the story that we haven't even met yet, so it seems likely that Nick Nolte's voice has left the story to make room for others. Still, Nolte was great. I have spoken.
Will The Mandalorian Really Hand Over The Child?
The Mandalorian has successfully made it off planet with his bounty. Baring an attack in deep space on the way back, there shouldn't be anything standing in the way of Mando handing over the little baby Yoda to the scientist who wants to examine him. But will he actually do it?
Even from the first moments that Mando set his eyes on the little creature, it seemed the two were forming a bond. We know the Mandalorian was a foundling himself, an orphan, and so he likely feels like he's found a kindred spirit. Depending on what exactly his employers have in mind to do to the little guy, it seems likely the Mandalorian may change his mind about cashing out on this job.
What Do The Rest Of The Directors Have In Store For The Mandalorian?
The second episode of The Mandalorian was full of great stuff despite its short run time, but the highlight was the first 10 minutes of the show, which was handled in complete silence. No character said a word out loud until The Mandalorian met up with Kuiil again. This was just one element that made the second episode of the show feel very different from the first, which makes us wonder what unique and creative ideas might be on the way for future episodes.
The directors handling the first season of The Mandalorian are basically a who's who of talented individuals. While the lack of speech in the first third of "The Child" might have been part of Jon Favreau's writing rather than a creative decision by director Rick Famuyiwa, there's still plenty there making the episode feel like a different creation. With names like Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Taika Waititi (as well as second runs by Famuyiwa and Episode One director Dave Filoni), it feels like each will be allowed to bring their own style to the episodes they are creating, and that could produce some very exciting television.
What's next? Who knows? There are six more episodes in this first season of The Mandalorian, and that's not all that much. Pretty soon, we'll almost certainly begin to get some answers to these questions, and probably more questions to add to the list on top of that.
The Mandalorian streams on Disney+ on Fridays at 12:01 a.m. ET.
