If you are anything like me, you’ve been watching the Disney+ show, “The Mandalorian” and are enjoying it…a lot. One of the many reasons why I enjoy this show so much is because it feels like Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have brought that Star Wars feel back with shows like “The Clone Wars” and “The Mandalorian.” Watching this show feels totally different than the sequel trilogy. The Mandalorian is freaking awesome!!!
Everything from the writing to the acting feels different, and in a much welcomed way. The original trilogy drew me in because it felt like a vast adventure that told the story of many awesome characters, both on the light and dark side, and I don’t mean just the force. It was a story of epic battles that showcased amazing feats from characters as they battled against all odds the “Galactic Empire” led by two sith lords Darth Vader and Darth Sidious.
A diverse cast of personalities ranging from C-3PO and R2D2, to Han Solo and Princess Leia, to Yoda, Obi-Wan, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker, all the way to Vader and Sidious, this story larger than life. All of this to say without mentioning the incredible space battles to try to take down the Death Star while following fleets led by more amazing characters on both sides of the alignment.
Then the sequel trilogy came
There was so much hope for those movies. The anticipation was off the charts as fans from all over the globe were eagerly anticipating what kind of adventures were in store for Lando, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and Luke. That anticipation was either squashed and destroyed like a supernova colliding with a black hole or it was affirmed. These films divided the fanbase and created such a schism that has had an impact on how fans view the overall Star Wars universe.
There are fans that want these sequel trilogy movies to be removed from canon as their very existence being canon taints Star Wars. Personally, as a lifelong fan of Star Wars, I was not a fan of the sequel trilogy because I felt there was a missed opportunity there. To me, the real sequel trilogy was created by Timothy Zahn in the form of his trio of books that directly followed the events of “Return of the Jedi” are titled, “Heir to the Empire”, “Dark Force Rising”, “The Last Command”. For a large majority of fans, including myself, these books tell the real sequel to the original trilogy, and continue the amazing story telling of the original trilogy.
I felt that instead of using these stories, even with CGI’d versions of Luke, Leia, and Han, the creators of the sequel trilogy felt it more necessary to tell a message of social justice at the expense of quality storytelling. That is a shame.
“The Mandalorian” brings a much needed return to Star Wars feel and story telling.
The main character of Mando is awesome. This guy brings to the screen all the lore that makes the Mandalorians badass. Boba Fett was discovered to be alive and shows up to kick some ass in a big way. With all the awesome that has been season 2, one key moment happens towards the end of the finale episode, where the protagonists are trapped aboard a ship, with their backs against the wall as their trying to stage this rescue of baby Yoda(Grogu).
When you see the title of this episode, at first you’re under the impression that the “rescue” is Mando staging the rescue of Grogu…think again. The actual rescue comes in the form of none other than Luke Skywalker totally stunning everyone and showing up in a solo X-Wing and pays homage to that Vader scene at the end of Rogue One(you know what I’m talking about) and Luke goes to town and displays the Jedi master badassery by destroying all the troopers that were trying to kill the protagonists. Luke even displays his mastery of force abilities that teeter on both the dark and the light with his choke/crushability.
Suprise Encounter
When Luke shows his face as he walks up to meet the protagonists of this episode, it is a CGI’d face of Luke with a voice-over, and it was awesome. I’ll take this ANYDAY of the week over what we got in the sequel trilogy. The internet was absolutely taken over by this moment as countless people posted their reactions. My reaction was, “that’s cool, Ahsoka gets more screen time”, which turned into, “but why would Ahsoka be flying specifically an X-Wing?”, which turned into, “green lightsaber, black glove hand, holy s%$& that is Luke Skywalker”. Absolutely awesome.
As I was watching the different reactions of fans as they watched this the range was from tears of joy to jubilant excitement. I can understand the tears of joy, because for Star Wars fans, especially Luke fans, what happened to that character in “The Last Jedi” was god-awful. The character makes no sense in terms of continuity with who he grew into in the original trilogy, and what he ended up being by the time you see him in the sequel trilogy.
Farmer to Jedi Knight
It does not make sense to this day how a farm boy can grow into a Jedi knight, then somehow have a prolific failure of a moment in trying to kill his nephew(when he didn’t attempt to kill Vader in RotJ), then we’re expected to believe Luke goes off as an asshole who is a hermit. Makes no sense. You know what also makes no sense? Han Solo leaves Leia to go back to smuggling for no reason after rising in the ranks to help overthrow the Empire and create the New Republic…but that’s a story for a different day. Back to Luke – This meant a lot to fans as it was a chance to see Luke in his Jedi master form. This is what fans wanted badly from the sequel trilogy, but unfortunately, they got Jake Skywalker.
Bring on season 3 and more awesome storytelling.
What do you think? Do you agree that the Mandalorian is freaking awesome? Leave a comment
The shift in Luke will make sense once you realize Kylo is going to kill Grogu.