The Mandalorian season 2 finale left us with 10 burning questions

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian.

Chapter 16 of The Mandalorian was a lot. Not a lot in terms of time, perhaps. "The Rescue" was a bit on the long side for the famously expeditious Disney+ Star Wars series, yet still only came in around 40 minutes (credits excluded). But there was quite a bit to take in, and a lot of lingering questions when it was all over.

Here are the most crucial questions we are left wondering…

What happens now with the Darksaber?

Mando is the owner, whether he wants it or not. In the Star Wars Rebels episode "Legacy of Mandalore," fans were basically told, though in far less firm terms, what Moff Gideon said — that the proper owner of the Darksaber must win the blade in combat (making it a bit like the Star Wars version of the Elder Wand in the Harry Potter mythos). But in another Star Wars Rebels episode, Sabine Wren simply gave the Darksaber to Bo-Katan and she accepted it and used it ("I accept this sword for my sister, my clan and for all of Mandalore!"). At any rate, this "must win it in combat" rule sets up Bo-Katan being in conflict with Mando now, and presumably, she'll need more than an expelliarmus spell to get those full Darksaber usage rights.

Some old Grogu questions linger.

We fully expected the finale to drop some crucial new piece of intel about Baby Yoda. Moff Gideon has hinted he has some crucial information about the kid that's relevant to the story. How did Grogu survive Order 66? And what is Gideon using his blood for, exactly? That familiar chestnut "bring order back to the galaxy" was as close as we got. Fans are betting that Gideon is trying to create, and eventually succeeds, in making Supreme Leader Snoke.

And new Grogu questions were added.

How much is Grogu going to be part of the show now that he's taking a different path than Mando? Given the difficulty of pulling off CG Luke Skywalker, one suspects we're not going to be frequently hanging out with Luke and Grogu (but really, anything is possible here). Another question: Does this mean Grogu will be training alongside a very young Ben Solo, a.k.a. Kylo Ren?

What's going to happen to Moff Gideon?

Despite slaying gobs of stormtroopers without a thought, our heroes were pretty intent on keeping the show's master villain alive. Presumably, he's now taken into custody. But it's tough to imagine the show keeping Gideon sitting in a cell for too long — where's the fun in that? Perhaps they'll pull a Mayfield, and lock him up until events transpire whereby they need him for some reason (or perhaps we'll get a future chapter titled "The Escape").

How does Mando get anywhere now?

I was privately betting the season 2 finale would give Boba Fett a proper heroic death (the one he was arguably denied by Return of the Jedi) and that Mando would get his ship to replace the Razor Crest. Boy was that wrong. As Mando lacks a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy or Outer Rim Uber, he's going to have to presumably replace his ship somehow.

Will Mando be removing his helmet regularly now?

The show seems like it is headed in that direction, with Pedro Pascal getting face time with the audience twice in the final two episodes of the season. If so, we certainly wouldn't complain.

What's Cara Dune's future?

Cara Dune had some of her best action moments in the finale. Disney has announced a Rangers of the New Republic spin-off series and Dune is, well, a Ranger of the New Republic. But Disney didn't announce any talent attached to the spin-off and actress Gina Carano's controversial tweets have been raising eyebrows, leaving some to wonder as to the future of the character.

Where's Grand Admiral Thrawn?

Ahsoka Tano name-dropped the blue-skinned Imperial leader who was first introduced in Timothy Zahn's excellent Thrawn trilogy of books (if you want to dip into reading Star Wars novels and aren't sure where to begin, it's hard to do better than Zahn's Heir to the Empire). A safe assumption is Thrawn will be the big bad in the Ahsoka spin-off series instead of being a focus in The Mandalorian.

What the hell is The Book of Boba Fett?

First: Very cool title! After some initial confusion generated by that post-credits scene title card, Jon Favreau has explained that The Book of Boba Fett will be a stand-alone spin-off series — not some sort of replacement for The Mandalorian season 3. Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett) and Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand) will star. In addition, Robert Rodriguez (who directed an action-filled Boba Fett-centric episode in season 2) is joining the new show's executive producing team (and will almost certainly direct an episode as well). The Book of Boba Fett is coming next December, and given that The Mandalorian season 3 is starting production afterward, it seems likely that Mando might not be back until 2022.

Did anybody actually die in that Return of the Jedi Sarlacc Pit fight? First Boba Fett was revealed to still be alive, and now Jabba the Hutt's chief of staff Bib Fortuna – who was on Jabba's barge when it exploded. Boba is understandable. He's a rather resourceful guy and was wearing a jetpack and we'll probably get that flashback in The Book of Boba Fett. But Bib Fortuna? (Yes, there was a non-canonical book that speculated Bib escaped using a private skiff, uh-huh). Season 2 of Mando in general was a rather deathless season. Our heroes killed stormtroopers by the dozen. But unlike last year, which introduced and then killed off IG-11 and Kuiil, all the heroic characters survived the season unscathed. There's been a lot of talk of Star Wars becoming Marvel-ized this season, and this is perhaps yet another indication – with Marvel, deaths are avoided (unless an actor wants to retire from a role) or frequently rolled back because every character is a potential franchise. With The Mandalorian sprouting new spinoffs, suddenly every character is a more precious commodity but also, perhaps, it comes at the sake of having the sort of actual life-and-death stakes that Star Wars previously embraced.

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The Mandalorian season 2 finale left us with 10 burning questions

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