I love The Mandalorian, it is easily one of my favorite things Disney Star Wars has put out in the last five years, so you can imagine my excitement for season two.

Now, I wanted to wait on this review till the entire season had finished and I had the time to process and collect my thoughts on it. This is a spoiler review for The Mandalorian season two with some spoilers from season one as well. If you haven’t watched either of those, I suggest you do before continuing.

So picking up from the end of season one, we find Din Djarin aka Mando to everyone else, searching for both more Mandalorians as well as seeking out the Jedi to deliver The Child to. Meanwhile, Moff Gideon is still on the search for the Child himself and is in possession of an ancient Mandalorian weapon…the Darksaber.

This season sees the bond between Mando and The Child (whose name we learn is Grogu) grow. The seemingly unlikely pair possess a father/ son dynamic that is fairly enduring and sweet to watch.

The Mandalorian is at its best when it takes the chance to explore some of the sandbox that is the Star Wars universe and there appears to be an effort to include some artifacts of the old expanded universe (now labeled Legends) material back into the canon.

Most notably returning back to canon, is fan favorite Boba Fett. Prior to this season, pretty much all the interesting things Fett has done have been confined to novels and comics, making most of his abilities chalked up more to reputation and a cool look than anything. The episodes of this season featuring Boba Fett remedies this and shows off Fett’s talents far more effectively than other media has.

Other items working their way into the series include the gigantic Krayt Dragon and its relationship to the life and customs of the Tusken Raiders, Imperial Dark Troopers, and the inclusion of characters from the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series such as Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze. In addition to Bo-Katan’s appearance, we also learn from her that Mando was raised up by “The Watch” a group of religious zealots inspired by the old Mandalorian Death Watch.

The production design for this show still remains incredible. Sets and costuming are top notch, and the creature effects give us some of the coolest (and creepiest) monsters in the series.

Ludwig Göransson once again provides the score. The music manages to be both original and very evocative of classical Star Wars.

Of course, with all filmmaking there is always at least one mistake, and the notable one in this season was in the fourth episode with the appearance of a crew member dubbed “Jeans Guy” by fans. Disney has since digitally removed Jeans Guy from the episode.

The season ends with Grogu and Mando going their separate ways. It is a pretty heartfelt moment. Their relationship has been the heart of the series and to see it come to a close is a tearjerker and a bold move on the showrunner’s part.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the end of Mando’s journey, as we also have the conflict brought on now with his possession of the Darksaber and all the minutiae of Mandalorian culture.

And of course, we have a teaser at the end of the season, where Boba Fett, along with companion Fennec Shand, go to Jabba’s palace and kill Bib Fortuna, the current leader of Jabba’s crime business following the gangster’s death in Return of the Jedi. The teaser ends with an announcement for The Book of Boba Fett debuting in December 2021.

On the whole, I’m still loving The Mandalorian. It’s a fun, serialized, smashing of the action figures together space western and I’m looking forward to season three.