The Mandalorian S02E05 is the episode that diehard Star Wars fans had been waiting for. Entitled “The Jedi”, The Mandalorian S02E05 delivered the ultimate fan-service – the live action debut of a beloved animated character, Ahsoka Tano! At the end of the previous episode, Bo-Katan had revealed the location of one of the last surviving Jedis – the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus.
Right off the bat, Ahsoka is depicted in the opening sequence – in her full Jedi glory. Rosario Dawson is utterly believable as the adult version of Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, whom fans grew to love in The Clone Wars. I daresay that as far as female Jedis are concerned, Ashoka certainly removed the bitter taste of how Rey turned out in the sequel trilogy. Ahsoka is the real thing, for sure!
The story itself in The Mandalorian S02E05 is somewhat per functionary. The Mandalorian seeks to find the Child’s own kind (i.e. the Jedi) so that he can be trained in their special ways. As is typical in this series, the Mandalorian has to help the guest character to achieve their goals in order for them to return the favour. In this respect, he agrees to help Ahsoka free the city from Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and her lieutenant Lang (Michael Biehn).
This plot line occupies the bulk of The Mandalorian S02E05 together with Ahsoka’s investigations into the Child’s origins which are revealed in this episode. Oh and the Child’s real name is Grogu! Certainly took them long enough to get to that!
Like the episode introducing the live action version of Bo-Katan, The Mandalorian S02E05 expanded the Disney+ Star Wars universe by name-dropping an infamous antagonist from the Rebels animated series (and the Expanded Universe novels, which are no longer canon, according to Disney) and providing a pivot into the Ahsoka spin-off on the horizon.
It’s heartening to realise that show runners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have the pulse of the fans truly within their grasp and these exciting developments will guarantee the future of Star Wars, at least in the streaming TV sphere. Yet another stellar episode of The Mandalorian with the promise of more great Star Wars stories to come.
… still there’s more …