Baby Yoda and Mando will start their season 2 adventures on Friday, let’s take a look at where we left off with them.
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You know that feeling when you jump into season 2 of a show like The Mandalorian — or even watch a trailer — nearly a year after watching the previous season? You say “Who’s that guy?” You’re all like “Who’s that guy? What did that guy say when I said ‘Who’s that guy?'”
Let’s just skip that by taking a look at where all the characters left off at the end of season 1, which took place about five years after the Empire’s defeat in Return of the Jedi, before Baby Yoda and his sidekick make their Disney Plus comeback on Friday.
Mando
The season 1 finale saw Mando (whose real name is Din Djarin) tasked with reuniting Baby Yoda with “his own kind” by the unnamed Mandalorian Armorer. She also declared them a “clan of two” and granted Mando a very cool signet of a mudhorn — the creature Baby Yoda saved him from in their first adventure together. He’s pretty much the little guy’s dad now.
This is the way.
He also started out the previous season with an intense distrust for droids, since his parents were killed by separatist battle droids during the Clone Wars (he was rescued and raised by the Mandalorians). After being saved from the brink of death by reprogrammed assassin droid IG-11, his anti-mechanical pal stance softened.
Ah, the classic magic hand thing.
Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET
Baby Yoda
It’s unclear if reuniting Baby Yoda (official name “The Child”) with his own kind means tracking down other members of his species or the Jedi. The latter is more likely, since the little guy has displayed some serious Force abilities.
We know very little about his actual species, since Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Council member Yaddle are the only other ones we’ve seen in canon. Their species’ name and home world is unknown, but they appear to be unusually strong in the Force and have long lifespans — Baby Yoda is around 50 and actual Yoda was more than 900 years old when he died in Return of the Jedi.
Actually finding Jedi could prove challenging though, since most of them were wiped out when the Empire rose to power. The only Jedi we know of is Luke Skywalker, who’s likely researching the Order’s past at this point in the timeline. However, if Baby Yoda ends up being trained by Luke, he’ll presumably be killed when Kylo Ren destroys the Jedi temple (around 23 years later in the timeline). So let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
One alternative is Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan. She left the Jedi during the Clone Wars and a flashforward at the end of Rebels revealed that she survived to at least this point in the timeline. She may not be a Jedi any more, but her understanding of the Force would make her an ideal teacher for the little green guy.
The classic Imperial smirk.
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Moff Gideon
The Big Bad of season 1 was last seen carving his way out of his crashed TIE fighter with the Darksaber — a black-bladed lightsaber and Mandalorian symbol of leadership. We don’t know how this Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) officer got hold of this weapon, but he does look very cool wielding it and Mandalorian pride may force them to try to retrieve it.
Gideon is the leader of an Imperial Remnant — one of the many groups that formed after Palpatine’s “death” — on the galaxy’s Outer Rim. He wants Baby Yoda and already has some of his genetic material, but we don’t know why.
Speculation time: He’s trying to gain Force powers (having served an Empire led by a cackling space wizard) or is trying to create an army of Force-strong warriors. He might also be serving the reborn Palpatine, since the Sith Lord was having trouble creating a new cloned body for himself. Baby Yoda could be useful in that.
There was some tension between Cara, Mando and Greef in season 1, but they started getting along in the end.
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Cara Dune and Greef Karga
After escaping Gideon’s wrath with Mando and company, rebel soldier-turned-mercenary Cara decided to become Karga’s enforcer as he rebuilt the Bounty Hunter’s Guild on Nevarro.
After some tussles and betrayals earlier in season 1, they parted with Mando and Baby Yoda on friendly terms.
The Armorer had plenty of wise words for Mando in season 1, peppered with reminders that “This is the way.”
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The Tribe
The majority of Mandalorians were killed in the Empire’s Great Purge, with the survivors going into hiding — the Tribe was one such group. They were largely wiped out by the Imperial Remnant after helping Mando flee Nevarro, but the Armorer suspected that some had escaped.
The Armorer herself was last seen slaughtering a bunch of Stormtroopers, but we don’t know what happened to her after that.
Other survivors
Mayfield: Mercenary Bill Burr-in-space was last seen in a New Republic prison cell, along with the Twi’lek Xi-an and the Devaronian Burg.
Dr. Pershing: The scientist who harvested Baby Yoda’s genetic material argued for the little guy to be spared by the Empire, so Mando let him live.
He will speak no more.
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Not coming back
Kuiil: He has spoken for the last time — the Ugnaught mechanic was gunned down by Imperials as they briefly took back Baby Yoda.
IG-11: The assassin-turned-nurse droid self-destructed to wipe out a bunch of Stormtroopers, to help Mando and friends escape. He’s not the only IG unit in the galaxy though, so we could see another just like him.
The Client: The creepy but charming Imperial was shot by Gideon’s troops after failing to reacquire Baby Yoda because that guy is super ruthless.
Fennec Shand: This assassin was blasted by bounty hunter Toro Calican, whom Mando killed shortly thereafter, on Tatooine. A mysterious person approached her corpse afterwards, and that person’s identity is one of season 1’s unsolved mysteries.
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