‘The Mandalorian’ season two: Biggest moments from the ‘Star Wars’ series

The second season of ‘Star Wars’ series ‘The Mandalorian’ came to a dramatic close this weekend, with a thrilling cameo appearance by the franchise’s most famous face. While the last few moments of the finale episode will go down in ‘Star Wars’ history as one of its best, the eight-episode season had plenty of standout moments that will see fans revisit the show for years to come. Here’s six of them:

Meet the Marshal: Season two opened with a bang when Mando (Pedro Pascal) and the Child headed to a town on Tatooine called Mos Pelgos, where they met with the town marshal, Cobb Vanth, curiously wearing a very familiar Mandalorian armour. He, of course, wears the scavenged armour of Boba Fett in order to defend the outpost from a giant sand dragon that poses a threat to the people he watches over. Mando and Vath team up to fight the sand dragon, as long as Vanth promises to hand over the armour once the deed is done. Timothy Olyphant as Vanth, with his cowboy swagger and dripping charisma, was a revelation in the episode.

Frog Lady and her sweet reunion: From saving Baby Yoda from a giant spider to bringing even Mando to heel, Frog Lady was perhaps the most endearing character to debut this season. Frog Lady meets with our series leads when she agrees to give them crucial information on other Mandalorians in exchange for safe passage aboard the Razor Crest. She’s under a time crunch to get her unfertilised eggs to her husband as fast as possible, and when the Frog Lady and her husband finally reunite at Trask, there’s few who wouldn’t have shed a tear. A moment for the ages!

Bo-Katan Kryze meets Mando and the Child: To see the iconic Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze be brought to life by an actor who voiced her for nearly decade in animates series ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ and ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ was a special treat. Katee Sackhoff made her live-action debut as Bo-Katan in ‘Chapter 11: The Heiress’, when Mando seeks her help to find other Force users to help the Child. Bo-Katan agrees to lead him to one if he in turn helps her in a mission of her own. She’s searching for the Darksaber, which has historically belonged to the leader of the Mandalorians and is currently in the possession of Moff Gideon. The thrilling episode sees the two Mandalorians — so different in their values — team up to seize weapons from an Imperial freighter.

Boba Fett: Not much need to be said other than the fact that ‘The Mandalorian’ finally gives this fan favourite character his due respect, especially with Temuera Morrison, who originally played Jango Fett in the movies, taking on the role. And if you liked what you saw here, the post credits scene after the finale episode also teased a new Boba Fett spin-offcoming to Disney+ next December, possibly as a tie-in or lead up to season three of ‘The Mandalorian’.

Ahsoka Tano’s dual-wielding spar against Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth: While the Ahsoka Tano reveal in itself was a huge moment — seeing that the Togruta Jedi is possibly the most famous ‘Star Wars’ character outside of the movies — a live-action fight featuring two lightsabers clash against a Beskar staff was as if watching a fever dream come to life. It’s a classic trope of course, a samurai-style fight with two titans facing off in a tranquil garden setting, and ‘The Mandalorian’ did full justice to the scene. Rosario Dawson’s performance as an older version of Tano was universally appreciated by fans, and Disney’s announcement of a new live-actions series featuring the Jedi was the icing on the cake. The episode also finally revealed the Child’s (lovingly dubbed as Baby Yoda by fans) real name — Grogu.

The biggest cameo of the season: In the final moments of the season finale, Mando, Bo-Katan, Cara Dune and Fennec Shand are deciding what to do about Moff Gideon on his ship, while a battalion of deadly dark troopers are headed towards them. And not a moment sooner, a single X-wing is seen flying in to dock with the cruiser. Help is at hand, and ‘Star Wars’ fans across the world fell silent in bated breath. What follows will surely go down in ‘Star Wars’ history as one of its most iconic moments, as a hooded figure with a familiar, green lightsabre slashes and force-chokes his way through the dark troopers with the controlled precision of a Jedi Master. When the doors finally open to the cockpit and the smoke clears, there standing is a young Luke Skywalker (brought to life with a CGI-real-life combo performance courtesy actor Max Lloyd-Jones), ready to take Grogu away for his training. It was a worthy comeback for the galaxy’s greatest hero, and makes the inevitable separation of Mando and Grogu even more bittersweet.