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After originally airing on Friday, I’ve spent most of my weekend (whenever I wasn’t nursing a hangover and praying to the gambling gods) ruminating of The Mandalorian season two finale and realizing how much I thoroughly enjoyed the climactic chapter of Mando’s first two seasons.
As most fans of the series do, I actually watched “Chapter 16: The Rescue” a couple of times as I prepared for our Post-Credit Podcast recap/review episode, and while doing so, I noticed a connection between the series’ pilot and its most recent episode that just felt too on-the-nose to be chalked up as mere coincidence.
In “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian”, the episode concludes with Din Djarin discovering Baby Yoda, reaching out to touch his end as the episode fades to black. That moment was seemingly recreated in “Chapter 16: The Rescue”, only the roles were reversed: this time, it’s Baby Yoda reaching out to Mando.
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"Wherever I go, he goes."#TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/EbEAROg8VL
— Post Cred Pod (@PostCredPod) December 19, 2020
‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 16 Review: For Decades, ‘Star Wars’ Has Been Lost – Now It’s Been Found
In Chapter 1, the connection between Mando and Baby Yoda is distant and curious — Mando is reaching out because, well, he doesn’t know who or what Baby Yoda is. In Chapter 16, though, their connection is intimate and defined: Baby Yoda is now the one reaching out to Mando, but not because he doesn’t know who he is, but because he does and wants to say goodbye.
As for the future of these two, given the massive cultural phenomenon that Grogu (and Din Djarin, for that matter) has become, it’s hard to imagine Disney entirely removing him from the narrative in Season 3. Mando promises him that they’ll see each other again and that’s a pledge I fully expect the series, and Din, to keep. When that happens, I’m not sure, but that reunion will happen.
"Show yourself… Jedi."#TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/wpe5MR8RAi
— Post Cred Pod (@PostCredPod) December 21, 2020
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