The Mandalorian Season 2.

It came and went quicker than a podracer crossing the finish line, but the second season of The Mandalorian has come and gone. Finishing last Friday with the aptly titled "The Rescue." I'm not going to bog this article down by giving you and arbitrary rundown of the episode's plot. Mostly because I think that's a cheap way of getting more words onto the page. But also, it is because the realised that most the people who are most likely to read this lovingly prepared article will fall into one of two main groups.

The first group is comprised of those who have seen the episode and do not need a rundown of the plot. Either because you know it well enough and don't need my condescending attempt at a recap, or you don't remember it well enough and now get the unique treat of watching it again and reminding yourself of what happened. I promise you, it will be better than any summary I can provide. Go ahead... I'll be right here when you get back.

The second group is comprised of those who haven't seen the show and may be using my review as a either a recommendation to either watch the show or to avoid it. If you are one of these people, then I whole-heartedly invite you to go and look in the mirror and ask yourself why you're putting heed into the words of faceless man-child like myself. But if you don't want to do that, or don't have access to a mirror, then consider this my recommendation to go watch the show. Go ahead... I'll be right here when you get back.

When considering my thoughts for this article, I realised that when I learned of a second (And eventual third and fourth season) That I didn't have the same worry about the show's future that I do with others. I didn't worry about whether certain plot points or characters were going to overshadow the parts of the narrative that I valued the most. And with each passing weekly instalment, I knew that I was going to be shown something that will both excite me as a viewer and satisfy me as a life-long Star Wars fan. It was almost as if I felt safe in the hands of the people who make the show. Which makes sense considering the track record of Jon Favreau's penchant for breathing energy into big franchises, and Dave Filoni's complete mastery over the Star Wars canon. Not to mention the team of fantastically considered writers and directors that were brought on board.

Narratively speaking, It took me a couple of episodes to get over the fact that the main drive behind the story was going to focus more on the ongoing issue of The Child and his and/or her fate. (Was the gender ever revealed? Hmm..) I think this was because I was in love with the simple premise of the show when it was first advertised, and I hoped that it would be primarily a an episodic adventure that had each chapter act as its own singular story. Joined together by the consistency of the main character. Much akin to the structure of the Pre-Kurtzman era of Star Trek. In season two, however, most of the story is centred around finding The Child's rightful place in the universe. And every episode is ultimately routed in that quest. This classic questline is the main motivation behind each episode. Which for me felt like a bit of a crutch. It also felt a little bit like the makers were capitalising on the popularity of The Child. But considering that doing so is a sure fire way to keep the showing going, I think I can let them off... for now! Another thing that pacifies me is the way that the single adventure episodes were maintained in some way during the season. Each one gave you a different adventure complete with a eye-melting set piece that not only resembled season one's simpler storyline, but also made every episode feel like a miniature Hollywood blockbuster.

Season 2 also continued the growing success of the show's ability to compliment the ever-expanding universe that fans like myself have cherished for decades. It is made abundantly clear that we are still Long long ago in a galaxy far far away. But we are freed from the canonical ties that the other trilogies and shows were vehemently bound by. And I think that is in no small part down to the scale of the show. Instead of galactic senators and chosen ones, we are given small-time bounty hunters and common crooks. Instead of legions of battle droids and large-scale space battles above Coruscant, We are given dilapidated Storm troopers and western-style shootouts in dusty back water towns. Instead of the grandiose rising and falling of empires, we're given the stories of trauma and the consequences of war told by the little people of the galaxy. It bravely denounces the overly-hopeful ending shown in The Return of The Jedi. And shows that even though the galaxy rejoiced at the destruction of the second death star, the slow crawl of the Empire's fall was slow and painful. Its blood-stained legacy would be felt for decades in the memories of those affected by the war.

This subtle yet powerful subtext is continued when the faceless imperial officers and stormtroopers are given time to develop as characters. This season is littered with moments where characters that would usually be cannon-fodder shed light on their perspective of the Galactic Civil war. One scene in particular shows a young imperial officer denounce Cara Dune's involvement with the New Republic. Citing the destruction of Alderaan as a necessary sacrifice to end terrorism in the galaxy. Moments like these dotted throughout the entire series bring a new meaning to the term One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. And I dare say that your own perspective may not be as solid as you might have thought. (Spoiler: Empire still bad, Mando good.)

The Mandalorian shows us a side of the galaxy that has always been there, but has been obfuscated by the grand space opera of the now-concluded Skywalker saga. It gives us a more human perspective into Lucas' creation. A perspective that resonates with people on a more honest level. All while maintaining the swashbuckling, gun-toting, space-flying adventures that we have loved for nearly fifty years.

In short, The Mandalorian is fantastic. It is not only a beautiful piece of narrative art, but it is a masterclass on how to continue a creative legacy.

And for those who aren't bothered about narrative artistry and creative legacy, it's just a bloody good show.