The Mandalorian: The First Live-Action Star Wars Series Gives Fans Everything They Could Want And More

With the launch of Disney's streaming service, Disney Plus, came the long awaited Star Wars mini-series entitled "The Mandalorian". Not much was known about this show except that, of course, it followed a bounty hunter Mandalorian. With some minor exceptions, the only other known Mandalorians in the Star Wars world have been Boba and Jango Fett. Thus, we as Star Wars fans don't know much else about these except that they're the quiet type and usually look bad-ass. This show greatly expands on the lore of these people in an interesting and action-packed yet grounded way. In contrast with the noisy and cluttered "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", this show takes what we know about the world and makes it small scale and full of old favorites and new surprises. The show's main character, commonly referred to as "Mando" for a majority of the series, has two traits that would normally kill any hope of character development. He never takes off his helmet, and only talks when he needs to. Surprisingly, he goes through a deep character arc of his own that is believable and in some cases relatable. He is a stone cold bounty hunter who was orhapned at a young age and was raised by the Mandalorians. However, when he saves the life of another orphaned child (to the shock of many, it is of the same species as Yoda) that he was sent to kill, he makes a connection with it that evolves into something heart warming over time. This series is full of references to the past movies, including storm-troopers, droids, TIE fighters, X-Wings, Tatooine, and more. However, it never distracts from the plot. There are no epic space battles or light-saber fights. There is just a man and his friends trying to make their way through a galaxy of people of all types while protecting the child he now cares for. Every person he meets is memorable and thought out, and makes you happy to see them pop in and out throughout the show, whether they're good or bad. In many viewer's eyes, this show was as good if not way better than the recent sequel movies they've made. If Star Wars wants to survive beyond the end of these big trilogies, this is the direction they must take. I for one cannot wait for season 2 and whatever else they have planned.