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The Mandalorian ending provides unexpected exit for Lucasfilm saga

TUES.| 03-09-21 | FEATURES

     Disney Plus original The Mandalorian ended with a plot twist that some might say took a turn for the worse: a happy ending. Season 2 of the highly anticipated show premiered on Friday, Oct. 30 with a new episode airing on the streaming platform every week through Friday, Dec. 18.  For those who are yet to watch season 2 of The Mandalorian, the ending proved to be an upset for myself, and I cannot promise you will be satisfied with the finale. 

     When I first started to watch the show, it was addicting. I would sit down every Friday afternoon and watch the show intensely, and after the end of season one, I was not-so-patiently awaiting the release date for season 2. When season 2 finally aired, I made it my priority to watch every episode on release day for eight Fridays in a row until I was hit with the happy ending train at the end of season 2, Episode 8: “Chapter 16: The Rescue.” I was in shock, almost frustrated with Lucasfilm. I could not stop thinking about why they did not carry out this show for at least another two seasons, especially with season two finale gaining about 1.1 million household streams according to MEDIAPLAYNEWS, and the show overall having three million U.S. households that watched at least five minutes of one episode of The Mandalorian. 

     Almost every Star Wars spinoff since the 2003 airing of Clone Wars has one thing in common: The Skywalker Saga. This is something that has been dragged out by Lucasfilm for over 20 years now, and it comes as no surprise that the ending to yet another Lucasfilm top grossing production ends with a rescue. And who comes to the rescue? No surprise here, but the multi-generational Lucasfilm Skywalker family has come to save yet another “new” story in Star Wars. This time the victim being The Mandalorian. Some critics of the show refer to this as the “dark side” of the Lucasfilm empire. This term comes from the continuation of bringing “a galaxy far-far away” back to the same Skywalker family Lucasfilm has been using for the last few decades of so called “new” film stories.  

     As a Star Wars fan and follower, The Mandalorian was a way to watch Star Wars without having to binge the two to three hour long movies produced by Lucasfilms. As well, it provided a different outlook on the Star Wars story, with new characters and settings never seen before in the original saga. When the final episode of season two came and I watched it, I felt betrayed as a fan. It was disheartening to find out that one of the main characters of the show would be carried away, and most painfully a Skywalker. After only two seasons they decide to end the show with very few possible exits for season three. Following the ending of season 2, the announcement for a third season came with much surprise after the mind-blowing Skywalker rescue finale of the second season of The Mandalorian. 

     If I were to be a Lucasfilm employee, my advice would be this: change up your tempo. Yes, time after time, Star Wars continues to produce box-office hits, but the multi-generational Skywalker family rescues are getting old. The Mandalorian could have carried out the “new story plotline” with a few easy steps. It's as simple as this: end the last episode of season two with a rescue successful rescue mission by Mando and not have a Skywalker come in, then in the later seasons when they want to end it, introduce Ray from the more recent Star Wars movies as the Jedi who comes to take Grogu and and train him to become all-knowing of his powers. Lucasfilm had many different outcomes they could have taken with The Mandalorian, yet they chose the worst one, and I can strongly say that the ending to the second season was daunting as a Star Wars fan and it will put a dent in my relationship with the classic series.  

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