TV Review: “The Mandalorian: The Marshal” (S2, Ep. 1)

The first episode of the second season of the hit Disney+ series is a triumph.

From the moment that I started watching The Mandalorian last year, I knew I was going to love it. I am definitely a fan of Star Wars, though not a terribly fanatical nor even a particularly devoted one. Nevertheless, there was something powerfully captivating about this series, and I found myself eagerly anticipating each subsequent episode and feeling more than a little devastated when the first season was over and we were left wondering what was going to happen next, particularly since it seemed like it was going to start connecting with some of the larger events taking place in the Galaxy following the events of Return of the Jedi.

The second season begins with a strong episode right out of the gate, picking up where the previous one left. The Mandalorian is on a mission to return “The Child” (colloquially known as Baby Yoda) to others of its kind, in large part to keep him out of the clutches of Moff Gideon (who wants to use it for some as-yet-undefined purpose). As part of this effort, he ends up traveling to Tatooine, where he believes he might come into contact with his fellow Mandalorians who, in turn, will hopefully be able to help him. However, instead he discovers that a non-Mandalorian…