The Mandalorian 2.2 Review - 4 Ups And 2 Downs

Peyton Reed assumes the director's chair for a surprisingly chilling edition of The Mandalorian.

by Ewan Paterson
Mandalorian Season 2
Lucasfilm

After making a stellar start to Season 2 of The Mandalorian with last week's episode - which ended on a bombshell reveal and a massive battle - the show returns again this week with a slightly less bombastic offering. It's still good, but for those hoping for the second season to really kick on and delve into the mystery of the galaxy's other Mandalorians and the hunt for The Child's homeworld, they may be left slightly disappointed.

Major spoilers ahead!

Season 2, Episode 2 (or Chapter 10), sees Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed step into the director's chair, with Jon Favreau once again handling the script. It picks up where the last episode left off, with Din Djarin and The Child speeding away back to Mos Eisley, only to be ambushed by a group of bandits and (disappointingly) not Boba Fett.

Mando once again comes to Peli Motto in a bid to try and find other Mandalorians, and is given a tip that there's a Mandalorian enclave in a nearby system. The catch? He has to take a frog-like alien and her unfertilised eggs (that she carries in a jar) to the same destination, which doesn't sound too bad, until you realise he can't jump to lightspeed, as hyperspace would scramble said eggs instantly. (The frog woman is also the last of her kind, so uhhhh... that's something too.)

With all... *gestures vaguely* that in mind, Mando embarks on his quest, suffers an X-Wing related mishap and crash lands on a nearby ice planet, where a sinister force lurks nearby. The end result is an entertaining and occasionally nightmarish instalment of the show, but one that may prove wanting for those keen for The Mandalorian to really get moving.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.