It’s here. The long, sad drought of 2020 is almost over, and new episodes ofThe Mandalorianhave arrived. TheJon Favreau-created series, which was not only the first-ever live-actionStar Warstelevision show but also one of the premiere series for the brand-new Disney streaming platform Disney+, was a sensation right out of the bat, thanks largely to its winning combination of oversized action, technological breakthroughs, and utter adorableness (in the form of Baby Yoda). Not only was the show a refreshingly look at an uncharted part of theStar Warsgalaxy, but its gritty texture and relatable characters made for a welcome reprieve from thesturm und drangofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, released around the same time.The Mandalorianis (almost) back. And we couldn’t be happier.
At this point, it’s been almost a year since the show original premiere, so it’s understandable if you’re feeling a little foggy on the details (like you’re stumbling through the Degobah gloom). But fear not – we are here to run through theMandaloriancast of characters for those that need a refresher. We’re not giving full biographical dossiers onevery singlecharacter from season 1, but are providing a recap of the characters that made the most impact in the first season, or those who could still be stumbling around in the hazy reaches of the galaxy, ready to return for season 2. This is the way.
[Editor’s note: The following has been updated, and now containsspoilersforThe Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 6, “The Tragedy."]
The Mandalorian (AKA Din Djarin)
Fate:Alive
This is the character that the show is named after, so you know he’s important. As a child, Din Djarin was orphaned during the Clone Wars, his parents killed by rampaging battle droids (which explains his staunch anti-robot stance), and was adopted by Mandalorians. As he reminds us in the first season, “Mandalorian isn’t a race, it’s a creed,” meaning that just about anyone (or anything!) could be under that shiny helmet. (Boba Fett was a Mandalorian; hence the resemblance. Their storyline was expanded upon, perhaps too much, in theStar Warsanimated seriesClone WarsandRebels.) The character is played, tersely, byPedro Pascal(mostly).
When the story starts, the Mandalorian (or “Mando,” as he’s referred to by some) is a bounty hunter, hunting down wanted criminals and other ne’er-do-wells across the galaxy. He even uses the carbon-freezing technology that Boba Fett improvised for Han Solo on Bespin (a weird plot point that still doesn’t make much sense). The story is set in the lawless post-Return of the Jediperiod where the Empire has been thwarted but Imperial loyalists still remain and many of the planets are still trying to process and organize in the midst of extreme disarray.
The Mandalorian’s entire life is through into chaos when he accepts a job from an oily, unnamed client (Werner Herzog), who surrounds himself with somewhat decayed-looking Stormtroopers and tasks Mandalorian with retrieving a very special package.
As it turns out, his assignment involves kidnapping a small alien known as The Child or The Asset but which the world has rightfully embraced as “Baby Yoda.” He feels a connection to this child and decides to turn his back on his assignment and protect it at all costs, traversing the galaxy together. This child melts the Mandalorian’s cold exterior and teaches him that his tribe can come in many different forms. At the end of the first season, the Mandalorian has committed to returning the child to his race. Where that will take him, we have no idea…
The Child (AKA The Asset AKA Baby Yoda)
Fate:Alive (and very cute)
Clearly the breakout star of the first season, the Child was introduced at the very end of the first episode, when The Mandalorian finds out what he has been chasing for the better part of the episode: a small child, in a floating, egg-shaped bassinet. (Initially, the creature was described as “50 years old” but assassin droid IG-11 is quick to point out that different species age differently.) Clearly the Mandalorian and the Child have an instant bond and throughout the season they come to appreciate each other more and more. The Mandalorian realizes that the Child has certain abilities (seen from the second episode on) that are strange and unusual and clearly everyone in the galaxy wants the Child for this very reason. Butwhoorwhatthe Child is remains to be seen (we don’t even know how he wound up on that backwoods planet for the Mandalorian to find him). But judging by previews of this new season, its origins will be explored fully and will perhaps involve other Force-users…
Update:As of Season 2, Episode 5, “The Jedi,” we now know thatthe Child’s official name is… Grogu. Make of that what you will.
Greef Karga
Greef Karga (portrayed byCarl Weathers), was introduced in the very first episode ofThe Mandalorian. Karga is the leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild (it might be set in the crumbling ruins ofReturn of the Jedibut it’s notcompletechaos) and gives the Mandalorian his assignments. For much of the season, after Mandalorian makes his fateful decision to protect the Child at all costs, the exact nature of Karga’s allegiance remained mysterious. Was he going to stop and kill the Mandalorian (and take the child)? Or was he going to aid the character in his attempts to escape capture? As it turns out, Karga is an ally and, it was revealed in the season finale, was previously a disgraced government official. More of his backstory will undoubtedly be uncovered in this new season, as early previews have teased that the Mandalorian will return to Karga for help. Also, Weathers will also be directing an episode this season, which is pretty cool.
In Episode 4 of the first season, the Mandalorian finally met a warrior on his level. That would be Cara Dune (played byGina Carano), a former shock trooper with the Rebellion (she has the Rebel insignia tattooed on her cheek) with a deep hatred for the Empire. She is similarly adrift, drowning her sorrows on a backwater planet, when the Mandalorian meets her. He enlists her to help save an embattled village (including a woman the Mandalorian has the hots for – more on that in a minute). She gamely helps and establishes herself as a fierce warrior and a more-than-capable ally. Later on in the season, the Mandalorian recruited her to help liberate imperiled planet Navarro from Imperial involvement. (We also find out that she was from Alderaan, the peaceful planet destroyed by the first Death Stara in the originalStar Wars.) Dune wound up becoming an integral part of the very weird nuclear family that was built up around the Child and its protection. At the end of the final episode, she was firmly established as someone the Mandalorian could turn to for help and guidance and you got the sense that he gave her something she was searching for too — a sense of purpose and a reason to continue the fight. Karga even offers her a job with the bounty hunters. While Carano was a part of the first season’s pre-release promotional push, she didn’t end up appearing until halfway through the season. This time around she’s even more front-and-center in the marketing materials, and unlike last year, we think she’ll probably be there from the jump.
Fate:Deceased
One of the more oddly touching characters in the first season. Kuiil (voiced byNick Nolteand performed byMisty Rosas) is an Ugnaught, a small, pig-like race you probably remember as the characters who nearly incinerate a dismantled C-3PO on Bespin inThe Empire Strikes Back. The Mandalorian meets Kuiil, a former indentured servant to the Empire, on Arvala-7, where he is initially tasked with bringing home the Child. Kuiil teaches him how to ride a beast and, in the second episode, helps him broker a deal with Jawas after they strip his ship (The Razorcrest). In one of the season’s more poignant interludes, we find out that Kuiil has rebuilt assassin droid (and Mandalorian competitor) IG-11 and taught the droid to become selfless and aware. The Mandalorian recruits Kuiil to help him in a go-for-broke mission on Navarrao, that winds up getting Kuiil killed by Imperial Scout Troopers while trying to keep the Child safe. Like any other character that he comes across, the Mandalorian winds up changing Kuiil’s life – he inspires him to give himself a name, and his relationship with IG-11 and the Child form an odd makeshift family. His life might have been tragic and full of hardship, but his adventures with the Mandalorian gave him a spark that had been missing for far too long.
Fate:Deceased (Melted)
IG-11 (voiced byTaika Waititi) is there from almost the very beginning. Modeled after IG-88, one of the bounty hunters Darth Vader tasks with finding Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon inThe Empire Strikes Back(his look was cobbled together from old parts of the cantina set from the first movie), IG-11 is also tasked with retrieving the Child on Arvala-7 in Episode 1. But his protocol suggested the charge be worth more dead than alive, something that the Mandalorian couldn’t stand for. The Mandalorian seemingly “decommissioned” him, but IG-11 was eventually repaired by Kuiil and taught how toliveand notkill. (That montage of them working together and learning from one another is one of the more affecting moments in Season 1.) Neurotic and gun-crazy, he is recruited, along with Kuiil, to liberate the planet of Navarro and keep the Child safe. In one of the more memorable sequences in the entire show (so far), during the finale (also directed by Waititi) IG-11 rides a speeder bike through the town and kills many, many Stormtroopers. By the end of the episode, IG-11 sacrifices himself to give the other characters a chance to get away (he’s been threatening to self-destruct since the first episode), giving a logical, emotionally resonant conclusion to the assassin-turned-“nurse droid” arc. Bonus points should be given to IG-11 for teaching the Mandalorian that maybe, just maybe, droids aren’tall bad.
Moff Gideon
For much of the season, we were led to believe that the Client was the show’s Big Bad. But in the second-to-last episode, a new villain joined the fray in the form of Moff Gideon (played by legendary TV baddieGiancarlo Esposito), an Imperial loyalist who murders the Client and several of his own men to get to the Child. (The “Moff” distinction is common in the Empire;Peter Cushingplayed Grand Moff Tarkin inStar Wars.) The Mandalorian knew who he was almost immediately, even though Dune suggests that he was “executed for war crimes” following the galaxy’s liberation. (He wasn’t!) Gideon is obsessed with finding the child, has a loyal platoon of Stormtroopers (and a core squadron of Death Troopers, the tall, black-suited Stormtroopers first glimpsed inRogue One) and a TIE Fighter. And at the end of the season 1 finale, we saw he had something else too – a darksaber, a powerful lightsaber-style weapon that is hugely important in the history of the Mandalorians. (Time to watch a half-dozen episodes ofClone Wars! Or not.) Clearly Moff Gideon is being set up as Season 2’s main adversary and we are here for it.
Peli Motto
Peli Motto (memorably played byAmy Sedaris) is a mechanic that works at a spaceport on Tattooine, Luke’s home planet fromStar Warsand the planet where Jabba the Hutt kept an imprisoned Leia and Han Solo. She is surrounded by the tiny mechanic droids that worked on the pod race (which also took place on Tattooine) and was employed by the Mandalorian as a babysitter while he went on one of his mysterious missions. (Later in the same episode, she is taken hostage, along with the Child.) Given that Peli Motto was a fan-favorite character (she was trending on Twitter shortly after the episode first arrived on Disney+) and that Jon Favreau will probably use any excuse to get her back in that frizzy wig, we suspect she could return, in Season 2 or beyond. After all, she’s proven herself an ally, and as the Mandalorian’s journey continues, those are going to be harder and harder to find.
Fennec Shand
Fate: Alive
Now we’re getting into the space weeds here, but there’s a reason for it. Fennec Shand (played by Disney LegendMing-Na Wen) is a ruthless bounty hunter seen in Episode 5, “The Gunslinger.” (It’s mentioned that she has worked for a number of crime syndicates, including the Hutts.) The Mandalorian accompanies a young bounty hunter named Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) to a planet known as the Dune Sea, where they track down Shand. She tries to weasel her way out of capture, appealing to the young bounty hunter and offering to take down the Mandalorian together (knowing that he now has a bounty onhishead). Calican refuses, murders Shand, and leaves her on the planet. Then he tries to take down the Mandalorian himself (spoiler alert: he doesn’t succeed). The reason Shand could potentially be very important, especially in Season 2, is because in the closing moments of the episode, her seemingly lifeless body is approached by a figure wearing a cape and the familiar spurs of another iconicStar Warsbounty hunter: Boba Fett. With internet rumors swirling that Fett could return, this could make Shand a very important figure, especially if she miraculously survived the events of Episode 5.
Update:As of Season 2, Episode 6, “The Tragedy,” it’s been confirmed that Fennec Shanddidsurvive the events of Season 1, and is now working with Boba Fett after being saved.
The Mythrol
Okay, this is (admittedly) a weird one. This character, who appears in the first episode, doesn’t even have a name (he is portrayed by the ridiculously talentedHoratio Sanz, under some impressive make-up). This is the first bounty we see the Mandalorian collect, an unidentified underworld type who is hiding out on a snowy, ice-encased planet. The character is fundamentally useful — we see Mando track down this blue-skinned, fishy guy, bring him back to the ship, and watch as the character creeps around the Razorcrest looking for escape options. (This is where we see the first toilet inStar Warshistory!) When he starts looking a little too closely, the Mandalorian shows up and flash-freezes him with his makeshift carbonite system (again, doesn’t make a lot of sense but is still pretty cool). He serves his purpose; it’s through this character that we learn a lot about the Mandalorian and how he conducts his business. And he never shows up for the rest of Season 1, but there have been promos released for the new season where he is featured prominently. It’s very weird but cool that they’re revisiting such a marginal character. Hopefully, he gets a name this year.
Update:In Season 2, Episode 4, “The Siege,” a defrosted Mythrol, now working for Greef, helps the Mandalorian and friends blow up a local Imperial base. At the end of the episode, he seems to be doing just fine.
AKA the woman from the village that the Mandalorian falls in “is it worth risking my safety and the safety of the Child to stay with this woman and be romantically fulfilled” with. Omera (played byJulia Jones) farms weird blue krill in a village in the forest planet of Sorgan (the same planet where the Mandalorian meets Cara Dune) in Episode 4. Clearly, she makes a connection with the Mandalorian, and the children of the village fall in love with the Child (of course). And, incredibly, she forms an emotional bond with the Mandalorian, who seems to reciprocate it even though we can’t see his face or look into his eyes. (We’re assuming!) It’s their bond, and the way that their involvement showcases a potential avenue of escape for the beleaguered bounty hunter, that makes the character worth mentioning. She could always return in a future episode; she was skilled when defending their village from marauders and the Mandalorian clearly feels for her. If he were ever going to hand the Child off to someone to watch over him, she should be at the top of his list.
The Armorer
InThe Mandalorianwe are introduced to an underground cell of Mandalorian warriors, both literally and figuratively: They’re in hiding and they’re occupying a complex sewer system underneath the city on Navarro. Of these characters, we’ve come to know one more than the others — The Armorer (Emily Swallow, who portrays the character and provides her voice). The Armorer is a fairly functional character, serving as the show’s version of Q from the James Bond movies as she outfits our hero with brand new technology, armor, and weapons, as well as a mentor figure, helping our wayward hero along in his quest. It’s the Armorer that, at the end of the first season, who suggests that the Mandalorian should take the Child and find where it came from, perhaps seeking assistance by a band of noble wizards. While the other Mandalorian warriors have been scattered to the wind, we have a feeling that we’ll be seeing the Armorer again…
Ahsoka Tano
The not-a-Jedi, played in live action form byRosario Dawson, was last seen helping guide Mando on his quest to find Baby Yoda’s people. For more on her history, here’sa full explainer guide.
Migs Mayfeld
The Mandalorian encountered this mercenary, who was formerly an Imperial sharpshooter, while helping on a prison break mission that ended up going sideways. Played by Bill Burr, Migs survived the botched operation, but ended up in New Republic custody. Based on the events of Season 2, Episode 6, “The Tragedy,” he may not be staying there for long.
