The Mandalorian

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The Mandalorian is a Space Western television series on the Disney+ streaming service, set in the Star Wars universe after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens. The first live-action TV series in the Star Wars franchise, it premiered in November 2019, with a second season starting in October 2020. It has been renewed for a third season with a Boba Fett spin-off called The Book of Boba Fett set for release in December 2021.

It was created by Jon Favreau and featured Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, better known to the people he encounters as just The Mandalorian. The first two seasons featured him alongside Grogu, an infant of Yoda's species. It also featured characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels making their live-action debuts such as Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson).

Tropes used in The Mandalorian include:

24-Hour Armor: This is enforced by the Creed followed by the Children of the Watch, who follow the old ways of Mandalore. Under their dogma, a Mandalorian must never show their face or remove their armor around others. While it can make eating and bathing complicated when in other people's presence, it's nevertheless enforced with an iron fist. And those who fail to adhere to this rule are banished until they can redeem themselves through an arduous journey to Mandalore's holy waters.
Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Nevarro's home to one of these, and it's where the Children of the Watch are stationed before Moff Gideon attacks.
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: A lot of the show relies more on visuals than dialogue, kind of like Star Wars: Clone Wars. This is at its most prevalent in the first season, where there are extended sequences of Din exploring or flying in complete silence while he contemplates the mission at hand, or steels his nerves for battle.
Actor Allusion:
- Giancarlo Esposito plays another manipulative mastermind who has an undignified freakout shortly before he's killed in a fiery explosion.
- Unsurprisingly, mixed-martial artist Gina Carano gets plenty of moments to literally and metaphorically flex her muscles as Amazonian powerhouse Cara Dune.
Aerith and Bob: As usual for Star Wars. Case in point, the main hero is a man named Din Djarin while his Arch Enemy is a man named... Gideon.
The Alleged Car: Din's ship, the Razor Crest, is The Alleged Spaceship. It's a crusty old tub that predates the Empire, and suffers very visible signs of wear and tear coming from its old age. It's also completely taken apart and repaired several times before ultimately being put out to pasture later in the show.
Always Chaotic Evil: Surprisingly, this is averted with the Tusken Raiders. Instead of being portrayed as violent savages that brutalize anyone unfortunate enough to wander into their line of sight, the Tuskens encountered in this show are portrayed as territorial, but well-meaning folk whose attacks on innocent people are either a result of overzealously protecting land that they claim as theirs, or are misunderstandings altogether. One episode even has Din forge a lasting peace between a tribe of Tuskens and the citizens of a Tatooine city!
Amazonian Beauty: Cara Dune, who's a tall, bulky physical fighter played by the gorgeous Gina Carano.
American Accents: Bill Burr doesn't even attempt to downplay his thick Boston accent while playing Migs Mayfeld. And as far as most fans are concerned, that's partly why he's such a memorable character.
And Now For Something Completely Different: The main focus of Episode 19 isn't Din, Bo-Katan, Grogu, or even someone like Greef Karga. Instead, its central character is Dr. Pershing, who finds himself caught up in a net of political intrigue and espionage not unlike an episode of Andor.
Back from the Dead: Season 2 reveals that much like in the original Extended Universe, Boba Fett survived his unfortunate trip into the Sarlacc Pit.
Badass: Din Djarin, Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, Boba Fett, pretty much any Mandalorian (named or otherwise)... but what would you expect from a World of Badass?
Badass Adorable: Little Grogu may be a baby, but he's a baby with Jedi training. And on top of that he's a member of Yoda's species, and the few we've seen in the movies and EU are all extremely formidable force-wielders. He can force-lift rampaging beasts, force-choke people who try to hurt his dad, and as of Season 3, literally backflip circles around Praetorian Guards.
Bad Guy Bar: Din visits a few such hives of scum and villainy, usually in pursuit of a bounty.
Beware the Silly Ones: The Jawas that Din encounters in the very second episode may be the usual goofy, mischievous little space gypsies you know and love, but they take full advantage of their sandcrawler's status as a mobile moving fortress. When Din tries to board it, he quickly finds himself playing against a stacked deck as he tries to navigate the vehicle's hostile environment.
Big Bad: Moff Gideon, the man overseeing the cloning project that requires Grogu as a test subject. He's also this to all Mandalorians as a whole, as he's the one responsible for the destruction of Mandalore and near-genocide of its people.
Bigger Bad: Grand Admiral Thrawn is implied and later confirmed to be Moff Gideon's master.
Big Red Devil: Berg, the Devaronian that's a part of Mayfeld's crew. He's especially intimidating thanks to being played by Clancy goddamned Brown.
Breakout Character: Grogu. The very second he showed up he was a massive hit among fans, and it didn't take long for the little guy to become a merchandising giant.
The Cameo:
- The second season premiere ends with a shot of Boba Fett.
- The second season finale features Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 returning.
- For a non-spoilery example, EV-9D9 (a.k.a the Droid Torture Technician on Jabba's sail barge) makes an appearance as a bartender in Mos Eisley.
Catchphrase:
- "This is the Way," is the catchphrase of the Children of the Watch. It's usually used in an affirmative, approving context, but is also used to politely, but firmly enforce the Creed.
- "I have spoken," is Kuiil's catchphrase, and is almost always used to shut down any attempts at arguing with the old-timer.
The Coats Are Off: To show how serious she is, Ahsoka ditches her robes before fighting the tyrannical magistrate of Corvus.
Cool Old Guy:
- Kuiil, an elderly Ugnaught moisture farmer who's as gruff as he is wise, and is both a skilled mechanic and expert animal tamer (specifically, of blurgs).
- Peli Motto is a cool old (or at least on the north end of middle-aged) gal, and is easily the spunkiest mechanic in all of Tatooine.
- Greef Karga's no spring chicken, but he conveys himself with the spirited bravado of a lovable scoundrel half his age and is quite the formidable marksman.
Cool Sword: The Mandalorian Darksaber makes its live action debut here, and is wielded by Moff Gideon before becoming the MacGuffin of Season 3.
Cyber Cyclops: A creepy cyborg cyclops lurks within the mines of Mandalore, where it lies in wait for people to kidnap so it can harvest their blood for some ungodly reason. Its design borrows a lot of cues from General Grievous, but whether or not there's a more concrete connection between the two is a mystery for the ages.
Dark Is Evil: While the Dark Side of the Force is nowhere to be seen, this trope is still very much in effect for the Imperial Remnant.
- Moff Gideon's love of dark clothes, ownership of the Darksaber, and jet black Beskar armor show that he's deliberately trying to invoke this trope in any way he can. He's even gone as far as trying to create force sensitive clones of himself that are strong in the Dark Side, but they're killed before they can see any action.
- Gideon's ultimate weapon in Season 2, the Dark Troopers, also invoke this. They're basically the end result of making an entire army of Darth Vader-flavored Terminators, and the average Dark Trooper is a total juggernaut that will stop at nothing to crush its targets with cold, brutal, mechanical efficiency.
Dark Is Not Evil: While it's colored a menacing obsidian black, the Darksaber is no more "evil" than your average lightsaber and is simply a tool to whoever is deemed worthy of wielding it. When used by Din Djarin and Bo Katan, it serves its purpose as a powerful force for good.
Darth Vader Clone: Moff Gideon seems to be deliberately cultivating this sort of image. He's an imposing Imperial dressed in black who goes out of his way to terrorize his subordinates and enemies alike, flies a custom TIE fighter, and wields a deadly Laser Blade in combat. And as of Season 3, he even gets his own set of menacing black armor.
- A more minor example would be the Dark Troopers. Basically Darth Vader in droid form, they're molded from solid black steel, have heads resembling an intimidating Rage Helm, and are unstoppable juggernauts who are very fond of Neck Lifting their enemies.
Dragon Lady: Fennec Shand is this trope In Space! While not as overtly stereotypical as many examples she still checks off many of the criteria: she's an attractive Asian woman (or at least the outer space equivalent), a ruthless killer, a formidable martial artist and assassin, is deeply involved in organized crime, and has an air of mystique and intrigue to her.
Generic Doomsday Villain: The one-eyed cyborg that kidnaps Din in Season 3 never speaks and doesn't seem to have any motive to draining the blood of its victims aside from it serving as a form of sustenance. However, Tropes Are Not Bad is in full effect here, and the lack of clarity to this thing and its motivations only serve to make it creepy.
Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: While no stranger to fighting hostile creatures, Din gets to be a dragon slayer when a vicious Krayt Dragon acts as the Starter Villain of Season 2.
Knight of Cerebus: Moff Gideon. While the show's a fairly light-hearted Space Western adventure (albeit not without some grit and edge), things get a lot more dire whenever this man rears his ugly head. When he first shows up in Season 1, recurring characters start dying, Nevarro's Mandalorian population is nearly wiped out, and he almost kills Din, a first among the bounty hunter's many enemies.
Morlocks: A race of degenerate alien cavemen lurk in the ruins of Mandalore's cities, and viciously attack anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. For bonus points, they bear a strong resemblance to the trope namer as a deliberate Shout-Out.
Mythology Gag:
- The first episode has a few nods to the much maligned Holiday Special of all things. For one, Din's gun looks a lot like the stun baton wielded by Boba Fett in the animated segments. And not only that, but Life Day gets a name-drop from the Mythrol that he's hunting.
- Super Star Wars veterans are bound to sympathize with Din as he's forced to navigate his own sandcrawler platforming section from hell in the second episode.
- Din's backstory hearkens back to Jango Fett's in the original EU: he's orphaned by a war spearheaded by terrorists (albeit by their Droid lackeys, in Din's case) and is rescued and carried off by a sympathetic adult Mandalorian who welcomes him into his civilization. Interestingly, it was a member of Death Watch that saved Din, while the very same organization was responsible for orphaning Jango!
- The bar that wouldn't serve droids in Mos Eisley? Now it's ran by droids, with the bartender being the droid torturer that worked for Jabba the Hutt.
- Several jokes are made at the expense of Stormtroopers and their marksmanship skills - or lack thereof. When Din makes a snarky comment about Migs Mayfeld's status as the best sharpshooter in the Imperial Army, his response is a flippant "I wasn't a Stormtrooper, wiseass!". And in the Season 1 finale, two Stormtroopers are shown testing their blasters out on a tin can. They miss every single shot.
- Incinerator Stormtroopers from The Force Unleashed are recanonized after Disney's acquisition of Star Wars led to the entire EU being thrown out.
- The HK-87 droids employed by Magistrate Elsbeth double as a reference to the HK series of assassin droids from the KOTOR games as well as Ralph McQuarrie's concept art designs for a droid bounty hunter in The Empire Strikes Back.
No True Scotsman: When Din meets Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls, they butt heads over what it means to be a true Mandalorian. Due to the strict culture he was bought up in, Din is not impressed by the casual way she and her clan take their helmets off.
Oh Crap: Moff Gideon has a glorious one in the Season 2 finale. His smug assurance that his Dark Troopers will save him from Din's team slowly evaporates once a mysterious stranger arrives to help out. And when he sees that it's Luke Skywalker, who cuts through his formidable droids as if they were tissue people, he panics and immediately tries, and fails, to kill himself.
Papa Wolf: Do not mess with Grogu. That is unless you want Din Djarin to put a blaster bolt in your skull, of course.
Praetorian Guard: The First Order's Praetorian Guard has already been formed well ahead of Supreme Leader Snoke's "birth", and they serve as Moff Gideon's muscle in Season 3's last two episodes.
Scary Black Man: Moff Gideon, a scheming Imperial war criminal and Darth Vader wannabe played by the same guy as Gus Fring.
Shifting Sand Land: Din and Grogu tend to visit Tatooine at least Once a Season, and various other desert planets tend to pop up as well.
The Stinger: The second season finale has a scene where Boba Fett and Fennec Shand pay Jabba's palace a visit and kill his successor Bib Fortuna, setting up Boba's own show.
Suicide as Comedy: A Running Gag with IG-11 is his obsession with self-destruction, which he often suggests the second he and Din run into any kind of setback, which is often followed by a half-annoyed, half-panicked "Do not initiate self-destruct!" from his Mandalorian "buddy". It's a lot less funny when he's forced to self-destruct as a Heroic Sacrifice, unfortunately.
You Don't Look Like You: The Trandoshans Din fights early in Season 1 attracted a lot of ire due to how weird they look compared to Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back as well as the species as a whole. Their faces are weirdly human and flat, and their fingers look wrong. When Trandoshans appeared in Book of Boba Fett, they looked a lot more like how they're supposed to look.
- For a character-specific example, there's Ahsoka whose lekku are way shorter than they were in Star Wars Rebels, where she's younger than she is here. Their stripe pattern is also a lot different than in either Rebels or Clone Wars, though that's fairly consistent for her, at the very least.