Robert Tamayo | February 20, 2022

The Mandalorian is the True Star Wars Sequel

From the opening scene of The Force Awakens, I felt that something was off. It just didn't feel like Star Wars, and I thought it was because the movie didn't have the George Lucas touch. Say what you want about the prequel trilogy, but even with all of its weirdness, it had George Lucas' signature on it. Every weird and "wrong" about the prequel trilogy was weird and wrong because the man who created Star Wars made it that way. It felt like Star Wars; it's just that maybe you didn't like Star Wars when it wasn't constrained by budget or special effects limitations.

The prequel trilogy felt like it wasn't even created by a human. It felt like it was created in a lab or a corporate zoom call. The script felt like it was proofread by a focus group. It just wasn't Star Wars, even though it seemed to check all of the boxes.

But then came The Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian was a great show right from the beginning. It gave fans exactly what they wanted: a story set in a space world with a Boba Fett-like, roguish character making his way through life as an amoral bounty hunter. That was what caught my attention, and then what caught my wife's attention was the most brilliant addition to the Star Wars universe ever: Baby Yoda.

Baby Yoda was the perfect character to target kids and women alike. He also gave Mando a purpose beyond mindless bounty-hunting. Their bond appealed to both the masculine and feminine virtues of protecting the innocent, caring for the young, and carrying out a mission to its end.

Compared to Baby Yoda, Rey was a complete failure of a character. She lacked any of the charm necessary for a character to become culturally dominant. Baby Yoda, on the other hand, became an instant meme. We still call him Baby Yoda, even though the show tried its best to name him "The Child" or "Grogu". I understand that Rey is still popular to young kids, and that's good. I don't hate her character. I just like Baby Yoda more.

The Mandalorian is what the sequel trilogy should have focused on. Both of the main characters are far more interesting than anything in the sequel trilogy, and Mando's mission makes a lot more sense in the context of the original trilogy. In my mind, there isn't a sequel trilogy; The Mandalorian is the sequel.

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