Why Next Week’s ‘The Mandalorian’ Looks Like The Biggest Of The Series

The Mandalorian is now halfway through its second season already, as it’s only going to be another eight episodes total this time around. But hey, at least they’re longer on average this time.

There have been some pretty massive story developments over the past two episodes in particular. Spoilers follow. We have:

1) The arrival of Clone Wars-era Mandalorian leader Bo-Katan recommending Mando go seek out the only Jedi she knows, Ahsoka Tano.

2) The reveal that the Empire is experimenting with extracting midi-chlorians from Baby Yoda and trying to inject them into test subjects to see if you can “transplant” the force.

From the looks of it, next week may be when all this stuff converges, judging by who is writing and directing the next episode.

That would be Dave Filoni, creator of Clone Wars and Rebels, where The Mandalorian has effectively become a sequel series to his old shows, given the use of their characters and storylines. Filoni has been involved in The Mandalorian from the start, but after last season’s finale when we saw Moff Gideon wield the Darksaber, we realized just how involved he was.

Now, we have two of his major characters showing up in person, Bo-Katan and Ahsoka. My guess is that if Dave Filoni is being given a singular episode to write and direct this season, it would be the Ahsoka episode, and that would be next week. Yes, it’s true he wrote and directed The Gunslinger in season 1, which had little to do with his own corner of the universe, but it’s just a hunch for this season.

I also am staying firm in my theory that Disney means to make an Ahsoka spin-off series starring Rosario Dawson once she is introduced in The Mandalorian. Chances are she will only show up for an episode or two here, but I really think this is where we’re heading. What’s unknown is if any other Filoni characters may also appear like Sabine and Ezra, given that they were tied to when we last saw Ahsoka in the animated series.

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka will be a big moment for the Star Wars fandom. Bo-Katan got it easy since she was played by her exact same voice actress from the show, Katee Sackhoff, but Dawson is replacing the iconic Ashley Eckstein who did her voice for the entire series but just…doesn’t look enough like Ahsoka to play her in real life. But hopefully Dawson does a good job.

I cannot wait to see Ahsoka realized for The Mandalorian. I am really banking on it being next week with Filoni’s involvement, as I have to imagine they’d let him do whatever he wants with his own character, but it’s possible she could be saved for the finale. Regardless, it’s an episode not to miss, to be sure.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels Herokiller and Herokiller 2, and read my first series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook.