The Mandalorian pilot dropped on Disney+. We can talk about characters and plots and stories, but there are a couple of things that most will not realize. There were marks in that episode that only one man could pull off. That one man is none other than Dave Filoni.
The Subtlety of Knowledge
Dave Filoni began his Star Wars roots with The Clone Wars animated series. He took many of George Lucas’ ideas and story lines and wove them into grand tales. Jedi, clones and towards the end, the Mandalorians. Filoni became such an expert of the clones and Mandalorians that few if any had the depth of knowledge he alone holds.
In a great many ways this showed up in the pilot episode. When our hero walked amongst other Mandalorians, all of their armor held signs and designs that hearkened back to the Clone Wars series. The female smith’s helmet displayed a different design and marking than others. This first showed up back in the animated series. Given he did both series this is one more obvious carry overs.
Mandalorian Pilot: A Simple Block of Metal
The Mandalorians have many things that are trademarks to their people. The armor being the more obvious of these items, but in legends there was one more item, a rare metal, the Mandalorians were known for manipulating – Beskar.
One of the toughest metals in the Star Wars universe, Mandalorians made their armor from it. Amongst its many abilities, it had the rare ability to withstand lightsaber blades. We have already seen blaster bolts bounce harmlessly off of it in the trailers to The Mandalorian.
We see Werner Herzog’s character barter a deal with our hero by sliding a bar of the metal across the table and promising much more upon completion of the contract. This is such a subtle touch of brilliance only Filoni would think of. For now it adds depth to the newly recreated world of the Mandalorians, but later it may become important for other reasons.
George Lucas’ Baby Given Up in the Mandalorian Pilot?
Back in the 90s, when Lucas opened up the world of Star Wars to books, comics and other media sources he declared certain areas off limits to these new stories. The major area of course being the Clone Wars area, as he was preparing the next movies, but as backstories and fore stories took development, one smaller nugget remained 100% off limits to everyone – period. This nugget centered on Yoda. Lucas forbid any source from either naming Yoda’s species or delving into Yoda’s back story, but is all that about to change?
The reveal that will shake the Star Wars universe is now known. Our heroes latest mark is none other than a 50 year old baby of Yoda’s species. Talk about a major blind side. While we have no idea if this baby belongs to the Jedi Master or not, the fact we are even seeing the species speaks volumes to the trust George places in Filoni.
Heir to the Force
There can be little doubt that Dave Filoni is the heir apparent to the universe of the Force. Now add in the little one, and it’s 100% that George trusts Filoni with something this dear to him. Will Dave be the one to name Yoda’s species? Will he give us some insight into the Jedi Master that was unknown before?
No matter what we get down the road, to me George letting Dave use Yoda’s species like this speaks volumes. Can Disney do what they want? yup. They paid the credits, but I do not see Dave going in this direction without George’s blessings.
Dave Filoni is the new Jedi Grand Master of the Star Wars Universe.
