‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 1 Review: The Lone Gunslinger in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Season: 1 / Episode: 1 / Disney+ There will be lots and lots to talk about and review when it comes to Disney’s new streaming platform, Disney+. The first major salvo kicking off the clone streaming wars in earnest. Among the ridiculous flex of Disney’s archive, there are a lot of originals hitting on day one, the crown jewel of course being Star Wars: The Mandalorian. To center us really quick, The Mandalorian takes places after Return of the Jedi, about 20 years before the rise of the First Order, the new antagonists of The Force Awakens. The titular protagonist of the show is a bounty hunter and…that’s really all you get going into this show. Outside of some star power sprinkled here and there, along with cool looking action scenes, a lot of mystery circled this show and exactly what it was going to be about. Now that it’s here, I can report it’s a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly on the good side. The Mandalorian’s Past and Present What we learn early on is that The Mandalorian is not actually singular, he is one of many Mandalorians, though the “many” may be overstating things in the present tense of the show. We’re shown early that the Mandalorian Order was once a proud and revered organization of fighters, though it’s not clear if they were always bounty hunters (this kind of feels like a “once proud, but then had to resort to nefarious activities” kind of story). Though their numbers and their influence may have diminished over years, their name still carries weight …