Here are all of the major unresolved questions and mysteries The Mandalorian season 2 will reportedly feature Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano and Michael Biehn as a currently-unnamed bounty hunter, alongside all of the main figures who made it out of season 1 alive.
The Mandalorian's debut run saw the titular bounty hunter, Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin, attract the wrath of the Empire's remaining forces after refusing to hand over Baby Yoda - an asset he was hired to collect. Most of The Mandalorian's story until now has simply involved Djarin and Baby Yoda avoiding various baddies and making a bunch of new friends along the way.
While The Mandalorian season 1 told a fairly straightforward story, it hinted and alluded to a deeper narrative, gradually exposing and setting up mysteries, the vast majority of which were not solved come the season finale. This leaves The Mandalorian season 2 with much ground to cover, and these are the biggest mysteries Jon Favreau and co. will be grappling with when Mando returns.
Why Do The Empire Want Baby Yoda?
Star Wars fans eagerly watched Din Djarin and Baby Yoda evade Moff Gideon and the final dregs of the Empire, and it's testament to The Mandalorian's economic writing that viewers were so invested without knowing why the Imperials are pursuing this little green bundle of joy. When The Client and Dr. Pershing first collect Baby Yoda, a rogue Kamino symbol can be seen on the latter's uniform, hinting towards cloning. In a later episode, Kuiil comments that the infant doesn't appear to be the product of genetic engineering, so it can perhaps be inferred that the Empire want to clone Baby Yoda. This fits with Pershing's comment about extracting material.
Beyond that, the Empire's plans for The Character Formerly Known As The Child are a mystery. If all they need is a DNA sample, Pershing surely could've obtained some from any number of sources, suggesting a more permanent use for Baby Yoda is in the Empire's plans. But what of the clones their experiments would create? Is Gideon attempting to manufacture a new Sith Lord to lead them, or is Baby Yoda's DNA directly tied to the clone resurrection of Emperor Palpatine in Moff Gideon, answers should be forthcoming in The Mandalorian season 2.
Who Was Protecting Baby Yoda?
Just as important as why Baby Yoda is being hunted is the identity of the group who were protecting him. When Din Djarin and his trigger-happy android colleague were closing in on the pint-sized Force , they were confronted with a small army of well-equipped guards, and even though this gunfight took place in episode 1, the fallen fighters are yet to be ed for. It seems clear that the soldiers were not Jedi, but who else would have a vested interest in protecting Baby Yoda from the Empire's clutches? The guards themselves were probably no more than hired guns or a unit of New Republic origin - the real question is who put them there?
At this stage in the Star Wars timeline, Luke Skywalker is still alive and in the process of training a new generation of Jedi. He, or one of his contemporaries, might've discovered Yoda's young kinsman and realized their potential worth to the Empire, sending them into hiding and arranging for 24/7 protection. With Ahsoka Tano appearing in The Mandalorian season 2, perhaps she was the Jedi responsible for concealing Baby Yoda, and discovering the youngster's could will be what brings her and Mando together.
Where Did Baby Yoda Come From?
Delving further down the Baby Yoda porg hole, where did the adorable little brat come from in the first place? Din's mission in The Mandalorian season 2 is to return Baby Yoda to his planet of origin, but it's not clear whether the 50-year old was born on his home world and forcibly taken away, or whether he was raised on another planet from the start. It's possible that the Empire visited Yoda's home planet in order to score themselves a Force sensitive, only for the child to be turned loose when Palpatine was defeated at the Battle of Endor. Or perhaps Baby Yoda is the last of his kind, and was automatically put into a protection scheme by the Jedi out of precaution.
Given how heavily Disney are pushing "The Child" instead of "Baby Yoda," it's also impossible to rule out a direct connection between The Mandalorian's young Force-wielder and the original, wrinklier Yoda from the Star Wars movies. Yoda having a secret relative (maybe even fathering a child) would answer lots of the above questions, including why the character was under such heavy protection, how the Empire knew where to look for him (mind reading some Rebel scum) and why the Empire want to clone him. Being related to Yoda would explain the younger iteration's powerful Force abilities and could be the reason he's not currently with his own people - Yoda wasn't one for going home.
What Was The Great Purge?
Emily Swallow's mysterious Armorer character is a great source of ominous Mandalore history throughout the first season of The Mandalorian, and both she and Werner Herzog's Client reference the Great Purge. While the troubles and in-fighting of Mandalore is well documented in the animated world of Star Wars, the Great Purge is something entirely new, but is apparently responsible for the few remaining Mandalorians becoming nomadic wanderers. Since Moff Gideon mentions being part of the Purge, fans can safely assume the Empire had something to do with the devastation, but details remain sketchy.
The Empire are almost certainly to blame, but what triggered the attack on Mandalore after so many years of neutrality? How did a select few of the tribe manage to escape? Why aren't the remaining Mandalorians returning home now that the Empire are at their very weakest? The Great Purge has a great many details yet to reveal.
How Does Moff Gideon Have The Darksaber?
Undoubtedly connected to the mystery of The Great Purge is the final sting of The Mandalorian season 1 - Moff Gideon in possession of the fabled Darksaber. The legendary weapon of Mandalore has been held by a variety of notable Star Wars characters such as Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan Kryze and Darth Maul, and it was a huge shock to see the weapon in the Imperial hands of Gideon. The Mandalorian has already confirmed that the Empire obtained Mandalore's beskar steel as a trophy of the Great Purge, so it's logical to assume the Darksaber was attained in the same manner, but this still throws up some vital mysteries.
How, exactly, does the Darksaber move from Kryze to Gideon? Was there any intermediary holder, or does Gideon's possession of the weapon prove that all other worthy holders have already been killed? On a more practical level, does Gideon even know how to properly wield the Darksaber, or is he just carrying it to impress? The Mandalorian's season 1 finale only showed the villain cutting his way out of a crashed TIE fighter, and even Han Solo managed to use the iconic Jedi blade as a glorified pair of scissors in The Empire Strikes Back. Does Gideon have lightsaber skills to rival the sword's previous owners?
Whose Boots Were Shown On Tatooine?
Boba Fett's involvement (or lack thereof) in The Mandalorian season 1, but one scene did trigger widespread speculation that Boba was alive and well after his tussle with the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi.
In "The Gunslinger," Mando leaves Ming-Na Wen's Fennec Shand defeated on Tatooine, but the very end of the episode sees her prone body approached by a mysterious pair of boots. Given the secrecy surrounding this enigmatic figure, the style of the boots and the Tatooine locale, it's only natural to assume this moment marked the reintroduction of Boba Fett into the world of Star Wars. Although the mystery wasn't addressed by the end of season 1, The Mandalorian will surely have to resolve this question before season 2 closes out.
Is There More To Din Djarin's Childhood?
The Mandalorian's debut season is peppered with flashbacks that explain Din Djarin's childhood and the reason he became a member of the tribe, despite not being a native of Mandalore. Harrowing battlefield scenes show a CIS attack wiping out Din's parents after the pair manage to get their son to safety. Just as a Super Battle Droid is about to kill the youngster, the Mandalorian Death Watch ride to the rescue and take the scared child in as one of their own. While these flashbacks provide the bare bones of Din's backstory, there's a strong possibility further scenes will be added in season 2.
It would be a natural progression for The Mandalorian to begin exploring Din's training after being adopted into The Way and his adolescent years, which likely coincide with the Great Purge, allowing season 2 to explain 2 mysterious birds with a single stone. But The Mandalorian could also go even further back and delve into the circumstances behind the attack that killed Din's parents. Some elements of the incident don't fully make sense, and the Death Watch may not be the saviors they appeared to be in the first set of flashbacks.
The Mandalorian season 2 premieres in Fall 2020 on Disney+.