We’re now less than twenty-four hours until The Mandalorian Season 2 hits the interwebs. After nearly a year of waiting, Star Wars fans’ questions will (hopefully) be answered. Will we see Boba Fett? Is Ahsoka really going to appear? And will Mando find more Mandalorians, and possibly more “Yodas” on his journey? As the season approaches, all eyes are on “The Gunslinger.”

Of course we can use the term to describe Din Djarin. In this case, however, we’re referring to episode 5 of the show’s first season. “The Gunslinger” could very well have much more importance on Season 2 than perhaps folks think. Why? The easy answer is Boba Fett. But there’s more to it than that.

“The Gunslinger” and its effect on The Mandalorian Season 2

Mandalorian Season 2 Sneak Peek
Image: EW; JUSTIN LUBIN/LUCASFILM LTD.

Dave Filoni brought a heavy dose of nostalgia to the first season’s fifth episode. In it, we saw call-backs to the prequels (pit droids), The Empire Strikes Back (“no good to us dead”), and heavy reference to A New Hope with its setting on Tatooine. It’s the latter aspect of “The Gunslinger” that will once again be front and center in Season 2. So what can we expect from Mando’s return to the desert planet with two suns?

We’ve already seen Tusken Raiders astride banthas roaming the sands. Likewise, early promo pictures featured Mando and the Child in a Tatooine setting. Eagle-eyed fans, while watching the trailer for Season 2, however, may have picked up on Mando’s true reason to return: to aid the Fett. If blurry images are what they appear, Mando rides through the desert with Boba Fett’s armor on the back of his speeder bike. That could be a red herring, but “The Gunslinger” did lay some groundwork for Fett’s possible return.

THe Mandalorian Season 2; The Gunslinger
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Remember, at the end of the episode, we see a figure approaching Fennic Shand’s body. In the background you can hear the tell-tale jingle of Fett’s spurs. If the show follows established canon, that figure should be Cobb Vanth, the “Sheriff of Tatooine.” But…. we did exclusively report that Ming-Na Wen will return as Fennic Shand. That being the case, look for the sharp-shooting assassin from “The Gunslinger” to have a bigger, and likely pivotal, role in the Boba Fett storyline of Season 2.

The Mandalorian returns tomorrow on Disney+.