The Mandalorian: Mando Has a Past!!!

Spoilers for the episode "The Prisoner" from here on.

So, The Mandalorian has a past after all.

Well, of course he does.  It's just one of the most closely guarded secrets in the galaxy.  Also, raise your hand if you think Xi'an was lying when she demurred over knowing what Mando looks like without the helmet.  That sounded like a little posturing to me.  Perhaps to gain some leverage and also an attempt to work Mando both ways.

In other words, stay on his good side with respect to their former relationship (no matter how trivial) as you never know when you might need someone with his fighting prowess.  Or, dangle some inside knowledge to her new crew about Mando in hopes of gaining influence over them. 

Either way, I think she is full of Mudhorn poop.

I think we all want to more about Mando's past almost as much as we want Baby Yoda merchandise.  (I pre-ordered a plush "talking" one today.  Why, I don't know.) In my last post I made a point about Mando's possible affliction with PTSD. Here's what I said about Mando's life before bounty hunting,

"Remember when the Armorer offered Mando a signet after he defeated the Mudhorn?  He declined because it wasn't cleanly won.  How can a bounty hunter of his age and experience not have a signet by now?  That seems pretty unusual.  Unless, he did.

Mando could have earned a signet long before.  But, an act or series of acts, proved to be so heinous, it caused him to change his identity and start anew.  Either that, or his previous iteration was so full of strife that becoming a bounty hunter was preferable."

I think the last line from my prediction is the most telling. It seems the job on Alzoc III was particularly "full of strife".

Yikes, what did he do?  Whatever it was, it was enough to leave his crew and their mercenary ways behind. Notice I said "Mercenary".  I've seen a lot of chatter on the 'net about Mando being a Bounty Hunter in his previous incarnation.  I don't think so now.  His old buddy "Ran" makes no mention of Bounty work.  Only of doing jobs and working with the crew.  I would think Bounty Hunting is a solitary profession.  Having to split the bounty or decide who gets what would lead to much division and in that type of world it usually ends up with one "Hunter" taking out another for a bigger piece of the pie.  

Okay, back to Mando's past.

So, was Mando so cold hearted that taking out people, aliens or whatever was considered "Target Practice"?  That's rather chilling.  I can only imagine things got so bad that he had to leave it all behind and strike out on his own.  

What was it?  Will we ever know?  This being a Disney show they can only make his character so dark.  Do they really want their nominal hero to be someone we can't root for?

This is what troubles me.  We have a complicated character that we've seen do good but we now know he has a shadowy past.  Will we ever see it?  Or is it just a tease?  

You know what else is damning?

When you owe a lowlife like Ran a debt of gratitude.  Ran knew of Mando's past and it looks like he played a hand in getting Mando out of whatever fix he was in.  Ran may have overplayed his hand when he put Mando in a position to get caught on the Republic prison ship.  Ran's card's weren't strong enough when Mando trumped him by escaping and alerting the Republic.  

Mando need not worry about Ran any longer.

So, who is this guy?  The lone wolf with a heart of gold?  Or, the guy who did what he had to and serves you up warm or cold?  Only two episodes to go and the chances of getting more info are slipping away.  Hopefully, Disney will give us a new flashback that will help flesh out this character and not leave us so wanting during the off season.

Lastly, another 'Tin Foil Hat" theory.

Mando will lose Baby Yoda.  

We all know he isn't the greatest babysitter in the galaxy.  I can see him making a crucial mistake and Baby Yoda slipping through his grasp.  It's possible Mando's new found "softness" will force him to make a tough decision and his gamble to make things right will not pay off.

I can also see the final scene before we fade to black for the season of Mando breaking down at the loss of Baby Yoda.  The helmet will come off as he drops to his knees with tears streaming down his face.

I'm not sure I could handle that.

Buy your Baby Yoda dolls now so we can all have something to hug!