Pedro Pascal talks emotional The Mandalorian season 2 finale: "I knew what it would mean for everyone"

The Mandalorian Luke Skywalker — (Image credit: Lucasfilm)

The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal has spoken about the series’ emotional season finale. In the episode (The Mandalorian season 2 episode 8), the eponymous gunslinger and his small charge Baby Yoda, real name Grogu, say their goodbyes when the Child goes off with Luke Skywalker for Jedi training.

Before Grogu leaves, though, Mando removes his helmet and lets Baby Yoda touch his face – apparently the first time a living creature has done so since the gunslinger was a child. Speaking to Indie Wire, Pascal commented: “At that point, I knew what it would mean for everyone to experience that kind of threshold between the character and the Child.”

He reflected: “We follow this story for two seasons; there’s this bond that grows between the two of them. He tries to not let himself soften, but he cannot help himself. This practical story logic brought something else about that moment, what it would mean to touch his face.”

Part of the Mandalorian creed – or so Pascal’s Din Djarin thinks – is keeping the helmet on at all times. Mando taking his off in front of all those people in the finale was definitely a big deal, then.

“As much as he says this is the way, that doesn’t mean this is the only way,” Pascal explained. “I find it fascinating playing with that. We don’t know what he ends up being. He took his helmet off in a room full of people.”

The Mandalorian is taking a bit of a break, with The Book of Boba Fett arriving late this year, and the third Mando instalment sometime afterwards. There’s also plenty of new Star Wars Disney Plus shows headed our way, including an Ahsoka Tano live-action series starring Rosario Dawson. Pascal teased a bit about what we can expect: “They are in the expansion of this world, where there are so many unexpected surprises and timelines that are going to be dealt with.”

As for whether we’ll see Din Djarin in any of the other series, Pascal wouldn’t confirm, but said if he did appear, it would “be in a way that isn’t meant to be expected.”

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.