Critics ranked Season 1 of Star Wars: The Mandalorian highly, establishing the series as a strong new entry to the Star Wars canon. Season 2 continued to impress and earned higher ratings on average than the premiere season on Rotten Tomatoes. Overall, critics praised the action, the acting, the effects and the increasing amounts of lore woven in throughout the season.

Despite all of the high reviews, some criticisms remain. Even though an episodic structure was praised in some episodes, most critics seemed more focused on episodes that both expanded the lore and moved the series’ overarching plot forward. Using the critics' ratings collected on Rotten Tomatoes, here are the rankings for all of the episodes of Season 2.

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8. Chapter 10: The Passenger - 84 Percent

Frog Lady and Mandalorian in Season 2

“Chapter 10: The Passenger” was a self-contained adventure, and its ratings from critics suffered because of this fact. The episode mainly focused on the Mandalorian attempting to transport an amphibious woman, referred to as "Frog Lady" to the moon Trask, but they were waylaid by New Republic Starfighters, ship malfunctions and a small army of ice spiders. While some critics praised the episode for its escapist fun, critics’ main complaints about “The Passenger” focused on how little the episode moved the overarching plot forward.

Even so, the episode did introduce Captain Carson Teva, a member of the New Republic Starfighter Corps and recurring character who might also be a part of Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic.  The episode also established more of Grogu’s personality, including his mischievousness and his food-motivated life choices. Thus, "Chapter 10: The Passenger" did not advance the overall plot, but the episode did establish some more character moments and information about the galaxy in this era.

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7. Chapter 15: The Believer - 88 Percent

In the penultimate episode of the season, Din Djarin called upon old friends and enemies alike to try to discover where Moff Gideon took Grogu. The episode focused more on fleshing out Migs Mayfeld, a returning character from Season 1's "Chapter 6: The Prisoner," as he grappled with psychological scars from his part in the Imperial army and ultimately worked to redeem himself. The episode also showed Din Djarin reluctantly removing his helmet to gain more intel, furthering his development as he tried to balance the traditions of the Children of the Watch with his growing affection for Grogu.

Many critics did praise the direction and character work in the episode. Other critics argued that the episode slowed down the momentum established by "Chapter 14: The Tragedy." This episode is the only one in the series not to feature Grogu at all, which also may have contributed to its lower rating. Still, the episode set the groundwork for more portrayals of how the Empire scarred the galaxy and its citizens.

6. Chapter 12: The Siege - 91 Percent

During "Chapter 12: The Siege," Din Djarin and Grogu returned to Nevarro for repairs, and Din helped Greef Karga and Cara Dune take out an Imperial outpost. Along the way, they discovered that Moff Gideon survived, heightening the urgency of the Mandalorian's quest to find a Jedi to take in the Child. Meanwhile, the Child himself had some adorable scenes in school where he continued to prove that he is strongly motivated by food. Although most critics’ praised the action set pieces and effects, other critics felt that the episode needed a little more emotional resonance interspersed within the action. Even so, the episode incorporated important plot revelations and a few key Grogu scenes that made it an important part of the season.

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5. Chapter 16: The Rescue - 94 Percent

The Mandalorian holds Grogu

“Chapter 16: The Rescue” wraps up the season, but surprisingly, it falls in the middle of the episode rankings. In the episode, Din called upon even more allies to help free Grogu, but the rescue was bittersweet as it ended with Grogu leaving with Luke Skywalker for training. As exciting as this surprise cameo was, it was not enough to catapult the episode to the top of the rankings. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau brought together most of the threads of the season, and many critics ultimately were satisfied with this conclusion. However, many other critics felt the execution of these plot threads and the episode's pacing needed more refinement. Nevertheless, "Chapter 16: The Rescue" built new plot threads for the next season, and while it brought the Jedi search arc to a conclusion, the episode still left plenty of questions to be answered in the future.

4. Chapter 9: The Marshal - 95 Percent

“Chapter 9: The Marshall” opened Season 1 with a bang, reintroducing fans to the world of The Mandalorian with a seemingly episodic monster battle. In the episode, the Mandalorian and the Child returned to Tatooine, where they helped the citizens of Mos Pelgo and the Tusken Raiders defeat a krayt dragon. Critics praised the episode for its self-contained nature and its focus on the Mandalorian and the Child. The episode deftly incorporated old lore and new, and the cliffhanger established by Boba Fett’s appearance at the episode’s close set the tone for the new season. While Season 1 mostly established itself as separate from other Star Wars media, “The Marshall” signaled that Filoni, Favreau and the rest of the creators of The Mandalorian will be incorporating more elements of past works into the series in future seasons as well.

3. Chapter 13: The Jedi - 96 Percent

Grogu speaks with Ahsoka Tano around a lantern

“Chapter 13: The Jedi” smoothly incorporated information from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Most importantly, the episode included the first live-action appearance of Ahsoka Tano. In the episode, Din Djarin and Grogu traveled to Corvus to find Ahsoka Tano, and once there, they helped liberate Calodan from Morgan Elsbeth, an Imperial Magistrate. Although the episode did have strong action sequences, the quieter moments also delivered many long awaited answers about Grogu, including his name. As critics noted, these moments opened up new possibilities for the future of the show, and they also helped set up the upcoming Ahsoka television series. While some backdoor pilots can be unwieldy, The Mandalorian introduced them in an elegant way that provided strong emotional resonance for the series itself. Notably, this episode ranks third on the tomatometer percentage-wise, but it has the highest average rating at 9.14/10, showing that the critics' appreciation for the episode was strong across the board.

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2. Chapter 11: The Heiress - 98 Percent

Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan of House Kryze in the Mandalorian

After two more self contained adventures, "Chapter 11: The Heiress" began weaving in plot threads from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. The episode called into question everything Din Djarin knew about Mandalorians and showed him that there might be other ways of viewing Mandalorian culture. The episode marked the first live action appearance of Bo-Katan Kryze and showed that the leadership of Mandalore will be a recurring plot element throughout the series moving forward. Critics acknowledged that the episode was mainly focused on set up for future episodes, but they mostly felt that these elements were well-incorporated into a story that still resonated for viewers who had not seen Filoni's animated series.

1. Chapter 14: The Tragedy - 100 Percent

"Chapter 14: The Tragedy" was a game changer that signified major developments for Din Djarin in the future. While the episode began with Din and Grogu traveling to a Jedi ruin on Tython, the episode ended with the series’ biggest cliffhanger: the abduction of Grogu by Moff Gideon. Thus, despite the Mandalorian's best efforts, he failed in his quest to keep Grogu safe, and this failure fueled his actions for the rest of the season. The episode also reintroduced Boba Fett and Fennec Shand to the series, establishing them more firmly in The Mandalorian's world and setting up their spinoff series. The episode also foreshadowed the seemingly more permanent separation of Din Djarin and Grogu at the end of the season.

Overall, critics praised Robert Rodriguez's directing and the actors' strong performances in the episode. They also highlighted the strong bonding moments between Din and Grogu and the seamless integration of these emotional moments within the action of the episode. This core balance of action and emotion defines The Mandalorian at its best, and if the showrunners continue to strike that balance in the third season, the series' episode ratings may continue to rise even higher.

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