This is the Way! Last Wednesday featured the return of the wildly popular Star Wars show, “The Mandalorian.” THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING FOR “THE APOSTATE”!!!

The episode opens up with a scene of the steadfast Armorer. There is a montage of her smelting and creating something with her tools, and it turns out that she is creating a small Mandalorian helmet. She finishes the creation and moves out of the cave to a sunny beach, where several other Mandalorians are lined up and waiting. They are all gathered around a small child, and it is revealed that he will be joining their Mandalorian covert and is completing an oath.

The gathering is suddenly interrupted by a huge sea beast, and the group struggle to defend themselves and disable it as it tries to kill them. Several of them fall and everything is looking hopeless before an old Naboo starfighter appears out of nowhere and successfully kills the creature.

It’s none other than the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin, along with Grogu!

Din and the Armorer discuss returning to Mandalore, as Din has been exiled from his group of Mandalorians for previously removing his helmet in front of others. The Armorer is skeptical, as Mandalore was razed by the Empire and reportedly poisonous, but agrees to welcome Din back if he were to bathe in the water of the mines.

While in hyperspace, Grogu makes an astonishing discovery. He sees large figures floating along with their starfighter, and this is where fans of “Star Wars Rebels” got excited. These space whales are called Purrgils, creatures who can travel through hyperspace.

Din and Grogu then head to the planet Nevarro. The city is shining and prosperous, a huge change from the hive of scum and villainy seen in Season 1. They meet with their friend and magistrate Greef Karga, who welcomes them in and is excited to see the pair together again. Karga offers Mando a place to stay on Nevarro, but Din tells him he’s here on business. The conversation is then interrupted by a scuffle in the courtyard.

Mando, Grogu, and Karga go down to investigate the situation, where several pirates are trying to force their way into a school. Vane, the leader of the small group, is an old associate of Karga’s. They argue before having a shootout, where Din and Karga shoot Vane’s men, letting him escape to tell their pirate leader Gorian Shard to not mess with Nevarro.

The group get back to business. Karga wants Din to stay and be Nevarro’s marshal, but Din has to go to Mandalore to atone for taking his helmet off. He convinces Karga to let him try to fix a droid they once knew, but after the droid reset to it’s base functions and tried to kill Grogu, they are hesitant. They take IG-11 to some little Anzellans to try and get it fixed, but there’s a specific part they need if the droid is to be fixed.

Din and Grogu leave with the hopes of coming back with the part, but as they fly away in their starfighter, it quickly becomes clear that they are not alone. The pirate that escaped earlier, Vane, comes back in numbers and tries to shoot down their ship. Even outnumbered, the pirates aren’t any match for Mando. He escapes their attempts quickly.

They arrive on Kalevala, where they are shown into a nearly completely-empty castle and speak with Bo-Katan. She was once determined to take back Mandalore with a legendary weapon called the Darksaber, but after Din ended up having the Darksaber, she no longer cares about the plans she fought so hard for. She is extremely careless about his idea to go back to Mandalore, listlessly telling him that her forces left her and that the planet is nothing but poison and crystal.

So, what do fans think about the first episode?

“I thought it was a good set up f0r the new season and properly recapped everything that has happened so far. And now that Grogu is back with Mando they will obviously be on more adventures and their partnership is one of the most enticing of the Star Wars universe,” said Alyssa Williams, ERHS senior. “I really liked when Grogu used the Force to spin around on the chair while Mando was having a serious talk, he was so cute.”

“It was good, Baby Grogu returned. Amen. And Mando. Period,” said Karina Ramos, ERHS senior.

New episodes of “The Mandalorian” are released every Wednesday on Disney+!