What You Need To Know About The Mandalorian‘s Episode Rollout & Season 2

The Star Wars franchise may center around adventures in a galaxy far, far away, but thanks to the recent launch of Disney+, fans will be able to stream all the Star Wars content they want from the comfort of their own couch. This includes Disney’s new live-action series, The Mandalorian, which follows the story of a lone bounty hunter, played by Pedro Pascal, a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi and long before the First Order rose to power. And while only the 36-minute premiere episode hit the streaming platform on Nov. 12, new episodes of The Mandalorian won’t be far behind.

Unlike Netflix, which releases new seasons of its original content all at once, The Mandalorian will air new episodes on a weekly basis each Friday. (The exception being the first week when new episodes hit on both Nov. 12 and Nov. 15.) If they follow the Nov. 12 drop pattern, each episode will go live at 12 a.m. PT/ 3 a.m. ET (so, in the wee hours, much like a Netflix drop).

After that, the remaining episodes will debut in weekly installments, making the eighth and final episode of season 1 come out on Dec. 27. (Just consider it a belated Christmas present!)

Executive producer Jon Favreau discussed this weekly format during a press conference in late October, and shared his excitement over the prospect of fans being able to collectively experience this journey together over an extended period of time, like Game of Thrones.

“I think part of what’s fun about this, and with this new service, is that everybody — wherever they are — if they have this service, they’re seeing it first,” he told reporters.

Season 1 is in the can, but the feedback and opinions of viewers could definitely play a role in where some of these characters go from here in future seasons, including the already greenlit Mandalorian season 2.

“It certainly will inform what we’re doing for the second season,” Favreau admitted. According to Favreau, production was already underway on the second installment, long before season 1 launched: “We actually have the first week of the second season under our belt. Our cast, especially Pedro may be a little tired because he was there quite late last night.”

Predictably, Favreau opted not to elaborate any further on The Mandalorian season 2 details, though, that alone does indicate one very important factor: Pascal’s Mandalorian character will have to survive the events of season 1. Sure, that was pretty obvious from the title, but hey, some of us are still traumatized after how Rogue One went down. It’s unclear which (if any) of the other characters will be part of the second installment, but then again, you don't want those kinds of spoilers this early in the game!

Favreau also disclosed to Entertainment Weekly back in September that he also plans to direct at least one episode from season 2. “We’re working on season 2, writing, prepping with the directors and getting ready to direct myself, actually,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t get a chance the last time around because I was doing Lion King. So I’ll step in for one of them.”

So, fear not, Star Wars fans: The Force will be with Disney+ for a very, very long time.