Star Wars: The Mandalorian Star Emily Swallow Calls Season 2 “Unexpected”

There are few TV shows in recent memory that have become true hits as quickly as Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Game of Thrones was popular for a while but it wasn’t until a year or two in that the series was a conversation staple around the globe. It took a couple of months for sci-fi fans to really discover and fall in love with Stranger Things. The Mandalorian was a phenomenon from the moment it arrived, and the hype only grew as the first season went on. There is currently no limit to the excitement for Season 2 of the Star Wars series, and it sounds like it’s going to be filled with just as many surprises as the first.

Emily Swallow, who plays the Armorer on the show, recently spoke with ComicBook.com about the The Mandalorian. When we asked how to describe the upcoming season season, she had just one word for what’s on the way.

“Unexpected,” Swallow said of Season 2. “The truth of it is, I know very, very, very little.”

The Mandalorian‘s cast and crew managed to keep Baby Yoda a secret all throughout production and up until its premiere on Disney+, so this is a set that knows how to lock things down. Any details about the second season will likely be closely guarded until the folks at Lucasfilm decide to share them, including any hints at what’s in store for the Armorer.

Swallow was, however, able to share a bit of information about how she brought the character of the Amorer to life, including how Japanese film influenced much of her style and how she connects to the other Mandalorians.

“I was given some really useful… not specific backstory, but sort of more how the armor fits into the overall story of this particular clan of Mandalorians,” Swallow explained. “And one of the things that [creator] Jon [Favreau] talked to me about, which I understand was also an inspiration of George Lucas’ was Kurosawa films in that there’s a very reverential tone and that kind of economy of movement with a lot of the samurai in Kurosawa films. And I knew that the Armorer was sort of a spiritual leader in addition to being a weapons maker, and that she’s sort of the thing that they all come back to. She keeps them grounded in who they are and in their code, and there’s a sacredness to that, and there’s a reverence to that. And Jon talked about the importance of holding onto these rituals and the importance of this creed and how important a little thing like taking off your helmet is or isn’t.”

“And so, going back and watching some of Kurosawa’s stuff, like Seven Samurai, that was helpful was just to kind of get the images in my head and kind of have a tone,” she continued. “It was mostly images that I could reference more than a specific backstory, but I also feel it always depends on the characters to how specific I want to get. And for this character, I think it was more helpful for me not to get too specific with exactly where she grew up and who her parents were, because it helped in playing her to imagine that a lot of those details aren’t important.”

The first season of The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney+. Season 2 is currently in production and will arrive on the service later this year.