I think this episode was Favreau and Rodriguez playing with Star Wars action figures a bit - and I mean that in a good way - but I don’t see that as a recurring feature of the show. I don’t think any characters from The Mandalorian have been any less interesting than characters from the original trilogy.

I’ve seen some people say Chapter 14 is their favourite season 2 episode so far, and they’re not “Star Wars is when lightsaber swoosh laser gun battle pew pew big explosions” types either. I understand them. I thought it was a great episode.

I think Grogu will continue to have dark side moments like his latest scary tirade, and the amount of violence he’s close to will surely have a negative impact on him, but I can’t see him turning to the dark side. It’s important to note that while the amount of intelligence he has in debatable, he IS a child, and decisions are made purely based on feeling or instinct anyway, so ‘dark side’ might not be the right term. Though I really appreciate that Grogu has been made a proper character with struggles and moral decisions, instead of the object of the plot who’s there to sell toys and get captured so everyone can feel sorry for him.