The Mandalorian: Season 3
The Mandalorian. Disney (2023). Image by Nick M.W.
By Nick M.W.
The latest season of the hit Star Wars series missed its mark and lost the way.
*SPOILERS* + A RANT
A lot happened, or at least a lot was made to look like it happened in season 3 of The Mandalorian, but in the end, we’re back where we started the season, with Din and Grogu teasing new adventures. This is what we wanted to see all along, but when the season wrapped, I had some questions.
Why did it take so long to get back to this point? Why did the creative trust behind the show at Lucasfilm think it was a good idea to steer the audience away from what made this show so great to begin with? We are just here to be entertained. You had us at “Star Wars western”. You gave us the Star Wars version of Lone Wolf and Cub. Saddling Din and Grogu with the quest to “be Mandalorian” has weighed down this show. The season 2 finale—the all-timer with Luke Skywalker—liberated Din and Grogu from the singular quest of delivering Grogu to a/the Jedi.
This ending must have created a huge problem for Disney because it took Grogu out of the show. and they wasted no time bringing him right back as soon as they could in the best part about The Book of Boba Fett. I am far from professional, but they probably should’ve saved the Luke Skywalker ending for the series finale. The Mandalorian delivered its proper ending too soon at the conclusion of the second season, and it left Mando with something far less interesting to do in season three. In fact, it seemed like he was tagging along for the entire season as the show shifted its focus from him to Bo Katan.
Who is ‘the Mandalorian’? We thought the show was about Din, but maybe his story ended with season 2. This season, the Mandalorian referenced in the show’s title was Bo Katan. With the exception of a couple of episodes (1 and 3), she was the star of the show. She had more screen time than the most popular character, and there’s no reason why other than because this was the creators and showrunners and writers best idea. Woof!
Bo Katan had her time to shine in two animated series. The Mandalorian is not the right vehicle for the Bo Katan “Redemption Tour”. She’s a cool character who had a sweet cameo last season, but it was the wrong decision to put the focus of this season on her.
Maybe season four’s Mandalorian will be Grogu. They should put a little more of the spotlight on their moneymaker.
What are the rules? It was such a big deal that Bo Katan win the Darksaber in combat at the end of season 2. She refused to accept it from Din, and she didn’t want to fight him for it. She let’s Din have it and loses her Mandalorian crew. Later on in season 3, she uses it to save Din, and thus earns the right to have Din give it to her. In the season finale, Moff Gideon crushes it. What gives?
It was Bo Katan’s MacGuffin, it passed through the hands of a Sith lord and a zealot and Imperial scum and a Rebel, and then it was wrecked. All that for that? In a sad way, this is the way of Disney’s Star Wars. What was once significant in the lore, our heroes of yesteryear, the rules of the game, mean nothing.
And then I remembered that Sabine Wren just gave that shit to Bo Katan in Rebels.
Why does it feel rushed? This was the curse of the Sequel Trilogy. It felt like they had better things to do at Lucasfilm than handle beloved IP with care; to give old characters a fitting farewell while introducing us to a new generation of heroes. But, they rushed all that to get to the end of the story. They forgot that the journey is the dream. They make their characters have sudden and uncharacteristic changes. One moment, the Armorer tells Din to kick rocks and forget about being a Mandalorian unless he wants to go to a destroyed planet to dip his toes in some holy water. The next, she shrugs all that off and tell Bo Katan that she can walk that walk without her helmet because she’s being doing it.
Excuse me? That’s like dropping, “Somehow, Palpatine returned.” Somehow, Bo Katan, you are worthy.
Characters never really die.
Boba Fett chilled in the sarlacc until the time was right.
Jedi come back as Force ghosts.
Bad guys escape every time.
Droids can be rebuilt. IG-11 becomes IG-12.
Grogu will take a hard pass on becoming a Jedi because he loves the internet’s daddy.
Hell, Grand Admiral Thrawn survived and will return in the upcoming Ahsoka.
Is this all happening because Disney is afraid to move on from IP before every wrinkle has been squeezed for profit? Probably, and it sucks. It doesn’t serve their media well because, unless you pay attention to all of it—the comic books, novelizations, live-action shows, animated series, movies, and videogames—you are going to miss key pieces of the canon, and you will not be filled-in if you only watch The Mandalorian.
Of course, what Star Wars fan only watched one TV show? However, if Disney continues to write stories that don’t make any sense but serve a greater, money-making purpose, they won’t have fans to even watch one show. They certainly haven’t captured a new generation of fans the way their peers across the hall at Marvel did, and they are doing too much “did you see that cameo” fan service at the expense of good storytelling. They had that once in The Mandalorian, and perhaps they’ll return to form in season 4, but the bloom is off the rose for a show that seemed poised to takeover as the next big thing in Star Wars.
