As a fan of Star Wars and The Mandalorian, I must say I am thoroughly disappointed in season three of the show. It was set up to be something great and fell victim to a surplus of filler material and dumb side missions that ended up not meaning very much in the end.
episode one, titled “The Apostate,” reintroduces the audience to our titular character, Din Djarin, and Grogu, who has been nicknamed “Baby Yoda” by the fans. The Armorer, the leader of Din’s’ former Mandalorian clan, explains that he cannot rejoin their clan because he has removed his helmet. Djarin must bathe in the living waters of the mines of Mandalore to be redeemed. Unfortunately, Mandalore, ancestral home of Mandalorians, is now believed to now be uninhabitable.
During this episode, Mando has some clashes with pirates and ends up meeting up with Bo-Katan Kryze, a major character in the Clone Wars TV show who gets her time to shine this season. She flat out refuses to help him as her clan has abandoned her, and she views him a traitor for winning the Darksaber (a weapon like a Jedi’s Lightsaber, but in black and shaped like a katana).
In episode two, Djarin finds that Mandalore is indeed still inhabitable but runs into trouble with native species, including a robotic alien-like creature that drugs and captures him. He sends Grogu to send for Bo-Katan, who is nearby. She reluctantly saves him and eventually relents to let him go to the living waters, where she sees a creature known as a Mythosaur after Djarin falls in. Mandalorians assumed that Mythosaurs were extinct, and this event revives Bo-Katan’s faith in Mandalore. Despite seeing the beast, she does not share her findings with Djarin, because if she manages to ride the Mythosaur, she will be the uncontested leader of her old home planet.
Episode three was by far my least favorite of the whole series. This episode takes us to Coruscant, the capitol of the New Republic, and the former seat of power of Emperor Palpatine (who was vanquished a few years prior to The Mandalorian) The episode follows two former Imperials. One of them, Kane, betrays the other, who we never see again. It makes zero sense for them to be in this season or get that much time dedicated to them as Kane will only serve a very small purpose going forward. The end of the episode sees DIn welcomed back into his clan with Bo-Katan also being granted entry, since she technically had to go into the living waters to save him from drowning.
In the fourth episode, Mando wins the respect of Paz Vizla, his last opponent within his clan, as he and Bo-Katan rescue Vizla’s son from a large bird-like creature. Bo-Katan wins the respect of the clan for leading the war party, but just like episode three – this feels like filler.
Episode five also falls into this trap, as the Mandalorians liberate Nevarro, an outer rim planet run by Mando’s friend, Greef Karga, from pirates. This is a good episode – but does not offer much in terms of critical plot points, except that Karga gives the Mandalorians land on the planet.
Episode six sees the Mandalorian give the Darksaber to Bo-Katan as she technically is the master of the blade, seeing as she saved him from the water. She also gets her old clan back. Apart from this – there is nothing new, just a boring filler episode guest starring Jack Black and Lizzo.
Episode seven was amazing. Every part of it — the suspense of all of the Mandalorians returning to the planet of Mandalore, learning Moff Gideon (the big bad from the past two seasons) escaped arrest and is back, this time in a nearly indestructible suit of armor and flying stormtroopers. He takes Mando captive, and Bo-Katan manages to get most of the Mandalorians out, but Paz Vizla sacrifices his life for them to escape.
The season finale was underwhelming to me. Most fans were expecting Bo-Katan to ride the Mythosaur, and there were plenty of opportunities for that to happen, but all we got was a small shot of the beast underwater. Grogu stopped Moff Gideon from killing Din by pressing a button on his droid that said “No” repeatedly, which was far too comical and unrealistic for my liking. To make matters worse, one of the Mandalorians kamikaze a massive ship into the battlefield, which is poor tactics and doesn’t seem like it would ONLY kill the bad guys instantly.
Overall – this season was incredibly underwhelming from the close to perfect first two seasons. Disney + has already screwed up Book of Boba Fett and Andor — they do not need to damage Mando any further, and I hope they learn their lesson for the Ahsoka series that will start streaming in August.
Hey, I’m Noah and I am a staff writer on The Mycenean. I participate in Executive Council and I am on the autism spectrum which is useful for retaining information about my special interest, politics.