14 Emmys total (and a lot more nominations)
The Mandalorian has many claims to fame. Be it the show’s status as the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV series, its accessible nature to less intense Star Wars fans, or simply the adorableness of Grogu, the mark it has left on the franchise cannot be understated. Its popularity has gone beyond critical or commercial success – just look at its list of awards.
Initially, The Mandalorian had a story almost entirely disconnected from any Star Wars plotlines. The journey of an armored bounty hunter just trying to protect an innocent child is a vastly enjoyable one, and the side quests that are introduced from episode to episode keep the viewer hooked. There were references here and there to pieces of greater Star Wars lore, but it was nothing so explicit that a non-Star Wars fan would be lost.
In season 2 of The Mandalorian, this premise is somewhat expanded. It’s still the story of Din and Grogu, but one can joke that Din is becoming more involved in larger galactic events than he ever wanted to be. We are also introduced to several characters who are well-known to fans of The Clone Wars, such as Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze.
There are many ways in which season 2 altered beloved aspects of season 1, such as the loss of Grogu, the destruction of the Razor Crest, and Din breaking his Creed. By season 3, however, Din has his kid, a new ship, and is trying to redeem himself. It’s a return to form in some ways. But in others, it’s like nothing we’ve seen before.
The spoiler-free part
This section will be my review overview – spoiler-free, of course.
Generally, I liked season 3. I watched all eight episodes in one sitting because that’s how I’ve seen the previous two seasons. It makes for a fun viewing experience, even if I have to dodge spoilers for about a month or so. This season was entertaining to watch, and I loved how much Bo-Katan was able to shine. But there were elements of season 3 that felt contradictory to the previous ones, and Din’s arc seemed to regress from what we’ve already seen.
It felt like there was a lack of new characters, and we were usually introduced to large groups of people rather than individuals. But hey, the characters we did have were great.
The Armorer is such a conflicting character for me. On one hand, I dislike the way she runs her tribe and how she called Bo-Katan a “cautionary tale” in The Book of Boba Fett. But… she’s just so cool. I love a well-written badass female character who can hold her own in a fight. And her voice, and her design, and her weapons… I like her, but I don’t like what she stands for, you know?
Paz Vizsla, like the Armorer, was another character I appreciated much more in season 3. I was worried that both of them would pose as antagonists to Bo-Katan and Din. But they actually got along, so that was a nice surprise.
Bo-Katan… oh man, Bo-Katan. I’ve loved her since The Clone Wars, and I was thrilled she had such a central role in season 3 of The Mandalorian. I have a whole section about her right after this one, but I’ll summarize my thoughts here. She’s a fantastic character, and I loved watching her come into herself this season. I do wish Din had a bit more to do this season, as Bo-Katan bore the brunt of the emotional development, but that’s on him, not her.
I know the issues that caused Gina Carano to be dropped from The Mandalorian, but the loss of Cara Dune is a shame. I’ll always be a fan of strong female characters who are, you know, actually strong – both literally and character-wise.
Moff Gideon felt extremely underutilized in season 3. He was a very calculating and sinister villain in the last two seasons, but the same can’t be said for him here. And for all the emphasis put on the Darksaber in season 2, it had much less of a role this time around. It was well-handled and exciting for the first half of the episodes, though. I just wish one of the Star Wars shows would agree on the rules of the Darksaber – they change from show to show, season to season! But that’s a blog post for another day.
Also – yeah, there’s a cameo from Lizzo and Jack Black in episode 6. It’s entertaining, toes the line of being irreverent, and is very reminiscent of an old-school episode of The Clone Wars. I’m not complaining.
The strangest part about season 3, in my opinion, is how confusing the plot is until about halfway through. In seasons 1 and 2, things felt very straightforward. Protect Grogu. Bring Grogu to a Jedi. The more you watch, it becomes clear that season 3 is about the planet Mandalore, but it felt like it took a long time to get there. The Mandalorian is usually about following one central plotline with a lot of sidequests from episode to episode. We have sidequests in season 3, but they seem to clutter the true direction of the story.
But let’s get more positive. First and foremost, The Mandalorian is a Star Wars show, and I truly adored the more subtle references. My joy upon seeing the purrgil in episode 1 was unmatched, not to mention how much it increased my excitement for Ahsoka. And there was a certain character appearance in episode 5 that took me entirely by surprise with how well done it was.
Also, Ahmed Best’s cameo in episode 4 was fantastic. It was so well deserved for the actor, given the amount of harassment he was subject to when The Phantom Menace came out. Star Wars obsessives behaving badly isn’t anything new, sadly, but it is nice to see the franchise making these kinds of steps in the right direction.
Beyond this point, spoilers abound!
Bo-Katan Kryze = Kylo Ren?
Wait, give me a second, I’ll explain.
I had a grand time watching The Mandalorian season 3. Even as minor issues were being noted in the back of my mind, Bo-Katan Kryze had all of my attention and admiration. She’s been one of my favorite characters since The Clone Wars, and I loved watching her earn center stage.
In between seasons 2 and 3 of The Mandalorian, I was surprised to find out how many people disliked Bo-Katan. The reasons were many – her curt treatment of Din in season 2, her status as a terrorist in The Clone Wars, or her hunt for the Darksaber. Multiple fans advocated for Din to take up the Darksaber and become Mand’alor instead of Bo-Katan, which is a take I detested. As much as I like Din, he’s never seemed like the “planet ruler” type to me. I don’t think that’d be what he wanted. But Bo-Katan’s done this before!
However, the pervasiveness of this support for “Mand’alor Din” made me nervous on Bo-Katan’s behalf. There were even theories that Bo-Katan would be a full-blown antagonist in season 3, chasing down Din and trying to kill him for the Darksaber.
So, suffice to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by the path she took in season 3.
At first, Bo-Katan seemed like a shell of her usual self. At the season’s beginning, she was so disillusioned and directionless that I almost didn’t recognize her. This was compounded when she was integrated into Din’s tribe in episode 3. I had been so used to seeing Bo-Katan as a leader. Her new status as a follower – and an equal to Din in many ways – caught me off guard. But I swiftly came to appreciate this change in her standard role.
I should’ve known that Bo-Katan’s arc was never for her to remain a follower. Her journey was wonderfully done. I loved how she proved herself to Din’s tribe, leading the war party in episode 4 and demonstrating her commitment to all Mandalorians. It’s subtle, but there’s a nice undercurrent from both her and Din about coming to respect the other’s position in regards to being Mandalorian.
Bo-Katan’s relationship with the Darksaber is significantly changed from her attitude towards it in season 2. Her feigned disinterest towards it in season 3, combined with the loss of her Mandalorians, is very well illustrated. It makes the return of the Darksaber to her in episode 6 hit all the harder, since she’d given up hope of wielding it again.
(I was cheering at this scene. I’d been waiting for this moment for nearly three years!)
Also, frankly, I was relieved Din and Bo-Katan were finally bonding in season 3. They’re both such great characters – they can do more together than at odds. More on that in the following section.
But why do I compare Bo-Katan to Kylo Ren? It’s because she receives the same treatment in season 3 that Kylo Ren does across the sequel trilogy. They both have strong, emotionally fulfilling arcs, but they come at the cost of all the characters around them. Kylo Ren had a good story, but Rey and Finn and Poe never received the same treatment. Bo-Katan’s fight for Mandalore and her reclamation of her identity were fantastic – but Din’s plotline suffered for it.
We’ll get into that in a bit. For now, let’s look at Din and Bo-Katan in relation to one another. Their friendship is one of the best parts of season 3.
Din and Bo-Katan – Mandalorian power couple?
My biggest relief in season 3 came from the fact that Bo-Katan and Din had both mellowed out significantly since season 2. They each came to a point where they could understand and respect one another’s choices about being Mandalorian. This paved the way for them to connect on a more personal level.
Before starting season 3, I heard whispers that people were shipping Din and Bo-Katan. At first, I was strongly opposed to this – I didn’t yet believe that they’d even get along, and they seemed so different as people. But, as I said before, their dynamic pleasantly surprised me.
I don’t know yet if I’m 100% on board with them being romantically involved, but I’m craving much more content of them together. If they continue interacting like this in season 4, I could absolutely see them dating by the season finale. They’re already starting to develop a strong relationship. The one factor, though, that I wish was addressed in season 3 is Din’s helmet.
I have a longer and more detailed post about Grogu and Din in season 3 that can be read here. I’ll provide a quick overview of it.
It felt like seasons 1 and 2 were both slowly working towards Din removing his helmet and stepping away from his tribe. It might be all that he’s ever known, but Din has learned from season 2 that not all Mandalorians hide their faces. And given the emotional impact of Din removing his helmet for Grogu at the end of the second season, he’s acknowledging that he cares more for Grogu than his Creed.
However, all of this progress is undone in season 3. Din never touches his helmet once. He completes the quest given by the Armorer in the second episode, and he’s accepted back into his tribe at the end of the third. The whole concept of him leaving and becoming a Mandalorian on his own merit – for himself and Grogu – is forgotten entirely.
I have hope that this plotline will come back up in season 4, but the lack of discussion in season 3 won’t make it easy. All that’s left to do is hope that the show as a whole won’t end with Din permanently wearing his helmet.
And this is where I’m circling back to Din and Bo-Katan’s relationship. Obviously, Din having a love interest would create an instant conflict when it comes to his Creed. It’s not easy to date someone if you can’t show them your face. But if Bo-Katan and Din were to develop feelings for each other in season 4, it would be disappointing to combine that plot point with Din breaking his Creed.
If Din had removed his helmet in season 3, then his dynamic with Bo-Katan in season 4 would be entirely separate. But when the two elements are conflated, it weakens Din’s reasoning for leaving his tribe. If he’d done it in season 3, then it would’ve been for himself and maybe Grogu too. If he does it in season 4 while falling for Bo-Katan, it could look like he’s just doing it for her.
Obviously, this doesn’t have to be the case. Bo-Katan can still encourage Din to take off his helmet while separating that from their relationship. But there would still be undertones of this action being spurred solely by a romance interest, which could lessen the impact.
On Bo-Katan’s end, though – she’s gone through a lot in her life. It’d be nice for her to find a life partner, and she and Din still have a lot they can learn from each other on what it means to be Mandalorian. I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship will develop in season 4, especially now that Mandalore is secured.
Do you guys not know how long the Darksaber’s been around?
One of the best parts of The Mandalorian season 3 is in episode 2, “The Mines of Mandalore.” When Din runs into trouble on Mandalore, he tries to use the Darksaber to defend himself. But, as we’ve seen in The Book of Boba Fett, he’s not adept at using it. Din struggles with the weight when the Darksaber is ignited, nearly dropping it.
But this isn’t the case for Bo-Katan. When she arrives to save Din, she takes up the Darksaber and uses it herself. Unlike Din, she lifts it easily, not having to get used to the weight.
These moments are wonderfully subtle and speak to the truth of the Darksaber – it belongs to Bo-Katan, not Din.
However, aside from the scene in episode 6 where Din passes the Darksaber on to Bo-Katan, this legendary weapon isn’t given nearly enough weight in season 3, especially given how much emphasis was put on it in season 2.
Halfway through the episodes, Din tells Bo-Katan that the Darksaber doesn’t have inherent value to his tribe. This is a good line, but the Darksaber’s impact on Bo-Katan should be more significant than its impact on Din. She’s the one who’s held it before, who’s chased it for so long.
The destruction of the Darksaber in episode 8 caught me entirely by surprise, and at first I was outraged. How could this be the end of an object of such history and importance?
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t the Darksaber’s ruin that bothered me so much. It was the way that it was done.
I have a blog post HERE where I go into more detail on the role of the Darksaber in season 3. But, to put things simply – the Darksaber should’ve been destroyed with a purpose. When it gets crushed in the last 20 minutes of the season there’s no time to take in the loss. It doesn’t even feel real, frankly. And Moff Gideon breaking it in the final battle means so little – it’s not like the sword is sacrificed to save anyone. It just… gets destroyed.
(Also, it’s so annoying that season 3 changed the rules of the Darksaber from season 2. What on Earth was Gideon talking about in season 2 about how the Darksaber must be won in combat?? How would he know that if he took it when Bo-Katan surrendered it to him? Since when could you surrender the Darksaber?? Why does Gideon claim he’s the true ruler of Mandalore if he never really won the Darksaber? And, by the Force, if Gideon took the Darksaber from Bo-Katan so long ago, how long was she Mand’alor? I don’t like the concept that she had it for such a short time frame!
Ugh. Saving all of that for the other post.)
In my opinion, I think the Darksaber should’ve been destroyed in the penultimate episode. It would give the characters, especially Bo-Katan, a stark sense of loss going into the final battle. The impact would be strongly felt, and Bo-Katan would have to face the fact that she can be Mand’alor even without the Darksaber.
I’m still so bitter, ugh. Moving on to another disappointment…
Maybe he could’ve stayed dead?
You know how Bo-Katan “walks both worlds?” I’m here to bring up a concept called “worst of both worlds.” It’s not related to Bo-Katan; I just needed that line.
IG-11 was introduced in the first season of The Mandalorian as a bounty hunter turned caretaker for Grogu. His self-sacrifice in the season finale to protect the child is a strong emotional turning point. It also affects Din, shifting his negative view of droids.
So… bringing IG-11 back makes absolutely no sense.
The premise at the beginning of season 3 is that Din needs a droid to help him navigate Mandalore. He trusts IG-11, so he wants to try and rebuild him. This fails at first, and Din is given R5-D4 as a guide instead. IG-11’s rebirth is seemingly forgotten, left in an ambiguous state where he could either return or deactivate for good.
(Side note: absolutely love R5’s presence in this season. It’s a nice subtle cameo that doesn’t go over the top in fanservice. Peli’s line about returning him to the Jawas does technically contradict the short story “The Red One” from From a Certain Point of View, but I’ll let that slide. I was just happy to see him again.)
Since I watched all of The Mandalorian season 3 in one session, IG-11 hadn’t entirely slipped my mind come the finale. I was pretty much expecting him to come back to life. And he does, becoming the new marshall. Yay, good for him. But where’s the personal element with Grogu?
Grogu had an attachment to IG-11 in season 1, and Din came to respect and understand the droid in the season finale. But we never see them interact with IG-11 once he’s brought back! Why not let them interact for one line?
This is why I’m calling this a “worst of both worlds” scenario. IG-11 gets reanimated, but there’s little emotional impact for Din and Grogu. And his sacrifice from season 1 is undone, so there’s not really a fair trade-off there.
On its own, I guess I can shrug and say it’s nice that IG-11 has a canonical happy ending. But the effect on the story and characters is so minimal. It’s nothing I couldn’t get from a fanfiction and headcanon into believability.
What comes next?
In my post here, I’ve delved more deeply into the irritating position in which season 3 has left Din. To summarize my points briefly: I disliked how much this season was about Din strengthening his ties with his tribe. Season 2 gave us an excellent open ending, leaving so many possible paths that Din could go down… and now we’re just back to square one. He’s still wearing his helmet, he’s looping Grogu into his tribe (so the kid can one day hide his face forever), and he hasn’t quite fulfilled a deeper emotional arc. It’s been lovely watching his relationship with Grogu develop, but Din hasn’t had his own journey he’s had to undertake separate from his kid.
It’s also strange how distant Din now seems from all of the friends he’s made. While it might be nice for him to live in his cottage with Grogu, won’t that get lonely after a while? Aside from Paz, it never seemed like Din was particularly close with any of the other members of his tribe. Are you telling me Bo-Katan’s going to take a break from being Mand’alor every now and then to visit him? (Please do. That’d actually be really cute.)
I hate to say this, but… this reminded me of the ending of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Instead of bringing every character’s storyline to its natural and satisfying conclusion, we’re rushing them to a different ending and acting like it’s what they were meant for all along.
(I actually like TROS, but I can acknowledge how messy all the characters felt.)
It feels like Din is getting the same treatment. There isn’t enough change in his status from season 1 to now that it feels like a significant arc. He has Grogu now, but he chose Grogu at the end of the first season. Din doesn’t seem separate enough from his kid when it comes to his path.
But let’s step even farther back, away from Din and Grogu. What do we have left for them?
Grogu has turned away from Luke. He’s still using the Force, but he’s not becoming a Jedi. (Honestly, not giving Grogu some way to practice Force-training with a Force-user is frustrating – is he just going to teach himself everything? But whatever, I digress.) Din has accepted that Grogu is safest with him, and the two of them have officially become father and son. Mandalore is saved, the Darksaber is entirely out of the picture, and Din has found peace.
Obviously, the only path for season 4 is to shake up that peace. Like season 3, we should have a physical storyline to follow. But, unlike it, Din needs a personal arc. Is he really going to be content covering his face forever?
I have only two wishes for season 4, but one is significantly loftier than the other.
- Din and Bo-Katan interact more.
Yes, part of this is just that I want Bo-Katan to get more screen time. I’ve been in love with this woman since the Clone Wars. And her and Din’s dynamic is so well done. I could watch them for days.
- Din takes off the helmet.
Look, I said this was the more ambitious one.
Having Din take this step wouldn’t have to mean undoing his actions in season 3. If he talks more with Bo-Katan, he could come to the conclusion on his own that being Mandalorian doesn’t have to require wearing his helmet. However, I doubt that the Armorer would accept this. If Din’s commitment to his tribe can be separated from his desire to remove his helmet, then he can come to the point of taking it off without counteracting his season 3 choices.
It’s funny, really. When I first started watching The Mandalorian, I found it to be a great show with no emotional impact on me. (I’d just been emotionally damaged by TROS, so I wasn’t quite ready yet to open my heart to a new Star Wars media again.) But, somewhere along the way, I found myself becoming so attached to The Mandalorian that I’d be breaking the Jedi Code (were I a Jedi). Maybe it’s Din and Grogu’s bond, the deep dive into Mandalorian culture, the fantastic music and action sequences –
Or Bo-Katan. Yeah, a lot of it’s Bo-Katan.
Did I mention I love her?
