The Mandalorian Season 3 Review: This is The Way
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The Mandalorian
Season 3
9
Where to Watch The Mandalorian?
Right in time for Star Wars Day, we have a review of The Mandalorian season 3 which just wrapped up two weeks ago. I have loved Mando and Grogu’s adventures since the very first episode of season 1. The Mandalorian has been my favourite of the Star Wars shows and one of the most consistently great shows on Disney+.
While Star Wars would come in third among my favourite franchises, it is still one of my favourites and I care deeply about the story and galaxy created by George Lucas all those years ago. Having said that, after taking some time to reflect on this season I have many thoughts both positive and negative.
To start off with the negative I would have to say this is probably the weakest season of The Mandalorian so far. I felt that this season was set up to have a clear direction of retaking Mandalore, yet we spend a lot of time wandering aimlessly between the beginning and end of the season when we finally resolve that plotline. I must say it was also an odd choice that Mando and Grogu were reunited in The Book of Boba Fett as if you chose not to watch that show all of a sudden you missed key story points that affect the story.
We also spend an episode following characters that are not our protagonists and while I found these side characters to be interesting, their story is not resolved sufficiently. It was just weird since Mando became the flagship character of Disney+ and especially Star Wars on Disney+.
I enjoy the weekly adventures for the most part but I felt that in this season while we had fewer standalone adventures it still felt as if very little was progressing in each episode. Finally, I just felt that while there were some interesting concepts explored and questions answered I just had a feeling of wanting more.
With all that negativity out of the way, I still really enjoyed this season and the story that we were presented with. I know Star Wars can have a very polarising fanbase with fans hating many projects and being divided on what is “good”. For the most part, I have enjoyed all the content that I have consumed from a galaxy far far away.
I have preferences for sure with certain films and shows being my favourite in the franchise. I say all this just to emphasize that I love being in this galaxy and universe with all the cool and interesting stories that can be told. Mando has given me insight into a part of the timeline that I have not seen a ton with a period after Return of the Jedi but before The Force Awakens.
I think the show has done a good job expanding the establishment of the New Republic and how the galaxy is in a time of transition after the fall of the Empire. Throughout this show, we have learnt more about the outer rim and the way these not too often looked upon planets and systems operate without supervision.
I feel that this show continues to have a little bit of everything for multiple types of Star Wars fans. I felt that this season continues with interesting lore explained especially to those of us who are not as up-to-date on the books and comics.
Firstly, I really enjoyed learning more about Mandalore and Mandalorian culture as we got to see the differences between the clans of Mandalore. We get to learn more about “The Way” and why it is so important to Death Watch. Exploring the ruins of Mandalore and hearing about what it once was from Mandalorians who were there is really cool. It is a really interesting culture and I think we get an interesting viewpoint from both Din Djarin and Bo Katan.
We see two different perspectives that are both fair and based on their experiences and the way their clans taught them. I am unsure if this particular show will continue but I hope that if it does I hope we continue to learn about the Mandalorians and get to see them rebuild Mandalore to its former glory.
The characters this season are still really great. Din Djarin continues to be an excellent lead for our show as we see him try to redeem himself in the eyes of the Armourer and his sect of Mandalorians this season. The relationship between him and Grogu is still the heart and soul of this show as we get to see Grogu become a Mandalorian apprentice and begin to actually train and fight more.
Bo Katan has a very active role this season and I was glad to see her progress from the second season and take her place as the leader of Mandalore once more. I hope that in some form we continue to see her character and what impact she leaves on the galaxy in this part of the timeline.
All in all, I thought this was a pretty good season. While I think it is the weakest of the three, it is still Star Wars and I enjoyed exploring this galaxy. I still think it answers some of the questions from previous seasons and gives us interesting looks into the state of the galaxy under the New Republic. I am quite glad with how they continued Mando and Grogu’s stories and I just have to hope we see these characters again in some form!