I may have blacked out briefly during the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. An X-wing landed on Moff Gideon’s flagship, a hooded figure got out, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up sweaty, shivering, and wondering, Where am I?, like Han Solo after his stay at the Ritz-Carbonite. Whatever I missed must have been wizard. From what I recall, though, Mando completed his quest to deliver Grogu to the Jedi—just which one I can’t recall—which presumably served as the thrilling, poignant capstone to a glorious second season while also setting up an exciting Season 3. I wish I could fill in more blanks, but it’s been more than two years, and as I said, I seem to have …
OK, it’s coming back to me. The hooded figure was … Luke Skywalker?! Dank farrik. Now I know why I freaked out. I must have fainted when he started swinging that saber. How the heck did they keep that cameo a secret? You’re telling me they pretended Plo Koon was the Jedi? Damn, Dave Filoni—you got me. Plo Koon is OK, though, right?
Dank farrik! (I mean, Noooooooo.) RIP, Plo. Still, Grogu going with Luke lays the groundwork for a fantastic follow-up season. Think of the ground it could cover: How goes Grogu’s training? Will he and Mando meet again? How is Din doing with the Darksaber? What will the consequences of removing his helmet be? Will Luke share the screen with Ahsoka? Will de-aged Mark Hamill look lifelike this time? All of those mysteries could be solved in Season 3!
Wait, you want me to lie down in this tube? I didn’t bring a bathing suit. How will this help me remem—
DANK FARRIK. Forget what I just said. None of those questions can be answered in Season 3, because they were all addressed and resolved in a three-episode sequence from last year’s The Book of Boba Fett in which Mando and Grogu bodied Boba from the frame and seized his series for themselves. In the first of those installments, Mando was excommunicated from his cult. In the second, Luke told Grogu to choose between his training and his attachment to Mando. In the third, Grogu opted to go back to eating frogs with his friend rather than levitating them with Luke. Mando got a sweet new Naboo starfighter, Grogu got his own extra-small suit of beskar, and now they’ve got to go to Mandalore to atone for Mando losing his Way. And even though Filoni and Jon Favreau used up all of that juicy material on their spin-off series, there’s more in store for Season 3. This show isn’t out of ideas.
The wee hours of Wednesday morning will mark the return of the Mando, the mythosaur, the legend: Din Djarin, joined by Baby Yodes. On the heels of Andor’s triumphant run last fall, The Mandalorian’s reappearance illustrates the strength and range of the franchise’s finest offerings. If Andor is the best possible version of a mold-smashing Star Wars show made by and for folks who weren’t weaned on Star Wars—an elegant series for viewers of a more mature age—then The Mandalorian is the best possible ode to vintage Star Wars made by and for lifelong fans. In the words of one handsome marshal: Every once in a while, both suns shine on a womp rat’s tail. Andor’s afterglow hasn’t faded, but the fan base is about to bask in the warmth of the other brilliant light that illuminates this galaxy—one that shines just as bright, but at a different frequency.
As the show that launched Disney+ and a constellation of live-action, small-screen Star Wars series airs under its own title for the first time since 2020—and as Pedro Pascal plays adoptive dads in two tentpole TV series simultaneously—let’s lay out eight questions, one for each of The Mandalorian’s next set of episodes.
In What Ways Will Grogu Level Up?
Grogu didn’t spend much time training with Luke before ditching his new master and jetting off to save his friends. Then again, Luke didn’t linger long with Yoda before flying to Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, and he became pretty powerful. Plus, Grogu had plenty of training before Luke was born that he was able to access when Luke unlocked his recollections of his time at the Temple. “It’s more like he’s remembering than I’m actually teaching him anything,” Luke told Ahsoka.
We started to see the fruits of that training in The Book of Boba Fett’s finale. During the fight for Mos Espa, Grogu saved Din twice, first by partly disabling a Scorpenek droid, and then by soothing Fett’s runaway rancor. The second confrontation hearkened back to the first time Grogu saved Din, during their showdown with the mudhorn in Season 1. This time, though, Grogu was strong enough to save the rancor—an even bigger beast—by calming its mind, a more Jedi-like solution. In another reflection of Grogu’s improved mastery of the Force, his eyes are initially open as he wields his power, a first for him in the series.
The Season 3 trailer ends with a glimpse of Grogu on the offensive. Another sneak peek confirmed that he’s still incredibly cute, but he’s likely to be a more powerful ally for Mando this season. Of course, Grogu has turned his tiny back on the Jedi, so it’s up to Mando to make sure that his ward doesn’t meddle in the dark side, a responsibility for which the Mandalorian may not be well equipped.
One other note: Now that Grogu has chosen Clan Mudhorn over Luke’s fledgling academy, he may be more communicative with Mando. Entering Season 2, I predicted that Grogu would utter his first word. Maybe I spoke one season too soon.
What Will We Learn About Grogu’s Backstory?
In The Book of Boba Fett, we saw a snippet of Grogu’s repressed memory of Order 66 that cut off before we could discover how the little green guy avoided suffering the same fate as the Jedi who died defending him. Judging by the trailer, we’ll get more fragments of that memory soon. Were the mind-controlled clones under special instructions not to kill the youngling who looked like Yoda? If so, did Darth Sidious or Vader give them that order? If not, did Grogu save himself in a burst of precocious power, or did another survivor save him? “Someone took him from the Temple,” Ahsoka said in Season 2. There’s a long list of candidates, and maybe this season will allow us to narrow it down. Perhaps we’ll also pick up clues about Grogu’s home world and species, though Filoni may abide by George Lucas’s preference for those details not to be revealed.
How Will This Season Connect to Palpatine’s Cloning Program and the Rise of the First Order?
“There’s something dangerous happening out there,” Captain Teva pronounces in the trailer. “And by the time it becomes big enough for you to act, it will be too late.” Dr. Pershing, who was part of that danger, also pops up in the footage, cruising on Coruscant in an airspeeder that could potentially be taking him to testify about what he was working on. Since Season 1, the question of what the Empire wanted with Grogu has been central to the series. “I’ve already got what I want from him: his blood,” Moff Gideon said in the Season 2 finale. “All I wanted was to study his blood. This child is extremely gifted and has been blessed with rare properties that have the potential to bring order back to the galaxy.”
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Sometimes it seems as if a fair percentage of Favreau and Filoni’s efforts are aimed at bolstering the slapdash world building of the sequel trilogy. The two haven’t hidden their interest in fleshing out how the First Order arose, and from The Mandalorian to The Book of Boba Fett to The Bad Batch, almost every Star Wars series seems to foreshadow how, exactly, Palpatine returned. “I think you’re going to start to see other story lines start to creep in,” Giancarlo Esposito said in 2020, speaking of Season 3. “When we start to realize there’s such a deep connection [between the show’s story lines and] the rest of the galaxy and what’s really happening.” One of Filoni’s missions as a storyteller is to unify the disparate pieces of the sprawling Star Wars galaxy—to bring order to it, even. Season 3 may pull back the curtain on how Grogu and Gideon fit into the many machinations that culminate, decades later, in another existential conflict between light and dark.
When Will We See Gideon Again?
In The Book of Boba Fett, Mando tells the Armorer and Paz Vizsla that Gideon “was sent off to the New Republic for interrogation, and he will face justice for his crimes.” The two surviving members of the Children of the Watch opine that Gideon deserves to die, and Mando reassures them that the New Republic tribunal will execute him for his crimes. “We shall see,” the Armorer responds. Given Esposito’s past suggestion that “you’ll see more of me next season,” it’s unlikely that Gideon’s capture will spell the end of his life or his place in the series.
In fact, we know it won’t, as earlier this year, Esposito teased, “You’re going to get a good amount of Moff Gideon.” More Gideon is a good thing. For one thing, we still don’t know exactly how he obtained the Darksaber from Bo-Katan, which seems like it could be explained this season. For another, he undoubtedly has ties to the future First Order and to Palpatine’s cloning initiative (though he may not know that the Emperor lives). The New Republic will want to pump him for info, and any intel it extracts could further the new government’s efforts to uncover the Empire’s plans (and Favreau and Filoni’s potential plans to link The Mandalorian to other series). Before Luke’s arrival on the cruiser’s bridge, Gideon tried to kill Grogu, and then himself, so he must possess secrets he hopes not to spill.
As long as he’s in custody, his power will be limited, but Esposito also hinted that Gideon could escape, which would let us “see a nefarious villain rise from the ashes.” Regardless of the role Gideon occupies, Esposito’s presence is a plus. It makes sense for the series to keep his character in play, unless and until the Mandalorians exact their revenge on Gideon and a new big bad arises. Speaking of which …
Are Mando and Bo-Katan Cool?
Bo-Katan had only one instruction for her comrades in the assault on Gideon’s cruiser: “Moff Gideon is mine. … I don’t care what happens to him as long as he surrenders to me.” Oops!
In fairness to Mando, he didn’t have much choice but to take Gideon down. Nor did Mando know the Darksaber’s backstory, or the lore that governs how it changes hands. Now that Mando wields the blade, though, will Bo-Katan—who presumably assumed control of the cruiser—try to take it from him, as Vizsla did? Or will she follow his lead if he does undertake the liberation of Mandalore? “Not all Mandalorians are bounty hunters,” she once said to Din. “Some of us serve a higher purpose.” This season, she may have to decide whether serving her high purpose justifies falling in line behind a foundling and former bounty hunter who isn’t even from the planet she was once widely seen as rightful ruler of—and who (initially, at least) wants no part of either the Darksaber or the status it bestows.
What’s the Situation on Mandalore?
We know Mando and Grogu will be bound for Mandalore, but we don’t have a whole lot of info on the state of the planet, aside from the fact that the Empire bombed it into submission on the Night of a Thousand Tears, scattering any survivors (as the prophecy of the Darksaber foretold). The trailer features a shot of the bleak ruins of Sundari, which was targeted in the carpet bombing.
“The Empire turned that planet to glass,” Boba Fett said in Season 2. Mando himself said, “That planet is cursed. Anyone who goes there dies.” Were they right, or is there still some salvageable territory to fight for? If Mando does fight for it, what power would oppose him? The Imperial Remnant, or fellow Mandalorians? And might there be a mythosaur lurking somewhere underground? “The songs of eons past foretold of the mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore,” the Armorer reminded Din. The Darksaber lends a lot of weight to Din’s authority, but if he wants to lay claim to Mandalore, riding a mythosaur would be a great way to make an entrance.
What Will Mando Decide to Do?
Ostensibly, Mando is heading to Mandalore to cleanse himself of the supposed sin of removing his helmet and thereby get back in the good graces of his nearly extinct sect. To do so, he’ll have to find redemption in “the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore,” which are said to have been destroyed. Even if he does that, though, would he still want to return to an extremist group like the Children of the Watch now that he knows (thanks to Bo and Co.) that keeping one’s helmet on at all times isn’t the “Way” for all Mandalorians? Especially if it would mean that Grogu might forget the face of his father? Just once, Din let himself look on Grogu with his own eyes. It would be cruel if he never got to do that again. Plus, Omera might still be waiting on Sorgan for that smooch Mando owes her.
Maybe Mando will persuade the Armorer to change her ways, as Emily Swallow (the actress inside the Armorer’s armor) recently seemed to suggest: “I think we’ll continue to see as he makes discoveries on this journey that she’s open to seeing what she learns from that.” If not, then Mando may outgrow the cult’s restrictive lifestyle and adapt by shedding a piece of his external armor, just as he’s dropped his emotional walls. When we met Mando, he was but the loner. Then protecting Grogu became his “only priority.” Now, perhaps, he’ll expand his sphere of protection from a single foundling to all of the foundlings who could have a home on Mandalore. His hero’s journey from hunter to father to leader could be far from complete; his motto may as well be “This is more than I signed up for.”
Who’ll Be Back This Season, and Are We Still Building Up to a Climactic Crossover Event?
This season will certainly welcome fresh faces to the Mandoverse—including Christopher Lloyd and, reportedly, Tim Meadows—but in contrast to Andor, The Mandalorian makes familiar faces the ones we’re waiting to see. Season 2 was a feast of callbacks, comebacks, and crossovers. Season 3 could bring more of the same. We know from the trailer that Bo-Katan, Teva, Greef Karga, Peli Motto, Dr. Pershing, and the Armorer will be back. We can count on seeing plenty of Gideon. Fett and Fennec Shand will probably appear. (“We’ve got to bring [Boba] back somewhere,” Temuera Morrison said. “We’ve got to see the old Boba Fett. … I think it’s time to get him back to his badass ways.”) Could Cobb Vanth return, healed by Boba’s bacta tank and Tatooine’s miraculous modifier? Could Cobb’s shooter, Cad Bane, have survived? What might Migs Mayfeld be up to? And might some other major figures from the movies or animated series make their live-action TV debuts? (Grand Admiral Thrawn? Sabine Wren? Quinlan Vos? Leia?) Oh, and what of Ahsoka and Luke? “Will I see you again?” Luke asked Ahsoka in The Book of Boba Fett. “Perhaps,” she responded. But if Luke does see Ahsoka on-screen again, it may not be in The Mandalorian.
Although there’s more Mandalorian on the way—Favreau was working on Season 4 as of last spring—the ballad of Din and Grogu isn’t just a stand-alone phenomenon; it’s intended to be the centerpiece of an interconnected TV universe. Way back in December 2020, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy teased a crossover event that would intertwine the narratives of The Mandalorian and the other Star Wars series that take place at the same point on the timeline. Since then, no new details have dropped, aside from those in the crossovers we’ve already seen. But we have learned a lot about the lineup of shows.
Book of Boba met with a lukewarm reception at best, save for the Mandalorian takeover episodes. Plans for a series called Rangers of the New Republic were scuttled after Lucasfilm cut ties with Gina Carano (assuming the concept isn’t resurrected with Captain Teva attached). And another series, Skeleton Crew, was announced, joining The Mandalorian and Ahsoka in the 2023 Disney+ lineup. By the end of this year, we should have a clearer idea of how these pieces fit together, and whether they’ll all overlap via a struggle against Grand Admiral Thrawn or some other threat. For now, the road map remains murky, but just as Season 3 will make Mando a player in a larger-scale conflict, it may highlight the load-bearing nature of The Mandalorian, the linchpin of Lucasfilm’s grand plan.
