The Mandalorian: Season 3

     

Based on: Star Wars by George Lucas

Created by: Jon Favreau

Produced by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, John Bartnicki

Starring: Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian/Din Djarin), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), Taika Waititi (IG-11), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Emily Swallow (the Armorer)

The Mandalorian season 3 trailer: 

So who is the titular Mandalorian, Din or Bo-Katan? 

In something of a welcome shift from side quest after side quest, this season the show began focusing on the race of its name--or rather, the nationality? The Creed? Regardless, it went from depicting Din going on various missions with little overall meaning or purpose to having him team up with Bo-Katan, another Mandalorian, in effort to retake their destroyed and corrupted home world. There was also a strong focus on Grogu, Din's adopted child, and an effort to learn about his history and determine his future. 

Bo-Katan joins Grogu and Din as a main character for season 3

I will say that much of the season still... fell flat. I heard a fair bit of criticism both from online magazines and from my own friends, all of which I felt was warranted. Some of the harshest criticism fell on episode 6, "Guns for Hire," which guest-starred Jack Black and Lizzo as Captain Bombardier and Duchess, respectively, the rulers of a planet who hire Din and Bo-Katan to solve a droid problem. I personally didn't have any issues with the episode, but I understand how this might have come off as a popularity/glamor reach by Disney of adding flashy cameos and outrageous makeup and costuming just to add spectacle to the show. Even if the episode was a bit ostentatious, it still fit well enough with the season plot, so I didn't have complaints myself. 

Captain Bombardier & the Duchess

A more legitimate criticism I heard about the season--and the entire series thus far--is its lack of seasonal direction. I won't spend too much space on this because I don't want to dwell so much on negatives, but I think it's necessary to acknowledge this, especially as a writer myself. The first season seemed to focus on Din and Grogu's relationship. The second season felt pretty aimless--it was about Din realizing he didn't have a mission. And this season was about Bo-Katan discovering her own mission and Din helping her rediscover Mandalore. The common weakness? None of this is about Din, the show's main character. There is also a lack of specific direction in each of the season plots: I can only put my finger on these plots in retrospect. But going into each season, the viewer and potentially not even the show itself knew where it was going or what to expect. We also had a little idea of stakes, aside of Din and Grogu separating. I hope the show is able to remedy this going forward, because a major part of a TV series is having a goal in mind and building viewer anticipation in our heroes achieving this. 

With that out of the way, I'm excited to say that this season had quite a lot of spectacle and some pretty major character development that I loved, for all three main characters (Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan). Episode 2, "The Mines of Mandalore," was my favorite. The three heroes begin exploring Mandalore together (after some initial complication with Bo-Katan) and Bo-Katan finds herself reminiscing on her childhood and growing up on the planet when it was thriving, as a member of a prominent family. But I found the final moments the most exciting. Din is about to fulfill his mission--attaining a sample of the sacred waters deep in the mines--when he slips off an underwater edge and plunges in, weighed down by his armor. Bo-Katan rockets into the water after him and has to travel deep into its depths before she's able to find where Din has sunk to. She grabs him and is rocketing her way back up through the massive submerged caverns when she notices a gargantuan dragon-like creature slumbering in one corner--and it opens its eyes to meet her gaze. Barely able to acknowledge this shock, she finally shoots out of the water with Din in her arms and resuscitates him before the credits roll. 

Bo-Katan doesn't discuss this moment for the rest of the season as it seems to be personal for her. However, as she and Din reunite with the rest of the Mandalorians and proceed to reclaim Mandalore as a reformed nation, she requests Mythosaur signina--the name of the creature she spotted--on the new armor she's given as she's re-inducted into their order. I've heard of theories that suggest she might return to that mine to tame, or at least bond with, the Mythosaur that she saw. 

Bo-Katan wields the Darksaber as a leader of the Mandalorians

Regardless of all that, it was very satisfying to watch Din and Bo-Katan's progress in reuniting their people and reclaiming their planet. Over the whole season, they made amends between themselves as far as their differing Creeds, Din encouraged Bo-Katan in reclaiming her own personal mission, the pair made amends with their Armorer who seems to be a spiritual or Creed-based leader to their peoples, and they reunited the different sects of their people who were spread across different planets. Then in the season's final episodes, they returned to their home planet of Mandalore as one people, with intent to resettle, reclaim, and heal its corrupted environment. 

The Armorer re-inducts Din and Bo-Katan as Mandalorians by Creed once they return with water from the mines

Another exciting development pertained to Grogu, the "baby Yoda" alien Din travels with. As Din was re-inducted back into the Mandalorian Creed by the Armor, he requests to induct Gorgu as a "Foundling" or a young student to train in their Creed, and begins training him in battle. Toward the end of the season, Gorgu is officially adopted by Din. 

Overall, I think this season has had great developments in every respect and with every major character. I hope the trend continues and the Mandalorian people, led by Bo-Katan, succeed in reclaiming their planet and their way, and I hope that Din and Grogu find a common goal.