‘The Mandalorian’ is Back, Why You’ll be Disappointed

It’s been more than two years since season two of The Mandalorian aired, and now it’s back, finally, with season three, but fans will be incredibly disappointed by what they’ll see.

It was the Covid winter (remember that? You got really into Tiger King), and we were all desperate for something to watch, Star Wars related or otherwise. So, here’s a quick refresher of where we’re at, and then we’ll take a look at where we’re headed with The Mandalorian.

Let’s start with a quick recap of the end of season two. Din Djarin and his group of friends stormed Moff Gideon’s ship to save Grogu (Baby Yoda in all of our hearts). Djarin wins the battle and control over the Dark Saber from Moff Gideon, seemingly saving the day.

They are about to escape but are surrounded by the indestructible Dark Troopers. Just as all is lost, a Jedi X-wing saves the day.

Mando opens the door to reveal the CGI-enhanced Luke Skywalker. Just before Grogu is about to part with Djarin so that he can finish his Jedi training with Luke, Mando removes his helmet, showing his young friend his face for the first time. It was a heart-wrenching moment. R2D2 makes a cameo as Grogu heads off with Luke—the end.

That’s the basic 30-second summary of what happened without dragging into the nerddom all things Star Wars related.

Then there was a lot of distraction. In the two years since that episode aired, a lot has changed. Gina Carano was fired from the show for essentially comparing being a conservative today, skeptical of mask mandates and the vaccine, to being Jewish during the Holocaust.

Disney also dropped three new Star Wars shows in that time that can be identified as the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The good was Andor. A show about a character you know is going to die, and you know how he will die, but you still care deeply about his story.

The bad was The Book of Boba Fett. Star Wars fans bullied Disney into releasing this show, and it was a bit of a hot mess.  It felt like it came from some dark web Star Wars chat room. The show itself felt forced from the very beginning. He survives the Sarlacc, the thing from which no one has ever survived, and somehow learns to live thanks again to the Sand People. Again, it feels like writer Jon Favreau was taking advice from all Star Wars fans online.

Boba Fett is a bounty hunter, not a crime lord. He shouldn’t be worrying about the safety of the community. He should be tracking down bad guys and freezing Han Solo.

The only good part of the show was reuniting Mando and Grogu.  Yeah, you probably missed that part. They’re back together again. Doesn’t that explain the season three trailers?

The ugly: Obi-Wan. How long have Star Wars fans been waiting to find out what Obi-Wan was doing in the desert all those years? He’s a meat cutter and sneaking toys to Luke. Seriously? That’s it? No crazy Jedi stuff?  What the frack was that? (wait, wrong franchise).  Cool lightsaber battler at the end, though.

Now we’re going back to The Mandalorian. Here’s what we can gather so far about season three. Mando has the Dark Saber, which makes him the ruler of Mandalore, a position he does not want. Throughout the previews, we saw his friend/soon-to-be-enemy Bo-Katan sitting on the Mandalore thrown and Djarin returning home.

Clearly, the two are about to throw down over the future of a somewhat destroyed planet (and people as a whole). While this drama plays out, Mando must redeem himself by removing his mask at the end of season two. It’s your typical story of redemption and saving a people all rolled into one with a reluctant leader at the head.

But no matter what happens in season three, fans will hate it. Essentially, Favreau gave fans Star Wars candy at the end of season two: Luke, Baby Yoda, and the Mandalorian. There’s nothing that’s going to top that. Then you put Grogu and Mando back together again in a contrived way to get people to watch your other show? Why?

What made the first two seasons of The Mandalorian great was the relationship between Grogu and Mando and the constant introduction of new characters and problems. This season appears to be about Djarin’s evolution into a leader of his people, with his Baby Yoda sidekick beside him.

And earlier this week, Favreau announced he’d already written season four. So, no matter what happens in season three, it won’t be complete. There will be so much left undone. And Disney is now going to be cutting the purse strings, so who knows what you’ll be getting in the future.

But let’s be honest here; Star Wars fans will hate it because that’s what they do. If it strays, even a little, from the original cannon, it’s trash in their eyes. They can’t just enjoy something for the sake of enjoying it. It has to be perfect and true to everything that came before it.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiment of Disney Fanatic as a whole.