Our favourite surrogate Dad from a galaxy far, far away is back in The Mandalorian season 3, and he’s on a quest to redeem himself.
We are now into the third season of the Mandalorian and it has flown by! The show has expanded the world of Star Wars massively, introducing viewers to new characters and storylines. With season three the initial storyline is for Din Djarin to be redeemed in the waters of Mandalore. With this done he will be able to be redeemed and part of the creed once more. What is strange is this story line only occupies around 3 episodes.
The main story after this follows less of Pedro Pascal and his young apprentice Grogu and more of the Mandalorians themselves with Katee Sackhoff returning to play Bo-Katan Kryze. Their aim is to retake their home planet of Mandalore, but doing so requires the unification of their kind which is a lot easier said than done. All the main characters return, each having more screen time despite the somewhat congested episodes. We do not see Pedro Pascal at all this season as he was busy filming The Last of Us, so his only role here is voice acting. Grogu himself I do feel was very much a side character and not as crucial as we may initially have thought. This does change in the last two episodes but it does seem like this character is being dragged out or kept in for the I imagine huge financial gains.
However, the one main character that was always an underlying threat was Moff Gideon played by the ever encapsulating Giancarlo Esposito. He did not get nearly enough screen time as he deserved. It took four episodes for it to be revealed he was loose and up to some dark exploits. This I felt was a waste of a character and again makes the show feel a bit congested and lacking direction when it comes to its big bad.
The highlight for me with this show is the look and feel of it. It’s such a good looking show that I forgive its weaknesses on plot. The visuals of starships in space or flying over water really give it that extra level of realism. Combine this with the sound effects and it really is something special. The highlight for me was a flashback to episode three of the main Star Wars films during order 66. We not only got to see Ahmed Best back in live action Star Wars playing Jedi Kelleran Beq which was a surprise for me when I found out who he played prior (a rather long eared character with not much love). We also saw live action clones. Now what was interesting here is this is the first instance of actual real life clone armour being used. In the previous films it has all been CGI. Again this adds to the level of realism which we have come to expect from modern Star Wars.
The series does take a while to get going and does for the most part appear to not have an end game or a strong plot line. This means that some episodes appear as filler and don’t serve much purpose. Indeed the final two episodes are worth it and show some great choreography and action. However, it seemed a bit rushed and not as thought out as the previous two seasons. This is a shame because it is a great set of characters that involved and we are exploring new worlds and not just stuck on a certain dessert planet…! The majority of the show does feel a bit awkward as it should be about Din Djarin really but he is pretty much a side character for the entire show.
We did get some glimpses into the way the new republic works and how it deals with the imperial remnants which was interesting, as again it was something new and does provide insight as to how the first order could rise.
On the whole I did enjoy the season with some moment really giving us great fan service but with it being cliché. It won’t be long before we are back in this world as the Ashoka show is premiering soon. We shall I bet, see Din Djarin and Din Grogu return there!
Author: Tom, Bath Store
