‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian’ Season 3: This is Not The Way
In its third season, The Mandalorian lost its way and stumbled.
The Mandalorian Season 3 has wrapped up with it’s final episode coming out this week. I’ve said for a while that the season had problems, and now with it’s ending it’s clear they undermined the show a lot. Now let’s just be clear, season 3 was still better than say, The Book of Boba Fett, or even Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s also clear that the season lost it’s way and did not live up to the first two seasons. So lets dig in a take a look at why Season 3 was simply not the way.
Spoilers for the Mandalorian Season 3
A Lackluster By The Book Ending
Season finales are supposed to be big cool finishers to the season. They are the time for major twists, surprises, deaths and really just the best moments. Season 1 of the Mandalorian saw major characters die at the end and cool combat. Season 2 was action packed, had the surprise return of Luke Skywalker and had the main characters make some big sacrifices. this season on the other hand was just a pretty lackluster episode. Going into it we had a lot of expectations and theories, these included:
- Din Djarin dying
- Someone being a spy/traitor (the Armorer? Axe Woves?)
- Allies showing up, such as Boba Fett or other Mandalorians out there
- A big cool space battle
- Moff Gideon using the force
- Thrawn making an appearance
- Someone riding/using the Mythosaur
- The big monster from the previous episode showing up
Instead none of those things happened. We did get some cool fights. But overall it was just some action and then the good guys won. There was no twist, no sacrifice. Other than the Darksaber, nothing was lost. Gideon had no secret plan. Even the teased space battle kind of fizzled, with just a short Imperial attack on one ship, with the Imperials then just… vanishing and the Mando fleet either just not being there (what happened to the Gaonaztis?) or flying into some clouds. I won’t say it was bad, but it was just very lackluster with nothing surprising happening.
A Season Without Direction Is Not The Way
The major issue with the whole of season 3 is that it just didn’t really have a lot of direction. The plot was pretty lose and not a major element until about halfway through. There are very few major twists or anything interesting happening. It was overall just pretty lackluster and this isn’t the way to get people into a show. Several episodes had long tangents that didn’t have anything to do with the plot or even the main characters at times. It was just all over the place.
Season Three Was A Different Show
For the first two seasons of the Mandalorian the show followed a pretty standard formula. Djarin and Grogu were off having adventures. The show was about them making their way in the galaxy with some lose goals. They met people along the way and had adventures, but it was about them. Season three did not follow this way at all. Instead it was a very different show. Djarin and Grogu were reduced to side characters for most of the season, with the plot, when it was there, mostly focusing on the Mandalorian as a whole. Arguably Bo-Katan Kryze was the central character, not Djarin. Now shows can change and reinvent themselves, but this just wasn’t the same as before. On top of that it seems pretty clear that some elements from the scrapped Rangers of the New Republic show got shoved into this season, making it truly a different show.
The Season Lost It’s Way With Grogu
It was clear from the start that show had a Grogu problem. His leaving with Luke in season 2 was a major plot point and turning point, which was then undone in between seasons. Bringing Grogu back could have made sense if they had something important for him to do. But it’s clear that they don’t really have any idea of what to do with him. While Din has had a couple of cute scenes with him that’s about it. Most of the time Grogu is just kind of there. He’s not active or affecting things. The only time all season he’s played any role was going to get Bo-Katan when Din was in trouble on Mandalore and helping out a bit in the final episode. None of these things really needed Grogu to be there. The fact is that the show had nothing for him to do. He’s just there. Sort of. There are multiple episodes where he is barely on screen.
A Better Place And Finding The Way
Despite all that season 3 had some good parts. It’s also left us in a much better place. The show has reset to going back to what it was about in the start. It’s set up season 4 to be about Djarin and Grogu off on their own adventure. It’s back to bounty hunting (for good!). The core characters are freed of the massive weight of a big plot and fitting in with Star Wars as whole. I think this is the way. Give us the adventures of Djarin and Grogu, doing their own thing and showing us new parts of the galaxy, that is the way. Do that, and I for one will be very happy.
Let us know what you thought about season 3, down in the comments!
