With the third season of The Mandalorian right around the corner, we thought we’d go through 10 of the most important things that you need to know before you watch.
But first, here is a whistle-stop recap of what happened in the first two seasons!
In the first season of The Mandalorian, we met a cold and resourceful bounty hunter, the titular Mandalorian, otherwise known as Din Djarin. One such bounty turned out to be a little green alien, the same as Jedi Master Yoda’s species.
The Child, later named Grogu, softened The Mandalorian’s heart, and over the course of the season, they went on all kinds of journeys together.
The second season of The Mandalorian sees our two heroes continuing on with their adventures. Along the way, he meets other Mandalorians and butts heads with them over how strictly they do (or don’t) observe the Mandalorian code.
Through it all, though, Din Djarin is adamant about getting Grogu back to the Jedi to be with his kind.
The emotional final episode of season two, named “The Rescue” sees legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker come and finally find Grogu, taking him from The Mandalorian to hopefully begin his Jedi training.
And that’s as far as we got in the last season of The Mandalorian. So with all of that out of the way, here’s what you need to know going into season 3!
1. The events of The Book of Boba Fett happened
The Book of Boba Fett was a Disney+ show that received a tease at the very end of the credits of the final episode of The Mandalorian season 2.
Fans of The Mandalorian would be waiting for over 2 years until the show returned, and The Book of Boba Fett would fill the gap.
In the series, we followed Boba Fett as he became the Daimyo of Tatooine, intent on ruling the city of Mos Espa, not with fear and a heavy hand, but with respect.
But chapters 5 and 6 of the series, entitled “The Return of The Mandalorian” and “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” primarily focus on The Mandalorian and what he was doing during Boba Fett’s struggles on the desert planet.
It was quite an interesting choice for the makers of The Book of Boba Fett to dedicate the best part of two entire chapters (out of a total of 7) to a character who isn’t even the main hero of the show.
We learn some very important parts of Mandalorian lore in these chapters, as well as witness some very important developments for Din Djarin himself. We’ve dive more into a few of these things later!
Overall though, it means that if you want to be fully up to speed with everything going into season 3, you NEED to have watched The Book of Boba Fett. It fills in some very important gaps.
Love or hate the show, the events of The Book of Boba Fett actually happened, and because of how much they are tied in with the events of The Mandalorian, they cannot be ignored or discounted!
2. Grogu is back
No one can deny how much of a social phenomenon Grogu has been. He’s captured the hearts of even the most casual of Star Wars fans. So we can totally see why the creators of the show wanted him back in season 3.
But given how season 2 ended, how can Grogu be back? Surely he had quite a definitive ending to his arc?
Well, during the Mandalorian-focussed chapters of The Book of Boba Fett, It is clear that Din Djarin misses Grogu. The two had formed a connection, and they felt protective over each other, and after a short time, he sets off in search of him to check up on the child.
We discover that even though Luke Skywalker has begun Grogu’s Jedi training, the youngster’s attachment to The Mandalorian is holding him back, and his heart is not truly set on becoming a Jedi, even when presented with the lightsaber of Jedi Master Yoda.
Grogu ultimately returns to Din Djarin, and that sets up the fact that despite their emotional parting at the end of the final episode of The Mandalorian season 2, they are already back together in the first episode of season 3.
Is the choice a good one? Maybe, maybe not. It would have been nice to see The Mandalorian struggle without Grogu to look after, but from a marketing standpoint, we can see why he had to be back.
Still, we can’t imagine anyone will be complaining at the return of Grogu! He’s just so adorable!
3. Boba Fett owes Din Djarin a favor
Once again, we’re looking to The Book of Boba Fett to help set us up for the start of The Mandalorian season 3.
One of the big plot points of the show was that Boba Fett was being challenged on many fronts, not only by the other crime families of Tatooine but also by an outside crime syndicate: the Pykes.
They were smuggling spice – an illegal drug – through the streets of Mos Espa, and Boba wanted to put a stop to this. Of course, he didn’t have an army or any muscle to speak of.
Sure, Boba could hold himself in a fight, but he was vastly outnumbered, and he needed muscle to help him out.
One such ally came in the form of Din Djarin. He and Boba have had a good relationship since The Mandalorian season 2.
Din returned Boba’s iconic armor to him that had been lost for many years. In return, Boba guaranteed the safety of Grogu and put his own life on the line in order to help rescue him.
This is why Boba looked to Din Djarin for assistance. He knew he could rely on the Mandalorian, and Din – of course – agreed to help. Together they faced down the crime syndicate in the streets of Mos Espa.
Din was willing to die in order to help out his friend, and not only battled Pykes, but also giant scorpion droids, and even a rogue rancor that very nearly bested him.
In the end, though, Boba and his forces won, in large part thanks to The Mandalorian. We predict that Din will cash this favor in at some point during the third season of The Mandalorian.
4. Din Djarin is in possession of the Darksaber
The Darksaber is a legendary Mandalorian weapon. Only one was ever made, and it has been passed down through generations of the warriors.
However, at the very end of season 1 of The Mandalorian, we find out that Imperial leader Moff Gideon is in possession of the sword.
At the end of season 2 of The Mandalorian, Din battled Moff Gideon, with Gideon using the Darksaber and Din using a beskar steel spear, one of the few weapons that could withstand the lightsaber-like Darksaber.
The fight was a harsh and difficult one, but The Mandalorian eventually got the better of Moff Gideon, disarming him and beating him in the duel.
However, this meant that the possession of the Darksaber went to Din Djarin. This has some serious consequences that we’ll come onto in our next point!
While we’ve been used to seeing Jedi and Sith doing all kinds of fancy things with their lightsabers, Din in not trained to use the Darksaber, and in his episodes of The Book of Boba Fett, he struggles to use it.
We think that it’s a safe bet that we will see Din still struggling to use the weapon during the third season of The Mandalorian.
Read more: 17 Best Lightsabers Ranked with Characters
5. Bo-Katan is on a mission to reclaim Mandalore
Bo-Katan Kryze is another Mandalorian that Din Djarin met during the events of season 2. The pair initially didn’t hit it off, though, as Din thought a Mandalorian removing their helmet was dishonorable.
They eventually teamed up in order to rescue Grogu and became allies. But Bo-Katan had an ulterior motive; to reclaim the Darksaber from Moff Gideon.
You see, possession of the Darksaber gives the wielder the right to rule the Mandalorian home planet of Mandalore. Bo-Katan intended to battle Moff Gideon and take the weapon back in combat.
But as it was Din that battled Moff Gideon, this meant the Darksaber now belonged to him, putting him at odds with Bo-Katan. If she wanted the weapon, she would have to battle our hero – and her own ally.
It seems that season 3 of The Mandalorian will give us a better insight into Bo-Katan’s plan on how to get back the Darksaber and regain her right to rule Mandalore.
She believes she is the rightful heir to the planet, and she has made it her mission to become the ruler. But how she does that remains to be seen.
6. Moff Gideon has been arrested
As the primary antagonist of The Mandalorian, Moff Gideon was a dark and ominous presence in both seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian.
He was after Grogu for some nefarious reason, and his cool, calm, and collected composure only added to how chilling he was as a character.
However, at the end of season 2, Moff Gideon was captured and placed under arrest. He was sent to a New Republic prison, and that was the last we heard of him.
So does that mean that there will be no Moff Gideon at all in season 3? Will his imprisonment mean that his story has been concluded?
In a new interview with TV Line, actor Giancarlo Esposito gave some hints about what can be expected in the next season of The Mandalorian.
“You’re going to get a good amount of Moff Gideon,” Esposito said. “You always want to see the phoenix rise from the ashes. Or, you want to see a nefarious villain rise from the ashes. And believe me; he will.”
So watch out for Moff Gideon’s evil role to continue, albeit from behind prison bars! At least to start with!
7. People are still trying to clone Grogu
The reason that The Mandalorian met Grogu in the first place was that someone had put a bounty on the adorable little green alien. They wanted him for some unspecified reason.
Din Djarin took the bounty, and the rest, as they say, is history. But in the process of rescuing Grogu from The Client, we do learn that they were planning on doing some kind of science experiment on him.
The nature of this experiment is unknown, but Dr Pershing, the doctor studying Grogu, is wearing a patch on his arm that matches patches work by cloners on Kamino (the same organisation that created the clone troopers).
This plot point is picked up again during a season 2 episode where Din, Greef Karga, and Cara Dune discover some kind of cloning facility when infiltrating an Imperial base on Nevarro.
There, they find some kind of cloned being, housed in a liquid filled case. They also uncover a message from Dr Pershing about cloning, and hoping to take samples from Grogu.
Of course, our heroes keep the little guy safe, but that still begs the question, why does someone want grogu clones, or at least experimented on? This is something that season 3 of the Mandalorian may explore.
8. Din Djarin is no longer a Mandalorian
This one’s quite a biggie and something that will more than likely drive a lot of the plot of The Mandalorian season 3.
You see, The Mandalorian – the titular character of the entire show – is not actually a Mandalorian anymore! He was essentially kicked out of the cult for breaking a pretty big rule.
Din Djarin removed his helmet on multiple occasions, something that is expressly forbidden to do in certain Mandalorian cultures. No other living person is allowed to see your face.
But several times in season 2, Din removed his helmet; first in the imperial base on Morak in order to hack into a computer terminal, and secondly to say goodbye to Grogu before Luke Skywalker took him.
While viewers of season 2 might not have thought too much about the Mandalorian mistakes, The Armorer took a much more stern view of what happened.
As the de facto leader of the Mandalorian covert, The Armorer has a lot of control and sway over the few surviving members that are still under her control.
In The Book of Boba Fett, she tells Din that he is a Mandalorian no longer and that it doesn’t matter why he removed his helmet; he still broke the rules.
Din Djarin – now just a man in Mandalorian armor – vowed to return to Mandalore, the homeworld of the Mandalorians. There he would atone for his sins and once more become a Mandalorian.
As you can see, this will probably further put him at odds with Bo-Katan Kryze, who will be looking to claim Mandalore as her own.
9. There will be crossovers in the Mando-verse
With the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short), it’s no wonder people are trying to replicate that success. And Star Wars is no different!
As you will have gathered, The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian all take place around the same time period, and as such, they neatly tied into each other and will no doubt continue to cross over.
Similarly, Disney will soon be releasing Ahsoka, a show based on the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano. And once again, this will be set in the same time period as The Mandalorian.
With so many shows happening in this Mando-verse, it makes sense that they would all crossover and work together. There is so much potential for all these characters to bump into each other, interact, and work together. And why not?!
Din Djarin showed up in The Book of Boba Fett, as did Ahsoka. Ahsoka and Boba Fett showed up in The Mandalorian. And we have no doubt that Din Djarin may have a part in Ahsoka’s story when her show is released.
These sorts of connections and crossovers are fantastic for storytelling and providing different perspectives and points of view (something which Star Wars is very partial to).
We think that given the relatively recent release of The Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming release of Ahsoka, we can see these Mando-verse characters showing up during The Mandalorian season 3.
So going into season 3, we’d recommend watching out for these cameos and appearances because they may have a lot more story telling potential than you might initially think!