Shrutarshi Basu 

/ journal

The Mandalorians

Spoilers for season 3 of The Mandalorian and season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett below.

We are about half way through Season 3 of The Mandalorian. I’m enjoying it so far, but it has a very different feel and focus than the first two seasons. While the earlier seasons were focused very much on the adventures of the eponymous Mandalorian Din Djarin and his foundling Grogu, this season seems to be much more about the surrounding characters and the post-Empire galaxy they inhabit. In fact, with the dynamic between Grogu and Din Djarin now well established, we are seeing and learning a lot more about other Mandalorians, such as Bo-Katan Kryze, and members of Djarin’s covert like the Armorer and Paz Vizsla. It is interesting to watch, but is very much a departure from the start of the show, to the point where it feels like we’re watching a completely different show.

I think that Disney made a misstep with both The Book of Boba Fett and this season of The Mandalorian. The former started off being about Boba Fett’s story, but towards the end took a significant detour, almost becoming season 2.5 of The Mandalorian by focusing on Din Djarin and Grogu for a couple of episodes. It seems like Disney really wants to keep their live-action shows focused on (and named after) particular characters, even when from a story-telling perspective that doesn’t quite work out. I think it would have been cleaner to stop The Mandalorian at the end of Season 2, dispense with The Book of Boba Fett, and roll the continuing adventures of Din Djarin, Grogu, Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze and the Mandalorian covert into a single, separate series about The Mandalorians.