It has been more than two years since the second season of The Mandalorian premiered. Two years in which Disney Plus has released many more Star Wars series -although none of its success-, and in which Pedro Pascal has taken the opportunity to continue making a career for himself thanks, for example, to The Last of Us.
But Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni‘s series has finally returned in Season 3. It has just premiered on Disney+ and, although many of us had doubts about whether it would continue to be as exciting as before, in just 36 minutes that the first episode has lasted, it has already proven that it is; that we are back to the series as always.
What happened to Grogu (Baby Yoda)?
The first question on everyone’s mind when watching the Season 3 premiere of The Mandalorian is what happened to Baby Yoda – who we now know is named Grogu, just as Mando is Din Djarin. At the end of Season 2 we saw him leave with Luke Skywalker, a stunning revelation that left us wondering what would happen next.
However, just a few months after that mythical chapter, The Book of Boba Fett was released, and along with it a batch of three episodes (5, 6 and 7) that returned to have the Mandalorian as a character and recovered Grogu’s story. The summary of what happened is that Grogu trained for about two years (according to Favreau himself) with Luke, but eventually leaves his tutelage.
In the series we only see Grogu in front of two objects: Yoda’s lightsaber and a beskar metal chain mail given to him by Mando. He must choose only one object and decide his future, and Grogu has it clear: the Mandalorian’s garment. Finally, the character returns to Tatooine to reunite with his adoptive father? and together they embark on a new adventure.
What does the new Mando spacecraft look like?
The return of Grogu along with Din Djarin is added to a curious novelty for this third season: Mando’s new spaceship. It is an N-1 Starfighter, the same ship that Anakin drove and that we saw for the first time in The Phantom Menace.
His creation also came from the hand of The Book of Boba Fett. After losing his Razor Crest, the protagonist travels to Peli Motto’s workshop to get him a new spaceship. She gives him what he wants, though not quite: she offers him this starfighter. Din Djarin initially refuses, but eventually accepts.
Although it is not the most ideal ship for a bounty hunter, we have already seen in the first episode of this season that it is certainly very useful. Near the end of the footage, Mando and Grogu are confronted by several pirates led by Gorian Shard. Although the scene is short, we see that they have nothing to do against the speed of Mando’s new ship, so we could say that yes; in the future of the series many space battles await us.
The Mandalorian recovers its essence
With the news that more than four seasons of The Mandalorian are going to take place, alarm bells started ringing. The series, from the very beginning, has been a bit of a departure from the Star Wars canon, telling small stories of a mercenary in distress. Therefore, focusing on a clearer plot like the one that exists now, with the return of the Mandalorian people, jeopardized its episodic structure.
However, this first episode has shown that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni know what they are doing, and that the series’ role-playing adventures will continue. For the moment, in this first episode we have already seen that it follows its concept “from mission to mission”, and everything has happened:
- At the beginning, we see Mando and Grogu appear in the middle of a baptism of the survivors of their sect: the Sons of the Guard. There, Mando asks for redemption for taking off his helmet and is sent on an impossible and suicidal mission: to bathe in the Living Waters of the disappeared Mandalor.
- From there they go on to visit Nevarro, the planet we got to know very well in previous seasons. Before embarking on this journey, Mando wants to recover the only droid he has ever trusted: IG-11. However, it ended up wrecked in the series, so they have to put it back together with the few pieces that remain.
- In Nevarro itself, Mando and Greef Karga face some pirates who want to mess up the new school there. They don’t even last one round, but one of them escapes.
- While they repair the droid, Din Djarin leaves for a new planet, and on the way he faces the pirates again, led by Gorian Shard. They narrowly escape.
- Finally, they reach an ancient Mandalorian kingdom. In a beautiful castle is Bo Katan, who wanted to seize the throne of Mandalor before Din Djarin got the Dark Saber.
And all this in just over half an hour. Undoubtedly, we will not be bored with the new season of The Mandalorian. Although at the moment it has only laid the groundwork for what is to come, characters and plots have been introduced that will be of great importance. The adventures are coming, and we are ready to live a great new Star Wars story.
