The Mandalorian Season 3 review: All about the world-building

Last Wednesday, The Mandalorian capped off what had been a meandering season with an explosive finale that culminated in a titillating aerial melee and a former Imperial star destroyer plummeting to the ground and fittingly wiping out some nefarious Empire stalwarts hiding on Mandalore.

The season finale marked a triumphant turn of events for Din Djarin, Bo-Katan, and their precarious alliance of Mandalorians. When all appeared to be lost, some quick thinking and a big dose of luck helped them reclaim their planet and put an end to Moff Gideon once and for all.

The Imperial storyline attempts to answer the question that had Star Wars fans up in arms after 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. How did Emperor Palpatine return? And where did the First Order come from? As it turns out, the Empire was far from wiped out. The fledgling New Republic is spread thin across the galaxy and still struggles to maintain law and order in the outer reaches, and an organized band of Imperial remnants still continues to plot to restore the Empire.

In the background, it is also implied that some members of the group maintain an interest in cloning. And despite an avowed lack of interest in the technology, Moff Gideon is eventually revealed to have created an entire squad of Force-sensitive clones of himself.

However, there's still a lot that the season finale failed to wrap up. For one, Imperial spy Elia Kane remains embedded on Coruscant, and it remains to be seen what she will do in the aftermath of Moff Gideon's demise. That said, we may eventually see her character pop up again in service to Grand Admiral Thrawn, the blue-skinned villain from Star Wars Rebels who will make his live-action debut in the upcoming series Ahsoka.

For the greater part of the season, The Mandalorian continues to hew to its tried-and-tested adventure-of-the-week formula, with the overarching story building up toward retaking Mandalore. Grogu continues to serve as the adorable heart of the show, which is peppered with memorable vignettes like his squeal-inducing run-in with a hapless Anzellan. "Bad baby" has got to be the most iconic line of the season, as he grabs the tiny mechanic in a bear hug.

From his precious babbling to his Yoda-esque hops to escape the Praetorian Guard, Grogu remains one of the biggest reasons why people love The Mandalorian.

Season 3 also took the opportunity to dive deeper into Mandalorian culture. At its core, the season was about the revitalising of Mandalorians as a people. After nearly being wiped out in the Purge of Mandalore, they have reclaimed their home world and set the stage for a new and more prosperous era of change and new beginnings. With the destruction of the Darksaber, the Mandalorians are finally ready to move on from the trinkets of tradition and carve a new era for their people — an uplifting note underscored by the Mythosaur in the Living Waters. Just like how the Mandalorians are not quite ready to fade into history, the Mythosaur has reared its head from the dusty annals of legend.

Buoyed by slick visuals, gripping action sequences, and more, Season 3 manages to paper over its sometimes plodding storytelling. And let's face it — it's impossible to dislike anything with Grogu in it, and he's in a lot of scenes. 

After all its shenanigans, Season 3's conclusion takes the series back a full circle — with Din Djarin taking Grogu as his adopted son and resuming his role as a bounty hunter. He's now looking to take on jobs hunting down Imperial remnants, and Season 4 will continue to follow the duo on even more adventures. 

The Mandalorian continues to breathe life into a galaxy far, far away, showing the New Republic in new shades of gray and fleshing out the vast galaxy in even more detail. Coruscant, in particular, is stunning, a cyberpunk-inspired cityscape that literally covers every inch of the planet, save for Monument Plaza.

While Season 3 was shaky at times, further bogged down by cringe-inducing grandstanding in the finale, its stellar action and characters continues to make it one of the best Star Wars series you can watch today.

The Mandalorian Season 3 is now streaming on Disney+

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