After the success of The Mandalorian season 2, fans were left anticipating what stories lay ahead. To the pleasure of many fans, season 3 of The Mandalorian’s first episode aired on Disney Plus on March 1st. Even with a variety of different Star Wars spin offs such as Boba Fett, Andor, and most recently Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Mandalorian still stood as the fan favorite.

The Mandalorian cast returns for its third season, with Pedro Pascal back playing his leading role as Din Djaro with Grogu back by his side. Alongside our favorite bounty hunter, Katee Sackhoff makes her return to the series as the Mandalorian Princess, Bo Katan. Another actor who returns for the third installment is Giancarlo Esposito as the villain of the main antagonist, Moff Gideon. Carl Weather also returns as his character, Greef Karga, and also returns as one of the series directors. The third season is still being produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, and as of now, the series has 4 episodes available on Disney Plus.

The third season kicks off with The Apostate, which starts off with Mando meeting the Armorer to discuss his standing as a Mandalorian.  At the end of season 2, Mando took off his helmet, revealing his face to Grogu. This was against the Mandalorian code so he was exiled and became an apostate. The Armorer tells him that in order to redeem himself and become Mandalorian again he must bathe himself in the living waters of Mandalore. The only problem is that Mandalore (their home planet) has been cursed, making the world inhabitable. In typical Mandalorian fashion, Mando travels around the galaxy gathering information and getting a droid in order to traverse the dangerous planet.  

The next episode, The Mines of Mandalore, takes Din and Grogu to the cursed planet Mandalore. Upon checking the air quality they learn that Mandalore is in fact not cursed. The two travel into the depths of Mandalore before Mando gets attacked by a massive cyclops droid. This leaves Grogu by himself as we learn that he is more capable than he looks. Grogu manages to fly Mando’s ship and find Bo-Katan to help save Din. Bo-Katan uses the dark saber and takes down the massive droid to save Mando. She escorts Mando to the living waters as they discuss the history of their home world. Din begins to enter the waters to be purified until he is suddenly pulled down. Jumping into action, Bo-Katan dives down into the water after Mando. This is where Bo-Katan spots the Mythosaur, a massive beast of cultural significance to the Mandalorians.

The third episode of the season takes a turn as we follow the reformed Doctor Pershing, the imperial scientist who did experiments on cloning for Moff Gideon. Pershing has been put into a New Republic rehabilitation program. We first see him giving a speech talking about his research on cloning. He then returns to his accommodation where he meets Elia Kane, who also used to work for Moff Gideon. She bonds with Pershing and the duo strike up a friendship. But Pershing would soon regret putting his trust in Elia. After they steal imperial technology, she betrays him and gets Pershing captured by the republic. Pershing is then hooked up to a Mind Flayer and has his memory wiped.

The fourth episode brings us back to Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan as they have been accepted by the Mandalorians. The episode starts with Grogu beginning his training to become a Mandalorian. Grogu, in a practice battle, shows off his training with Luke Skywalker, using mobility to catch his opponent off guard. As one of the foundlings (a young Mandalorian) is captured and taken by a large beast, Din, Bo-Katan, and Paz Vizsla are tasked with saving the foundling while Grogu stays back with the Armorer. This is where we get glimpses of Grogu’s past, bringing us back to Revenge of the Sith (the third Star Wars movie) as we watch Jedi defend Grogu from the impending invasion of the empire. We are then brought back to the rescue team as they make their way up to the beast’s nest. A battle begins as the Mandalorians fly after the beast using grappling hooks to bring the beast down. 

From the cursed world of Mandalore to the dark side of the New Republic, The Mandalorian season 3 starts strong, bringing the audience back into the Star Wars galaxy. The show’s first two episodes begin where season 2 left off, with Mando patching up his relationship with the other Mandalorians. This leaves episode three and four to begin building the larger story for season 3. With hints of Grogu’s past and the possibility of Moff Gideon’s return, fans are ecstatic to see what happens next.