NFT: Mandalorian S3 - so what do folks think?

I don't understand the reviews complaining not enough Din Djarin and Grogu. The character of Bo-Katan is incredible and I am loving the development of the culture of the Mandalorians.

Carl Weathers continues to kill at as Greef Karga and he is incredibly funny and likable.

For me, I want no changes, keep things going as is because The Mandalorian is the best Star Wars content since the original three movies. Full stop.

So far.

But they had a nice finish to his story with Mando at the end of season 2. Dragging him back into the fold for more repetitive adventures just feels like caving in to the fans, to me. At least the Bo-Katan stuff is good -- she's essentially the lead this season.

in a Disney show? of course she is!!
(and the reviews for season 3 and the ratings have been terrible).

Grogu is taking a back seat....until the force is needed.

I do not understand the rules of the Helmut....I was assuming they were family member and able to take off.

In comment 16079094 Dave on the UWS said:

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in a Disney show? of course she is!! (and the reviews for season 3 and the ratings have been terrible).

O please

It’s the best Star Wars creation outside of rogue one, since the initial trilogy. Really well done. John Favraue is one of the elite players in Hollywood.

In comment 16079089 DieHard said:

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But they had a nice finish to his story with Mando at the end of season 2. Dragging him back into the fold for more repetitive adventures just feels like caving in to the fans, to me. At least the Bo-Katan stuff is good -- she's essentially the lead this season.

They had to bring Grogu back out of Luke’s Jedi academy because if he stayed that would mean that he would be killed by Kylo Ren.

IMO The biggest mistake that Disney made was rushing out a new trilogy before Mandalorian and with no concrete story in place. Imagine how different the new sequel trilogy would have been if the mandalorians were involved.

But I am still disappointed that they fired Gina Carano. Cara Dune was such a great character and fan fave.

I was into Rebels so the Mandalorian culture aspect is really cool. I never expected to see purrgils again, and there they were swimming in the hyperspace lanes. Seeing Zeb was a highlight too. Maybe we get a flashback of Maul Killing Satine in front of Obi-Wan, lol.

The biggest complaint I always hear about Star Wars is how vast the galaxy is, but we only focus on the Skywalkers and Tatooine.
Finally we are seeing what the galaxy is like after the Empire is toppled and the New Republic takes over. I really enjoyed the Dr. Pershing episode and how the elements of the Empire that are still active. We've never seen a post ROTJ Coruscant so that was a nice touch.



I definitely agree that they pivoted into bringing Grogu back after Season 2 because of how well he popular he was. And Disney loves their merchandising. I do wonder what the endgame is for Grogu. How practical is it having a 12" puppet that doesn't speak as a main character? That's why I believe he was only going to be in it for a few seasons and was never intended be brought back. One thing I do want to mention, Favreau has stated that Grogu was officially training with Luke for a few years. Not a few weeks/months like we thought. So some time has passed between Season 2 and BoBF.

I do believe they will be using the Mandalorian to somewhat fix the Sequel Trilogy mess. Especially explain how Palps survived. That's why we are focusing on Pershing and his cloning program. Disney won't come out and completely retcon those movies, but if they can fill in the gaps a little bit, then maybe those movies don't suck as much? (I doubt it).

I also recommend animated show The Bad Batch season 2 just finished and cloning was a big topic too. I really believe there will be some major plot points that will intersect with The Mandalorian at some point.

I'm very excited for Ahsoka and the return of some of my favorite Rebels characters.
This weeks easter egg with Zeb in it had me and my son screaming!

that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3.

That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far.

I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired.

...It will be interesting to see where the Moff Gideon thing goes.

The return of Moff Gideon should definitely refocus the story back to uncovering more about the imperialist cloning program. I don't think it was ever made all that clear why Grogu was so essential to the plans.

The Dr. Pershing episode was pretty rough to get through - long and incredibly boring. But I think that episode is going to end up being important to call back to at some point.

Overall I'd say that season 3 has lost a little a luster compared to the first two, but I can see ways in which the story is primed to expand im some interesting ways - including the idea of encountering Mandalorians who may have defected, the possible remergence of some of the scattered Jedi, and the bridging towards the events of the sequel trilogy.

and The Bad Batch have been awesome.

hated Boba Fett, loved Andor (the best TV series so far). They did not really lay out or explain some stuff, and it's hard to see where its headed now, but I still enjoyed the storyline. I wish the Mandalorian's were abit stronger bad asses. Will watch to the end.

I want to love this, like with any Star Wars vessel. For me, Mando went down hill with the insertion into Book of Boba Fett. That's when I realized I sort of agree with the article on Grogu. He serves little purpose other than to get the "awww" effect from fringe fans. I don't need to see him waddle and make cooing noises any longer. I think i.t waters down the story they are trying to tell about the actual Mandalorians. Notice how Grogu is conveniently not old enough to wear helmet when every other foundling we've seen this season is wearing one.

As for this story, I'm not sure yet. I am certainly very curious to see where it goes. Just when it looked rosie for Mando and the group, the handling of Bo by the Armorer may fracture it. She did a complete 180 overnight because Bo saw the mythosaur? How will Mando ultimately take that? How will others? While the Armorer posed it as necessary to draw in all Mandalorians, it is more likely to further divide 2 factions that end up fighting each other for Mandalor with Bo and Mando at the center, along with the Dark Saber. It's certainly worth exploring.

I have to disagree about Bad Batch. I really enjoyed Season 1. Season 2, halfway through, seems very disjointed. The episodes seem either completely unconnected or barely connected. I'm going to keep watching.

What I am looking forward to, is Ahsoka. I think that is essentially going to turn into a live action continuation of Rebels. The appearance of Zeb in Mandalorian, may be the start of setting that up.

In comment 16079156 Jay on the Island said:

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In comment 16079089 DieHard said: Quote: But they had a nice finish to his story with Mando at the end of season 2. Dragging him back into the fold for more repetitive adventures just feels like caving in to the fans, to me. At least the Bo-Katan stuff is good -- she's essentially the lead this season. They had to bring Grogu back out of Luke’s Jedi academy because if he stayed that would mean that he would be killed by Kylo Ren. IMO The biggest mistake that Disney made was rushing out a new trilogy before Mandalorian and with no concrete story in place. Imagine how different the new sequel trilogy would have been if the mandalorians were involved.

The mistake wasn't rushing out the trilogy before Mandalorian. That was always the plan. The mistake was having no other "plan" other than a timeline. I wasn't thrilled with Abrams as the selection to lead the trilogy, but thought the first installment was at least good enough to set up the other two. But, it immediately went astray when they not only employ a new director, but also allow said director to write his own story. It involved the same characters, but was almost clearly not a continuation of what the first movie set up.

Disney had the perfect example in Marvel of how to set up a whole franchise. Instead, they went with about the most disjointed approach which resulted in 2 shitty movies. Johnson could have directed a movie written by Abrams or at least by the other writers who had a vision with Force Awakens. Allowing him to do his own thing was a horrible mistake only compounded by Abrams spending another entire movie trying to undo it and making a worse movie.

Think about it. The sequel trilogy made some fans clamor for the prequels. Let that sink in.

So, when Mandalorian rolled around, there really was nothing left that it wanted to attach itself to and lead up to. This is now making me think the larger mistake was immediately throwing out the Expanded Universe when Disney bough LucasFilms. There was more than enough excellent material to have built new movies and shows around that also incorporated younger characters with actual links to the original characters. Even without this route, you don't untertake a trilogy like this without 3 stories or 1 big one broken up.

In comment 16079240 Ben in Tampa said:

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that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3. That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far. I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired.

It's amazing how Book of Boba Fett ruined Boba Fett, the sequels ruined Luke and made Leia cartoonish.

In comment 16079218 Fat Wally said:

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The biggest complaint I always hear about Star Wars is how vast the galaxy is, but we only focus on the Skywalkers and Tatooine. Finally we are seeing what the galaxy is like after the Empire is toppled and the New Republic takes over. I really enjoyed the Dr. Pershing episode and how the elements of the Empire that are still active. We've never seen a post ROTJ Coruscant so that was a nice touch. I definitely agree that they pivoted into bringing Grogu back after Season 2 because of how well he popular he was. And Disney loves their merchandising. I do wonder what the endgame is for Grogu. How practical is it having a 12" puppet that doesn't speak as a main character? That's why I believe he was only going to be in it for a few seasons and was never intended be brought back. One thing I do want to mention, Favreau has stated that Grogu was officially training with Luke for a few years. Not a few weeks/months like we thought. So some time has passed between Season 2 and BoBF. I do believe they will be using the Mandalorian to somewhat fix the Sequel Trilogy mess. Especially explain how Palps survived. That's why we are focusing on Pershing and his cloning program. Disney won't come out and completely retcon those movies, but if they can fill in the gaps a little bit, then maybe those movies don't suck as much? (I doubt it). I also recommend animated show The Bad Batch season 2 just finished and cloning was a big topic too. I really believe there will be some major plot points that will intersect with The Mandalorian at some point. I'm very excited for Ahsoka and the return of some of my favorite Rebels characters. This weeks easter egg with Zeb in it had me and my son screaming!

Maybe that's part of the problem. The sequels were made too far after ROTJ. There was so much interesting stuff in the Expanded Universe about building the New Republic while still fighting pockets of the Empire that remained. It touched on the fragility of the new government along with hesitations about moving right in to Couscant. Alas, the principal actors were really too old to pull off those stories themselves 30 years later. But, there was enough to work with.

Instead, we got a New Order with no real explanation as to how and why. We got a cloned Palpatine out of nowhere after Snoke came from nowhere. They can set up the cloning in this series as a means of explaining those 2, but it won't do a damn thing to "fix" that trilogy.

has nothing to do with the story, per se. I thought it was great they brought back Ahmed Best to play a heroic Jedi. He suffered years abuse from fans over playing Jar Jar. It's not his fault Lucas shat the bed with those movies or that character. I had no idea how negatively impacted he was. So, his own personal redemption was a nice touch to an already good series.

In comment 16079649 Matt M. said:

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has nothing to do with the story, per se. I thought it was great they brought back Ahmed Best to play a heroic Jedi. He suffered years abuse from fans over playing Jar Jar. It's not his fault Lucas shat the bed with those movies or that character. I had no idea how negatively impacted he was. So, his own personal redemption was a nice touch to an already good series.

hear hear! good call.

Still a great show, but you can't help but question some of Disney's decisions. Reuniting Grogu and Din Djarin in Book of Boba Fett was weird. That was something that should have and needed to happen in Season 3.

It was also weird to have the entire Pershing storyline on Coruscant in one continuous segment. I really got bored during that episode and almost wanted to turn it off. I don't think most people watch the Mandalorian to have a continuos 30ish minute segment with no Grogu or Mando. I fully understand how important those scenes will most likely be, but just an odd choice to not intercut it within the rest of the story and possibly over the course of a few episodes. Right now, I just don't see a reason why they couldn't have fit that storyline into smaller chunks.

And, I know this was probably the plan from the beginning, but I really wish Star Wars would move away from tying everything into the main storyline. Again, I love the show, but it felt so much stronger when it felt like it was completely its own thing instead of trying to explain away some of the idiotic decisions they made in the sequel trilogy.

A lot of the information we're getting about how horribly run and directionless the republic is are things that really should have probably been the focus of movies. Instead, we got a mirror image of Episode 4 with no explanation of where the First Order came from and what happened to the New Republic. Getting that info 8 years later is startingly incompetent storytelling.

In comment 16079646 Matt M. said:

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In comment 16079240 Ben in Tampa said: Quote: that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3. That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far. I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired. It's amazing how Book of Boba Fett ruined Boba Fett, the sequels ruined Luke and made Leia cartoonish.

I honestly feel a lot of the reason Boba Fett sucked was that Temuera Morrison is a horrible actor.

In comment 16079846 sb from NYT Forum said:

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In comment 16079646 Matt M. said: Quote: In comment 16079240 Ben in Tampa said: Quote: that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3. That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far. I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired. It's amazing how Book of Boba Fett ruined Boba Fett, the sequels ruined Luke and made Leia cartoonish. I honestly feel a lot of the reason Boba Fett sucked was that Temuera Morrison is a horrible actor.

That may be part of it. But, the story was terrible. First of all, they didn't have enough story to fill the season without making about 2 and a half episodes about Mando and Grodu. Second, they took a cult favorite known to be a complete badass and completely ruining him and making him a pansy. Really, what was the point of making it for that story?

In comment 16079851 Matt M. said:

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In comment 16079846 sb from NYT Forum said: Quote: In comment 16079646 Matt M. said: Quote: In comment 16079240 Ben in Tampa said: Quote: that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3. That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far. I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired. It's amazing how Book of Boba Fett ruined Boba Fett, the sequels ruined Luke and made Leia cartoonish. I honestly feel a lot of the reason Boba Fett sucked was that Temuera Morrison is a horrible actor. That may be part of it. But, the story was terrible. First of all, they didn't have enough story to fill the season without making about 2 and a half episodes about Mando and Grodu. Second, they took a cult favorite known to be a complete badass and completely ruining him and making him a pansy. Really, what was the point of making it for that story?

This. The number of times Fennec Shand was like "We should kill them" and Boba Fett decided to be a wet blanket instead was maddening. No idea what their goal with the character was. Robinson didn't help, but I don't think there's an actor on the planet who could have shined given the script of the show.

In comment 16079856 Cap'n Bluebeard said:

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In comment 16079851 Matt M. said: Quote: In comment 16079846 sb from NYT Forum said: Quote: In comment 16079646 Matt M. said: Quote: In comment 16079240 Ben in Tampa said: Quote: that it really took the juice out of my excitement for season 3. That being said, I've really enjoyed it so far. I know the LucasFilm people have kind of hinted that they are moving towards a big crossover event. Probably rolling in Mandalorian characters, Boba Fett characters, Ashoka, Admiral Thrawn, etc. I'm sure the Rangers of the Republic show as involved before Gina Carano got fired. It's amazing how Book of Boba Fett ruined Boba Fett, the sequels ruined Luke and made Leia cartoonish. I honestly feel a lot of the reason Boba Fett sucked was that Temuera Morrison is a horrible actor. That may be part of it. But, the story was terrible. First of all, they didn't have enough story to fill the season without making about 2 and a half episodes about Mando and Grodu. Second, they took a cult favorite known to be a complete badass and completely ruining him and making him a pansy. Really, what was the point of making it for that story? This. The number of times Fennec Shand was like "We should kill them" and Boba Fett decided to be a wet blanket instead was maddening. No idea what their goal with the character was. Robinson didn't help, but I don't think there's an actor on the planet who could have shined given the script of the show.

Exactly. I guarantee there is not a single fan either beofre or after that show who was clamoring to see Boba Fett as a politician, which is essentially what they turned that role into. It opened strong, with hiom seeing to be the new crime lord and then he's completely soft. It it wasn't for Fennec Shand, that series would have been unwatchable. She was great, though.

And, as much as Luke's appearance at the end of Season 1 of Mando really saved his character and even the franchise, his cameo in Boba Fett was kind of out of place.

In comment 16079860 Matt M. said:

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And, as much as Luke's appearance at the end of Season 1 of Mando really saved his character and even the franchise, his cameo in Boba Fett was kind of out of place.

Agreed. I thought having Mando in BoBF made sense. That would have been a cool cameo on his own. Shoehorning his reunion with Grogu (and Grogu's training) into BoBF instead of having it happening in their own actual show was a really weird decision.

I think its fine. If you like Star Wars and you want to watch a tv series thats "safe" for everyone to watch....it works.

Boba Fett was not good. I forced myself to watch it thinking it was going to get better, the only time it was interesting is when they brought Mandalorian in.

Andor, I thought was just OK. I'm an original Star Wars fan, and never really took to that series or the movie.

Overall, i think Disney has hurt the Star Wars brand. But its a money-maker for them so I get why they keep pumping programming out.

I feel the same way about Marvel, used to like, not anymore. It became so watered down after ahwile.

My bigger issue is with HULU you're basically forced to buy Disney+. At some point, I hope they allow you to drop it for a better discount. Sorry I digressed. Mandalorian is good.

In comment 16079882 upnyg said:

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I think its fine. If you like Star Wars and you want to watch a tv series thats "safe" for everyone to watch....it works. Boba Fett was not good. I forced myself to watch it thinking it was going to get better, the only time it was interesting is when they brought Mandalorian in. Andor, I thought was just OK. I'm an original Star Wars fan, and never really took to that series or the movie. Overall, i think Disney has hurt the Star Wars brand. But its a money-maker for them so I get why they keep pumping programming out. I feel the same way about Marvel, used to like, not anymore. It became so watered down after ahwile. My bigger issue is with HULU you're basically forced to buy Disney+. At some point, I hope they allow you to drop it for a better discount. Sorry I digressed. Mandalorian is good.

I felt the same way about BoBF; I kept watching expecting/hoping it would get better.

I liked Andor. It wasn't amazing, but was interesting. It was cools seeing more of the dark underbelly of the Imperial galaxy.

kind of kidding, the effects were noticeably more high budget than wtf Obi-Wan and Boba Fat, but who can continue to be interested in Star Wars after those turds.