The Mandalorian‘s third season has now wrapped up, with the final two episodes more than making up for a divisive season. After many episodes in which Star Wars fans argued the show was spinning its wheels, we now have the resolution to multiple storylines that have been bubbling away since the show began.
Bo-Katan has now reunited the Mandalorian tribes and retaken Mandalore, Moff Gideon has been defeated, Din Djarin is back on the bounty-hunting beat, and he’s officially adopted Grogu (who, as of today, is now Din Grogu). After the announcement of Dave Filoni’s ‘Mandoverse’ movie at the Star Wars Celebration we now know that The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka and possibly Skeleton Crew are all building toward a climactic movie, so we look forward to seeing the Din family back in action soon.
But while The Mandalorian is the show on everyone’s lips today, there’s a little bit more going on in Star Wars. But first, let’s see exactly how this episode went down.
‘Star Wars’ fans relieved ‘The Mandalorian’ finally turned season three around
The fandom is feeling decidedly upbeat after the season three finale. Along with moving the plot along, we got several awesome action sequences, with our favorite being Din slowly working his way through Moff Gideon’s guards forcefield-by-forcefield. The awesome midair battle between Bo-Katan’s troops and Gideon’s ‘Mandotroopers’ was also a highlight, as was some good old-fashioned Darksaber dueling towards the end of the episode.
Some notable reactions are relief that the Darksaber is no more and the Mandalorians can begin to move past having a system of government based around a magic sword, happy tears as Din finally officially adopted Grogu as his son, references to a much-missed Rebels character, and a happy ending so idyllic some fans wish the show would stop here.
But there are already some theories brewing that one important plot development may not be what it seemed. The episode showed the apparent death of Moff Gideon, though given that we never saw a body and we have confirmation that he’s brewing a gaggle of Force-sensitive clones he may well be back to chew the scenery once more.
Damon Lindelof miserably talks about his canceled ‘Star Wars’ movie
The biggest announcement from the Star Wars Celebration was the confirmation that Daisy Ridley would be returning as Rey in a sequel to The Rise of Skywalker, which will land in late 2025 and be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The project has been in the pipeline for some time, with our first inkling of its existence coming late last year. Back then, it was touted as being written by Lost and Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof, working with Justin Britt-Gibson.
But earlier this year, Lindelof and Britt-Gibson turned in a script and Lucasfilm didn’t like what they saw. That script was tossed away, and Peaky Blinders‘ Steven Knight is now hard at work on his version. Lindelof spoke to Variety about his lost Star Wars story, describing it as a “true labor of love” and sadly saying:
“The movie is still happening, but unfortunately not with me, I wish them all the best of luck. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an incredible director, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.”
Perhaps one day whatever Lindelof wrote that Lucasfilm hated so much will emerge, but for now, it’s full steam ahead on what’ll be the first Star Wars movie in theaters for six years. Let’s hope there are no further delays…
‘The Mandalorian’ may return sooner than you think
The Din family has earned the right to put their feet up and eat some frogs in their Nevarro homestead, but they may be back in action sooner than you might expect. Hollywood may soon be hit by another writer’s strike, with the last ones having a fairly catastrophic impact on films in production as rewrites become all but impossible. As such, Jon Favreau has confirmed that the scripts for season four are already complete.
Now a new report from Making Star Wars indicates the show will go back before the cameras as early as October this year, with pre-production already well underway, props being assembled, and physical and virtual sets already being constructed. These shows tend to air roughly a year after filming has wrapped due to the amount of FX work to complete.
If all proceeds according to plan, we think The Mandalorian may return in mid-2025, and will likely lead right into Dave Filoni’s ‘Mandoverse’ movie that’ll wrap up many ongoing Disney Plus Star Wars plotlines. Prior to that, Din and son may arrive for a brief appearance in Ahsoka or potentially even in Skeleton Crew.
But, for now, let’s let them stop and smell the roses.