Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 3 of The Mandalorian.When Season 3 ofThe Mandalorianbegan,we were all waiting for an epic clash of clansfor control of Mandalore. Mandalorians are a complex and multifaceted society, full of weird customs, cults, and clans, each with its own idiosyncrasies. All that, combined with everyone vying for the Darksaber and their religious devotion to the Creed andThe Way of the Mandalore, should’ve made for a compelling main plot for the season, one that could easily be compared toGame of Thrones, but without taking so long to develop — and avoiding that catastrophic ending, too.
Instead, we got something completely different for Season 3, and not necessarily better. Season 3’s plot was virtually non-existent and devoid of conflict, and, despite all these different Mandalorian clans and cults, the show just presented everyone with a common enemy as a way of making them easily forget about all the bad blood there once was between them. TheSeason 3 finale, “The Return,“certainly was cathartic in many ways, with an awesome space battle, some great fight scenes, and an army of Mandalorians fighting together to retake their homeworld. Still, we can’t help but feel the show was made smaller than it once was — and for good reason.
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What Happened to All the Mandalorian Clans, Cults, and Sects in Season 3?
The MandalorianSeason 3 had many flaws, one of the biggest being that a large part of what should’ve been its plot happened in another show,The Book of Boba Fett.Boba Fettshowed important events like Grogu choosing to return to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal),while it also set up many possible conflicts forThe MandalorianSeason 3— one of those possibilities being precisely the idea that a conflict between Mandalorians was inevitable.
InBoba Fett, Chapter 5, “Return of the Mandalorian,“Din Djarin sought out the Armorer (Emily Swallow) to help rebuild his covert and find out what he can do to atone for his sins (aka removing his helmet in Season 2). He revealed that he was then in possession of the Darksaber and that he won it while on a mission with Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). Upon hearing this, the Armorer described Bo-Katan as a cautionary tale and, while there was no personal attack, she showed contempt towards the Mandalorian heiress.
Earlier inThe MandalorianSeason 2, when Din Djarin and Bo-Katan met, Bo-Katan was also worried to find out that Din is a member of the Children of the Watch, which is a sect that was once part of a larger group called theDeath Watch. Bo-Katan herself was once one of their top lieutenants, until they led Maul (Sam Witwer) to power, leading to her sister Satine Kryze (Anna Graves) getting killed. There was plenty of bad blood between her and the Children of the Watch, and the series had already shown us how short-tempered Mandalorians can be when it briefly pit Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) against Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado) in the Season 2 finale, “The Rescue.” Still, none of that was ever addressed, as the show all but waved off any possibility of conflict among Mandalorians. Sure, the Armorer taking in Bo-Katan in her covert is a nice gesture, but how can people let go of grudges so easily — especially Mandalorians?
Season 3 Should Have Devoted More Time to the Mandalorian Clans
We already know a good chunk aboutMandalorian history. Large plots inThe Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebelswere dedicated to it, includingthe whole Darksaber ordealand how it set up the events ofThe Mandalorian, especially Bo-Katan’s second rise as leader of Mandalore. Throughout those two animated shows, we could dive into how the Mandalorian power structure works, including how their families organize themselves.
Two aspects of the Mandalorian power structure could have been explored inThe MandalorianSeason 3. First, inThe Clone Wars, the schism in Clan Kryze made clear that there really were Mandalorians who believed in a peaceful and democratic future for their nation. Being the oldest Kryze sister, Satine was the one to inherit the position of Duchess, trying to implement democratic institutions and focusing on the development of Mandalore as a peaceful planet. On the other side was Bo-Katan, representing everything that Satine stood against. Satine’s demise was tragic, but it made people believe in a future beyond the conflicts that ravaged their planet.The Mandalorianmade no mention of Satine whatsoever, making Bo-Katan sound as if she were an only child. She mentioned her father, but not a word about her sister.
Second, it was only inStar Wars Rebelsthat we had a chance to really feel theGame of Thronesvibes Mandalorian clans give — again, a show calledThe Mandaloriancould’ve spared a few minutes to try and have this on screen. Back then, we saw it mostly through Clan Wren, the one to articulate the rise against the Empire and retake the planet, eventually leading to Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) handing the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. The only nod to that was the flags present in the baptism ceremony in the very first scene inThe MandalorianSeason 3 when young Ragnar (Wesley Kimmel) was inducted intoClan Vizsla. Visible were flags of Clan Vizsla and, in the back, a banner of Clan Eldar, which swore fealty to Bo-Katan back inRebels, but switched sidesonce she surrendered to Moff Gideon(Giancarlo Esposito) during the Purge of Mandalore.
Again, no mention whatsoever of Clans Wren and Eldar, nor of the power dynamics between clans, so the animation shows continue to be essential viewing for people to understand how Mandalore works. It shouldn’t be like that, as not everybody has the time to watch them, even if just their Mandalorian arcs, just to cover ground thatThe Mandaloriancould and should have covered. It would have made much more sense for Season 3 to flesh out the dynamics between extremist factions and traditional clans, what they want from each other, and how they plan on behaving once they retook Mandalore.
Could Future Seasons Address the Power Dynamics Between the Mandalorian Clans?
It’s not impossible, but, with Season 3 over, we are now moving toward the end of the so-called Mando-verse.Ahsokais just around the corner, and it will introduce the big bad of this corner of theStar Warsuniverse with Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), so a complex story such as the Mandalorian one would probably have no space to be worked on again. Bigger things are on their way,including even a movie directed byDave Filoni, so it seems like our “Game of Thronesin space” is now all but lost.
Instead, once again,Star Warschose the easy way out, bringing a common enemy to everyone (the Empire) so they can easily set differences aside like they didn’t matter. But theydomatter — andThe Mandaloriansuffers because it chooses not to address them.
All three seasons ofThe Mandalorianare currently available to stream on Disney+.
