Upon the premiere of The Mandalorian first season, myself and many others thought it to be the most innovative product produced under the star war’s name after George Lucas held the helm over the franchise. Though it’s second season wasn’t as well acclaimed by critics as the first because of the overwhelming dependence on the use of legacy characters, the charming dynamic between the stoic yet caring Mandalorian and the overwhelmingly cute Yoda-like Grogu was still apparent and just as sweet as it had been the previous season.
Despite its longevity, the appeal of The Mandalorian may be dying out soon, as seen with the most recent chapter in Din Djarin’s(the Mandalorian) story. The show’s third season has disheveled nearly everything major plot point that had been set up or concluded for the sake of resetting the status quo of The Mandalorian and pumping out more rushed Star Wars stories yearly.
The problem with the season lies with the fact The Mandalorian had already managed to wrap up its main conflict of Djarin accepting Grogu as his son and as someone he must leave behind by the end of the second season.
The father-son dynamic between Mando and Grogu was the most endearing part of the show, but its effectiveness has run its course and forced this chapter in The Mandalorians story to have very little driving the plot besides the Mandalorians gathering to retake their homeland of Mandalore, and by the time that becomes the focus of the narrative, it’s already the seventh episode out of the eight in the season.
When providing his concluding thoughts on the season, long time Star Wars fan and Rotten Tomato reviewer David Hogan said “The Mandalorian season 2 was still a fun ride and their were some great continuity nods for a big fan like myself, but I couldn’t help but feel the season felt rushed, like they for some reason or another had to tie up pretty much all loose ends and reset the series for Season 4 so had to quickly rush through them”.
Moments focused on the Mandalorians and their need to unite and retake Mandalore lack the appeal which Pedro Pascal’s performance as Djarin captivated audiences worldwide with, alongside the adorable effects puppet Grogu who has shown no signs of development this season.
According to Samba TV, there was an overall viewership decline of around 20-25% compared to the previous season. This statistic is likely due to the unengaging plot point of the Mandalorians and their need to reunite to retake their homeland of mandalore. Focusing an entire season on the struggles of the Mandalorians diverts the attention from Djarin and breaks the viewers attention because of its lack of relevance in prior seasons.
Despite the decline in quality, The Mandalorian wouldn’t be a Jon Favreau show without some redeeming qualities and cute moments. Though Grogu isn’t as integral to the plot of this season as prior ones, moments like Djarin training Grogu to be a Mandalorian foundling can make any viewer smile, no matter how solid their Beskar Steel is. Their bond is still present in the story and is many viewers favorite aspect of the narrative, as proven by all of the younglings merchandise.
The season manages to develop relations between the two Mandalorian factions which the show had shown to be separated since the collapse of mandalore, and does so in a consistent manner to give the show a maintained plot point that other aspects of the season had been lacking.
The season also provides a compelling plot point for the diligent and persistent Djarin, with him having to unite with the Mandalorian tribe he had abandoned by removing his mask at the end of last season.
Although this season was an ambitious change of pace from the prior two, it seems the show has lost the charm of the unconventional yet always entertaining plot lines that have been replaced with a singular tedious and dull narrative which had to be rushed because of the show’s lack of focus in it’s episodes contents.
