The Mandalorian Season 3. Bring it up to any Star Wars fan, and you’ll be met with excitement, speculation, and deep questions about canon. Well, many of those questions were answered at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California today. But much like the fate of the planet Mandalore, the details are a mystery to those outside those hallowed convention halls.
Thankfully, Inverse was in the room when producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni shared new Mandalorian details. They announced the Disney+ series will be returning in February 2023 and debuted the first official footage from the upcoming season. Here is a breakdown of what we saw – and what you should be excited about in Season 3.
New plot details — As fans accurately speculated, Season 3’s story would be based on that oddly Mandalorian-centric episode from The Book of Boba Fett. Din Djarin was ousted from his Mandalorian sect, the Children of the Watch, because he took off his helmet. Now he’s looking to return to Mandalore and bathe in “the Living Waters” to be forgiven for his transgression.
But that’s not Din’s only problem. A trailer — a real blink-and-you’ll-miss-it montage — teased many different scenes and characters, including Bo-Katan looking menacing on a throne while confronting Din about their unfinished business.
At the end of Season 2, Din Djarin successfully defeated Moff Gideon in battle and therefore became the wielder of the Darksaber. Whoever earns the Darksaber is also considered the leader of the Mandalorians. Unfortunately, Bo-Katan considers herself the rightful bearer of the Darksaber, as she’s never hidden her ambitions to lead the people of Mandalore.
Mandalorian Season 3 teaser — In addition to revealing Bo-Katan’s return, the montage also showed very short clips of other scenes. While it’s difficult to fully understand how they’ll feature into the plot, we break down what these moments could mean for Season 3.
- Katy O’Brian returns as the Imperial Comms Officer. Her role was brief in The Mandalorian, but it looks like she will be featured in an Aaron Sorkin-style “walk and talk” sequence in the show.
- Salacious B. Crumb look-alikes: In a shot of a tree, a bunch of Kowakian Monkey-Lizards are shown jumping around. The most famous of these creatures is Salacious Crumb, but these look wild, not domesticated. Could we be visiting their homeworld of Kowak in Season 3?
- Bo-Katan’s line to Grogu — “Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?”—proves she considers the small creature to be the rightful adoptive son of Din. So while she wants to defeat Din, she at least knows he’s a family man.
- Returning faces — Greef Karga and Peli Motto both appear in the teaser, so The Mandalorian is definitely going back to that well.
The Mandalorian Season 3 is bound to be an epic return for the series, based on all the different elements that this teaser trailer features. Fans (who weren’t at Star Wars Celebration) may have to wait a while longer to see it for themselves. But trust that it’s more than worth the wait because it’s truly magnificent.
The Mandalorian Season 3 will premiere in February 2023 on Disney+.
