NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News
A lot of jaws are probably still on the floor after the ending of season two of The Mandalorian. The final episode might have wrapped up plenty of story threads but it unpicked plenty more – including bringing back a Star Wars legend, teasing a whole new show, and sending all our heroes off in different directions.
Coming one week after a Disney investor call that announced a whole stream of interconnected new shows and films for the Star Wars universe, where exactly does season three of The Mandalorian fit into everything?
News of the next season was almost buried by the other big reveals, but Disney have confirmed that the show will return in time for Christmas 2021. Speaking before the investor call, Moff Gideon actor Giancarlo Esposito gave the only hint we have about what might be in store for the series, telling People Magazine, “We’re living in a universe that is huge and [that has] so much to explore. So I think this show is going to start to lay the groundwork for the depth and breadth that’s going to come in season three and season four, where you’re really gonna start to get answers.”
A few other announced Star Wars shows might arrive before the next season of The Mandalorian to help fill in some of the blanks, but until then, we have some questions that can’t wait…
What’s going to happen to Baby Yoda?
It’s the only question that really matters. At the end of season two, Baby Yoda (or “Grogu”, if you insist) was adopted by Luke Skywalker. We know that Luke starts a Jedi academy at some point in the Star Wars timeline (the same one that Kylo Ren later smashes up in anger), but we don’t know anything more about Baby Yoda’s role in the bigger story. The fact that he’s not mentioned in the new trilogy films suggests that he’s either dead or hidden (hidden… definitely hidden….) by the time those events take place, but there’s obviously a lot more in store for his character.
Not only has Baby Yoda just learned to start honing his force powers, his apprenticeship to Luke also means that he now has a great teacher – and a chance to become one of the most powerful Jedis in the universe. What’s more, there is no Mandalorian without Baby Yoda (and there’s no way Disney can make an entire series with that dodgy looking Luke animation…) so he has to get back together with Mando at some point. Does that mean Grogu rejects Luke’s teaching and runs back home? Does someone kidnap him again? Will we get a time jump, and a slightly less baby Baby Yoda?
What are the Empire going to do with all that Baby Yoda blood?
Moff Gideon might have gotten himself beat up but he still technically won the fight. Throughout seasons one and two, Gideon’s evil plan revolved around sucking all the Jedi blood out of Baby Yoda – and, if we can believe his dastardly monologue, he succeeded. But what did he want to do with it?
There was a lot of vague talk about cloning, but his full plan was never revealed. Clearly, he wanted to do something nasty with Baby Yoda’s power – and the likelihood is that this will still form a big part of the main storyline in season three. Will we get super-powered super-soldiers? An army of evil Baby Yoda clones (please…)? Or, more likely, will the blood somehow play a role in summoning the sith? We’ve now got two and a half Jedi on the light side, so it makes sense for season three to bring in a new big bad who knows how to wield the dark side of the force. Does that mean we’ll see another name from the bigger Star Wars universe making an appearance? Talking of which…
What happened to Grand Admiral Thrawn?
With Moff Gideon beaten, The Mandalorian needs a new baddie. Back in chapter 13, Ahsoka Tano teased the appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn by mentioning him by name – setting off the rumour mill about how the big bad of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels was likely to fit into the story (and who was going to play him).
Nothing more came out of the name drop, and there’s a good chance that Thrawn will only show up in the new Ahsoka spin-off show, since she’s the one who has the most history with him. Then again, he would also be a good fit for The Mandalorian if we’re not getting a sith to deal with – someone suitably mean and powerful enough to mess things up for Mando and Baby Yoda when they’re at separate ends of the galaxy.
Is Bo-Katan going to have to fight Mando?
Long-time Clone Wars and Rebels fans know just how important the darksaber is in the Star Wars universe – especially for wronged Mandalore heroine Bo-Katan. At the end of season two, Mando fights Moff Gideon and knocks the saber out of his hands, intending to give it to Bo as a reward for helping him rescue Baby Yoda. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.
As Gideon explains in his own slimy way, the darksaber can’t simply be given away – it can only be won in combat. Bo-Katan is obsessed with winning back the throne of Mandalore and she’ll probably stop at nothing to do it – even if it means fighting Mando. Does this mean the gang is breaking up again already? Is Bo going to be another big bad in season three? Does it also mean we might get to dig into her own story a bit more – possibly even bringing in Rebels legend Sabine Wren as the show heads to Mandalore?
What’s going on with Boba Fett?
If you stuck around to watch the end credit sting after the season two finale you’ll have seen a trailer for yet another new Star Wars show called The Book Of Boba Fett – set to debut around the same time as The Mandalorian season three. Long rumoured, Boba Fett’s own spin-off looks like it’s going to follow his story as a legendary bounty hunter and ex-clone. Far less moral than Mando, Boba follows the money, no matter where it takes him. In the teaser, we see him and Fennec teaming up to murder everyone in Jabba The Hutt’s palace on Tatooine – killing Bib Fortuna to sit in Jabba’s famous throne above the Rancor pit. Since Jabba was famous for running a crime syndicate (see Return Of The Jedi, and the little nod at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story), does this mean Boba is now the new boss? And if so, what does that mean for Mando and Baby Yoda? Will the two concurrent shows crossover and trade storylines? Which brings us to an even bigger question…
Where do all these other new shows and films fit in?
The Book Of Boba Fett is only part of the picture. By the time season three of The Mandalorian lands, the Star Wars universe will already be a whole lot bigger – with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, a Taika Waititi Star Wars film, a new Rian Johnson trilogy, a Kevin Feige movie, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Rogue One spin-off Andor, The Bad Batch, Ahsoka, Rangers Of The New Republic, Lando, The Acolyte, A Droid Story and Star Wars: Visions all either announced, released, or in production. (And that’s only the titles we know about…)
So where exactly does that leave The Mandalorian? Assuming Boba Fett and Fennec join The Book Of Boba Fett, Ahsoka stays in her own spin-off, and Cara Dune heads up Rangers Of The New Republic, it leaves Mando on his own again – especially if he doesn’t have Baby Yoda for company for at least part of the new season. With such a crowded universe, this isn’t exactly a bad thing. Arguably, The Mandalorian was at its best when it was a whole lot quieter and stripped back – with standalone Western-themed episodes keeping things as simple as possible.
What happened to Cobb?
Season two opened with a cracker of an episode – seeing Mando fight a giant sand worm/dragon/thing alongside sheriff Cobb Vanth (played by Timothy Olyphant, channelling his role in Justified). Vanth was only in the show for half an hour, but he made enough of an impression to get everyone’s hopes up for a spin-off announcement that never happened. If Cobb isn’t getting his own show, can we at least hope to see him back season three?
With the main gang broken up into their own shows, how great would it be to watch Mando and Cobb team up? And Cobb isn’t the only side character with loose ends to tie up. What happened to Mayfield (Bill Burr) after Cara let him walk off in Chapter 15? Will Mando hook back up with Omera the fish wife (Julia Jones) now that he hasn’t got anything tying him down? Are we going to see Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) again, or is he handing off to Rangers Of The New Republic too?
Will we see the ’tache again?
Pedro Pascal only got two opportunities to show his face over two whole season’s worth of TV – once to use a cash point, and again to say a teary goodbye to Baby Yoda. The Mandalorian keeps its mystique by making sure we don’t know too much about Din Djarin. With his face now revealed, there’s a chance season three will start lifting the helmet even more to fill in his backstory and tell us exactly who he is and what he’s fighting for. As always, Star Wars is at its best when we don’t know everything, so hopefully season three will manage to keep some of the mystery alive without giving away too much.
So many questions, so long to wait until we can get any answers…
‘The Mandalorian’ is streaming now on Disney+
The post ‘The Mandalorian’ season three: 8 questions we want answered appeared first on NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News.
