Summary
Despite its massive success as the first live-actionStar WarsTV show,The Mandalorianhas continuously undone elements of its story, and its upcomingThe Mandalorian & Grogumovie is already continuing that trend.The Mandalorianhas quickly become one ofStar Wars’most recognizable brands, withDin DjarinandGrogunow recognized as some ofStar Wars’best characters, but it has seemed to lose faith in itself after seasons 1 and 2. Those highly acclaimed seasons set a bar that was difficult to reach again, and in an effort to do so, puzzling choices were made.
It began inThe Mandalorian’s first spin-off TV show,The Book of Boba Fett, with its latter three episodes that focus primarily on Din Djarin and Grogu. This show was met with heavy criticism fromStar Warsaudiences, some of whom were upset with the story undoing parts ofThe Mandalorianseason 2. Season 3 took things up a notch, and now it seems the movie is continuing this trend - as pointed out bypeacemakervituson X. Here are the 9 waysThe Mandalorianhas undone its own story so far, and why these choices may have been made.
The Mandalorian & Grogu: Everything You Need To Know Before Star Wars' Next Movie
From The Mandalorian season 1 to now, Din Djarin and Grogu have had many adventures that are important to know before their first Star Wars movie.
9IG-11 Has Returned From The Dead
Reversed In: The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 8 “Chapter 24: The Return”
IG-11’s sacrifice inThe Mandalorianseason 1 was a huge moment in the story, which made it utterly shocking when he returned inThe Mandalorianseason 3. As the first droid Din Djarin encounters inThe Mandalorian, IG-11 helped to set the tone for Din’s character development, especially after he saved Din’s life in the season 1 finale.His selfless sacrifice to save Din Djarin, Grogu, and their allies is what helped to make Mando more open to droids in general, and despite having a statue in his honor on Nevarro, no one thought he would ever return.
That all changed inThe Mandalorianseason 3. IG’s revival was a process, beginning with a failed attempt by Din Djarin to revive him for spelunking on Mandalore. His body was then used as a mech suit for Grogu to pilot, though he was renamed as IG-12 by Greef Karga.The Mandalorianseason 3 finale was when IG-11 fully returned as Nevarro’s marshal with the help of the Anzellans and a brand-new IG head. This choice seems to have been made to find a marshal replacement for Cara Dune, unfortunately undoing the impact of IG’s initial sacrifice in the process.
8The Razor Crest Is Also Making Its Return
Reversed In: The Mandalorian & Grogu (Movie)
This more recent reveal of theRazor Crest’s returninThe Mandalorian & Groguis a major surprise, especially considering that the movie is still so early on in production. TheRazor Crest’s destruction inThe Mandaloriansesaon 2 was utterly devastating, especially since it happened after Din Djarin had finally repaired it from the various ways it had been put through the wringer. It was, however, also highly symbolic, given thatit served as symbolism for the way Din’s life had changed after meeting Grogu, in that he was no longer the bounty hunter he used to be.
The minds behind The Mandalorian know that Din is going to need a ship for New Republic “bounty hunting,” and his N-1 starfighter simply won’t do.
Now, theRazor Cresthas returned, according toThe Mandalorian & Grogufootage descriptionfrom D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. This particularRazor Crest, however, isn’t confirmed to belong to Din Djarin and is unlikely the same exact ship seen inThe Mandalorianseasons 1 and 2, as it’s piloted byStar Wars Rebelshero Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios. Still, the intention behind this decision is clear: the minds behindThe Mandalorianknow that Din is going to need a ship forNew Republic"bounty hunting," and hisN-1 starfightersimply won’t do.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
Cast
The Mandalorian and Grogu is a Star Wars movie directed by Jon Favreau that continues Disney+’s immensely popular TV Show, The Mandalorian.
7Din Djarin’s Entire Covert Has Been Rebuilt
Reversed In: The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 1 “Chapter 17: The Apostate”
Not much of Din Djarin’s faction, the Children of the Watch, was seen inThe Mandalorianseasons 1 and 2, but it’s made quite obvious in season 1 that those who were on Nevarro were the sole survivors from this faction after theGreat Purge. This makes their sacrifice of revealing their presence on Nevarro to help Din and Grogu escape even more moving, especially once it’s revealed that many of them were later killed by Imperials, with only a small few managing to escape off-world - including Paz Vizsla. Their covert, however, didn’t seem very large to begin with.
This carried through inThe Book of Boba Fett, when Paz Vizsla and the Armorer alone are seen rebuilding their covert from the ground-up on Glavis, but was completely changed inThe Mandalorianseason 3. With no indication of a large amount of time passing,the Armorer and Paz Vizsla were suddenly on a still-unnamed planet with an entire collection of Mandalorians that seemed to easily surpass the original numbersseen in season 1. It felt as ifThe Mandalorianrealized it needed a covert to continue Mandalore’s story, and so they simply brought one into being.
Star Wars' Mandalorian Timeline & History Explained
As the greatest warriors in the Star Wars galaxy, Mandalorians have a rich and expanding history, and this is their full timeline in canon explained.
6Grogu Has Left Jedi Training Behind (Again)
Reversed In: The Book of Boba Fett Episode 7 “Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor”
The Mandalorianseasons 1 and 2 were both building up towards one key event: Grogu leaving Din Djarin to continue his Jedi training. This is precisely what happened, with Luke Skywalker sweeping in to take Grogu and train him as his first student at hisJedi Temple on Ossus. Some of this training was even seen inThe Book of Boba Fett, though it didn’t last long. The timeline is uncertain as to exactly how long Grogu was with Luke before this point, but it all ended anyway when Luke made Grogu choose between Jedi training and Din Djarin.
Grogu, of course, chose the latter, which brought him right back to where he first started. Grogu is now a Mandalorian apprentice instead of a Jedi Padawan, learning under the tutelage of his adoptive father, which does feel fitting for this character and the bond he’s made with Mando.It also, however, makes the journey to reunite Grogu with the Jedi in seasons 1 and 2 feel somewhat pointless, since he ended up being back with Din before season 3 even happened.
Grogu
Grogu is a former Jedi youngling who is now training as a Mandalorian apprentice under his adopted father, Din Djarin. A survivor of Order 66, Grogu was hunted by the Empire for his blood amidst their cloning experimentation. Rescued by Din after initially being his bounty, Grogu went on to be trained briefly by Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Padawan, but has ultimately chosen the path of the Mandalorians instead to remain with his father. Grogu is now traversing the galaxy with Din to fight the Imperial Remnant and learn the Mandalorian Way.
5Din Djarin Has Won & Lost Both The Beskar Spear & The Darksaber
Reversed In: The Book of Boba Fett Episode 5 “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian” & The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 6 “Chapter 22: Guns For Hire”
“Weapons are a part of my religion” was one of the most iconic lines Din Djarin uttered inThe Mandalorianseason 1, even once repeated inThe Book of Boba Fett, which made his acquisition of both the beskar spear and theDarksaberseem highly significant. The former even managed to survive the destruction of theRazor Crest, and it served Din well in his duel against Moff Gideon. That fight also won him the Darksaber, providing him with two unique tools in his arsenal after losing the famed pulse rifle and the rest of his weapons with theCrest.
Din, however, didn’t hold on to either of these weapons for long. The beskar spear was melted down and made into armor for Grogu and other Mandalorians inThe Book of Boba Fettafter the Armorer revealed that it had been crafted specifically to puncture Mandalorian armor, and that was that. As for the Darksaber,Din seemed to care enough about the weapon to duel Paz Vizsla for it, but only used it two other mundane times inThe Mandalorianseason 3before passing it along toBo-Katan Kryze. This makes Din’s acquisition of these weapons feel utterly insignificant.
Din Djarin
Din Djarin was once a lone bounty who has since tasked himself with raising his adopted son and Mandalorian apprentice, Grogu. Born on Aq Vetina and raised on Concordia by the Mandalorian faction the Children of the Watch, Din is an orphan and Mandalorian foundling who has risked both his life and his Mandalorian Creed to protect Grogu. Djarin has become an important part of the galaxy’s fight against the Imperial Remnant that lingers in the wake of the Empire’s fall, as he is now working under-the-table for the fledgling New Republic’s rangers.
4Moff Gideon Has Cheated Both Death & Imprisonment
Reversed In: The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 4 “Chapter 12: The Siege” & The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 7 “Chapter 23: The Spies”
Moff Gideon started out as one ofStar Wars’most interesting villains, with his mysterious appearance at the end ofThe Mandalorianseason 1 building an exciting intrigue around his character. He was able to survive his TIE fighter crash in the season 1 finale, though this didn’t feel like too much of a stretch at the time. The more his story went on after that, however, the more glaring the mystery of his character and his motivations became. It was unclear whether Gideon was serving the Empire or himself, and though season 3 seemed to provide that answer, it arrived too late.
Gideon cheated death by surviving his TIE fighter’s crash, though not to a too extreme degree, buthim escaping New Republic imprisonment felt like an unnecessary undoing of everything Din Djarin and his allies had done in the latter half ofThe Mandalorianseason 2. To make matters worse, Gideon’s reappearance came with an entire secret base on Mandalore, a shiny new suit of beskar, and a bunch of Force-sensitive clones of himself, which completely missed the opportunity to have Gideon’s pursuit of Grogu fit intoProject Necromancer. It unfortunately made Gideon feel anticlimactic as a character.
The Mandalorian Cast & Characters Guide
The Mandalorian has created a long list of new Star Wars characters and brought back some familiar ones, with an incredible cast to match.
3Din Djarin Is Going Back To Bounty Hunting
The entire premise ofThe Mandalorianseason 1, well before viewers even knew about the existence of Grogu, was that it was going to follow Din Djarin’s dangerous bounty hunting ventures through the galaxy’s Outer Rim. This, of course, changed when Grogu was revealed and Din made the decision to save Grogu, and over the course of both seasons 1 and 2, it became clear that Mando would, or at least could, leave behind his life as a bounty hunter in favor of something more fulfilling. The destruction of theRazor Crestonly cemented and symbolized that further.
That left Din Djarin somewhat aimless throughoutThe Book of Boba Fettand season 3, seeing as bounty hunting didn’t work out well for him in the former and the latter saw him abandon it completely.The Mandalorianseason 3’s ending, however, did the work to reestablish Din in his former position. Now,Mando is bounty hunting as an independent contractor for Carson Teva and his New Republic rangers, which will yet again see him back in his familiar role. This is, so far, a positive change, though it does still undo the work of the first two seasons.
2Mando & Grogu’s Emotional Goodbye Has Not Lasted Long
Reversed In: The Book of Boba Fett Season 1, Episode 7 “Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor"
Din Djarin and Grogu’s goodbye inThe Mandalorianseason 2 finale is universally accepted as one of the most emotional moments in all ofStar Wars, and certainly what should have been a closed chapter in this part of their story. It was expected that after this moment, when Din yet again sacrificed his Mandalorian Creed for Grogu by showing him his face, the two would be separated for quite some time, allowing viewers to see just how much the two needed one another before reuniting. This, however, was not the case.
The Mandalorianwas not even the show to tell this story. Instead,The Book of Boba Fettshowed where both Din Djarin and Grogu were at after either a few months or a year of separation, and neither were doing too well.Star Warsmade the unfortunate decision to rush their reunion by bringing the two back together in this spin-off TV show, which many viewers have since argued was way too important of a thing to do in a show that wasn’t their own. This had a resounding impact on season 3, which made Din and Grogu feel aimless.
1Din Djarin Is Restricted By His Helmet Rule Again
Reversed In: The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 1 “Chapter 17: The Apostate”
Din Djarin’s helmet rule has been a hurdle in his story ever since the beginning.While it at first added to the mysterious appeal of his character, it quickly lost its charm, especially with Grogu having entered the picture. Viewers longed to seeDin Djarin actor Pedro Pascal’s face and his expressiveness towards the foundling he would eventually go on to adopt as his own. So far, in the last 5 years since the show’s debut, Din’s face has only been seen on three occasions - and the most recent one was 4 years ago.
Audiences thought this would change when Din’s character in season 2 seemed to lean towards breaking free of his faction’s restrictive rules, especially after meeting Bo-Katan, who freely removes her helmet, but this wasn’t the case.
Audiences thought this would change when Din’s character in season 2 seemed to lean towards breaking free of his faction’s restrictive rules, especially after meeting Bo-Katan, who freely removes her helmet, but this wasn’t the case. Instead, Din confessed his “sin” of removing his helmet to the Armorer and was excommunicated from his tribe, which made him determined to earn his redemption by entering theLiving Watersbeneath the mines of Mandalore. Now, Din is sticking strong to his helmet rule once again, bringing his helmet arc back to where it first started inThe Mandalorianseason 1.
The Mandalorian
Released on July 11, 2025 The Mandalorian follows a lone gunfighter navigating the galaxy’s outer reaches after the Galactic Empire’s fall. As a skilled bounty hunter, he operates in a lawless universe, undertaking various missions on the fringes of the New Republic’s territories.
