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RFR Q&A #162: Processing THE MANDALORIAN Season 3 (Patreon)

Published:
2023-04-26 22:13:01
Edited:
2024-01-04 21:14:33
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Now that season three of THE MANDALORIAN has wrapped up, we have time to look back on the season as a whole. RFR V.I.P. Sean Wanty saw a lot to like in the season, but some of it left him feeling empty. With critical thought in play, Sean presents key moments from the entire series and we try to connect-the-dots from the past to the present. Was there consistency in the way the story rolled out? Were concepts executed to their maximum potential? What impact did the introduction of Luke Skywalker at the end of season 2 have on Grogu, if any and what's up with Boba Fett? Join us for a BIG conversation about a BIG season of THE MANDALORIAN! 

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Jared Cantor

As soon as I saw the title I knew it was going to be Sean!

Adam Taylor

Sean always leaves me Wanty more! Listening now

Ben P. Stein

Yay! The next best thing to an RFR aftershow! Looking forward to listening.

Ben P. Stein
>>107235056

I had the same feeling! Maybe we have a little bit of the Force in all of us!

Ben P. Stein

I agree that Luke's appearance in The Mandolarian has ended up being a gimmick in light of what happens by the end of season 3. However, I wonder if there was a bigger plan when the episode was originally written. As Sean pointed out, Luke said, "I will give my life to protect the Child." This doesn't suggest a brief or minor engagement. This is starting to feel like another case of post-GL Star Wars not knowing what to do with an interesting plot development. It reminds me of the The Last Jedi throne room scene. The surprise of Kylo and Rey suddenly fighting together against Snoke suggested amazing possibilities of what could have happened afterwards, but I don't think the filmmakers knew exactly how to follow through with it. And instead of getting any evidence of something meaningful happening between Luke and Grogu, we see Mando and Grogu suddenly showing up in The Book of Boba Fett. Did the creators got worried about messing with the successful Mandalorian formula by losing Grogu for an extended period of time or having a greatly changed Grogu in season 3? In any case they had difficulty knowing how to use the character in the third season. I originally thought that there was a grand plan for The Mandalorian, unlike the sequel trilogy. But I'm starting to wonder if it has had a plan bigger than season by season in these first three seasons. Maybe there is a longer-range plan for The Mandalorian with the announcement of the Filoni movie. Anyway, those are some of my initial thoughts and thank you, Sean and Jimmy, for another thought-provoking conversation.

Jeff Ulicny

I predict we will see another darksaber. We will see Bo-Katan meet with Luke or Huyang to learn to build a new one. We could potentially see this in Ahsoka. Maybe Huyang's line "Perhaps it is time to begin again" in the trailer is in reference to this. Side prediction, the darksaber is dark because it's a rare beskar infused kyber crystal only found in the mines of Mandalore. Another side prediction: The new darksaber hilt will be carved from a Mythosaur Tusk or maybe a tooth like a Crysknife in Dune. I doubt that last one, but it would be cool. Prophet or loser?

Justin Harrell

I think the logistics of the real world affected the story telling of season 3. The firing of Gina forced them to rework ideas. I view season 3 as a restructuring to build a new foundation so they can move forward.

Brian Robinson

Did we ever get a payoff for Grogu's gift of chain mail from Mando, was it or the large piece of beskar chest armor he received ever used?

Blake Weaver

Awesome conversation Sean and Jimmy. I’m definitely agree with Sean on the dark saber. It’s destruction felt off to me with the story. But this conversation made me realize why I didn’t like season 3. We have these amazing things like the dark saber and all these mandos we could have gotten to know and dive into. But the story execution on all of it was so shallow and unfulfilling in the end. It gave me no emotional payoff. Ultimately I think the cancelled Rangers show was why this season turned out the way it did. It’s a soft reset now on mando so he can pick up where Cara Dune was supposed with her show. Also if you ever end up in Florida me and Joe Dallas will have to take you to our retro arcade!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107244344

Thanks so much, Ben! Yeah, how Grogu was underused in season 3 is the most clear evidence for a change I'm direction, I believe. I don't mean it to sound as harsh as it looks, but I don't see anything with his story that really moves him forward, or which is more interesting, than anything we would have gotten were he with Luke--and that several times over. It is interesting to some extent seeing him taken into the Mandalorian fold, but his destiny, his place, is clearly Force-centric. We need to see that. Not seeing that at the heart of his story would be like following Din or the other Mandos without more on the Creed or being like Mandos should be. Which is why I really do think the story will have Luke and Mando together on a more regular basis at some point. How can we know what Grogu is really thinking or feeling, etc, if he can't even talk?! It's an artificial limitation on his story at this point. Unless Mando can learn the Force or something, I don't know how we'll ever get into his head outside of flashbacks. And flashbacks can't really push his story forward too much, if at all. They're interesting, for sure, but they only go so far. Here's hoping for a better season 4!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107281072

Oh man! That sounds amazing! Thanks for the invite, man! Who knows, maybe one day I'll make it down. :)

Ben P. Stein
>>107244344

Sean, great insights. It does seem like Grogu’s character development is stunted. I believe that Lucasfilm plans to use him for hundreds of years in the Star Wars timeline but a little more character growth at this stage would be welcome. I’m thinking that many of the issues in season 3 go back to what you and Jimmy characterized as plot developments being resolved too fast and too easily.

Sean W. from Warsaw

So I can't remember right off hand if I brought this up in the episode or not. Luke says in BoBF something like, "I don't know if I'm teaching him so much as he's remembering things." That's a really interesting idea, that Grogu, like Cal Kestis, could "unlock" Force abilities by working through his trauma and remembering things he learned. But at the same time I worry that will be a crutch and cause more damage to the storytelling if we don't get to see Grogu actually struggling to learn in the Force. Luke even says "Talent without discipline is nothing." What do you guys think of this? Is it a problem or does it free the storytelling more until Grogu can get a proper mentor in the Force?

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107253986

Ooh! I like the way you think, Jeff! That bit about the tusk was especially insightful. Reminds me of Gunji the Wookie youngling's lightsaber hilt being made of wroshyr wood in the younglings arc of the Clone Wars. It's nice to know I'm not crazy that the darksaber's story is not over. Lol I was wondering a bit how that might play out if true. A fun idea I have is what I brought up in the episode that some of the Mandos can't let it go, being so well ingrained into their warrior culture. So they put pressure on Bo to have it remade or they leave her. Being as fragile an alliance as it is, I could see Bo agreeing but trying to help them see the pitfalls of the tradition of the darksaber. So she has Din bring in Luke, who would be interested due to the Jedi history he's learning about. And then he would somehow bridge Mandalorian and Jedi together similarly to Tarre Viszla somehow. I don't know. Something like that. A fun thought! Definitely think we'll see something dramatic play out with it all, regardless. The "too much animosity" line of Bo's at the end speaks volumes to foreshadow the struggles ahead. Animosity that's been there for generations. Old blood feuds that never went away. Etc. These things don't just up and disappear because their sworn enemy has been vanquished. They gotta work through this stuff over time. It'd be like saying that the Imperial sympathizers in the galaxy would all just turn New Republic and have peace because the Sith were killed. It's just not reasonable to assume that it wouldn't take time and struggle to see the error of their ways. Besides which, it's just better storytelling, much like the Mandos and the aforementioned issues with the darksaber. Let's get a good story of the Mandos coming together as a society and not a mere loose coalition that bands together for a brief time.

Layton Whitman

Orson Welles is commonly credited with saying the enemy of art is the absence of limitations. I think that’s a second hand quote. Still, a very true statement considering limitations drove many of the inventions behind the original trilogy.

Greg from New Jersey

Great conversation with a ton of thought-provoking points! I’m sympathetic to both sides, but I’m personally ready to move on from the Darksaber and arcs that are heavy on Mandalorian lore. As Jimmy has referenced, The Mandalorian is the most notable show on Disney+, and if it becomes inaccessible to more casual fans (like my wife and children) because it requires a fair amount of knowledge of Clone Wars and Rebels, it will lose the magic of Season 1. I tend to think the ending of Season 3 is trying to avoid that by resetting for further adventures outside Mandalore. Regardless, great job gents!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107326925

I can see your points, for sure. I think it's understandable. At the same time, it seems clear that was the direction they were going from the beginning, too, to build off the history from before. It's a tough balance to strike between catering to the casual viewers and the fans who want to see a continuous narrative built off the rich history. An unenviable position to be in! But fun. :)

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107326925

Although, now that I'm thinking of it, the idea of the wiping out of Mandalore is both a great story and a nice way to introduce casual folks into a new story and the old history, too. Clever writers!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107267743

That's a good thought, for sure. I guess time will have to tell on that front. For myself, it'd be such a shame to hit the reset button so early into the show's run (relatively speaking). We shall see!

Joe Dallas

Hey - that was a great show! Thank you for the shout out and you’ve gotta make it to the Ghost on June 2nd!!!

Javier Solorzano

This was a really fun & entertaining conversation you guys had. Thanks a ton Sean & JMac. Good stuff.

RobO from ChicagO

Enjoy your thoughts Sean, unfortunately I think you put way more thought into these things than the creators/writers!

Peter Beisser

Sean, you kicked a$$ with this podcast. No one can take Jimmy 2 1/2 hours and get this indepth but you (well, maybe Swank). I gotta liqueur the man up to go that distance.

Todd “Suds” Sedlacek

One thought that came to me while listening to this episode was Gideon’s line about the Mandalorians being weak without their trinkets. Then Bo says Mandalorians are stronger together as Din comes in blasting away at Gideon, proving her point. At the end of the episode, you see all of the Mandalorians together at the Forge and the Living Waters despite the Darksaber having been destroyed. As a result, my theory is that the Darksaber was merely a means to the end goal of uniting the Mandalorians under one leader (Bo) and having served that purpose, it is no longer necessary. It will be Bo’s qualities as a leader that keeps them united from here on out. Great episode as always Sean!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107653980

Hey Suds! Thanks, man, and good thoughts, as always. :) I had thought a bit about this as well, about the darksaber being merely a means to an end. Time will tell, as always. My issue with it is mainly the lack of drama that that entails. Nothing is addressed. To me, it feels alot like how it always felt to me with the end of ROTJ for all those years without the old books and all. I always wanted to know: What happened to the Empire? Did the Rebels really win a solid victory elsewhere? What about Luke and future Jedi? Etc. The ending of season 3 of Mando leaves way too many questions like that that make it feel unsatisfying with just the darksaber material alone. But perhaps it's the Mandalorian's way of doing the fairytale-like ending of ROTJ? I don't know, man! I'm left confused!

Sean W. from Warsaw
>>107653980

Btw, I just saw the 40th anniversary release of ROTJ in theaters the other day and I STILL felt that way! So I have those same criticisms as of old. Couldn't we have gotten at least a crawl at the end or something to let us know at least a little...? Lol

Justin Torres

Wow this was a good conversation!

Kyle Burress

Great episode Sean! Youprovided a lot of great insight and things to think about.