Who Is The Mandalorian?

Should I Have a Fan Theory or Subvert My Expectations?

Here we are, nearly finished Season Three of The Mandalorian.

I’ve been enjoying it, but I have no expectations.

In fact, when it comes to Star Wars, I have zero expectations anymore, so if I like something, it’s a surprise.

Historic Star Wars Thoughts

I guess the bitterness began, as it did for many of you, when I saw The Force Awakens.  After waiting decades for a new Luke Skywalker movie, I was over the twin moons of Tatooine with anticipation and nearly had a heart attack in line, I was so excited to see my beloved Luke again. I’ve written about this before and also babbled about it on my YouTube channel and in my Patreon. But here we are again.

I know I’m not crazy or alone.

When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, they got us all excited about the new adventures of Luke, Leia and Han for a few years.  Oh, how amazing it would be to see the trio back together again even if it just turned out to be an opening scene that would set up the new characters.

And then, after years of hype, we got The Force Awakens. There had been decades to create a new story, one that explored all kinds of places and characters, it didn’t have to be A New Hope retreaded.

After I saw TFA the first time, I was indifferent. Then I saw it a second time and it grew on me, because it had to and I had high hopes for at least an exploration of Kylo Ren since he looked like he might be interesting, strong, and maybe an ultimate villain.

Meanwhile, there were no flashbacks, no stories of adventure and excitement, no explanations about Han and Leia’s marriage and divorce. No explanation about how Kylo Ren became enamoured with his grandfather. When did he learn about grandpa, and how? Was Kylo always a difficult child from birth? Did his mom or uncle sense a disturbance in the force when Leia was pregnant? There wasn’t even a flashback to a wedding or birth or pregnancy. Did Luke marry? Have kids?

And don’t get me started about Rey, who should have been Kylo’s sister or cousin, but no, they did ridiculous things with the story.

Why couldn’t we just have a nice, normal story instead of all these directors trying to outdo each other with subverting expectations and not even reading each other’s scripts?

I still swear I have PTSD after waiting decades and sitting through The Force Awakens, expecting Luke to come swashbuckling out any minute in any fight or moment, but instead, we got him in the last seconds of the movie standing like a fool on the hill, the monk on the mountain. I screamed, I cried with disappointment. I was in shock for two years. And then it only got worse from there. I know I’m not alone. And yes, people have every right to enjoy those new trilogies. Go ahead. We all came to them with different expectations and histories. My story is my story.

I came from the history of seeing Star Wars when it was Star Wars on opening day in 1977.

Anyway, enough of that.

My Mandalorian Experience

When The Mandalorian was released, I wasn’t sure I cared after the mess of That Trilogy. However, I binged it after Season One wrapped up and really enjoyed it. For Season Two, I was going to wait to binge it as well, but then I began to see some rumblings on social media though I was trying to avoid spoilers, but I thought that I’d better watch it, or I might get spoiled. I was hoping so hard that the Jedi that Din Djarin was delivering Grogu to would be Luke, especially after Ahsoka denied being the Jedi he was looking for.

I nearly had a heart attack watching that finale, I was so hopeful but terrified of having my expectations subverted again. I was afraid to be excited that it might be Luke, so afraid, yet so hopeful. Didn’t I scream with joy and bawl my eyes out as I saw the little clues, the hand, the ship, the cloak, that yes, yes, it might be Luke, and holy shit, it IS Luke!

And in those few minutes, thousands of Star Wars fans got the few minutes of Luke that we had so longed for in The Force Awakens. That’s all it took. Just a little bit of hero duty, a bit of flying and a bit of lightsaber swinging. So easy! Yet it took years for Disney to bring us that moment. Why oh why?

What is wrong with a little fan service? It’s the fans who made everyone a bazillion dollars, so why not reward us once in a while with a story we want to see? Sheesh!

I wasn’t going to watch The Book of Boba Fett but figured I should just in case there were things I needed to know. And, of course, I’m glad I did because it turned into The Mandalorian for a few episodes. They showed Luke training Grogu. And Luke gives Grogu an impossible choice; the little Mandalorian armour that Din had made for him or Yoda’s lightsaber. We learn that Grogu chose The Mandalorian life.

I watched Obi-Wan, wondering if there were things I needed to know. It was okay, but it was just Obi-wan and Child instead of The Mandalorian and Child or Lone Wolf and Cub. Although I loved seeing Hayden Christiansen again and hope they do a show with him before he’s Darth Vadar before he ages out. I finally watched Andor in a binge about a month ago before Mando ramped up again in case I needed to know anything for The Mandalorian. People have been raving about it. I didn’t care much for it. I found it boring, and it just made me want to play my Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga game because it FELT like a Lego Star Wars game. Maybe that’s why people liked it.

Season Three: The Mandalorian

I felt bad for viewers going into The Mandalorian: Season Three (such as little kids) who had no idea that all this stuff with Luke happened in a different show. Viewers who only watched The Mandalorian saw Luke whisk away Grogu for Jedi training in the Season Two finale, and yet, Grogu was back in the first episode of Season Three with zero explanation.

Since the creators took away those important plot points, it felt like The Mandalorian had to get its legs again. I liked the story of the week with a big overarching story format, and they returned to that.

I’m not too sure why this clan of Mandalorians lives by a lake with a crocodile dinosaur monster that jumps up and eats them randomly or by a nest where a giant flying pterodactyl monster can pluck them up and feed them to their babies. Not too bright? Or are there worse horrors in another area?

I used to love to watch The Mandalorian partly for the interesting robots and creatures and the busy background action. I also had a crush on Cara Dune, played by Gina Carano. So, I’m super bummed she’s gone.

Helmet Inequality

In Season Three, Din has to do penance because he once showed his face to Grogu. Yet, we have Bo Katan, who is a different type of Mandalorian, and she doesn’t have to wear a helmet nor be punished or disowned if she takes it off.

Part of me thinks that the writers made that part up so that we can stare at the hotness of Bo Katan and the other ones in her tribe, who are all good-looking humanoids. I think that staring at a show full of helmets and creatures can get a bit much with no human faces.

We all wonder about the habits of those Mandalorians who keep helmets on all the time. Do they bathe? Do they stink? Do they have sex with helmets on? Inquiring minds want to know. Oh, I’m sure there are websites, books, and comics about it all.

Why can’t we see the hotness of Pedro Pascal again?

Who Is the Mandalorian?

Where we left off this week is Bo Katan is now being allowed to go around helmetless as is her clan plus Din gave her the black saber. She saw the mythosaur.  This is leading some to speculate that SHE is THE MANDALORIAN in the show title.

I have a different theory, although the fun of theories kind of died with that Trilogy That Shall Not Be Named.

But if we’re allowed to have some theories from clues we’ve been provided, I would venture to say that Grogu is The Mandalorian that the title speaks of. He is the one learning the ways and being trained. He is the foundling. He is acquiring pieces for his armour. He’s now been knighted by Lizzo. God help him if he has to wear a helmet; where will his ears go?

The writers are telling us in social media that Grogu trained with Luke to be a Jedi for two years. I’m not sure that makes sense, but here we are.

We saw Luke show Grogu the designer armour from Din and the lightsaber that had belonged to Yoda. Luke said that if Grogu chooses the armour, he goes back to Din and lives the life of a Mandalorian. If he chooses the lightsaber, Grogu will be the first student at Luke’s new Jedi academy.

So where was the two years? Before the choice? Or did Grogu choose the lightsaber, train for two years and then returned to Din? I don’t think that makes sense because I seem to recall (I didn’t go back to rewatch) that we see Luke telling him to make a choice, and then next thing we know, Grogu is with Daddy Din.

They should have just put all that stuff in the The Mandalorian show instead of Bobba Fett because we don’t know what to believe anymore.

The Jedi Mandalorian!

So my vote is that Grogu is The Mandalorian!

What do YOU think?

Star Wars Casting

As for the casting of Jack Black and Lizzo…I keep seeing people freaking out and saying that this casting killed The Mandalorian. I think the outrage is more clickbait than real. There are ALWAYS guest stars in Star Wars. ALWAYS! It’s just that they are usually hidden in a Storm Trooper outfit or an alien mask. How many roles has Mark Hamill played in the Star Wars universe? He’s likely doing voices in The Mandalorian as well, and we’ll find out years later. I thought Jack Black and Lizzo were perfectly fine, and the characters reminded me of the prequel trilogy. Their acting was fine. The characters were fine! It was fine!

No one was freaking out about Christopher Lloyd. Why is he okay but they aren’t?

Silly Star Wars haters!

I do hope that Grogu stops being a baby forever. He’s what, sixty years old? He’s now been trained as a Jedi for two years and is training as a Mandalorian and has been in some pretty intense battles. So when will he be older? When will he speak? Will he speak like Yoda with inverted sentences or speak like a Mandalorian/Jedi?

More Star Wars News

This morning I woke up to see a trailer dropped for Ahsoka and that Daisy Ridley is coming back in Star Wars 10 as Rey. That’s way too much stuff for a Good Friday morning and as always, I will be staying away from trailers, news, and other spoilers until I see these projects for myself when they are finished.

Anyway, who do you think is the titular Mandalorian? Is it Din? Bo? Grogu? The Mythosaur? Lizzo? Someone else?

Share your thoughts in the comments!