The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s theatrical release is the culmination of a journey that the Star Wars franchise started over half a decade ago. From launching Star Wars’ very first live-action TV series to bringing the franchise back to theaters for the first time since 2019, the characters of “Mando” and “Baby Yoda” have been racking up the only great milestones that Star Wars has achieved since The Force Awakens was released.
Of course, no series is perfect, and The Mandalorian has had its fair share of criticism, extending all the way to this latest movie adaptation. But which are the best chapters of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu’s saga? Now that the film is out, it’s time for a re-ranking of all The Mandalorian content Star Wars has produced.
NOTE: That random Mando episode of The Book of Boba Fett doesn’t count. Sorry.
4. The Mandalorian Season 3
This needs no debate: It is almost unanimously agreed upon (a rarity in Star Wars) that The Mandalorian Season 3 was the lowest point of the series. The third season also happened to be the one that deviated the most from the original “Lone Wolf and Cub” sci-fi Western tone of the first season, and went down the rabbit hole of Star Wars lore. It saw Din Djarin take up the cause of rekindling the Mines of Mandalore, as a signal to the scattered Mandalorian diaspora that their homeworld had been reclaimed.
While the season did come around to deal with a lot of what was established in Season 1, a lot of viewers felt burdened by the “homework” required to understand all the deeper lore. That included the entire saga of Mandalore’s history, as well as callbacks to Star Wars animated series like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The Mandalorian Season 3 made it clearer than ever that the Star Wars fandom is ready for new experiences, instead of dips into nostalgia.
3. The Mandalorian and Grogu
The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t bad, but director Jon Favreau does take a slight departure from his work on the TV series, in some key ways. The biggest deviation is that the film is unapologetically aimed at kids who may have never watched the show, with its darker tone. In that same vein, the film is as “safe” as a Star Wars movie can get, featuring Din Djarin and Grogu hunting down a vile Imperial warlord while trying to dodge underworld threats like the Hutts. It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s a classic Star Wars adventure the whole family can love, and a good film all around. However, “good” becomes just “okay” in a series that has reached some of the highest heights in Star Wars.
2. The Mandalorian Season 2
The Mandalorian Season 2 had a lot to live up to, after the first season became a cultural phenomenon. The sophomore season took the bold step of leaving the self-contained bubble of the first season and stepping out into the larger Star Wars universe, specifically the corner that Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Dave Filoni has carved out with series like Clone Wars and Rebels. And, unlike Season 3, the lore was peppered over Season 2 lightly enough to keep newcomers from feeling lost, while longtime fans got major surprises like live-action versions of Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), as well as a climactic (and badass) cameo from franchise icon Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). And yet, amidst all the Star Wars crossover cameos and lore references, The Mandalorian Season 2’s final episodes pulled everything together into a powerful emotional core focused on Din Djarin and Grogu’s bond, with the former giving up his entire warrior code (helmet) to save “the child” from Imperial schemer, Moff Gideon. Season 2 remains one of the best of the Star Wars Disney+ releases, but it can never top…
1. The Mandalorian Season 1
It’s wild to look back at the year 2019 now and realize just how big a trail The Mandalorian blazed, back in its first season. The Mandalorians and their culture had never gotten much mainstream exposure, making the character of Mando a tough sell, even to longtime fans. Grogu was a massive twist reveal at the end of the pilot episode, but “the child” didn’t even get an official name for (or much personality) initially, relying on the branding of “Baby Yoda” to carry him (which it did). The neo-Noir Western tone was also a big swing for Star Wars, and the ensemble of episode directors (Filoni, Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Taika Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard) were nowhere near as established and acclaimed as they all are now.
More than the talent invovled, the approach to making The Mandalorian Season 1 flew directly in the face of what the franchise had been doing on the big screen: the craft of using practical effects, puppets, and some classic filming techniques made the series feel like a return to the spirit of George Lucas’s original trilogy, which was the “fun” that nostalgia was always meant to invoke. The “event” of having Star Wars do live-action TV made The Mandalorian a literal poster child for the debut of the “Streaming Wars” between different studios and their respective DSPs, and gave Disney+ a hyperspace jump out of the gate when it came to securing brand interest and subscribers.
Looking back now, it’s clear that we may never again get a Star Wars project that is so uniquely “new” yet perfectly balanced against nostalgia, or such a tight run of quality content (8 “Chapters”) that is so wonderfully self-contained and unburdened by the larger franchise lore. It only lasted for a moment, but its ranking as No. 1 is still outlasting most of its closest contenders (we’ll have a larger debate about Andor on the ComicBook Forum!)
The Mandalorian and Grogu are in theaters. The Mandalorian streams on Disney+.