There is no doubt that great Star Wars content awaits us in the first months of 2023, and that includes the highly anticipated third season of The Mandalorian. Disney has just published a new trailer that brings us closer to the third season and the new adventures of Din Djarin and little Grogu.
Like any good trailer, these new images leave us with a lot of questions. We’re going to break down what we learn in this new footage and the key questions it raises ahead of the Season 3 premiere on March 1, starting with that mysterious Jedi Knight.
The mysterious Jedi: Will we see the origin of Grogu?
We see quite a bit of Grogu in the new trailer, which shows the little Jedi enjoying being reunited with his father and testing the limits of his Force abilities. But there are two images that attract attentionas they suggest that we may finally have answers about Grogu’s mysterious past.
In a plane, we see Dr. Pershing, Omid Abtahi’s character, riding through the crowded skies of Coruscant. It’s hard to tell if this is a flashback scene set during the Empire’s heyday or after its fall. But in any case, whenever Pershing shows up, we usually get more information about the Empire’s efforts to study “The Asset.”
In another shot, we see a group of Jedi with lightsabers preparing to fight an unseen enemy coming through a door. This scene is almost certainly a flashback., probably from the events of Order 66, as it is too early in the timeline for Luke’s academy to have many students. It is very likely that we are looking at the Jedi tasked with protecting Grogu from attack by Clone troops, who have probably received special orders from Emperor Palpatine to preserve this crucial specimen.
This scene is almost certainly a flashback, probably to the events of Order 66.
At the moment, all we know about Grogu’s early years is that he survived the Great Jedi Purge, but suffered much hardship along the way. We hope that, by the end of the third season, many of those blank spaces are filled at last.
Who are the new Mandalorians?
From the penultimate episode of The Book of Boba Fett we know that Din Djarin’s immediate future involves a trip to Mandalore. Though Din has managed to win the Darksaber in honorable combat (a feat that has eluded the planet’s current ruler, Bo-Katan Kryze), he has also disgraced himself in the eyes of the fanatical cohort of he. He removed his helmet in front of the others, and the only way to cleanse himself of his “sin” is to bathe in the sacred pools beneath the surface of Mandalore.
The big question is whether this pilgrimage will also force Din to accept the responsibility that has been placed on his armored shoulders. Whether he likes it or not, he is now the rightful leader of Mandalore. If the voiceover at the beginning of the trailer is any indication, it sounds like is finally beginning to accept this truth. It even seems that it is beginning to attract some followers.
But, who exactly are these other Mandalorians? The trailer shows a motley crew, all wearing armor of different colors and shapes. Are they loners like Din or representatives of other clans? And will any of these characters turn out to be familiar faces from The Clone Wars or other pieces of Star Wars history?
We know that Natasha Liu Bordizzo has been tapped to play Sabine Wren in the upcoming Ahsoka series, which means another Star Wars Rebels character will be making the leap into live action. Is it possible that Sabine will appear first in The Mandalorian? Considering how eclectically painted some of these armored suits are, we wouldn’t be surprised if these new Mandalorians were at their command.
What mysterious threat is insinuated?
We’ve seen several encounters between Din and New Republic pilots who are fighting an uphill battle to patrol the lawless regions of space. Normally, the series treats such encounters as a joke, in which Mando is one step ahead of the law. But the trailer shows a reunion between Din and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s character, Carson Teva, which suggests that the New Republic could be turning to the Mandalorians for help.
Carson refers to “something dangerous,” a threat whose power continues to grow as peace returns to the civilized galaxy. What do you mean exactly?
The simplest explanation is that the empire is not finished yetNot even after the defeat and arrest of Moff Gideon. Thanks to Ahsoka, we know that Grand Admiral Thrawn is still out there, somewhere. If this series is meant to establish the Ahsoka series as directly as it did with The Book of Boba Fett, could this hint be referring to Thrawn himself? Perhaps we will see how much firepower the Empire has left under the control of its most ruthless commander. In the trailer we see a scene where the Mandalorians dodge Imperial fire, so they’re not defeated yet.
It is also possible that Carson is alluding to the First Order, or whatever version of it currently exists. We’re still decades away from the events of the sequel trilogy, but we do know that the remnants of the Empire eventually retreat to the Unknown Regions and evolve into that new form. The Mandalorian has already forged some links between the original trilogy and the sequels, and that will likely continue with season three.
That being said, there is always the possibility that the trailer is hinting at a different conflict unrelated to the Empire or its successor. What if Thrawn controls not the remnants of the Empire, but the mighty army of his people, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force? Or if the series takes inspiration from the classic Expanded Universe and introduces some version of the Yuuzhan Vong?
What if Thrawn controls not the remnants of the Empire, but his people’s mighty army, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force?
Is that the Mandalore helmet?
Some of the most memorable stories in the Expanded Universe deal with the long and destructive war between the Jedi Order and the ancient Mandalorians, thousands of years before the movies. Although the UE has been left out of continuity, series like The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian have shown that the foundations of that conflict remain valid in the new canon.
One of the changes introduced in these series is the idea that the lightsaber is the artifact that signifies the right to rule Mandalore. In the EU, on the other hand, it was the helmet of an ancient warlord known as Mandalore the Indomitable. That helmet was passed down from generation to generation, with each new owner carrying on the mantle and legacy of the original Mandalore. As we learned in the Knights of the Old Republic games, Jedi General Revan defeated Mandalore the Indomitable in one-on-one combat and hid the helmet, crippling the Mandalorians for years.
In the new trailer, Din is seen dusting off a very old looking helmet. Is this Mandalore’s helmet? And if so, are Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau trying to create a unified version of the Mandalore mythology that combines lightsaber and helmet? With a Knights of the Old Republic remake in the offing, now would certainly be the time.
What about the Anzellans?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may be highly controversial, but almost everyone agrees that Babu Frik was great. That’s why we’re so excited about see more of the people of Babuthe Anzellans, in the trailers for the third season of The Mandalorian.
We can’t help but wonder what role will these characters play in the new season. Will they just be colorful background characters, or will these technologically-savvy little dolls play an important role in the search for Din? And since everyone in Star Wars seems to be related to someone famous, will we find out that these Anzellans are members of the extended Frik family?
The series has already made good use of familiar Star Wars creatures and droids, and we’re guessing that trend will continue in season three. The new trailer also shows what appears to be a first try some Salacious Crumb from Return of the Jedi and all the protocol and astromech droids you could ask for. We even see a handful of Separatist battle droids in the trailer.
These are The main questions posed by the new trailer for The Mandalorian. Let us know your thoughts and theories in the comments, and be sure to check out our full breakdown of what to expect from Star Wars in 2023 and every Star Wars movie and series in development.
