The Mandalorian is easily recognized as the most popular Star Wars TV series. Now that the show has had three successful seasons, which one ranks as the best?
The Mandalorian is the landmark Star Wars show that kicked off the Disney Plus streaming platform four years ago. Already set within a behemoth franchise, The Mandalorian became a singular cultural phenomenon by the end of the series opener. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni took the reins of Star Wars’ first live-action television series with the blessing of George Lucas.
Although The Mandalorian had the unprecedented task of serializing Star Wars into a weekly live-action format, Dave Filoni served as supervising director and producer to previously celebrated Star Wars animated shows, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. His science fiction experience and creativity, coupled with Jon Favreau’s cinematic prowess was a match for the galactic ages.
Given that so much Star Wars material already existed, it was a bold move to start this New Republic saga by introducing original main protagonists, and it was especially risky that the titular Mandalorian’s face is almost never seen. The Mandalorian is also set in a unique time period after the Empire had fallen, but when remnants of the dark side are still operating in certain pockets of the galaxy. The Mandalorian is filled with iconic imagery and more Star Wars components are brought in and explored with each season.
Analyzing all three exceptional years, our ranking starts with The Mandalorian’s least remarkable of its three seasons.
3. The Mandalorian season 3
The Mandalorian’s third season continues the strong foundation of seasons 1 and 2. It effectively builds on the Mandalorian mythology and strongly develops the characters of Din Djarin, Grogu, and especially Bo-Katan. Yet the main reason why it may not be as highly regarded as the first two seasons is because it is difficult to endlessly keep the show’s upward momentum – this is the season where The Mandalorian settles in as comfortable, reliable entertainment without necessarily breaking new ground. After all, the preceding seasons were already hailed as groundbreaking Star Wars content.
Moving from the secondary season to this tertiary outing, the story beats do lack some continuity when viewing The Mandalorian as a standalone work. Season 2 ended with the emotional separation of Mando and Grogu and then season 3 undercuts that sentimentality by beginning with them back together again. Of course, Star Wars operates best when consuming all content in relative story order, and therefore, audiences most likely watched the pair’s reunion in The Book of Boba Fett. But if fans choose to isolate The Mandalorian’s narrative structure, there remains an inconsistency between the ending of the second season and the start of the third.
Brushing negative notions aside, there is so much to love about The Mandalorian season 3. Bo-Katan rises from a once-fallen leader to wield the Darksaber and regain her stature as the true ruler of the Mandalorians. And how about a plotline in a show called The Mandalorian that actually features Mandalore?
Other highlights consist of Grogu’s flashback of Order 66 and being saved by a jedi, who is played by Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best. The Navarro battle with pirates was impeccably orchestrated and showcased gritty Mandalorian battle tactics. The end of the season leaves off on a high note, with Grogu piloting IG-11, Paz Vizla sacrificing himself against Praetorian Guards, and a climactic fight against Gideon with Grogu stepping up in heroic fashion.
2. The Mandalorian season 1
A formidable masked bounty hunter and an adorable force-sensitive baby that resembles Yoda – it is hard to imagine a time when these principal players were not a guaranteed triumph. Yet, the success of The Mandalorian falls back on the intuition and inspired assuredness of the shows’ creators. Of course, every big-budget showrunner has the best of intentions to create a significant work of popular culture, but for Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, all of their decisions played out exactly as planned and it was evident that the pieces were falling into place from early on.
Favreau and Filoni went all-in with Din Djarin and Grogu and never turned back. Pedro Pascal’s voice work brought more feeling and gravity to the role than many TV leads with facial visibility. And Grogu’s simple yet detailed design followed by some masterful puppetry attracted a whole new generation of Star Wars fans to the franchise. It almost sounds absurd to state that their chemistry is majestic, but the heart of The Mandalorian is this father-son relationship.
The episodic nature of season 1 was utilized magnificently. After Dave Filoni’s absolutely perfect pilot that culminates with Grogu’s grand reveal, we have Rick Famuyiwa helming an exciting mission for Din to retrieve an egg for a pack of Jawas, and the following week Deborah Chow thrillingly faces Din off against members of his own kind. Bryce Dallas Howard expertly stages a chapter inspired by Akira Kurosawa where Din protects a village from raiders. And the most tense, riveting action unfolds in Famuyiwa’s prison break episode.
The one constant throughout the first season is the two leads and how they grow exponentially connected to one another. Run-ins with Greef Karga, Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, and Mayfield enliven the narrative with an ample amount of variety and the late-season unveiling of Moff Gideon quickly raises the stakes for an enthralling finale. The last-second presentation of a live-action Darksaber leaves viewers in awe, whether they were familiar with the significant Mandalorian weapon or not.
1. The Mandalorian season 2
The Mandalorian’s sophomore run takes the best of season 1 and elevates the material. The string of episodes starts off high and amazingly continues to reach new peaks all the way through to the closing moments. Just like the first season introduced an array of passionately performed new characters, this year starts with Timothy Olyphant sinking his teeth into the role of the Tatooine Marshall who wears Boba Fett’s armor. The second episode introduces lovable New Republic Captain Carson Teva, and from there, Mando and Grogu encounter several legacy Star Wars characters throughout the season.
The act of bringing back fan-favorite personalities is a celebration in and of itself, but the manner in which Filoni incorporates the canon characters is what makes season 2 stand out above the rest. As Din Djarin is on his quest to find other Jedi for Grogu to reconnect with, they cross paths with Mandalorian leader Bo-Katan and find they have a similar enemy in Moff Gideon. Katee Sackhoff effectively translates her animated role for this live-action format.
Bo-Katan points Din Djarin in the direction of Ahsoka Tano, also marking her first foray into this type of medium, superbly brought to life by Rosario Dawson. To add even more excitement into the mix, Boba Fett makes his glorious return to Star Wars with Temuera Morrison coming back to the franchise 20 years after playing Jango Fett and the clones. Along with the veterans, Fennec Shand has an extended part to play after her single chapter in Season 1 and Bill Burr does unquestionably wonderful work in Mayfield’s second act for the series.
Miraculously, Din and Grogu’s stories never take a back seat in this expanded world-building; on the contrary, they are complimented wonderfully by Ahsoka’s interaction with Grogu (which includes her discovering his real name) and Din Djarin’s inherent kinship with Boba Fett. Grogu’s shocking capture toward the end of the season sets up a thrilling climax that ranks up with some of the best Star Wars content ever produced.
The season 2 finale is brilliantly constructed and stunningly executed, with Boba Fett creating a diversion and a team of four women organically teaming up, while Din Djarin battles a Dark Trooper with his Beskar spear. To top it all off, Luke Skywalker dramatically enters the scene to save the Mandalorian crew and take Grogu under his wing. With such a profoundly overwhelming finish for the season, it actually would have been a fascinating conclusion to Din and Grogu’s relationship. So up until the point where this season of The Mandalorian is the last we’ve seen of the duo, it definitely leaves a most impactful impression on Star Wars fans.
The Mandalorian season 4 is currently in the works, but may not release on Disney Plus for a few years. Where will it eventually rank against the other three seasons of the show?