‘Mandalorian’ recap before Season 3: Everything you need to know

The Mandalorian is back and Pedro Pascal is hot off his premiere of The Last of Us on HBO. Things are looking up!

This article is a recap of the major things you need to know before heading into season three, but consider this your official spoiler warning for The Mandalorian seasons one and two as well as The Book of Boba Fett season one.

We first met our hero, Din Djarin aka Mando (Pascal), on a bounty hunter mission. He was soon offered a job tracking a target highly valuable to the remnants of the Empire — specifically Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). That target turned out to be The Child, whom we would come to know as Grogu, a Force-sensitive Yoda-species youngling. Moff Gideon wanted Grogu for his Force-sensitive blood, which we later learned was used in experiments meant to give Force-sensitivity to new hosts.

As far as we know, those experiments failed — but many questions remain about Snoke’s origins and the Emperor Palpatine clone/abomination in Rise of Skywalker. 

Djarin, in order to protect Grogu, sought out the Jedi, the ancient enemy of the Mandalorians, in order to deliver Grogu to people like him who could help him learn about the Force. Along the way, he encountered Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), the heir apparent to the throne of Mandalore. Djarin learned a lot from Kryze. 

First, that he’d been raised by a Mandalorian cult/clan known as The Children of the Watch, who abide by a strict “way” of life. Perhaps most notable is that they consider it forbidden to remove their helmet in the presence of others. Meeting Kryze, Djarin learned that was not required for all Mandalorians. Nevertheless, he only removes his helmet during critical moments.

We also learned that Kryze sought a weapon called the Darksaber, an ancient black-bladed lightsaber that can only rightfully be wielded when won in battle. Furthermore, it is believed that the Darksaber would be wielded by the ruler of Mandalore. 

When Djarin defeats Moff Gideon, he becomes the owner of the Darksaber — and though he tries to give it to Kryze, she cannot accept it. It must be won.

Kryze does send Djarin to meet Ahsoka Tano, a jedi who connects with Grogu, uncovering more about his name and his abilities. She helps Djarin send a message to any Jedi out there, and in the epic season two finale, Luke Skywalker responds to the call, helps save the day, and offers to take Grogu for training.

In The Book of Boba Fett, it is revealed that Grogu is conflicted between training to become a Jedi and mastering the Force or returning to Djarin and becoming a Mandalorian. In the end, he chooses to return to Djarin, arriving in the middle of what was not his first fight and will most certainly not be his last.

The Mandalorian season three drops on Disney+ Wednesdays starting March 1, 2023, and will be eight episodes long, wrapping up on April 19.