For those who haven’t watched the show in years, or have somehow never watched it until now, a recap would equally suffice. Here’s everything to know about the Mandalorian leading up to his big-screen debut.
SPOILER WARNING AHEAD
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The Mandalorian made his debut in his show, aptly titled: “The Mandalorian.” Debuting in late 2019, the program’s first season was the Star Wars franchise’s first real content since its flop movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” which ended its sequel trilogy of films.
The Mandalorian, aka Din Djarin, is a member of a warrior cult also known as the Mandalorians. Hailing from the planet Mandalore, they’ve suffered a galactic diaspora after the Empire obliterated their homeworld and access to the precious ore known as beskar. Beskar is the substance used to forge the Mandalorians’ armor, shielding from all kinds of damage, including blasters and even lightsabers.
Without their homeworld or metals, some of the Mandalorians have sought refuge in the sewers of Nevarro, hiding their faces and wielding cheaper armor incapable of sufficient protection. The warriors of this faction answer to The Armorer, who serves as both the Mandalorians’ matriarch and blacksmith.
Din Djarin’s efforts to make a living drive him to work with a local contractor named Greef Karga. Karga’s job is to provide local bounty hunters with jobs and hits, ranging from valuable cargo to persons of interest. In the show’s first episode, Din Djarin is assigned to retrieve a child from the planet Arvala-7 for a local Imperial warlord in exchange for a hefty sum of beskar.
Din Djarin, compelled by his beskar reward, heads out to extract the child, befriending an old alien named Kuiil along the way. The two locate the child, but find him heavily guarded by mercenaries. Luckily for Din Djarin, another bounty hunter appears.
The second party is IG-11, an assassin droid built solely to kill. He tears apart the mercenaries and secures the child alongside Din Djarin, but is eliminated by the Mandalorian after trying to kill the helpless baby.
Upon returning the child to his Imperial client, the Mandalorian earns his beskar, which the armorer uses to forge him a full set of beskar armor, making him impervious to blaster fire and lightsabers. However, Din Djarin’s conscience can’t accept leaving the child in the hands of dangerous Imperials. So, he besieges the Imperial compound and flees with the child, pursued by Greef Karga’s mercenaries, who similarly seek the Imperial bounty on the child.
On the run, Din Djarin and the child are forced to take small jobs to make ends meet. On one mission in particular, the Mandalorian is hired to protect a local farming community from pirates. During this mission, he befriends Cara Dune, a retired Rebel shock trooper adept in combat. Together, they train the townspeople and eradicate the pirate threat. Din Djarin considers leaving the child in the village’s care, and even ponders settling with a local widow before Karga’s bounty hunters drive him back on the run.
In a following mission, the Mandalorian partners with the bounty hunter Toro Calican to hunt the notorious marksman Fennec Shand. A newcomer in the business, Calican is interested in making a name for himself but needs mentorship. Together with Din Djarin, the two manage to capture Shand, but Calican ultimately shoots her and leaves her to die in the desert. He soon reveals his intent to capture the child and Mandalorian as well, but is quickly killed by the latter.
Eventually, Greef Karga informs Din Djarin that Nevarro has been overrun by the local warlord and, setting aside his interest in the child, wants to work with the Mandalorian to free his people. The Mandalorian obliges, bringing with him Cara Dune and Kuiil. Upsettingly, Kuiil has repaired and reprogrammed IG-11 to be the child’s nursing robot, which the Mandalorian finds disturbing, given his long-running hatred of droids.
Once on Nevarro, the team heads towards the warlord’s town before Karga kills his own men. He reveals his initial intent to double-cross the Mandalorian and seize the child for himself, but he has decided to protect him instead. The team continues to the town and confronts the warlord and his stormtroopers in the local tavern to end the conflict for good.
To their surprise, a legion of stormtroopers and death troopers led by the notorious Moff Gideon appears and gun down the warlord, trapping Din Djarin and his compatriots. In the process, Kuiil is killed, and the child is left alone with IG-11. To the Mandalorian’s surprise, the droid arrives at the scene with the child, eliminating Gideon’s men and allowing the protagonists to escape into the sewers.
Inside, the Mandalorian discovers his tribe has been massacred, save for a few. The Armorer is able to recognize the child’s force capabilities and realizes he’s a Jedi. With time running out, however, she provides the Mandalorian with a Beskar jetpack before ushering him to a nearby escape route. Unfortunately, a squad of stormtroopers guards the exit, and IG-11 ultimately detonates himself to save his friends, restoring Din Djarin’s faith in droids.
Outside the town, Moff Gideo attempts to take matters into his own hands by strafing the Mandalorian with his TIE fighter, though he is quickly taken down by the warrior’s jet pack capabilities and crashes on the horizon. The season ends with Greef Karga and Cara Dune staying to rebuild Nevarro while the Mandalorian and the child explore the galaxy together.
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Season 2 begins with Din Djarin seeking a Jedi to adopt the child. The two head to Tatooine to seek a local Mandalorian, only to realize he’s a local gunslinger wearing salvaged armor. Taking the sacred suit with him, the Mandalorian and the child head to the moon of Trask in search of another Mandalorian.
This time, the pair locates Bo Katan Kryze, a real Mandalorian warrior and veteran of the Clone Wars. She provides the two with information on where to find a nearby Jedi who may assist them.
On the planet Corvus, the Mandalorian encounters the mentioned Jedi, who turns out to be Ahsoka Tano. A veteran of the Clone Wars herself, Ahsoka was once the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker and is among the most powerful force-wielders in the galaxy.
Using the Force, Ahsoka is able to speak to the babbling child, whose name turns out to be Grogu. A refugee of the lost Jedi Order, he is a Padawan with immense potential as a Jedi. Despite this, Ahsoka refuses to train him due to his attachment to the Mandalorian and sends the two instead to Tython, where an ancient Jedi temple may help them signal another Jedi.
Arriving at the temple, Grogu begins to meditate and channel his power through a beacon, calling for a Jedi to find him. Simultaneously, the Mandalorian is made aware of an incoming starship, whose crew approaches him.
Their leader and pilot is a man named Boba Fett, who claims the armor Din Djarin found on Tatooine is his. His right-hand mate is Fennec Shand, whom Fett saved from certain death after she was shot in Season 1.
As the three negotiate, Moff Gideon’s forces appear to kidnap Grogu. Fighting tirelessly, the Mandalorian and Shand are able to hold off waves of stormtroopers before being overwhelmed. In a climactic show, however, Boba Fett appears with his Mandalorian armor, taken from Din Djarin’s ship, and lays waste to the Imperials in quick fashion.
Despite their best efforts, Imperial Dark Troopers, droid super soldiers, swipe Grogu and take him to Gideon’s ship. During their escape, Din Djarin’s Razorcrest starship is obliterated. Fett and Shand pledge their help to the Mandalorian in exchange for the returned armor, and the trio seeks out Bo-Katan and Cara Dune for extra support.
The two eventually manage to track down Gideon’s ship. While the rest fend off Imperial crew, the Mandalorian locates Grogu, but is assailed by Moff Gideon, who wields the Dark Saber.
Established in previous shows (“Clone Wars”), the Dark Saber is a relic of the Mandalorian race, earned through combat with its former owner. One who wields the sword is considered the race’s supreme commander. Since Din Djarin defeated Moff Gideon, he unknowingly assumes this role, much to the dismay of Bo-Katan.
While the team successfully rescues Grogu and subdues Gideon, Imperial Dark Troopers descend on the bridge they take refuge in. With impervious armor and brutal strength, the droids spell certain death for the show’s protagonists.
In a twist of fate, however, a lone X-Wing docks in the ship. Its pilot appears with a lightsaber, making his way through the ship and destroying every droid in his path before locating Din Djarin and Grogu. He reveals himself to be the legend Luke Skywalker, and takes the child as his padawan. The Mandalorian says goodbye to his small friend as the season concludes.
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In the spin-off series “The Book of Boba Fett,” audiences were treated to three episodes starring the Mandalorian and Grogu as cameo appearances. Din Djarin is shown continuing his bounty hunting work to scrounge money for his Inklings tribe, whose members are slowly regrouping. Meeting with the armorer, he has her forge beskar chainmail for Grogu, hoping to give it to him soon.
Seeking a replacement for the ship he lost in season 2, the Mandalorian heads to Tatooine, where he acquires a souped-up N-1 Naboo starfighter. He flies his new ship to Ossus, where he finds Luke’s Jedi temple under construction. Reuniting with Ahsoka, he gives her the chainmail to pass on to Grogu before leaving.
Meanwhile, Grogu receives training from Luke, ranging from acrobatics to lightsaber combat to meditation, a nod to Luke’s training under Master Yoda. Receiving the Mandalorian’s chain mail, the Jedi decides to give Grogu an option: continue his training or seek out the Mandalorian and give in to attachment, a concept forbidden by the Jedi Order. In the end, Grogu decides to leave his training and reunifies with Din Djarin.
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In season 3 of “The Mandalorian,” Din Djarin and Grogu continue their quests across the galaxy, this time focusing on making new allies. One such person is Bo Katan.
Though her role in season 2 was trivial, Bo Katan becomes a lead character as she teams with the Mandalorian to reclaim Mandalore from the Empire’s rule and devastation. Assembling a fleet of Mandalorian troops and starships, the two lead an assault on the planet, occupied by Imperial supercommandos.
In the midst of their fighting, they discover Moff Gideon, who’s managed to escape New Republic custody. Gideon has stayed off-grid, convening with the remnants of the Empire’s leadership to salvage their efforts in what will later morph into the First Order.
Quickly, though, Gideon is killed after his own starship, used in season 2, is driven into his underground base by a Mandalorian captain, putting an end to his terror.
Another notable character in season 3 is Carson Teva. Though he first appeared in season 2 of “The Mandalorian,” his efforts to recruit Din Djarin for the New Republic cause against the Empire only begin to pay off in season 3 when the Mandalorian begins considering a life away from bounty hunting.
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In “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” fans can expect to see Carson Teva and the New Republic finally recruit Din Djarin for a mission against the Empire. While several other characters will make their debut in this movie, others will be cameos worth contextualizing separately in the greater Star Wars universe.
One of the film’s central characters is Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt. His only appearance in Star Wars was in “The Clone Wars,” specifically its pilot movie special. In it, Anakin Skywalker and his padawan Ahsoka Tano saved Rotta from Separatist forces and reunited him with his father, though Rotta himself served little more than a bargaining tool.
Another prominent character will be the bounty hunter Embo. Like Rotta, Embo has only appeared in “The Clone Wars” TV show. Unlike Rotta, though, Embo starred in numerous episodes and is a developed character in Star Wars lore.
The alien warrior speaks in a foreign dialect incomprehensible to humans. He is tall, green-skinned and wears a metal hat that can deflect laser fire. His primary weapons of choice are his bowcaster and mutt, and he himself is a master in hand-to-hand combat. An uncomplicated person, Embo works for whoever is paying, pitting him with or against prominent characters, such as Anakin Skywalker or Darth Maul. His survival up until this movie demonstrates his everlasting strength in the field.
The final character worth mentioning is Zeb Orelios. Debuting as a lead character in the TV series “Rebels,” Zeb is a member of the Lassat species. He began his career in the Rebellion with Phoenix Squadron, responsible in large part for efforts that won the war against the Empire in the first place. A big-hearted creature, Zeb is either making jokes, destroying Imperials or working somewhere in between. His partnership with the Mandalorian will provide the film with great energy as they combat foes like Embo.
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“The Mandalorian” has been a unique series in Star Wars. Season 1 began as a Western-style series with a narrative akin to video game levels. Season 2 branched from this theme, aiming instead to create more dynamic lore and reintroduce major Star Wars characters from other pieces of media. Season 3 was, unfortunately, a narrative mess, lacking much plot and contributing little to The Mandalorian or Grogu’s characters.
This being said, how “The Mandalorian and Grogu” will play out remains to be seen in theaters. With assessments ranging from enjoyable to campy, audiences can hope to watch another cozy, exciting Star Wars adventure in a galaxy far, far away.
