The Mandalorian Season 3's Mystery Jedi and Other Burning Questions From the New Trailer
There’s certainly no shortage of great Star Wars content to look forward to in the early months of 2023, and that includes the long-awaited third season of The Mandalorian. Disney just dropped a new trailer giving us a closer look at Season 3 and the further adventures of Din Djarin and little Grogu.
Like any good trailer, this new footage leaves us with a Corellian Corvette’s worth of questions. Let’s break down what we learn in this new footage and the key questions it raises leading up to Season 3’s March 1 premiere, starting with the mysterious Jedi Knights.
The Mandalorian Season 3: Official Trailer #2 Screenshots
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The Mystery Jedi: Will We See Grogu’s Origin Story?
We see quite a bit of Grogu in the new trailer, which shows the pint-sized Jedi enjoying being reunited with his dad and testing the limits of his Force abilities. But two shots in particular stand out, as they both suggest we’re finally going to get some answers about Grogu’s mysterious past.
In one shot, we see Omid Abtahi’s character Dr. Pershing riding through the crowded skies of Coruscant. It’s hard to tell if this is a flashback scene set during the height of the Empire or after its fall. But either way, whenever Pershing shows up, we usually get more insight into the Empire’s efforts to study “The Asset.”
In another shot, we see a group of lightsaber-wielding Jedi preparing to battle an unseen foe cutting through a door. This scene is almost certainly a flashback, probably to the events of Order 66, as it’s too early in the timeline for Luke’s academy to have many students. There’s a good chance we’re seeing the Jedi tasked with protecting Grogu from the attacking Clonetroopers, who have probably been given special orders from Emperor Palpatine to preserve this crucial specimen.this point, all we know about Grogu’s early life is that he survived the Jedi Purge but endured a lot of hardship along the way. We hope that, by the end of Season 3, many of those blanks will finally be filled in.
Who Are the New Mandalorians?
We’ve known since The Book of Boba Fett’s penultimate episode that a trip to Mandalore is in Din Djarin’s immediate future. Even as Din has managed to win the Darksaber in honorable combat (a feat that’s eluded the planet’s current ruler, Bo-Katan Kryze), he’s also disgraced himself in the eyes of his fanatical cohort. He removed his helmet in front of others, and the only way to cleanse himself of his “sin” is to bathe in the sacred pools below Mandalore’s surface.
The big question is whether this pilgrimage will also force Din to accept the responsibility that’s been placed on his armored shoulders. Whether he likes it or not, he’s the rightful leader of Mandalore now. If the voiceover early in the trailer is any indication, it would seem he’s finally starting to come to terms with this truth. It even looks like he’s beginning to attract some followers.
But who are these other Mandalorians, exactly? The trailer shows a motley crew, all wearing different colors and armor shapes. Are they loners like Din, or are they 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 lore?
We know Natasha Liu Bordizzo has been cast as Sabine Wren for the upcoming Ahsoka series, meaning another Star Wars Rebels character is making the jump to live-action. Is it possible Sabine will make an early appearance in The Mandalorian first? Given how eclectically painted some of these armored suits are, we wouldn’t be surprised if these new Mandalorians are serving under her.
What Mysterious Threat Is Being Teased?
We’ve seen several encounters between Din and the New Republic pilots fighting an uphill battle to patrol the lawless regions of space. Usually, the series treats those meetings as a running joke, where Mando stays one step ahead of the law. But the trailer features a reunion between Din and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s character Carson Teva, suggesting that the New Republic may be turning to the Mandalorians for help.
Carson references “something dangerous” - a threat steadily growing in power even as peace returns to the civilized galaxy. What exactly is he referring to?possible that Carson is alluding to the First Order, or whatever version of it exists at this point. We’re still decades away from the events of the sequel trilogy here, but we do know that the remnants of the Empire eventually retreat into 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’ll probably continue with Season 3.
That said, there’s always a chance the trailer is teasing a different conflict not connected to the Empire or its successor. What if Thrawn isn’t controlling the remnants of the Empire, but instead the mighty navy of his people, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet? Or what if the series is drawing inspiration from the classic Expanded Universe and introducing some version of the Yuuzhan Vong?
