November 12, 2019, was a huge day for more than one reason. It was the day Disney+ launched, which has since fundamentally overhauled how fans interact with Star Wars. This was also the day The Mandalorian premiered. The show was included as part of the streaming platform's launch package.
Initial reviews and fan reception were universally positive. Everything from the production values to exploring a new corner of the Star Wars universe was praised. Seven years on, The Mandalorian has gradually fallen out of favor for several reasons, some more arbitrary than others. It's a real and undeserved shame.
Why The Mandalorian was so adored at first
Although Star Wars had produced several TV shows before The Mandalorian, most were animated, and the others were scrubbed from the timeline when Disney bought the franchise from George Lucas in 2012. So, the idea of a modern, live-action Star Wars series with the involvement of Dave Filoni, who had been so instrumental in the success of the still-canon CGI Clone Wars series, was a mouthwatering prospect.
Furthermore, The Mandalorian offered disillusioned Star Wars fans a fulfilling alternative to Disney's sequel trilogy. While the movies were wildly profitable, they were torn to shreds for factors such as how Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was handled after a long-anticipated return.
Firing up Disney+ on a weekly basis for another dose of Din Djarin's (Pedro Pascal) adventures with Grogu offered something well-written and refreshing. It felt like the perfect solution when trying to win back the confidence of those who had been irritated by the sequel trilogy — especially 2017's The Last Jedi.
For a while, it was indeed an accepted peace offering. The Mandalorian season 1 helped weather the storm of the laughable Rise of Skywalker, which premiered during the Disney+ series' first run of episodes. The show even provided the blueprint for the next seven years for Star Wars, and a slew of other Disney+ TV shows followed. Sadly, attitudes went on to sour when it came to The Mandalorian's once-great reputation.
Luke Skywalker's season 2 finale cameo was the beginning of the end for The Mandalorian
Generally speaking, The Mandalorian season 2 was a great continuation of season 1. There was no additional material to watch in between, keeping things streamlined as Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni kept the story largely separate from established Star Wars events. At the same time, it all felt joyously familiar.
Perhaps the first misstep was bringing in Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) for her live-action debut. She is a great character, but she comes with a lot of canonical baggage due to her time in The Clone Wars and Rebels. Thankfully, her episode of The Mandalorian season 2 sidestepped most of that, and she largely served as a lightsaber-twirling Easter egg for the initiated while helping drive the story forward.
The more obvious sign that the show was trying too hard was when Luke was brought in via Hamill's input and a body double's performance to take Grogu away to be trained as a Jedi. It was a really cool moment, and one that I will always remember being deeply excited by. However, once the dust had settled, I couldn't help but feel like the writers had made a mistake. I don't even mean with the dodgy CGI on Luke's face, either.
A big part of what gave The Mandalorian its appeal is that it never relied on the movies. Luke's presence undid all of that, pulling in decades of lore into a show that hadn't previously needed it to make complete sense. I can certainly see why this annoyed some people, even though it gently redeemed Luke's underwhelming death in The Last Jedi.
The Mandalorian's post-season 2 output has not helped
What had once been simple and easy to follow quickly got out of hand. Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) was used similarly to Ahsoka in The Mandalorian season 2 as a tasteful legacy cameo, but then he got his own spinoff. This was not optional viewing.
The Book of Boba Fett continued the story of both Din Djarin and Grogu in the wake of The Mandalorian's season 2 finale, but it's buried in the dull chaos of a show that had no real reason to exist. The best parts of the spinoff were when The Mandalorian's deuteragonists showed up. The rest of it was decidedly yawn-worthy.
Casual viewers who tuned in to watch The Mandalorian season 3 were then left feeling like they'd missed something when the recap showed moments from The Book of Boba Fett. It was a very confusing writing decision that still irritates me and, I'm sure, countless others. The general idea was to already have Din and Grogu reunited by the time of season 3's premiere, but that could and should have been written into the main show instead.
All that aside, despite The Mandalorian season 3 actually being pretty good, the viewership had plummeted. Reasons for this could just include general fatigue, but I think it's because the show began with a self-contained story, which was then hurt by a forced attempt to integrate it more solidly with the wider Star Wars lore.
The Mandalorian and Grogu might have been the final nail in the coffin
In May this year, The Mandalorian and Grogu was chosen as the movie to lead Star Wars back to the big screen for the first time since 2019. Its impact was minimal. It was met with lukewarm reviews, questioned for the story's lack of stakes, and for why it felt more like a couple of episodes of the show instead of a cinematic release. Plus, if it made a profit, it wasn't by much.
Even though scripts do exist for The Mandalorian season 4, and Filoni is now the President of Lucasfilm, it feels like more from the show going forward is doubtful — although admittedly not impossible. I would like to see more from The Mandalorian, though, even if I do feel like I'm in the minority when I say the show has more to offer.
The Mandalorian is streaming now on Disney+.
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