There’s no doubt The Mandalorian season 3 has been the series’ most criticized yet. From its official ratings to its social media and overall viewer reception, the beloved Star Wars series fell under some serious scrutiny for the decisions its massive-scale story made. The long wait between The Mandalorian season 2 concluding in December 2020 and the premiere of The Mandalorian season 3 in March 2023 left viewers anticipating more of what they love most about the show, leaving many disillusioned when they instead got something different.
One of the most criticized aspects of The Mandalorian season 3 is its overall structure. Many felt as if the story was somewhat distracted, jumping from Din Djarin’s helmet-rule redemption on Mandalore to a droid problem on the Outer Rim planet of Plazir-15. Those who were expecting a linear story like The Mandalorian season 2 continued to wonder where exactly the season was going and how everything was going to fit in the story’s finale. There is, however, a genius Star Wars parallel that the critics of The Mandalorian season 3 didn’t catch, and it has to do directly with the structure of the story.
The Mandalorian Season 3’s Structure Mimicked That Of Season 1
Critics were looking to the wrong season of The Mandalorian when trying to make sense of season 3’s structure. While The Mandalorian season 2 is directly linear, The Mandalorian season 1 has two distinctive arcs and a few standalone stories – exactly as The Mandalorian season 3 does. Both seasons begin with a 3-episode arc that establishes and completes the story viewers were expecting, with Mando’s difficult bounty hunting job and Din’s redemption on Mandalore, respectively. Each arc begins with Din set to complete a quest, culminating in an event that alters his world.
After the third episode, a series of three stand-alone stories begins, where each episode details its own adventure that has just a tidbit of a connection back to the overall plot. For season 1, this is the attack on Sorgan, the hunt of Fennec Shand, and the prison ship heist. For season 3, this is the rescue of the foundling Ragnar, the siege of Nevarro, and the droid investigation on Plazir-15. Despite these episodes being stand-alones, they still find moments that connect them back to the overall story, with season 1 the endless hunting of Grogu and season 3 setting up the retaking of Mandalore.
The final 2 episodes of The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 3 both act as two-part finales. Each penultimate episode ends in a devastating cliffhanger where a beloved side character meets their tragic fate in Kuiil and Paz Vizsla, respectively, as well as a protagonist’s capture, with Grogu being the one taken by Moff Gideon in season 1 and Din captured in season 3. The final episode of each season goes on to resolve each of the season’s overarching story elements while setting up the season to follow. The Mandalorian season 1 ends with Din and Grogu leaving Nevarro, while The Mandalorian season 3 ending sees Din and Grogu staying on Nevarro in a home of their own.
The Mandalorian Season 3’s Parallels Show How Much Thought Went Into The Structure
It’s incorrect, then, to say that there was minimal thought behind the structure of The Mandalorian season 3. The Mandalorian season 1 remains the show’s most acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, yet it has the very same structure that season 3 is heavily criticized for. The series decided to call back to the original western story influences that season 1 so lovingly embraced when many were expecting the kinds of storytelling Star Wars is most known for, especially as of late. This left many critics feeling as if parts of The Mandalorian season 3’s story structure were pointless, but this is a huge mistake.
No episode is ever written or filmed without having a meaning, something that The Mandalorian season 1 proved – even the ones that contain cameos no one would have ever expected. The Mandalorian season 1, episode 6 was often dismissed as the season’s biggest “filler” episode, and it has now proven to be one of the most important, as it sets up Carson Teva’s introduction to Star Wars in The Mandalorian season 2 as well as the return of Migs Mayfeld to help locate Grogu. The Mandalorian season 3, episode 6 has received similare criticism, and based on how important “The Prisoner” became to the future of the series, it’s likely “Guns For Hire” will do the very same.
Why Critics Aren’t Understanding The Structure Of The Mandalorian Season 3
Essentially, critics were expecting the linear structure of The Mandalorian season 2 and other Star Wars series. They wanted a culmination to the retaking of Mandalore, where each episode is a devoted and clear step to Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze gathering their fellow Mandalorians to lead an epic battle under the leadership of the Darksaber like no other. Instead, the series returned to its roots, offering a big overarching story while also dealing some fun little adventures along the way. The long wait between The Mandalorian seasons 2 and 3 was no help, as it gave viewers lots of time to imagine what this season of the series would look like and hooked them to something that would never actually happen. Things were especially thrown off when the highly-anticipated reunion of Din and Grogu occurred in 2022’s The Book of Boba Fett, rather than The Mandalorian season 3.
It almost seems, then, as if The Mandalorian season 3 was set up for criticism from the beginning. Viewers went in expecting more of what they got in season 2 rather than season 1, and some were disillusioned by the fact they had to watch another Star Wars series to understand why Grogu’s back with Mando. While season 3 surely still had its flaws, a lot of the blame went towards the story’s structure, when it was mostly just a matter of expectations for the story not being met – and that’s okay. Stories like The Mandalorian in Star Wars have always been meant to inspire more stories within its own universe and beyond, but they cannot always follow those expectations directly. Re-watching the latest season with this structure parallel in mind will bring any season 1 fan right back to the sweet nostalgia of Star Wars’ first live-action series.
