‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Is Taking the Wrong Lessons from ‘The Book of Boba Fett’

Editor’s Note:The following contains minor spoilers from Season 3 Episode 6 of The Mandalorian.It’s been a tough Season 3 for The Mandalorian, as the series is gearing up for its finale while still having no clear storyline in sight. With six episodes already aired so far, it’s safe to safe that only a handful of them made an actual effort to push the plot forwards, but there were hardly enough for anyone to really understand where it’s going. What’s worse, the show is now apparently confused as to who to put in the spotlight as the main character, as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder) and Grogu move back and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) takes center stage based on a Harry Potter-like technicality.

Less than a year ago, The Book of Boba Fett was going through a similar problem, when Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) himself, a Star Wars legend from before the franchise moved out of the big screens, was relegated to a supporting position on his own show to make way for more stories about the stars of the moment, who, weirdly enough, were Din and Grogu. That already had a confusing effect on the audience, and now this issue is repeating itself in The Mandalorian in an arc that wasn’t properly built before being introduced. Have the writers been paying attention?

The Mando-verse Isn’t One Single Series

By now, it’s no secret that the so-called “Mando-verse” comprises many series with interconnected stories. It started with The Mandalorian, then came The Book of Boba Fett, now comes Ahsoka in August and, later, there will even be a movie with the culmination of this whole corner of Star Wars directed by Dave Filoni himself. The structure being built is based on the time-tested Marvel formula, with separate chapters later coming together and forming a big picture. Each piece is important and, when you look at the whole, they may not feel so different from each other… But they have to be.

This kind of structure became known as a “shared universe”, and that’s what the Mando-verse is. The series are part of a larger story and often feel similar in tone. Characters may overlap, but that doesn’t mean they should overlap more than strictly necessary, and, keeping in mind that each series is its own separate story, it can even be harmful to the bigger picture. When Din Djarin and Grogu took over The Book of Boba Fett, that severely minimized the role of the title character in his own show.

No matter how big and trendy Mando and Grogu were at the time of The Book of Boba Fett, they shouldn’t cast that large a shadow over Boba Fett’s own series. We love our Mandalorian clan of two, but, since Boba Fett’s story goes all the way back to the Original Trilogy, it should get its time in the sun. The Mandalorian may be the “main” story in the Mando-verse, but it shouldn’t mean that it gets precedence over the plots of other shows in its universe.

One of the most important traits of this kind of storytelling tool is that every piece of the larger puzzle matters, and the way Mando and Grogu appeared in Boba Fett’s series made it seem like the legendary bounty hunter was merely a cog in the grander storytelling machine. While it would make sense for Din Djarin to appear in the episode, perhaps helping Boba Fett in his time on Tatooine, what actually happened was bigger than that. Din’s appearance took the spotlight away from Boba Fett and not for the better.

Bo-Katan Deserves the Darksaber – And More Time To Be Set as Its Rightful Owner

When Season 3 of The Mandalorian began, many viewers were confused. Why was Grogu back with Mando? Didn’t he leave with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to become a Jedi? The fact that they had to watch episodes of another show to understand that the child had come back meant an effort not all casual viewers were willing to make. It didn’t help The Book of Boba Fett and, in fact, took away some of the wonder of The Mandalorian.

Now, it’s happening again. We know Bo-Katan. Those who have watched every show in the Star Wars universe have known her since she was a teenager. The casual viewer, however, might not. She appeared in The Mandalorian for two episodes in Season 2, but that time did not justify or even explain her importance to Mandalore or why she deserves the Darksaber. Just like The Book of Boba Fett became like The Mandalorian Season 2.5, now The Mandalorian now feels like The Clone Wars Season 7.5 (or maybe Star Wars Rebels Season 3.5, we don’t even know anymore).

That’s a problem, because, for the whole of Season 2, The Mandalorian built Din Djarin as the “ultimate” Mandalorian, the most faithful of them. He follows the Mandalorian Way and doesn’t even remove his helmet. When he does, he is willing to make the journey to Mandalore and bathe in the sacred waters to be purified. He won the Darksaber in single combat and, thus, was worthy of wielding it. Bo-Katan took the journey to Mandalore, but she had to be convinced by Din Djarin. She saw the Mythosaur, but it appeared to Din first. She was the one who saw it, but does that mean it was there for her?

Of course, in a show called The Mandalorian, we’d expect to learn more about Mandalorians and their culture, but the title is singular, referring to just one individual. We’ve followed Din’s journey as he rescued Grogu, led him to Luke, and, now, even got him back in some other show. What’s left for him now? Will he defeat Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) again and then retire? In order for Bo-Katan’s journey to make sense and have the same gravitas, one would have to watch multiple episodes of two different animated series. We’ve seen her brood over losing the Darksaber, but that hardly qualifies as justification as to why she actually deserves it. Hardcore fans know that she’s worthy after watching both The Clone Wars and Rebels, but most casual viewers have only seen her defeat a weird robot monster. She deserves better than that and so does The Mandalorian.