After, a 2 year hiatus The Mandalorian has returned with its 3rd season on March 1st. For a while the only Star Wars television shows that were available to the public were solely animated, however, there was a change on November 19, 2019.

The Mandalorian’s first episode was released on the streaming service Disney+. The series was created by Jon Favreau. The first season cast featured Pedro Pascal as the main character Mandalorian, later revealed his name, Din Djarin, Carl Weathers Greef Karga, Gina Carano as Cara Dune, and Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon. 

The season followed Djarin as he develops a fatherly relationship with the character nicknamed Baby Yoda, as his name was not revealed until the second season. The series was praised by critics and audiences as a promising new venture for Star Wars. They followed the series with a second season released October 30th, 2020. With the second season they introduced fan favorites into live action form, such as the Mandalorian Bo-Katan portrayed by Katee Sackhoff, the Gray Jedi Ahsoka Tano portrayed by Rosario Dawson, and the short lived, but beloved bounty hunter Boba Fett portrayed by Temuera Morrison. 

During the time between season 2 and latest season, 2 more live action Star Wars shows were released of varying quality, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor. There has been plenty of anticipation and hype about the return of The Mandalorian. Grogu (In season 2 Baby Yoda’s name was revealed to be Grogu) was reunited with Djarin at the end of season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett, so what would the season premiere do with itself then?

Well it’s simple, the premiere would set up some future plot lines as Djarin gets into bad standing with a group of pirates, he embarks on a quest to redeem himself so he can rejoin his cult by taking a bath in the mines of Mandalore, and even development on the story line of Djarin having the darksaber making him the rightful leader of the Mandalorians. Weathers returns as Karga, Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, and Lauren Mary Kim as The Armorer.

It’s a slow episode with the usual shtick of the series, Djarin and Grogu go on space adventures across the galaxy doing different tasks, at least this time what they do in the episode all has bearing on future story lines of the season. More than anything it shows the promise of what could happen later and that is about all. It’s a slow return to The Mandalorian, while the opening scene is a excellent example of subversion and fairly tense action sequences and the later episode highlight, the star ship dogfight with pirates reminds the audience of the quality of action sequences in the show.

Now the question is, will the show be able to keep up? Will it be able to take this potential and run with it? Will they drop the ball as The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi did?

Let’s see what others thought of the season premiere. Senior and basketball star, Cayden Zachrich thought this, “I thought it  was a solid season opener. Obviously season openers aren’t so action packed. I think the season will be really good, because it was a good opener.”

Biggest Mandalorian fangirl, Miranda Brown felt, “It was very low key, I don’t think it was that bad. It was not a huge bang and I’m still excited for the season. I feel like it does really continue that vibe that Mando does his own thing, he is a part of people’s stories, but they are not his stories. Grogu is so cute, like when he waddles, I can’t. I liked it.”

All that is left now is to wait and see how the season ends up.