Everything You Need to Know About ‘The Mandalorian’ So Far

After a long hiatus, “The Mandalorian” is finally returning for season three. The latest trailer has increased hype levels to an all-time high, so you’ll be glad to know Mando is returning to Disney Plus on March 1 in one of the best Disney Plus originals.

The cast of “The Mandalorian” season three is still mostly under wraps, but you can count on Pedro Pascal to reprise his role as the stoic Din Djarin. Based on what’s shown in the trailer, we also know Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), Amy Sedaris (Peli Motto), and Emily Swallow (Armorer) will return. Another actor set to return is Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), who has unfinished business with Mando. As with previous seasons, it’s expected that we’ll see some surprise cameos. Rosario Dawson, Richard Ayoade, Bill Burr, Timothy Olyphant, and Jason Sudeikis have been some of the more notable surprise appearances.

Season three of “The Mandalorian” will also see the return of several directors, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, and Carl Weathers. New directors are also being brought on. The Academy Award–nominated Lee Isaac Chung, who wrote and directed “Minari,” is one of the new directors. Another acclaimed director coming on board is Peter Ramsey, the director of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Finally, Rachel Morrison, better known for her cinematography on projects such as “Black Panther,” is joining the directing team. With a cadre of genius directors, season three is shaping up to be another hit.

Season two aired so long ago that some details may be hazy, but you don’t have to jump into the new season unprepared. You can read the recap for the first two seasons below and a brief recap of Mando’s appearances in “The Book of Boba Fett.”

**Seasons one and two spoilers ahead**

Key Episodes

• Chapter 1: “The Mandalorian”
• Chapter 3: “The Sin”
• Chapter 8: “Redemption”

Upon returning a bounty and collecting his reward, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), or “Mando,” is offered another bounty by Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). The target is a 50-year-old alien wanted by a person simply known as the Client (Werner Herzog). When other bounty hunters swarm the target location, Mando teams up with IG-11 (Taika Waititi), a bounty hunter droid. The target turns out to be a child of the same species as Master Yoda, known as the Child. Mando shoots the droid to protect the Child.

With the target secured, Mando travels back to his ship and finds it being dismantled by Jawas. The Jawas agree to give back the parts if Mando can get a mudhorn egg, which is no easy task. When the mudhorn charges Mando, the Child intervenes by levitating the beast off the ground. Mando then collects the egg, and the Jawas return his ship parts.

Mando heads back to Nevarro and delivers the Child as promised. As Mando prepares to head out on another bounty hunt, he changes his mind and rescues the child. By betraying the Client, he becomes a bounty target and is soon surrounded by members of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild. Mando’s fellow Mandalorians buy him enough time to escape, saving him.

On the run and with no home to return to, Mando chooses to land on Sorgan. He winds up helping the locals defeat a group of troublesome raiders, enlisting the help of an ex-drop trooper, Cara Dune (Gina Carano). After the raiders are eliminated, Mando decides it’s better if the Child stays behind with a woman from the village. Mando, however, ends up taking the Child after another bounty hunter almost kills him.

The Mandalorian and the Child head to Tatooine to repair his ship, Razor Crest. In the cantina, Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) approaches Mando, asking him to help with a bounty — the target is Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). Fennec isn’t easy to apprehend, but they do it eventually. Once captured, Shand convinces Calican to betray Mando. Calican shoots Shand, leaving her to die, and heads for Mando’s ship. When Mando reaches the Razor Crest, Calican holds the Child hostage, but it’s not long before Mando regains control.

After the mess on Tatooine, Mando visits Ranzar “Ran” Malk (Mark Boone Junior), an old friend who immediately has a job for the outlaw bounty hunter. The mission is to break out a prisoner from a New Republic Correctional Transport. Mando goes through with the plan, but it’s derailed when the New Republic is alerted. The crew rescues the prisoner and betrays Mando by leaving him in the cell. Mando later escapes with the prisoner, stranding the remaining crew on the prison ship. After delivering the prisoner to Ran, Mando double-crosses his old friend.

Greef Karga asks Mando to return to Nevarro to help eliminate the Imperial forces taking over the planet. On the way back, Mando picks up Dune, Kuiil, and IG-11, who Kuiil reprogrammed to be a nanny droid. Once on Nevarro, the group is met by a large group of Imperial forces led by Moff Gideon, who reveals Mando’s name: Din Djarin. Moff Gideon gravely injures Mando. Meanwhile, stormtroopers kidnap the Child, who is later rescued by IG-11. With everyone back together, they head underground. IG-11 removes Mando’s helmet, which is forbidden, to heal the wounded Mandalorian.

The group arrives at the Mandalorian underground base, but all that’s left is a pile of Mandalorian armor. The only Mandalorian around is the Armorer (Emily Swallow), a leader of Mando’s faction. She makes a new sigil for Mando’s armor, a mudhorn, gives him a new jetpack and sends him on a quest to return the Child to a group of “wizards,” better known as the Jedi. The Armorer stays behind as the group escapes, and IG-11 self-detonates to take out a squad of stormtroopers. That’s when Gideon zooms by in a TIE fighter, which Mando makes quick work of thanks to his new jetpack. Gideon, however, doesn’t die. He escapes the wrecked TIE fighter by cutting an opening in the hull with a glowing black blade that looks like a lightsaber,

Key Episodes

• Chapter 13: “The Jedi”
• Chapter 14: “The Tragedy”
• Chapter 16: “The Rescue”

In season two, Mando is in search of other Mandalorians who may know how to find the Jedi. He heads to Tatooine on a tip that there may be a Mandalorian, but it’s a dead end. Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), the marshal of Mos Pelgo, has been wearing Boba Fett’s old armor, which he bought from the Jawas. After Mando helps to defeat a krayt dragon that’s been causing trouble for Mos Pelgo, Vanth gives up the armor, which rightfully belongs to the people of Mandalore.

Still on Tatooine, Mando meets with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris). She tells him to take a frog lady to Trask, where her husband awaits and will tell Mando how to find Mandalorians. On their way to Trask, they are chased by New Republic X-Wings. The ship is badly damaged after crash-landing on a frozen planet. The situation grows dire when a swarm of spider-like creatures attack. Thankfully, the New Republic fighters from before show up and let Mando off the hook because of previous good deeds. The Razor Crest then limps to Trask.

On Trask, Mando is betrayed by a group of Quarren leading him to the Mandalorians, but the Mandalorians save the day. The Mandalorian group, led by Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) of House Kryze, upset Mando when they remove their helmets, but they convince Mando to have a drink with them. After helping Kryze hijack an Imperial ship in return for information on where to find a Jedi, Kryze tells Mando to head to the forest planet of Corvus and seek a Jedi by the name of Ahsoka Tano, the former apprentice of Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker.

The Razor Crest stops on Nevarro for repairs. Karga, now the magistrate, and Dune, the marshal, meet Mando on arrival. As Mando awaits repairs, Karga and Dune ask that he help destroy a local Imperial base. Destroying the facility is easier than expected, but they find a room lined with tanks containing bodies before leaving. The group finds a recent hologram message from Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) — who ran tests on the Child in season one — to Moff Gideon, which is a surprise to the team since they believed Moff Gideon was dead. Dr. Pershing tells Moff Gideon he needs the Child’s blood to run further experiments. Mando returns to town for his ship and destroys a squad of TIE fighters following his friends back from the base.

As Mando searches for the Jedi in Calodan, a city on Corvus, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) finds him first and attacks. They fight until Ahsoka notices the Child, learning through the force that its name is Grogu. Mando asks Ahsoka to train Grogu, but she refuses, claiming that Grogu’s bond with Mando makes the young force wielder susceptible to darkness. Mando offers to help Ahsoka take down the local magistrate, a tyrannical ruler oppressing the people of Calodan. After assaulting the city, Ahsoka faces off with the magistrate, who wields a Beskar spear. Ahsoka ultimately prevails, demanding to know the location of Admiral Thrawn. Later, Ahsoka gives the Beskar spear to Mando and tells him to take Grogu to the Jedi ruins on Tython, where he can choose his path.

On Tython, Grogu makes a connection with the Force. When another ship lands, Mando tries to grab Grogu and head for safety, but a force field prevents him from getting close. Leaving Grogu behind to deal with the ship, Mando finds Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), who has been tracking Mando to retrieve the armor Mando got from Cobb Vanth. Fennec Shand joins Boba Fett. Mando refuses, believing Boba Fett is not a Mandalorian, but Boba Fett swears to protect Grogu if the armor is returned to him.

They are soon interrupted by stormtroopers. Mando and Shand are overwhelmed by Imperial forces until Boba Fett arrives in his old armor, forcing the stormtroopers to retreat. Then an orbital strike explodes the Razor Crest, and a squad of Dark Troopers takes Grogu to Moff Gideon. After Mando agrees the armor belongs to Boba Fett, Boba Fett makes good on his promise to protect the child.

Mando, Shand, and Boba Fett head to Nevarro, where Mando asks Cara Dune to retrieve Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) from prison (he was part of the crew that betrayed Mando on the prison transport). Mayfeld’s ex-Imperial background is needed to infiltrate an Imperial base. Mayfeld and Mando go in undercover as stormtroopers. Mando removes his helmet to pass the facial scan needed to access the data terminal. Mayfeld’s old commanding officer, Valin Hess (Richard Brake), approaches him. Mayfeld, who has a bone to pick with his previous commanding officer, shoots Hess. Mando and Mayfeld escape with help from Shand and Dune. Mayfeld destroys the base by shooting tanks of highly volatile rhydonium. Later, Dune lets Mayfeld go, pretending he died on the base. The group then heads to Moff Gideon’s location.

In the final episode, Mando enlists the help of Bo-Katan Kryze and the other house Kryze Mandalorian, Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado). Kryze agrees to help because she wants Moff Gideon’s ship and the darksaber he wields. The group, which includes Mando, Dune, Shand, Bo-Katan, and Reeves, makes its way onto Moff Gideon’s Light Cruiser using clever misdirection. Mando splits off from the group as everyone else makes their way to the bridge. The larger group is met with much resistance from stormtroopers, but they prevail.

Meanwhile, Mando opens an airlock, expelling an entire squad of Dark Troopers into the void of space. He then finds Moff Gideon holding the darksaber over Grogu’s head. Moff Gideon attacks him, but the darksaber can’t slice through pure Beskar. Mando defeats Moff Gideon and brings him to the bridge, though Bo-Katan isn’t happy. Whoever defeats the darksaber’s wielder becomes the new wielder and has the right to claim Mandalore’s throne.

The Dark Troopers make their way back onto the ship, ending the confrontation between Kryze and Mando. The group is saved from the Dark Troopers by a lone Jedi who arrives in an X-Wing. The Jedi turns out to be Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who is there for Grogu. In an act that violates “The Way,” Mando removes his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu.

Key Episodes

• Chapter 5: “Return of the Mandalorian”
• Chapter 6: “From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
• Chapter 7: “In the Name of Honor”

If you didn’t watch “The Book of Boba Fett,” you may have missed some major developments for Din Djarin. Mando first appears in chapter five of “The Book of Boba Fett.” He meets with the Armorer, who crafts a gift for Grogu from the Beskar spear. The Armorer is joined by Paz Vizsla (voiced by Jon Favreau), whose ancestor crafted the ancient darkblade. After Viszla challenges Mando for the darksaber, Mando emerges victorious. However, he’s exiled after it’s discovered that he has removed his helmet.

Later, Mando goes to see Grogu to give him a chainmail tunic made of Beskar, but Ahsoka Tano tells him his presence might be a distraction. He leaves the chainmail and meets up with Cobb Vanth back on Tatooine. Meanwhile, Grogu chooses to abandon his Jedi training to join Mando. After the events of the final episode, when Boba Fett and his side face off against Cad Bane (Corey Burton) and the Pykes, Mando and Grogu leave together.

With Mando and Grogu reunited, season three of “The Mandalorian” will feel like the good ol’ days. Not much else is known, but there’s some information to be gleaned from the trailer. It seems Mando will go to Mandalore to seek forgiveness for his transgressions. It’s unclear whether he wants forgiveness for removing his helmet or for other actions. It also appears that Mando will play a part in the coming efforts to unite the people of Mandalore, especially since Bo-Katan Kryze is set to return for season three.

In the trailer, Mandalorians of House Kryze appear to be rescuing a town. One rumor that seems likely to be true is the appearance of Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian from the beloved “Star Wars Rebel” animated series. Apart from Mandalorians, we may also see more of the New Republic, since Coruscant made a quick appearance in the trailer. Regardless of what’s to come in season three, the show looks to be in a better place than ever. You can watch the premiere of season three on March 1 on Disney Plus, which also includes Marvel content.

Watch the trailer for season three: