Over the last five years, theStar Warsfranchise has successfully managed to carve out its own space in live-action television through Disney+ original series likeObi-Wan Kenobi,Andor,The Book of Boba Fettand, most famously,The Mandalorian. The show, starring Pedro Pascal, continues to be one of the most popular series on Disney+. The first season premiered alongside the launch of Disney’s streaming service, and it has continued to be a staple addition to the service. With the recent premiere of the third season, after a more than two-year wait since the finale of season two, fans are delighted to be exploring the galaxy far, far away with Din Djarin and baby Grogu once again.
However, it hasn’t been entirely smooth flying for theStar Warsfranchise on Disney+. Specifically,The Book of Boba Fett, which spun off fromThe Mandalorianand served as a way to tide fans over between seasons, wasn’t the smash hit that Disney had hoped for. While theviewership numbers for the show were strong, the series itself was pretty forgettable and didn’t excite fans in the way it was meant to. That would be fine if the show was a standalone series with no real importance to the core story ofThe Mandalorian, but it wasn’t. In an attempt to provide some interconnecting pieces to theStar Warsshows, the final leg ofThe Book of Boba Fett’s season diverted from its story and essentially became season 2.5 ofThe Mandalorian. This was a risky stunt, and it certainly got people talking aboutThe Book of Boba Fettat the time. But, now thatThe Mandalorianhas returned, the drawbacks of that decision have become apparent. Here’s how including the story ofThe MandalorianinThe Book of Boba Fetthas backfired on theStar Warsseries:
Related:The Mandalorian’s Exact Position in the Star Wars Timeline Has Just Been Changed by Jon Favreau
What Was Included
The Book of Boba Fettconsisted of seven episodes, of which episodes five and six were almost solely dedicated to following Djarin and continuing the story ofThe Mandalorian. Boba Fett didn’t even appear in episode five at all, and he had only one or two inconsequential lines of dialogue in episode six. Episode seven, the finale, then refocused the show on Fett’s story while also mixing in some of theMandalorianelements that had been introduced. The new story forThe Mandalorianthat was provided wasn’t just supplemental and unnecessary content for that show; it was key story developments that significantly altered the trajectory of the show from where it had been at the end of its second season. The second season ofThe Mandalorianended with a surprise appearance by Luke Skywalker, as he takes on Grogu as a student. This meant that Djarin and Grogu were separated in an emotional, and what felt like a final, goodbye. Immediately afterward, there was a lot of speculation amongst both die-hard and casual fans about whether Grogu would continue to be included inThe Mandalorianand what direction the story would take moving forward.
The answers to these cliffhanger questions were not given in the third season ofThe Mandalorian, as one would expect, though. Instead, they were provided intheMandalorian-centric episodes inThe Book of Boba Fett. After what Jon Favreau says was two years, Djarin sought out Skywalker and Grogu. Grogu was then given a choice of whether to continue his training or to return to Djarin and leave the Jedi behind. As expected, Grogu chose to return to Djarin, and just like that, the two central characters ofThe Mandalorianwere reunited and ready to go forseason three of the show. On top of all that, there were other major story developments forThe Mandalorianas well, such as Djarin building a new ship for himself and being exiled from his clan of Mandalorians.
Related:The Book of Boba Fett: What We Hope to See if Season 2 Happens
How It Hurt The Mandalorian
On paper, intertwining the characters and story ofThe MandalorianintoThe Book of Boba Fettcould have been a great idea. It could have provided a solid bit of interlocking material between the two shows, while also building out this new corner of theStar Warsuniverse that is being established with these stories. In addition to that, it would bring a lot more attention toThe Book of Boba Fett, making the spin-off show a must-watch for any fans ofThe Mandalorian. In that sense, this crossover worked really well. There were a lot of people who otherwise might not have watchedThe Book of Boba Fettthat then checked it out in order to stay caught up on the story of Djarin and Grogu.
However, while a lot of people did watchThe Book of Boba Fett, not everyone did, and by making itnecessary viewing for the story ofThe Mandalorian, there are now a lot of casual viewers that are completely lost in the story. There are still casual fans ofThe Mandalorianthat aren’t watching every newStar Warsseries. They shouldn’t have to. However, because of how the story was changed in a different show, the beginning of the third season ofThe Mandalorianis already fighting an uphill battle. From the perspective of those that didn’t watchThe Book of Boba Fett,The Mandalorianhas suddenly and dramatically redirected from the end of its previous season. Djarin and Grogu are back togetherin a fancy new ship, with no mention of the young one’s training nor the years they spent apart from one another. When the season starts, it’s just business as usual for the two of them. There’s really no explanation as to why either. It’s barely touched on in the show, and the recap at the beginning of the episode fails to even acknowledge any of the developments inThe Book of Boba Fett.
The entire thing just reeks of lazy writing. Instead of continuing from the drama of the second season’s finale, the show has immediately and casually undone all the story that it had set up.The Mandalorianhas essentially retconned the end of its second season, which was some of the strongest story developments the show had undergone yet. In doing so, it has become painfully apparent that there was really no plan behind the show’s overall story. The emotion of last season’s finale now just feels hollow, devoid of purpose, and like a cheap way to get a reaction out of the audience. The handling of this story has now become a major tripping point for the series. The cracks are starting to show inThe Mandalorian, which has previously been consideredsome of the bestStar Warsmaterialfrom the Disney era of the franchise. The poor way this story, and the decision to walk it back, has been handled isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker for the show, but it is an unnecessary and avoidable low point. Now we just hope that this kind of writing doesn’t become the norm for the series.
