The Mandalorian‘s third season is now underway and critics and Star Wars fans alike are very happy with the opening episode. While most of it was setting up Din and Grogu’s missions for the rest of the season we also got a barnstorming giant crocodile monster opening scene, a riff on The Terminator courtesy of the undead IG-11, and a mysterious space-whale tease that may be a big hint that Star Wars Rebels is about to become extremely relevant.
With this newest story into the ‘Mando-verse’ now underway members of the cast and crew are giving interviews teasing what’s on the way and explaining how they’re approaching their characters. Beyond that, Star Wars gamers also got some very good news as it seems we’re getting a full Cal Kestis trilogy.
So, let’s dive in.
Katee Sackhoff on the Bo-Katan blues
Many had assumed that The Mandalorian‘s third season would see Bo-Katan and Din Djarin squaring off over the Darksaber. In the season two finale there were hints at conflict to come, with Bo-Katan explaining that Din can’t just give her the weapon, she has to win it in combat for it to mean anything. But we met a very different Bo-Katan this week, apparently spending her days moping around in an abandoned palace in a very comfy-looking throne.
Now, in an interview with Screen Rant, Sackhoff has gone into Bo-Katan’s mindset as we begin the third season:
“I think that she has lost everything. Everything that she thought she wanted, everything that she has fought for so long, is gone. And I think that’s where we find her; in this place [that’s] almost an “all is lost” moment. I think she’s probably questioning everything she’s done since the moment we met her over 10 years ago, and the means by which she went about getting to where she’s at.”
We suspect her depressive episode won’t last too long. Din and Grogu are about to embark on a trip to Mandalore, where we suspect they’ll discover the planet isn’t quite as poisoned and ruinous as legends indicate. Bo-Katan will still want to lead the Mandalorian people, and we think it’s about time for them to begin properly recovering after the Empire’s attack left them nomadic and splintered.
The only fly in the ointment is that Bo-Katan still needs the Darksaber to do that, and Din Djarin seems to be getting more and more comfortable wielding it in battle. Here’s hoping they can find a loophole in this tradition, as Din doesn’t have leadership ambitions and (a few minor personality flaws aside) we can’t think of a better Mandalore than Bo-Katan.
Dave Filoni reveals that Rian Johnson taught him how to do live-action
Dave Filoni’s unstoppable rise through Lucasfilm is well-deserved. He showed his potential on The Clone Wars, going on to flesh out never-before-seen parts of the Star Wars universe in Rebels. With The Mandalorian, he made the leap to live-action filming, and we can credit a lot of that show’s success to his storytelling skills and extensive knowledge of what makes Star Wars tick.
Now, in a new interview, Filoni has credited The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson for taking him under his wing and giving him a quick personalized film school. Filoni first confirmed that Kathleen Kennedy was open to him working in live-action early on, sending him out to observe how J.J. Abrams and Gareth Edwards worked on The Force Awakens and Rogue One. But it was his trip to The Last Jedi set that really set him on the right track:
“Rian was the one who shoved me up front, sticking lenses in my hand and really getting me immersed in it, and so I still talk with him to this day. He’s obviously a very talented filmmaker, and I was just very fortunate to be in such an environment where I could sit and listen and learn.”
Right now the sky is the limit for Filoni, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up as the primary creative force behind all of Star Wars someday. If that happened the franchise couldn’t be in better hands, as everything he leaves his fingerprints on is worth watching. So, though he’s a controversial figure among Star Wars fans we should raise a glass to Rian Johnson for giving him the confidence to step behind a camera.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will probably get a sequel to wrap up the trilogy
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a breath of fresh air for the franchise. Under EA’s stewardship the Star Wars license had been primarily used for multiplayer shooters, with Star Wars Battlefront II‘s lootboxes proving so controversial questions were raised in Parliaments around the world over whether the game promotes gambling to children. Fallen Order was something of a mea culpa: a firmly single-player experience that, while not perfect, was a damn fine adventure.
Hopes are high for its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, when it lands in late April, though Respawn Entertainment isn’t going to stop here. Survivor director Stig Asmussen has said that if the game sells well (which it almost certainly will) there’ll be a final game to cap off the trilogy. Speaking to IGN, he said:
“I always wanted to see this as a trilogy. How can we take Cal and the crew to new places beyond what we were doing in the first game?”
An interesting wrinkle is that these games are set in the lead-up to A New Hope, with Fallen Order taking place in 14 BBY and Survivor in 9 BBY. If there’s another five-year time jump to the third game in 4 BBY we’re in Andor and Rebels territory, which opens the door for a bunch of awesome crossovers.
It’s worth noting that Cal Kestis makes no appearance in the original trilogy, meaning that the third game in the series may end on a downer note if he doesn’t make it to the credits. But, whatever happens, we’re confident that Respawn will deliver a satisfying and imaginative romp through the Star Wars universe.
Roll on Survivor‘s release on PS5, Xbox S|X, and PC on Apr. 28!
That’s all the biggest news for today, but we’re hoping for some teases on what’s coming in next week’s The Mandalorian soon, as well as potentially a sneak peek at Ahsoka.