It’s been a long time since season 2 of The Mandalorian came to an end and a lot has happened in the intervening years, not least Grogu’s reunion with Mando which will come as a huge surprise to fans who didn’t watch The Book Of Boba Fett.
*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett*
When we last saw the adorable Grogu in The Mandalorian, he was being whisked away in a tear-jerking finale, ready to embark on his Jedi training.
It seemed to be the perfect end point for his and Mando’s story, albeit a heart-breaking one, but for Star Wars fans tuning into season 3 of The Mandalorian, Grogu is miraculously back at Din Djarin’s side, complete with a new starfighter to boot.
Grogu’s tear-jerking departure in The Mandalorian season 2
Over the course of its first two seasons on Disney+, The Mandalorian saw the cold-blooded bounty hunter, Din Djarin, slowly start to develop a softer side after he began to bond with one of his targets, an adorable infant of the same alien species as Yoda.
By the end of season 2, Mando had become an almost adoptive father to young Grogu and would do anything to keep the little green fella safe.
That made the season 2 finale all the more heart-wrenching as non-other than Luke Skywalker appeared to whisk Grogu away to begin his Jedi training.
Like Pedro Pascal’s character himself, fans were left with eyes streaming as the music swelled and the door closed on Luke, Grogu and R2-D2, seemingly bringing an end to his relationship with his newfound Mandalorian father figure.
How The Book Of Boba Fett reunited Grogu and the Mandalorian
The Book Of Boba Fett revolved around a growing turf war between Fett’s burgeoning crime empire and the other crime families operating in the city of Mos Espa on Tatooine.
With the odds turning against Fett at the end of episode 4, he elected to contact the Mandalorian for aid.
But rather than Mando appearing in a minor cameo role, helping to save the day at the last minute, episodes 5 and 6 were entirely dedicated to his character.
The first of The Mandalorian episodes that were shoe-horned into The Book Of Boba Fett saw Mando back at work as a bounty hunter and also facing the consequences of removing his helmet to say farewell to Grogu, with the Armorer banishing him from their cult-like group.
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It’s clear that Mando was missing the little green alien’s company and after acquiring a modified Naboo Starfighter from Peli Motto, he traveled to the planet where Luke was training Grogu in episode 6.
Mando left a gift for Grogu, a chainmail shirt made of Beskar steel, which Luke offered to the youngling in an ultimatum – either he could choose the armor and return to Mando or he could take Yoda’s old lightsaber and continue his Jedi training.
In episode 7, the finale, Grogu’s choice was revealed as he appeared back on Tatooine and reunited with the Mandalorian as the final confrontation was taking place between Boba Fett and the spice-running smugglers in the Pyke Syndicate.
Opinion: The Book Of Boba Fett was an odd series
Despite being a show about one of the most infamous characters in the Star Wars galaxy, The Book Of Boba Fett was certainly a puzzling show for so many reasons.
The seven-episode series spent its first four chapters solely on Tatooine, flitting between the present day, with Boba now ruling as a crime lord in Jabba the Hutt’s palace, and flashbacks, showing how the bounty hunter survived being swallowed by the Sarlacc pit before becoming a member of a tribe of Tusken Raiders (Like a Bantha) – who were promptly and tragically killed off.
The constant flashbacks prevented the show from building up any momentum and when they finally ended in episode 4, allowing Boba ‘The Godfather’ Fett to start kicking ass and taking names, the show pivoted completely into becoming season 2.5 of The Mandalorian as the focus of the show moved entirely onto Din Djarin’s exploits for two whole episodes.
What made the bizarre direction change all the more confusing was that the Mandalorian-centric episodes ended up being the best chapters of the show.
While Mando and Grogu’s reunion in The Book Of Boba Fett was undeniably adorable, it feels to us as if it detracted from the opening episode of The Mandalorian season 3 itself which, rather than feeling like a season premiere, felt like an episode mid-way through the season.
Surely it would’ve made more sense to have Mando’s cameo in The Book Of Boba Fett remain a minor part and move the Mandalorian-focused episodes of that show to the start of season 3.
That way, fans tuning into the new season of The Mandalorian aren’t left puzzled if they haven’t seen an absolutely crucial pair of episodes that took place in another show entirely.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is available to stream now Disney+ on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
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