The Mandalorian season 3 suffered in a post-Andor world
Everything in Star Wars revolves around one event: the Battle of Yavin. ‘BBY/ABY’ is the in-universe calendar marker for everything that happened before and after the Death Star was blown up in A New Hope.
A similar case could be made for Andor, a gritty political thriller that serves not only as a prequel to Rogue One (opens in new tab), but also as the biggest paradigm shift for movies and shows in a galaxy far, far away since the 1977 original. So much so, that everything that’s come after Andor is now being met with sky-high expectations in terms of both quality and a more mature tone that, realistically, can never be met.
That backlash can be seen most clearly in the reaction to The Mandalorian season 3. While the season, more broadly, hasn’t hit the heights of its first two seasons, it has been released hot off the heels of Andor – and is suffering for it.
What was once a pretty straightforward and thrilling bounty hunter adventure now has impossible demands from fans. Look around on social media and you’ll see many are often left disappointed that Andor’s more nuanced morality and tighter dialogue hasn’t outright replaced Mando’s Western-influenced action and a revolving door of Jedi, Sith, and Force users.
The season 3 finale is the biggest victim to living in Andor’s shadow. Where some expected plot twists, subterfuge – the Armorer was largely thought to be an Imperial spy in the days leading up to release – and a meatier conclusion, what we got was fairly basic Hollywood fare. Good triumphed over evil, and very little of consequence happened.
Bo-Katan never had to wrestle with her one-track mind on retaking Mandalore, nor did Mando grapple with rejoining the Creed after spending seasons going back and forth on
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