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After suffering a few disappointments in movie theaters, the Star Wars fanbase was reenergized by The Mandalorian series on Disney+. Two seasons of the masterful series have grown the mythology greatly and in some truly surprising ways. That doesn’t mean everything is perfect, though.
There are more than a few aspects of The Mandalorian that didn’t add up with fans. These issues are not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination. But they also might need to be addressed as the story moves forward into its Grogu-less future.
10 The Republic’s Lack Of Focus On The Outer Rim
At the point the series starts, it’s only been a handful of years since the apparent death of Emperor Palpatine. With the Empire gone and the New Republic still finding its bearings, regions of the Outer Rim had basically devolved into chaos. They had become the perfect place for Imperial Remnants to operate.
The fact that the New Republic leadership is all but ignoring this issue is frustrating, to say the least. Perhaps this will come up more in some of the other new series planned in this era but it seems ridiculous that more effort is not being put into ferreting out any remaining Imperial influences.
9 Using It To Orchestrate Too Many Spinoffs
The success of The Mandalorian is undeniable. It has become a hit with die-hard Star Wars fans, casual viewers, and critics alike. But the reality of a series doing that well is that there will inevitably be spinoffs, sequels, and prequels.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian in particular was used to set up some obvious spinoffs for Ahsoka Tano and Cara Dune (which has since been canceled). It was also used as a backdoor pilot for a Boba Fett-centric series. Laying out this kind of groundwork can be a little distracting from the main plot.
8 Growing Number Of Existing Characters
A big part of the draw of the series is trying to figure out how it fits into the larger story. That means keeping an eye open for familiar existing characters who might make an appearance. While the show’s producers have done a good job of keeping them from being intrusive, their numbers are steadily going up.
Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze, Boba Fett, Bib Fortuna, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker are some of the names who popped up in Season 2, and most of them worked well. But the story is already starting to get a little bogged down in the past instead of building towards the future.
7 Too Many Mysteries
There are a lot of mysteries in The Mandalorian. And it seems like for every one of them that gets solved two new ones pop up to take its place. It can feel like dealing with a hydra whose new heads keep telling confusing riddles.
This show just keeps stacking mysteries on top of mysteries. Some of them will hopefully be addressed in the spinoffs but others, like the truth about Yoda and Grogu’s species, might never be clarified. That would be fine if fans were only dealing with one mystery but the show just keeps compounding them.
6 Boba Fett’s Story Took Over
Season 1 hinted at the return of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter, and Season 2 confirmed it. Boba Fett’s return caught basically no one watching off guard because it was expected. Still, it was a supercharged moment when the reveal was finally made.
It quickly became apparent that The Mandalorian Season 2 was operating, in part, as a backdoor pilot for the upcoming series, The Book of Boba Fett. There were definitely points in Season 2 when it felt like Din Djarin’s story was losing out to Fett’s a bit.
5 Continually Going Back To Tatooine
Whether it’s coincidence or destiny, the Star Wars narrative always seems to head back to a backwater desert planet in the Outer Rim called Tatooine. It played a huge role in both the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. It even popped up at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, tying a nice little bow on the story.
That being said, The Mandalorian just keeps returning to Tatooine. Any day fans get to check in with Peli Motto is a good day. But it’s starting to seem like there are no other planets in the Outer Rim in Star Wars. Mando might need to go on more of a tour.
4 One-Off Stories That Don’t Further The Plot
The overall narrative of Season 1 was protecting Grogu while Season 2 focused on finding a Jedi to train him. This was at the center of most of what was going on. But there was also a few one-off episodes that didn’t quite fit the story.
A prime example of this is Season 2, Episode 2. Mando and Grogu escort a Frog Lady and her eggs on a journey. They’re eventually trapped on an ice moon and have to survive some angry ice spiders. Like other one-offs, it didn’t seem to have any impact on the larger story, outside of wrecking Mando’s ship.
3 Overreliant On Grogu At Times
When Grogu, formerly known as Baby Yoda, was revealed at the end of Season 1, Episode 1, a star was born. Fans were obsessed with the little guy, due in no small part to the fact that he was adorable and had an intriguing lack of backstory.
But both Seasons 1 and 2 were focused on him to the point that character development for other characters was sacrificed. The series was often at its best when Mando was adventuring on his own, even if it was only for a few moments.
2 The Story Of Mando’s Covert
When Mando took the assignment to hunt down Grogu, he was living on Nevarro with the rest of his secret Mandalorian covert. Fans would eventually learn that this was a splinter sect of Mandalorian culture with some exceedingly uncompromising views on life.
The Imperial Remnants slaughtered the covert while Mando was away, leaving only Din Djarin and the Armorer alive. This was a dangling plot thread left by Season 1 that was ignored by Season 2. The backstory of the covert needs to be discussed as does the fate of the Armorer.
1 No Clear Plan After Grogu’s Departure
The biggest problem for the series also relates to Grogu. Again, the story of the first two seasons utterly revolved around him and Din Djarin’s journey to help the little green guy find a safe life. What comes next in the series is much more unclear.
It appears that Djarin will be riding with Bo-Katan and Grogu has headed off with Luke Skywalker. While the next phase of Djarin’s adventures seems like it will follow Djarin helping in the fight for Mandalore, what comes next has not firmly been established.
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