The Mandalorian: Here Are 14 Major Things to Know Before Season 3, If You Blew Off The Book of Boba Fett

DIN IS WIELDING THE DARKSABER (THOUGH THE STRUGGLE IS REAL)

Din Djarin is wielding the Darksaber he won by combat with Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 finale, though it comes with heavy a price. Meaning, the dang thing just feels heavy after a few swings, because (as the Armorer explained in The Book of Boba Fett Episode 5) Din is fighting it too much.

The Armorer explained that the sword which can cut through anything but Beskar was “forged over 1,000 years ago by Tarre Vizsla,” who was both Mandalorian and Jedi. She also shared this fun fact: If the Darksaber falls into the hands of “the undeserving,” it will be “a curse unto the nation of Mandalore.”

Also: Both the Armorer and Tarre Vizsla’s descendant, Paz Vizsla (who unsuccessfully challenged Din for the mighty weapon), felt that Moff Gideon should have died at Din’s hand, seeing as “the blood of millions of their kind” is on his hands.

MANDO'S BESKAR SPEAR GOT SPIKED

Also in Boba Fett Episode 5, the Armorer took a certain amount of umbrage at seeing Din carrying a Beskar spear, which  had been gifted to him by the Jedi Ahsoka Tano. After all, the very existence of such a weapon only serves to pose a threat to a Mandalorian. Seeing her point, Din turned over the spear to be melted and forged into armor — “for a foundling.” (More on that in a bit!)

BO-KATAN'S PAST IS... COMPLICATED

Also in Boba Fett Episode 5, the Armorer shed some light on Bo-Katan’s “claim” to the Darksaber (which, remember, she plotted to take from Moff Gideon after they stormed his ship, but Mando unwittingly claimed it first). Relating the “cautionary tale,” the Armorer explained that Bo-Katan once laid claim to rule Mandalore based on blood and the Darksaber being gifted to her, not won. Bo-Katan was “born of a mighty house but lost sight of The Way,” the Armorer shared. “They lost their way… and we lost our world.”

If the other Mandalorians had not been clustered on the moon of Concordia at the time of The Great Purge, they would not have survived, the Armorer attested. And it has been their “adherence to The Way” — steadfast helmet-wearing and all — that keeps them going until one day they can return to their home world.

DIN DJARIN IS 'A MANDALORIAN NO MORE'

OK, this is among the biggies from The Book of Boba Fett, seeing as it clearly will steer much of the Season 3 journey.

After Din fended off Paz Vizla’s challenge for the Darksaber, the Armorer asked each man if they had ever removed their helmet. Paz quickly said no, whereas Din…. Well, we all know the answer. He has violated that part of the creed/revealed his face in the presence of others a couple of times — most recently in The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 finale, before he said a sad goodbye to Grogu.

“Then you are a Mandalorian no more,” the Armorer pronounced. Din’s only path to redemption is via the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore — but said mines were destroyed long ago, Din notes. Hmmm….

MANDO HAS A SWEET (AND FAMILIAR) NEW RIDE

The latter section of The Book of Boba Fett Episode 5 saw Din leave the covert and grab a ride to Tatooine, where Peli Motto was waiting with a replacement for the Razor Crest (which was blown up in The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 6, remember).

Mando was expecting another Razor Crest, but what Peli had hidden under a tarp was an N-1 Starfighter that long ago was handmade for the royal guard and commissioned personally by the Queen of Naboo. Din was skeptical, though the more Peli touted the ship’s plusses — because it’s pre-Empire, it’s off the grid; it can jump to hyperspace without a docking ring; and it is fast — the more he grew curious. And after taking the nimble ship for a “wizard” test spin through Beggars Canyon, he was sold.

MANDO IS A WANTED MAN, STILL/AGAIN

Oh, yeah — during that wizard test drive, Mando got “pulled over” by a pair of New Republic X-wings, one of which was piloted by Captain Carson Teva (from The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 2 and again played by Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). Claiming “new car/no registration” and all, Din was about to be let off with a warning, until Captain Teva suggested that his voice reminded him of the owner of a Razor Crest that was recently tied to an incident on Nevarro “involving Imperial remnants.”

And on that note… Mando made use of the instant-on hyperpdrive and left the X-wings in his wake!

WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES 'WIZARD' MEAN?

As noted twice here, Din upon returning to Peli Motto’s garage described his test flight as “wizard,” meaning “highly impressive/way cool.” (We also learned that “Dank Farrik!” is an exclamation on par with “Holy s–t!”)

MANDO TRIED TO VISIT GROGU, BUT....

Moving on to Episode 6 of The Book of Boba Fett…..

In his zippy new ship, Mandy made tracks for a lush, unidentified planet, to see how Grogu’s training with the Jedi known as “Skywalker” is going. He was met by R2-D2… and then ghosted by the droid, who abruptly powered down while giant ant droids assembled a bench nearby. Taking the hint, Din caught a few Zzzzs until Ahsoka Tano showed up. After explaining that the stone structure being built up nearby is to be a “great school” where Grogu will be Luke’s first student, Ahsoka started to lead Mando to where Grogu and Luke were training — though she repeatedly discouraged him from actually reuniting with his onetime ward. To train properly, Grogu needs to shake any attachments, she explained, and seeing the Mandalorian will disrupt that flow.

Din said that he just wanted to give the kid something — the armor he had made from the Beskar spear — but, again taking a firm cue from Ahsoka (and with Grogu visible in the distance), he agreed to let her deliver it to the foundling-turned-padawan.

GROGU WITNESSED ORDER 66 UP CLOSE :(

During a walk through the forest, Luke Skywalker told Grogu about Yoda, who was “small like you,” had a big heart and was strong with the Force. Luke asked Grogu if he had any memories of “back home,” then placed his palm on the kid’s head to help him remember….

We then saw, from Grogu’s POV, that he witnessed the execution of Order 66 up close, seeing several, unidentified Jedi get slain at the Jedi Temple — though we don’t yet know who whisked Grogu away from the massacre, to safety.

LUKE SKYWALKER MADE GROGU CHOOSE — BETWEEN JEDI AND MANDALORIAN

After Mando flew off in his Starfighter, Luke took Grogu to the newly completed school/academy, where he revealed Mando’s gift of a Beskar chain mail shirt. He also opened a box containing the lightsaber once used by Yoda.

Luke invited the kid to make a choice: Return to the Mandalorian and make himself vulnerable to emotional attachments… or be the first student at Luke’s Jedi academy. The thing is, if Grogu chooses the latter, he may never see the Mandalorian again. After all, Luke noted that “a short time for you,” spent training, “is a lifetime for anyone else.”

Luke then asked: “Which do you choose?”

'DAD' AND CHILD REUNITED (UNDER STRESSFUL CIRCUMSTANCES!)

Grogu, bless his little-but-big heart, chose… the Mandalorian, and at the top of The Book of Boba Fett‘s season finale, he arrived at Peli Motto’s garage in Luke’s X-wing, piloted by R2-D2. (BTW, Peli is no fan of the “Grogu” name.)

Mando himself would not lay eyes on Grogu until much later in the episode, in the midst of the street war that pitted Boba Fett (remember, it is his show and all) and his hodgepodge of allies against the spice-running Pyke Syndicate, whose muscle was led by Cad Bane, a blue-skinned Duros bounty hunter who has a canonical past with Boba.

In the course of the melee, Mando hopped a ride on Peli Motto’s droid-led rickshaw, then looked down to realize the kid was in the seat! A delighted Grogu promptly leaped into his dad’s arms. But with the rickshaw haphazardly rollicking, Mando set the kid back down, at which point he realized….

GROGU IS ARMORED UP!

…Grogu was dripping in his Beskar chain mail!

THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH GROGU

As teased a bit during his training sessions with Luke, Grogu is still capable of airlifting a mudhorn and then some! Because when Boba Fett’s rancor started running amok in Mos Espa and tried to use Mando as a chew toy, Grogu employed the Force to make the mighty beast fall asleep. (The spent kid then grabbed a nap of his own beside the rancor!)

MARSHAL COBB VANTH'S FATE IS TBD

The last but not least thing to know before heading into The Mandalorian Season 3 is that Cad Bane, the bounty hunter mentioned earlier, had first swung by Freetown (fka Mos Pelgo) to warn marshal Cobb Vanth to stand down and stay out of the Syndicate’s way. Cobb’s deputy wound up shot dead during the showdown, while the marshal himself took a single blast and appeared down for the count.

But as revealed in the Boba Fett finale’s mid-credits scene, Vanth is healing in Boba’s bacta tank, with the mod artist who had saved Fennec Shand’s life/outfitted her with bionics standing ready to do some work…. Just in case the marshal shows up again and has shiny new mods to show off!

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