[Chiefspants]

Spoiler!

I liked it. I think when the hype for the Battle of Mandalore was building up in the lead up to the season, I was imagining Game of Thrones like intrigue, complete with propulsive twists (such as a battle between factions, gray characters you could root for from both and getting killed, etc) and betrayals like the armorer was being rumored to make.

But, on reflection, that's never been Mando. It has happened in Star Wars before ("No. I am your father"), but Mando has always been a bit cut and dry in that regard. I think the surprise of Luke Skywalker at the end of Season 2 and BOBF set impossible expectations for the storytelling in Season 3.

Overall, Season 3 did what it set out to do. It added Grogu to the fold and not someone who needed to be constantly saved (it took a while, but he was a full, functional player in the story in the last two episodes), it added Nevarro as a player, it had the Mandalorians retake Mandalore (though a bit cleanly, setting it up as a black vs white, good guys vs. Moff Gideon battle), and most importantly, the finale set Din back up in the role we loved him in through Season 1. As a bonus, we got legit world-building of the New Republic that had been so badly lacking from the universe and will likely play a huge part in future storytelling.

While a step down from Season 2, there was still a lot to like about this season -- and if I'm wanting the intrigue that I love so much, I have Andor for that now.

Onto Season 4