WOW. Where do I even begin with this season?

Our boy, Mando, sets out to return Baby Yoda (who was finally given a name this season: Grogu) to its kind, other Force-users called Jedi, and a series of well-written journeys ensue. Anything from battling a colossal sand dragon to dueling with Moff Gideon, the antagonist of the show, is fair game. 

The Mandalorian has this uncanny ability to tie in all eras of the Star Wars universe with ease like no other show or movie in the franchise has before — it’s incredible to watch it all unfold.

Seeing characters who previously were only animated (such as Bo-Katan) was a thrilling experience, and this paves the way for these characters to get more important roles (and even series’) of their own in the future. 

Each of these cameos had me on the floor — shoutout to comedian Bill Burr for his deep commitment to his role as Migs Mayfeld, who makes reappearances in the series to help Mando on occasion. In the past, Burr had ranted about how he hated Star Wars, but now to see him in The Mandalorian signifies he may have had a change of heart. As Mayfeld, Burr acts so much as he does in his comedy shows that it was almost as if he wasn’t playing a role, but simply being himself. Burr’s performance was refreshing and was a nice break from the typical, serious Star Wars characters. 

I love how most of the alien creatures they used are puppets, not CGI – or at least they’re meant to look that way. It’s a subtle reference to the old age of Star Wars, where the gorgeous sceneries were just paintings. In this season, minimal CGI was used to touch creatures up — like the adorable actions of Baby Yoda.

The Mandalorian does things that The Rise of Skywalker could not — it ties in planets (such as Tatooine) and other concepts (like the Darksaber) from things across the universe, from The Clone Wars to the sequel trilogy, thus generating life into this franchise and making crazy theories and predictions explode across the Internet. 

All that being said, the last episode left me a little unsatisfied. Yes, of course, the live-changing reveal had my jaw to the floor, but there’s no clear path in sight for the next season, which bothers me. Maybe this just goes to show how consistently great the rest of the show is; because The Mandalorian is so brilliant, I’m just nitpicking at this point.

Massive kudos to Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, who make this universe an experience for everyone to enjoy — both old fans and new ones.