The Mandalorian Season 3 Trailer Breakdown

<p style='font-weight: 400;']It’s finally arrived! The second trailer for season 3 of The Mandalorian dropped during halftime of the Monday Night Football game. It may not have been a long trailer at just 90 seconds, but it was action-packed for sure! We are here to break it down for you and discuss anything you might have missed as we count down to its release on March 1st. </p>





<p style='font-weight: 400;']This first opening shot is of a group of Mandalorians, of which we get a closer look in the next few moments, with some cool new colours and helmet designs. We saw a similar shot in the trailer released during D23 last September, though this looks to be an extended look at this sequence.</p>


Din Djarin’s (Pedro Pascal) voice can be heard, asking the question at the core of the series: what do Mandalorians stand for? In the new season, he seems to be looking more deeply into his religion and the culture he was raised in. The actor himself even hinted at this in a conversation with Total Film released during the summer, adding that Din will be a reluctant leader in season 3, something the trailer also hints at with these shots.











Next, we move on to see Din’s modified N1 Naboo starfighter travelling through hyperspace; a ship he received from Peli Motto in episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett to replace the destroyed Razor Crest (see The Mandalorian chapter 14).







Clearly, Grogu didn’t spend a lot of time in the little repurposed droid socket made for him, but as we will see later, there may be a reason for this, other than just having a cuddle with his dad, of course.







We go to Nevarro, revisiting footage from the first teaser trailer and expanding upon it to see the new and improved city that seems to be thriving since Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) became its administrator.















There’s a shot of a Kowakian monkey-lizard, which, as we saw from the previous trailer, has been freed along with several others of his kind. The most prominent of this species we know is Jabba the Hutt’s cackling sidekick Salacious B. Crumb from Return of the Jedi. Overall, this is another representation of how Nevarro is flourishing.







On Nevarro we have R5-D4 following behind Din and Grogu (see the background, out of focus). Later in the trailer, we can see R5 on Tatooine with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), and then him inside Grogu’s repurposed droid socket as Din takes off. It seems Din needed R5 for some reason before heading off to Nevarro.



In the background, you can see what looks to be an EV supervisor droid like the one we saw in Return of the Jedi where droids were being tortured in Jabba’s Palace. It seems to be doing shopkeeper work here.







There is an IG-11 statue here on the right, which is a nice homage to Taika Waititi’s hunter-turned-nurse droid and the sacrifice he made in the finale of season 1. (Waititi could be returning for the third season according to a /Film report, so we might not have seen the definitive end of IG-11.)



Then we see Grogu and Din travelling in the N1 through stormy weather. We will come back to this series of shots in a moment.











The D23 teaser already included this shot of Mandalore in ruins, a reminder of the destruction the Empire caused during the Night of a Thousand Tears. We have seen a flashback of this event in The Book of Boba Fett, with Imperial bombers decimating the planet’s dome cities. As we fly over a destroyed dome, Din states, 'I’m going to Mandalore so I can be forgiven for my transgressions.' He appears to be talking to the Armorer (Emily Swallow), who had declared Din was no longer a Mandalorian in The Book of Boba Fett after discovering he had removed his helmet.



Recalling the previous trailer, Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) told Din Djarin 'Your cult fractured our people.' This is interesting as Din seems to be attempting to uphold a duty to The Way and redeem himself for breaking his clan’s tradition, but at the same time, he is returning to Mandalore, wherein Bo-Katan blames his divisive sect for the splitting of the Mandalorian people. Din looks to be juggling quite a lot of different responsibilities this season, especially as he is now the bearer of the Darksaber.







Remember when we said earlier there might be an explanation for why Grogu is no longer in the droid socket? Well, this cute shot of R5-D4 seemingly leaving Tatooine aboard the N1 starship might just be it.






<p style='font-weight: 400;']Following this, we see a familiar shot of Grogu on Din’s lap, watching fireworks explode over a settlement. The context and shape of the buildings indicates that this is a Tatooine settlement like Mos Eisley or Mos Espa. It might even be an anniversary of the Battle of Endor, as we first saw fireworks in Star Wars on several planets following the destruction of the second Death Star. But of course, this is merely speculative.</p>









<p style='font-weight: 400;']On to the next sequence; we have new shots of a bustling city planet, which at first glance looks a lot like Coruscant, but could also very well be Hosnian Prime, the core world of the New Republic as seen in the sequel trilogy. It’s interesting that we are now seeing this galactic hub after The Mandalorian has mostly been set in the backwater areas of the galaxy. The scope of this season definitely looks to be more expansive than before, and everything we've heard from the cast and crew backs that up.</p>





<p style='font-weight: 400;']We get a shot of Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) being chauffeured across the city, and he doesn’t look to be restrained. Presumably, he is cooperating with the New Republic, and perhaps we will learn more about his work with Grogu. </p>





<p style='font-weight: 400;']This shot of Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) on Coruscant is edited in a way so that it looks like he’s talking to the Mandalorian. However, it’s clear from the background that this is not the case. Teva seems to be warning someone of some impending threat in the Outer Rim, perhaps Grand Admiral Thrawn or some other Imperial remnant. It appears he is bearing a Rancor crest.</p>






Right after, we cut to a shot of the Mandalorian that appears to be in Bo-Katan’s throne room, which we saw in the previous trailer. His helmet is wet, so it is likely that the sequence of the N1 flying through the storm was above this same location. We have seen a shot in the previous trailer of the N1 emerging through dark clouds above Mandalore, but however likely it is, whether the throne room is actually on Mandalore remains to be seen. However, in the D23 teaser, the first shot we have of Bo-Katan is of her looking through the window of this palace (seemingly alerted by an incoming ship), and rain was pouring down the glass.







This cave area we see next could be the mines below Mandalore, where Din goes to find the Living Waters -- as mentioned by the Armorer in The Book of Boba Fett -- to find his redemption. This looks like where he finds this Mandalorian helmet in the next shot.











The helmet does not appear to belong to anyone in particular, and seems very nondescript. There is speculation it may belong to Tarre Vizsla, the Mandalorian Jedi who created the Darksaber, but the canon images we have of him portray a vastly different helmet.



Next, we have my personal favourite part of the trailer: what appears to be a flashback scene -- maybe an extension of Grogu’s flashback to Order 66 that we already saw during The Book of Boba Fett -- as we have Jedi in the temple on Coruscant, preparing for a threat behind the door. Something, or rather someone, is trying to break through, either with blasters... or even a lightsaber. It is likely here we will see clones from the 501st storming the temple again. A potential cameo from pre-suit Darth Vader himself is unlikely, but we can’t rule it out!






<p style='font-weight: 400;']</p>

<p style='font-weight: 400;']This scene shows some Imperial TIE Interceptors chasing down a ship that is quite difficult to identify, but looks like a Mandalorian Gauntlet starfighter. It is not clear which planet this is, so we may just have to wait and see. This is edited together with shots of Grogu and Din -- Din inside the N1 telling Grogu to 'hang on' -- but it is unclear whether this happens in the same scene. Out the window of the N1 we can see water, so it could be the same planet, though the Interceptors do not seem to be chasing the N1 in the footage we've seen.</p>






Here we get some kind of droid cantina, with some astromechs, what looks to be CZ-3 from A New Hope in the background, and some B1 battle droids as seen in the prequel trilogy and in the Clone Wars animated series, among others. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!






<p style='font-weight: 400;']Following this, we get the same shot of Bo-Katan and several Mandalorians dropping out from a ship on to Nevarro as it was shown in the previous trailer. In the next shot, they appear to be attacking something, perhaps the raiders we've seen previously facing off against Greef Karga. And is that… Paz Vizsla? </p>









<p style='font-weight: 400;']We then see a Mandalorian pull back a fiber cord whip from his wrist, then an immediate cut to a body falling to the ground; a Nikto that looks like one of the raiders on Nevarro.</p>









<p style='font-weight: 400;']Not a moment later we see a familiar face, or should I say two familiar faces? Two members of the Anzellan species -- introduced first through the adorable droidsmith Babu Frik in The Rise of Skywalker -- are peeking out of a window, reacting to the collapse of the dead body outside. </p>





<p style='font-weight: 400;']Finally, we have a scene in which Grogu emerges from a cave inside his pram. Some manner of creature appears to be waiting for him. Using the Force, he pushes this creature to the ground, hinting that Grogu’s powers are strengthening and that he is becoming more and more capable of taking care of himself.</p>









<p style='font-weight: 400;']In the Disney Plus version of the trailer, there is an extra short scene, showing a Star Destroyer on a city planet, most likely being dismantled. This is a spectacular little bonus, as Star Destroyers are some of the most incredible Star Wars ships to behold, and have been making jaws drop since their first appearance on screen in A New Hope.
</p>


Image credit: Reddit


<p style='font-weight: 400;']Overall, we have some incredible visuals, hints at an exciting and expansive plot, and a generous mixture of all eras of live-action Star Wars! We are more than ready for this new adventure.
</p>


Season 3 of The Mandalorian is streaming on Disney Plus on March 1.



Click HERE to check out and comment on this topic on our main site