By George Bate
A new trailer for The Mandalorian Season 3 dropped tonight’s NFL Wild Card Game that featured plenty for Star Wars to feast on until the new season premieres March 1 on Disney+. Here’s a breakdown of everything important and things you may have missed in the new trailer.
Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin narrates the trailer, beginning with the statement, “Our people are scattered. Like stars in a galaxy…” This is consistent with what we’ve learned about Mandalorians in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett – that Mandalorians are few and far between after the Night of a Thousand Tears.
The trailer features plenty of new Mandalorians with cool, colorful armor. It is unclear who these new characters are, but it’s likely there are members of Children of the Watch, the cult that raised Din Djarin.
The trailer sees Mando and Grogu navigating the galaxy again, after they were reunited in The Book of Boba Fett. Together, they are seen flying in Mando’s new Naboo starfighter.
Mando and Grogu touch down on Nevarro, the planet that served as the hub for Season 1 and also featured on Season 2. Nevarro seems to have improved quite a bit since it’s first appearance in the series pilot as the streets appear more decadent, safer, and more populated.
A Kowakian monkey lizard, the same species as Salacious B. Crumb in Return of the Jedi, can be seen snickering in a tree.
Traveling with Mando and Grogu is R5-D4, the infamous droid that first appeared in A New Hope.
Carl Weathers returns as Greef Karga, and will also direct another episode of the series.
A statue honoring IG-11’s sacrifice can be seen in the background on Nevarro.
Also returning is Emily Swallow as The Armorer. It’s her banishing of Din Djarin in The Book of Boba Fett that seemingly kicks off this season’s plot.
Din says that he is going to Mandalore to be forgiven for his transgressions. These transgressions refer to Din removing his helmet in front of Grogu in The Mandalorian Season 2. It seems much of Season 3 will be about Din coming to grips with what it means to be a Mandalorian. Mandalore previously appeared in The Clone Wars and Rebels, but has never been shown in live-action until now.
A destroyed Mandalore is seen in the trailer. Boba Fett called Mandalore a “planet of glass” in Season 2, and it appears he was right.
Fan favorite Pelli Motto is also back, played by Amy Sedaris. It appears she’s on Tatooine, meaning the series will return to the sand planet.
Coruscant, the capital during the Republic and Imperial eras, is seen in this trailer. It was most recently seen in live action in the first season of Andor.
Flying through Coruscant is Doctor Pershing, played by Omid Abtahi again. It remains unclear what Pershing and Gideon were up to, but it requires Grogu’s blood, involves Midichlorians, and possibly relates to cloning technology seen in The Bad Batch.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee returns as Carson Teva. He ominously talks about the rise of a new Empire, “There’s something dangerous happening out there. And, by the time it becomes big enough for you to act, it’ll be too late.” Teva also appears to have a new uniform here, looking more like a local marshal than an X-Wing pilot. His new uniform also has a Rancor patch. Fingers crossed Teva plays a bigger role in Star Wars moving forward, because Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is a delight.
A flashback to Grogu’s survival of Order 66 in the Jedi Temple is shown. It looks like we’re going to get more of Grogu’s backstory this season.
Mando appears to be in a droids-only bar. In the background, you can spot battle droids from the prequel trilogy. Of note, Mando harbored a deep hatred for droids in Season 1. That was until IG-11 sacrificed himself to save Grogu’s life.
The Mandalorian warrior voiced by Jon Favreau, Paz Vizla, is back.
Two cheering creatures of the same species as Babu Frik from The Rise of Skywalker, Anzellans, are in this trailer.
TIE Fighters are chasing after Mando here, implying that, although Gideon has been conspicuously absent from promotional material so far, his Imperial remnant is still after Grogu.
Finally, Grogu shows off some of his Force abilities in the trailer. Each season he appears to be getting stronger and stronger.
Unusually, Bo-Katan Kryze, who featured so prominently in the last trailer, is nowhere to be seen in this new footage. The last trailer positioned her as the lead villain, making her absence in this premiere all the more mysterious.
In a shot featured exclusively in the version of the trailer on Disney+, a docked Star Destroyer can be seen on Coruscant.
The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres March 1 on Disney+.