Lucasfilm licensors have released a multitude of The Mandalorian season 3 shirt styles this week. These designs all suggest several common themes for this season as a whole.
05-30-23 Update: Much of this was indeed right, but I was so wrong about Bo-Katan and I have to tell you, my favorite Star Wars shirt is this “Clan of Three” shirt with Din Djarin, Bo-Katan and Grogu. I got it, and I could not be happier.
Some of this can be gleaned from the trailer, but these designs reinforce what we know about season 3 thus far, and also provide some new information. This new information appears to contradict previous internet rumors.
The Mandalorian Season 3 will feature Greef Karga again
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With this shirt above, we can see that Greef Karga and Din Djarin reunite. This isn’t new information, but both Trends International and Amazon on Demand have highlighted Greef of Karga as a focal point.
Greef Karga is clearly doing quite well as Nevarro’s High Magistrate. Trends International features a poster of Greef holding his little buddy, Grogu.
Mandalorian Helmets, Helmets, and More Helmets
However, the overwhelming majority of the new Mandalorian season three shirts are about the Mandalorians themselves. These designs feature anywhere from 3 to 5 helmets of the series’ Mandalorian characters.
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What fascinates me is the choice of characters on these shirts. Obviously Din Djarin is on all of them. The next character is Bo-Katan Kryze. She clearly wasn’t happy to lose the Darksaber not only to Moff Gideon previously, but to Din Djarin in season 2.
She will be an antagonist for this season. She is a complicated person, and hasn’t been an enemy of Din so far. However, I haven’t trusted her since the Clone Wars. She wants the throne more than anything, and she hasn’t exactly made the best decisions over the years.
05/30/23 UPDATE. Clearly I was wrong about Bo-Katan, and she was a real one, and good god she’s becoming his love interest and GOOD FOR HER.
The next two characters to feature heavily on these shirts is the Armorer and Paz Vizsla. In shirts with 4 characters, these two feature alongside Din and Bo-Katan.
In fact, both the Armorer and Paz Vizsla have their own shirts this year. While it hasn’t been a first for the former, for Paz, this is an upgrade. He’s never been featured this prominently before.
My absolute favorite of these 4 helmet Mandalorian season 3 shirts is this one below.
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The colors on this particular shirt are just amazing. That’s all I have to say.
Is Koska Reeves returning to The Mandalorian Season 3 after all?
However, 3 and 4 helmet Mandalorian shirts aren’t all that we are getting. What stood out to me is that we have 5 helmet Mandalorian season 3 shirts. Guess who the fifth helmet is?
It’s Koska Reeves.
Now this is interesting because Sasha Banks told Bleacher Report that she was not going to be on season 3 this year. So what gives? Will the actress be replaced by a body double and never take off her mask? Did Banks film material for season 3 not knowing it wasn’t for season 2?
Since that article was in 2021, it is truly possible that something changed since then and she went back to film her character.
It’s also possible that shirt licensors simply wanted a fifth helmet, but usually there are standards of approved lines and characters to use.
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I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough when The Mandalorian returns. The only thing that has disappointed me with this current crop of style designs is the lack of Boba Fett.
I’m not sure why he’d be kept hidden, but I truly wanted to see him in the trailer. Considering that Din Djarin is returning to Tatooine, I believe Boba Fett will be referenced. Boba wasn’t sure if he wanted the role of daimyo when we saw him last. He is a man still learning what he wants in life.
I can see the shirts excluding Boba Fett given his ambivalence towards Mandalorians. He makes no allegiances to creeds, even if he wears the armor and respects his father’s history. I am confident we shall see him. He is an interesting foil to Bo-katan Dryze.
Of course, I can’t forget to mention that yes, there are Grogu shirts. Amazon on Demand releases Grogu shirts quite often, so I don’t want to overrepresent him more than he already is. (Don’t get me wrong, I love him, and have a ton of Grogu swag, but he is easily found in merch).
The best Mandalorian season 3 Grogu shirt so far is this beauty:
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So what will Mandalorian season 3 be about? It’ll be about what it means to be a Mandalorian. On a political level, spiritual level, and as a family. The Children of the Watch, the Nite-Owls, and even Boba Fett are different aspects of Mandalorianism. Neither one is wholly right, but different aspects of a whole culture.