Star Wars’ newest movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, broke with tradition in a number of ways. For one, this movie was among the few Star Wars installments that haven’t been directly liked to the Skywalker Saga, comprising the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. Arguably, however, even compared to the other two outliers thus far—Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—The Mandalorian and Grogu is even further removed. After all, the titular Solo is Han Solo, one of the main heroes of the original trilogy, and Rogue One leads right into A New Hope.
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The Mandalorian and Grogu also centered not on the Jedi, the Sith, or the Empire but on Din Djarin, a Mandalorian, and his adoptive son, Grogu, who actually directly rejected the path of a Jedi. Clearly, The Mandalorian and Grogu was not afraid of breaking from the decades-long traditions of Star Wars movies and TV shows, and there is actually one key way the movie did so that specifically saved the flick from falling into the same problem that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker did (or, one of them, at least).
Every Star Wars Movie Has Had A Lightsaber—Except The Mandalorian and Grogu
Yet another deviation from every other Star Wars movie thus far, The Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t include a lightsaber. Obviously, the prequel, sequel, and original trilogy movies all featured lightsabers. In fact, more often than not, these movies highlighted one lightsaber in particular: Anakin Skywalker’s. That was Luke’s first saber in A New Hope, Rey’s first saber in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and of course Anakin’s in the prequels. Even in Rogue One and Solo, though, lightsabers have a brief appearance.
In the former, Darth Vader ignites his red lightsaber and then cuts down numerous rebels in what is now known as his iconic hallway scene. In Solo, Darth Maul’s unexpected cameo also features his red lightsaber. This therefore makes The Mandalorian and Grogu Star Wars’ only feature film to date that does not shown even a brief shot of a lightsaber, and while it may seem like there was never a chance for any such appearance, there is one specific way a lightsaber could have appeared—and it was a great decision on Star Wars’ part to not include it.
The Mandalorian and Grogu Was Right To Leave The Darksaber Destroyed
In The Mandalorian season 3 finale, the Mandalorians suffered a shocking blow. Specifically, in the fight with Moff Gideon, the legendary Darksaber, the very first Mandalorian lightsaber ever made, was destroyed. This was truly jarring when it happened because this weapon had been so iconic on the Star Wars screen and was known to have an even longer legacy in Star Wars history. It was therefore a possibility that, especially because the movie was taking the story to the big screen, The Mandalorian and Grogu would find a way to bring the Darksaber back.
This choice would have repeated the decision in The Rise of Skywalker to bring Anakin’s lightsaber back, despite the fact that it had been ripped apart during the fight between Rey and Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This was yet another symptom of The Rise of Skywalker’s approach to The Last Jedi, which was essentially to undo everything meaningful that it had done. Rey was no longer a nobody; she was a Palpatine. Kylo Ren’s mask was repaired (mostly), and the Skywalker saber had returned.
In theory, The Mandalorian and Grogu could have done the same. Whether it was wielded by Din Djarin or not—and it almost certainly would not have been—the Darksaber could have shown up in the movie, suddenly repaired. However, this would have made the story so much worse. For one, the Darksaber had no place in this new adventure. For another, though, it would have been so frustrating if Star Wars had repeated this pattern of simply undoing some of the franchise’s biggest, most shocking decisions.
Is Star Wars Learning From Its Mistakes?
The fact that The Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t bring back the Darksaber may be a good sign. After all, the franchise has repeatedly been criticized for doing exactly this type of thing, and particularly considering there were seven years between The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian and Grogu, it would have been beyond frustrating to see that Star Wars had yet to learn that lesson. That also raises the question: Has Star Wars actually begun to learn from its mistakes?
That’s tough to say. The Mandalorian and Grogu avoided some other common pitfalls in the franchise, such as relying too heavily on massive cameos. Surprisingly, the movie actually had no shocking cameos, making it an anomaly yet again. Even so, the movie still failed to please audiences, and part of that disappointment directly pertained to story choices (in this case, the self-contained nature of the narrative). These larger considerations aside, though, it was encouraging to see that The Mandalorian and Grogu steered clear of this major sequel trilogy mistake.
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