Everything You Need to Watch Before The Mandalorian & Grogu, In Order

Admittedly, this is not necessarily the most essential viewing ahead of The Mandalorian and Grogu, but does anyone ever really need an excuse to watch Return of the Jedi? The main benefit of this rewatch – aside from seeing Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s epic showdown – is that you’ll get a good feel for the state of the galaxy as the Empire falls.

That post-Palpatine world is the era in which Mando is operating. Indeed, the various challenges and nemeses he faces in the upcoming film (and in his TV show) all exist because of the collapse of the Empire’s rule. It’s a nasty place out there, and someone has got to clean it up!

There are 133 episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars over the course of seven seasons, but don’t worry, you don’t need to watch every single one of them – though I do highly recommend you do anyway, as it’s an excellent show. However, anything from the animated series relating to Mandalore and the character of Bo-Katan Kryze is pretty essential contextual viewing. 

Specifically, I would take a look at Episodes 12-14 from Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6 from Season 3, Episode 14 in Season 4, and the final four episodes of Season 7.

The history of Mandalore is obviously a massive part of who Din Djarin is and what he believes in. So much is made of him having his helmet removed, for instance, and the whole lore around that concept and much more is explored in this show. 

While you’re at it, it’s probably worth watching The Clone Wars movie; the plot revolves around Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano rescuing Rotta the Hutt, a character who will feature heavily in The Mandalorian and Grogu. This is technically a prequel to the series, so watch this before you dive into the episodes mentioned above – it’s on Disney+, like the rest of these titles.

As the Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, the heroic Jedi Knights struggle to maintain order and restore peace. More and more systems are falling prey to the forces of the dark side as the Galactic Republic slips further and further under the sway of the Separatists and their never-ending droid army. Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano find themselves on a mission with far-reaching consequences, one that brings them face-to-face with crime lord Jabba the Hutt. But Count Dooku and his sinister agents, including the nefarious Asajj Ventress, will stop at nothing to ensure that Anakin and Ahsoka fail at their quest. Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda lead the massive clone army in a valiant effort to resist the forces of the dark side...

Another past character who will pop up in The Mandalorian and Grogu is Zeb Orrelios. While it’s unclear just how much of a role he will play in the film, he’s been shown in the trailers and given his popularity among the more devoted fans of the franchise, it would make sense for him to play a substantial part.

To learn all about Zeb, you need to watch Star Wars: Rebels. He’s one of the core members of the Ghost crew, alongside Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Sabine Wren, and Hera Syndulla. Those are all names you should at least have some knowledge of if you want to really immerse yourself in the wider galaxy. It also doesn’t hurt that this show delves into further context around Mandalore, and in particular, the mystical powers of the Darksaber that Din Djarin wields.

Time for the most obvious recommendation on this list: yes, if you want to watch The Mandalorian and Grogu, you are absolutely going to have to watch The Mandalorian first. When this show first hit Disney+ back in 2019, it was a revelation. Star Wars fans had been crying out for an episodic, lighthearted adventure series that broke away from the main movie timeline, and it turned out to be the perfect respite for anyone who was feeling fatigued by the density of the franchise.

As time went on, however, The Mandalorian started to incorporate various characters and storylines from other sections of the galaxy. By the time we got to the end of Season 3, the likes of Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan, and even Luke Skywalker had appeared, and the scale of the story ended up being big enough to warrant a whole movie. Mando and Grogu have been on quite the journey so far, and I’m afraid you won’t have a clue what’s going on in the film unless you watch all 24 episodes first.

The bad news is, The Book of Boba Fett is honestly not a very good TV show. There’s no way to sugarcoat that. It’s a series plagued by a messy and rather dull plot, and even the technical side of things, namely the CGI and production design, is pretty subpar. But the good news is, you only really need to watch Episodes 5-7 if you want to be suitably prepared for The Mandalorian and Grogu.

It was a really odd decision to break up this show about Boba Fett, completely sidelining him for three episodes to focus instead on Din Djarin reuniting with Grogu. But in fairness, this was the most interesting part of the series. If you’ve been a fan of Boba since Return of the Jedi, though, you’ll still get more out of this show than most.