Season 3 of The Mandalorian sees Mando living as an outcast after he admitted to removing his helmet but when exactly did he take off his chrome headwear and why is the act so frowned upon?
After an agonizing two-year wait, season 3 of The Mandalorian has finally arrived but the new season has brought with it a number of questions for fans as much has changed in the lives of Mando and Grogu who is miraculously back after leaving to go and train with Luke Skywalker in the season 2 finale.
One key plot point in the opening episode of the Star Wars series is Mando’s newly found status as an apostate, an outcast from his Mandalorian tribe, after he had previously removed his helmet.
- MISSING IN ACTION: THE MANDALORIAN CREATORS DISCUSS CARA DUNE ABSENCE IN SEASON 3
The Mandalorian begins season 3 as an outcast apostate
After premiering on Disney+ on March 1, the opening sequence of The Mandalorian season 3 saw Mando reuniting with the Armorer as he attempted to learn more about how he could earn forgiveness after being exiled from the group due to removing his helmet, a big no-no within their tribe.
Just as the Armorer mentioned in The Mandalorian-focused episodes of The Book Of Fett, Mando must now travel to the planet of Mandalore itself and bathe in the Living Waters within the mines below the capital city of Sundari.
Before heading to the Mandalorian home world, which was virtually destroyed and supposedly poisoned during the Empire’s vicious purge of the planet, Mando asks around with some of his former allies to see if he can find a companion to travel with him to the ancient planet.
When did the Mandalorian remove his helmet?
Since The Mandalorian began, Mando has removed his helmet on three occasions.
The first of these came back in season 1’s finale after he was caught in an explosion and was left with a nasty head wound. In order to treat the injury, IG-11 removed Mando’s helmet to apply a healing bacta spray, although this doesn’t really count towards the no-helmet rule as IG-11 is a droid rather than another living being.
Mando’s second helmet removal came in episode 7 of season 2 when he and Bill Burr’s Migs Mayfeld infiltrated an Imperial facility to locate the whereabouts of Moff Gideon’s cruiser. In this episode, Mando removed his Mandalorian helmet but replaced it with that of an Imperial guard.
Later on in the episode, however, as Din attempted to access an information terminal, he was forced to remove his helmet once again as the terminal needed to scan his face in order to proceed.
And finally, Mando’s most notable helmet removal transgression came in the final episode of season 2 when he took off his headwear in order to bid Grogu a tearful farewell before handing the little green alien over to Luke Skywalker to undergo Jedi training.
Why is Mando removing his helmet forbidden?
Mando is forbidden from removing his helmet as doing so goes against the ancient Creed followed by his tribe of Mandalorians, known as the Way of the Mandalore.
Not all Mandalorians have to abide by this rule, however, as we’ve seen Bo-Katan Kryze and her followers remove their helmets before.
The reason why Mando is restricted by this rule is because his tribe, the Children of the Watch, are an orthodox group whose beliefs harken back to ancient Mandalorian heritage.
However, according to Bo-Katan, the tribe and their beliefs verge on that of a cult and caused them to separate from the main Mandalorian culture – something which is not uncommon among the warrior race as there are many Mandalorian factions that have broken away and have fought over the centuries.
- PIRATES OF THE SPACE-CARIBBEAN: WHO IS THE ACTOR PLAYING GORIAN SHARD IN THE MANDALORIAN?
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is available to stream now Disney+ after releasing on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
In other news, Why isn't Your Honor returning for season 3 on Showtime?