The Mandalorian season 3 premiere has heart — and some explaining to do

Episode 1, titled The Apostate, was everything it needed to be, bringing us heart, humour and reunions aplenty as Djarin caught up with old associates including Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), and even the Anzellans.

But oh boy was there some explaining to do — and that's not even to mention the confusion that more casual fans might feel if they've not seen The Book of Boba Fett and the major plot points that happened there.

We first catch up with Djarin and Grogu as they save the day after a foundling taking the Mandalorian Creed runs into some serious trouble.

Reunited with the Armorer (Emily Swallow), they bring what they believe to be a piece of the surface of Mandalore. The Armorer fears it proves that Mandalore has been poisoned.

Nevertheless, Djarin is on a mission to bathe in the Living Waters in the mines of Mandalore to redeem himself after he removed his helmet.

But he needs some help getting there. So, we're headed to the newly-reformed Nevarro to see the High Magistrate (and king of sass) Greef Karga, who is quite clearly living his best life while the planet thrives.

Not everyone's happy about it though, as pirate Vane proves when he and his gang of brothers cause trouble for Karga. Djarin's not having any of it, immediately killing all of the pirates except Vane — something that definitely won't come back to haunt him, right?

The situation proves to Karga that he needs a Marshall for Nevarro, offering the job to Djarin - and this is where we reach the awkward explanation segment of the episode.

It turns out that Cara Dune, played by Gina Carano, who had a controversial exit from LucasFilm between seasons 2 and 3 of The Mandalorian, has been "recruited by Special Forces".

As for Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon? "He was sent off to a New Republic war tribunal." Someone else that surely won't come back to haunt our heroes, right?

Anyway, Djarin wants to get back to his mission but he needs a droid he can trust - IG-11. The only problem is that IG-11 sacrificed himself way back in season 1 - but some of his parts have been recovered.

After a whole kerfuffle with IG-11 reverting back to his original programme, becoming a bit unhinged and attempting to kill Grogu, it's decided that Mando needs to find the droid a new memory circuit if he's got any hopes of bringing him back.

Djarin and Grogu head on their way and, after a quick escape from Gorian Shard, who understandably wants vengeance for his crew being killed, they make their way to Kalevala, another planet in the Mandalorian system, and reunite with a very deflated Bo-Katan.

She's more than a little lost after Djarin won the Dark Saber from her in season 2. Her forces have left her and, really, it's just quite a sad sight. She does offer Djarin some directions to the Living Waters on Mandalore - but not before calling him a "fool" and telling him there's "nothing left" of Mandalore. Cheery.

Ever the optimist, Djarin heads on his way with Grogu in tow to find out if Mandalore can offer him redemption, or if it's the wasteland Bo-Katan believes it to be.

All in all, it's a promising start for The Mandalorian season 3.

There were definitely concerns going into it, including the controversy of Jon Favreau deciding that our heroes' big reunion after Grogu left his training with Luke Skywalker should happen in an entirely different show. Plus, Favreau recently made it clear that he has no idea how the story will end — a situation that can often lead to meandering plots and shows that go on for simply too long.

But director Rick Famuyiwa has promised us "resolution" this season and, as ever, it seems to be bringing us something new while maintaining the charm, wit, and escapades that are synonymous with the show at this point.

Cautiously, we're all in. This is the way.

The Mandalorian returns to Disney Plus on Wednesday 1st March — sign up to Disney Plus now for £79.90 for a year or £7.99 a month. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.