Dij Djarin’s instantly iconic starship the Razor Crest was destroyed in the second to last episode of The Mandalorian’s second season. It was a bummer, because it was such a cool, fresh, and unique design that seemed to match the title character’s whole vibe perfectly. Obviously, Din was going to need a replacement — which he received in The Book of Boba Fett in the form of an N-1 Starfighter. (You know, the kind used by Naboo soldiers in The Phantom Menace.) And I think this is a problem.
Swapping Star Wars’ equivalent of a van for its equivalent of a souped-up Fast & Furious racer might sound like an upgrade, and certainly it beats the Razor Crest on speed and manoeuvrability, a huge benefit for engaging in space dogfights with bounties and the other ne’er-do-wells of the galaxy. But what happens after Din actually catches a bounty? Similar to a high-end sports car like a Lamborghini, the Starfighter isn’t concerned with trunk space. It’s not a family vehicle, it’s not meant to transport anything, which is going to make the Mandalorian’s job very, very hard.
Let’s put it this way: Din’s Starfighter seats two maximum, and one of those is supposed to be an Astromech droid. But Din modified that space to basically become a baby seat for Grogu. So unless the Mandalorian is going to limit himself to collecting bounties on Ewoks, Ugnaughts, and whatever the hell Babu Frik is (Editors note: An Anzellan, and several actually appear in season 3!), he has no room for anyone or anything else on board his ship. Meanwhile, the Razor Crest had a carbon-freezing chamber, an armory of weapons and equipment, and could seat four comfortably, including manacled prisoners if need be. It was the perfect ship for a bounty hunter.
So, once it was destroyed, why replace it with a hot rod? It just doesn’t make sense in the show… but it makes a depressing sort of sense for the show. The Mandalorian doesn’t need a bounty hunter ship anymore because he’s not a bounty hunter anymore. He’s palling around with Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, and Ahsoka. He has his own extra-special lightsaber, which technically makes him the ruler of whatever smoking ashes are left on Mandalore. He’s an increasingly special hero who’s becoming the focal point of the 15-year-long saga of Mandalore that Lucasfilm big shot Dave Filoni has been obsessed with telling.
This kind of bums me out, you know? When The Mandalorian premiered in 2019, a large part of what made it so interesting was how fresh it was, which everyone loved at the time. No Jedi, no giant evil Empire to tangle with, just one guy, travelling across the galaxy with his little green baby. Small stakes, unique stories, and utterly separate from the rest of Star Wars. Now, you’ll have to watch the Clone Wars and Rebels animated series and The Book of Boba Fett to truly understand everything going on in season three of The Mandalorian when it debuts tomorrow.
Maybe it was inevitable. But it would be very nice if The Mandalorian could pretend like the show might someday return to what originally made it special. He just can’t get there on an N-1 Starfighter.
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