The 'Mandalorian and Grogu’ movie is here – Catch up on Star Wars story

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYFri, May 15, 2026 at 3:30 PM UTC

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There has been an awakening: "Star Wars" is finally back on the big screen.

The sci-fi franchise returns to movie theaters on May 22 with "The Mandalorian and Grogu," the first new "Star Wars" film since 2019. But the barrier to entry is higher than usual, given that the movie is a continuation of a TV show that has been on for three seasons. Even just watching that isn't enough, as there were also key "Mandalorian" plot points in the spinoff show "The Book of Boba Fett."

So if your memory is foggy or you haven't watched it at all, this is the way to catch up: By reading on for our complete recap of the story so far.

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'The Mandalorian,' Season 1

Five years after "Return of the Jedi," a peaceful, democratic government called the New Republic has been established, but there remain holdouts who want to restore the evil Galactic Empire. One of them, former Imperial officer the Client (Werner Herzog), hires Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to retrieve an asset.

Din is shocked to discover the asset is a baby, Grogu. The child is strong in the Force and saves Din by levitating a creature that was about to kill him.

In Season 1 of "The Mandalorian," Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) bonds with Grogu after being hired to capture him.

Din initially brings Grogu to the Client and retrieves his reward, only to have a change of heart. Full of guilt, he breaks back into the Client's base, saves Grogu and flees. In doing so, Din becomes a traitor to his bounty hunter guild, led by Greef Karga (Carl Weathers).

The Mandalorians, who are renowned as the galaxy's fiercest warriors, have lived in the shadows since the Great Purge, an Empire-led massacre on their home world of Mandalore. Din wasn't born on Mandalore but was taken in by the Mandalorians after his parents were killed in the Clone Wars. His sect of Mandalorians follow a strict creed requiring them to never remove their helmets, so Din hasn't shown his face to anyone since he was a child.

While on the run, Din and Grogu make new friends, including former Rebel Alliance soldier Cara Dune (Gina Carano). But Greef convinces Din to come back and help him kill the Client. Chaos ensues when the Client is gunned down by his boss, former Imperial Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who swoops in demanding Grogu.

Long story short, a showdown ends with Din, Greef, Grogu and Cara escaping. Gideon also survives and is revealed to be in possession of an ancient lightsaber, known as the Darksaber.

'The Mandalorian,' Season 2

In Season 2, Din seeks to reunite Grogu with his own kind by finding a Jedi.

On his quest, he meets other Mandalorians, including Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), but is horrified that they freely remove their helmets. Bo-Katan explains the Mandalorians who raised Din and taught him to never show his face are religious zealots known as the Children of the Watch, who broke from Mandalorian society. Other Mandalorians, it turns out, take their helmets off whenever they want.

In "The Mandalorian" Season 2, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) discovers other Mandalorians, like Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), are free to remove their helmets.

Din eventually finds former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), who can read Grogu's thoughts. She reveals Grogu was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant but was hidden when the Empire rose to power and killed most of the Jedi. Ahsoka sends Din to an ancient Jedi temple site, where Grogu can meditate so a Jedi will find him. While he's doing so, Grogu is kidnapped by Gideon's troopers.

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So Din launches a rescue mission, and Bo-Katan tags along so she can get the Darksaber from Gideon. She plans to use it to retake Mandalore, as per tradition, whoever wields the weapon can rule the Mandalorians. But the weapon must be won in combat, and Din unintentionally wins it after beating Gideon in a fight. Din tries to simply hand the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, but this isn't an option.

As Gideon's Darktroopers close in, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives to save the day. Din removes his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu, and the child goes off with Luke to train as a Jedi.

'The Book of Boba Fett'

In "The Book of Boba Fett," which is essentially "The Mandalorian" Season 2.5, Din has returned to bounty hunting and reunited with some old Mandalorian allies: The Armorer (Emily Swallow) and Paz Vizsla (Jon Favreau), who are rebuilding a Mandalorian covert. Din reveals he removed his helmet, so the Armorer declares he's no longer a Mandalorian.

Meanwhile, Grogu is still in training, but Luke feels his heart isn't in it. So he gives Grogu a choice: Remain with Luke or cut his training short and abandon the Jedi path by going back to Din. Grogu chooses the latter, and he and Din reunite.

'The Mandalorian,' Season 3

The Mandalorian covert led by the Armorer has grown significantly in Season 3, but Din is still not welcome. The Armorer says that after removing his helmet, he can only be redeemed by bathing in the Living Waters on Mandalore.

So Din heads to the planet, which is not cursed, as had been rumored. He bathes in the Living Waters, but nearly drowns before Bo-Katan saves him. Din is then welcomed back into the covert, and Bo-Katan is welcomed in, too, as she bathed in the waters while saving Din.

Din also reasons that because Bo-Katan, during the rescue, killed a creature that took the Darksaber, she can now claim the weapon. Bo-Katan does so and decides she'll use the Darksaber to unite all the Mandalorian factions, including those who do and don't remove their helmets, and retake Mandalore.

Grogu and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) were back together again "The Mandalorian" Season 3 after the former decided to end his Jedi training.

On the planet, the Mandalorians encounter Gideon, who is revealed to have created clones of himself. He has been after Grogu so he can figure out how to give the clones the ability to wield the Force.

In a final battle, the Darksaber is destroyed, Gideon and his clones are seemingly killed, and the newly united Mandalorians settle back on Mandalore. But a lingering threat remains: a shadow council of Imperial warlords, who are plotting to destroy the New Republic.

As the dust settles, Din adopts Grogu, who is renamed Din Grogu and officially becomes a Mandalorian apprentice. Din also agrees to work for the New Republic as an independent contractor, hunting Imperials on a case-by-case basis. This sets up "The Mandalorian and Grogu" to depict one of these cases, featuring Sigourney Weaver, Martin Scorsese and Jeremy Allen White as Jabba the Hutt's shockingly buff son.

How to watch 'The Mandalorian,' previous 'Star Wars' movies before 'Grogu'

"The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" are both available to stream on Disney+. "The Book of Boba Fett" should be watched after Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" but before Season 3, though if you're in a hurry, you can skip the first four episodes of "Fett" and start watching with Chapter 5, when Din first appears.

All 11 live-action "Star Wars" films can also be streamed on Disney+. Given that Din Djarin's story is fairly disconnected from the rest of the galaxy, none of these previous movies are likely to be especially relevant to the new one, save, perhaps, for the animated adventure "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." That 2008 movie introduced Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta, who returns in "Grogu."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where 'The Mandalorian' left off – Catch up before 'Grogu' movie

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