The Mandalorian Season 3 Confirmed One Thing Is Still True About the Star Wars Series

Say what you will about the state of the Star Wars universe in 2024, there’s no doubt which property is the current king of the galaxy far, far away. Few would have guessed just how massive The Mandalorian would grow, releasing in the shadow of the much bigger blockbuster The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, only to go on to dominate the streaming landscape four years later. Regardless of the lows some fans feel the show hit in its uneven third season, The Mandalorian was still the most-watched original streaming series of 2023.

That’s according to The Wrap via data compiled by entertainment industry analytics firm Whip Media. The Mandalorian topped a top 10 list that also included Loki in second and Ted Lasso in third. The full list is as follows:

1. The Mandalorian (Disney+)
2. Loki (Disney+)
3. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
4. You (Netflix)
5. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
6. Black Mirror (Netflix)
7. Secret Invasion (Disney+)
8. The Bear (Hulu)
9. Ahsoka (Disney+)
10. The Witcher (Netflix)

Unsurprisingly, the top of the list is primarily made up of Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu originals, but Amazon’s Gen V and Jack Ryan were the 11th and 12th most watched streaming original of the year. While neither of the excellent live-action Star Trek series released last year on Paramount+ made the ranking, Criminal Minds: Evolution did sneak up to 25th place. As SFF Gazette points out, Max originals didn’t break into the list at all, a worrying indicator of how the recently renamed streaming service is faring with the TV viewing public. (Remember hit shows like The Last of Us and Succession are HBO originals that air on cable and don’t just stream on Max.)

Some Star Wars fans felt the third season of The Mandalorian brought with it a decline in quality, with criticisms aimed in large part at the writing. A common complaint was that the writing sidelined Din Djarin and Grogu, arguably the two most popular Star Wars characters of the Disney era, on their own show. It of course didn’t help that the show’s biggest cliffhanger was resolved on a completely different (and much worse) series prior to the premiere of season 3, stripping The Mandalorian of the emotional payoff it deserved when Din and Grogu finally reunited on The Book of Boba Fett.

None of that stopped the larger audience from streaming the show, of course. Time will tell whether The Mandalorian season 4 will enjoy the same level of success, but three seasons in, this Star Wars series is still going strong.