Looking at the first chapter (which I agree is quite weak), I think that this season the concept of this series as an anthology with a very marked POV is over. The starts of the previous two seasons were focused on a specific adventure that seeded subplots into the main story, but these 30 minutes almost seem like they were pulled from a longer movie or series. We have been on several planets with several conflicts going on at the same time (pirates, the recovery of IG-11, Din’s redemption as a Mandalorian), with a much more choral plot that makes clear the presence of several characters from previous seasons since the start.

I think that, as they point out here, the quality of Filoni’s works is super variable and seasons have started badly on other occasions. Without going any further, the beginning of this second part of TBB also seemed quite weak to me and has ended up giving great episodes.

That said, conceptually I like Mandalorian much more than Andor and I think that it formally has traits with more personality, but the development of one and the other is light years away. If Andor is much better, it is not for being a more adult series, but because Mandalorian has not managed to give real weight to its conflicts by not daring to take any firm step (the separation of Din and Grogu, the resurrection of characters, etc.) .