[Toy Soldier]

I get what you mean really with the Stargate reference - Mandalorian sort of harks back to the days when TV episodes were often "standalone stories" and there was a sort of vague underlying plot that would usually pick up at the start of a season, mid season, then for season finales etc... Things like Stargate, X-files, etc.

It's less usual these days, most shows have individual episode "themes" but are firmly based on season-long story arcs that feature in every episode.

I actually like it for Mandalorian though, it sort of feels like building "a legend", like no one really knows much about him as a person but these stories/folklore almost gets passed around. I think it's likely deliberate, the title sequences sort of play into that theme, like they sort of look like illustrations in a book or encyclopedia.

I do also agree that it took about half a season to find its feet for me as well, the second half of S1 was notably more gripping than the first.