It’s finally here, the final episode of The Mandalorian season 3. Titled “The Return,” this finale was a non-stop action extravaganza. Any action scene you could think of, this episode had it. Close-quarters firefights? Yep. Hand-to-hand combat? Yep. Ship-to-ship battles? Yep. Two groups fighting each while flying around with jetpacks over a bottomless pit? It wouldn’t be a Mando finale without it. This finale wasn’t’ all action and no story, but I’ll get to that later.
We pick up right where we left off last week, with Bo-Katan and the Mandalorians retreating through the Imperial base. There are explosions and falling rocks, and I think Bo changed her shoulder pauldrons around and then switched them back. Through some quick thinking, the group manages to escape to the surface to seek shelter. Meanwhile, Din Djarin is being taken away, and, contrary to what most people believed, he wasn’t killed/brainwashed (boy, was I wrong). Instead, Din frees himself with assistance from Grogu and steals a jetpack, even if the colors don’t match.
While this is happening, Axe Woves reaches the fleet and warns them about the Imperials. He takes command of the light cruiser and orders everyone down to the planet. Woves stays on the ship, which I initially thought might be a part of an elaborate betrayal, but no such betrayal occurred. In fact, none of the Mandalorians turned on each other, including the Armourer, which surprised me (I still don’t trust her, something is definitely going on).
That’s a lot of different perspectives for one episode, especially the finale, but they all come together relatively quickly. Bo and the Mandalorians arrive at a hidden cavern filled with plants. Din and Grogu search the base for Gideon with the help of R5. And the rest of the Mandalorians, including the Armourer, arrive on the planet’s surface to assist Bo (see, I told you they all got together). After some sneaking about, Din and Grogu arrive at Gideon’s control room. Following a glorious fight scene that was reminiscent of The Phantom Menace, Din and Grogu encounter the corridor of bacta tanks from last week’s episode.
We get to see what’s in the tanks this time, and it turns out it’s a bunch of Gideon clones (damn, another thing I was wrong about). Grogu gets spooked, and Din decides to destroy it all. While the father and son duo are having fun, Bo’s team meets up with the other Mandalorians, and they all storm the Imperial base (this is where they all fight with jetpacks). Now it’s time for a classic Star Wars final battle, and this one even has a lightsaber.
Gideon isn’t in the happiest mood after Din destroys his clones. He’s so unhappy he starts firing rockets and sending in the praetorian guards to kill Din. After a valiant effort, it looked like Din was going the way of Paz Vizsla. But Grogu saves the day and annoys the guards enough to attack him instead. Grogu’s droid suit is destroyed, but he escapes certain death by using his Jedi skillz (with a z, cause he cool). Din continues to fight Gideon, whose dark trooper suit gives him increased strength and durability. Bo-Katan joins the fight, allowing Din to go and defeat the praetorian guards and save Grogu.
Bo and Gideon throw down, with Bo using the darksaber. During this fight, Axe Woves crashes the light cruiser into the base, hoping to destroy it. The chaos allows Gideon to get the upper hand and crush the darksaber (R.I.P). Not to worry, Din and Grogu arrive to assist. After some great teamwork, Gideon is on the ropes. The ship finally crashes into the base, causing a massive explosion. Gideon is engulfed by the flames and appears to die (50/50 chance he’s dead). Grogu then does what Kanan couldn’t, using the force to save himself and his loved ones from an explosion. With Gideon defeated, Mandalore is back in the hands of the Mandalorians. The great forge is re-ignited, Bo appears to still be the leader, and Din adopts Grogu (now he’s officially a dad, yay!) The newly formed family unit then gets a house on Nevarro. We end the season with Din relaxing out the front of his house while Grogu plays with a frog. What a wholesome ending to this season.
Chapter 24 of The Mandalorian was a fun episode to end an enjoyable season. Some episodes were a little weaker than others, but they still kept me entertained. All-in-all, season 3 of The Mandalorian was a fun ride that further expanded this era of Star Wars. I’d still say Andor has been my favorite of these Star Wars series, but who knows, maybe season 4 can knock it out of the park and take that crown.
Did you watch the finale of The Mandalorian? What did you think? Were any of your theories correct? Let us know in the comments below where we discuss why Gideon might not be dead and why the Armourer is still shifty.
