– Spoiler Review –
The Mandalorian Season Three Finale “Chapter 24 – The Return” brings lots of action and has fun doing it, but the ending doesn’t feel deserved as characters arcs are abandoned or left to fade to the background of a safe plot and a neat bow, leaving this feeling more like a series finale than just the season and me wondering if it needs to come back.
“Chapter 24 – The Return” couldn’t help but feel safe the whole way through. Don’t get me wrong, Star Wars has and always will largely play it safe, be it the Rebellion defeating the dreaded Death Star (twice!) or taking out Palpatine once and for all alongside a fleet made up of the galaxy’s citizens, so if I have any issues with a safe ending like what The Mandalorian gets in its season three finale, it’s more to do about the narrative choices to get us there than anything else: Moff Gideon threatens to take care of Din Djarin and Grogu himself…only to wait until they undo all his plans first while standing in a convenient spot for someone to see them battling; the many cultures of Mandalorians just sort of continue being on the same side, no real dealing with their differences or past besides the battle over Mando Chess last episode;. And things look to reset to season one, the bigger plot all taken care of and wrapped in a tight bow. Sure, there’s plenty of things still out there story-wise like the Imperial Remnant and their Shadow Council, but the way the season would’ve rather spent a whole episode dealing with Paz’s kid taken by a monster than show us more of the big bad monster that should’ve been Moff Gideon, I question if it can truly handle bigger plots or threads in the era properly enough to have those be its focus.
Case in point with Moff Gideon and how things all go down in the finale. In season one and two, he was an imposing villain, even if used sparingly like he was here, and he made an impact, be it injuring Din Djarin (forcing off his helmet) or taking Grogu, but the intriguing storyline of him being captured was left resolved off-screen this season, only for him to return in the final two episodes, with little impact other than a figure to unite the Mandalorians behind, and then end up dying anyways. He got a big moment in “Chapter 23 – The Spies,” taking Din and leading to Paz sacrificing himself for the others to escape, but in the opening minutes of “Chapter 24 – The Return,” the others get away and Din Djarin is freed by Grogu with relative ease. Why did Gideon want to keep Djarin alive? Vader keeping Leia alive makes sense due to the Empire’s hesitance to kill such a public figure (even if they blow up her planet afterwards), so was it to help capture Grogu to complete Pershing’s work on making Force-sensitive clones? How easily Djarin breaks free, with Grogu’s help, leaves the why behind it a giant question mark which never gets answered unfortunately and instead just feels like a convenience so these two could break free and be heroic.
And Gideon, who often seems like the man with a plan, doesn’t feel like he had much of one here beyond over confidence, as even though he’s able to track Djarin and Grogu throughout his base and says he’ll go and deal with them…he waits in one place for them to come to him. Often big bads do this, sure, but the shock and anger over losing his clones (we’ll get into that later) doesn’t feel earned because, beyond the wall of troopers Djarin has to fight through, Gideon doesn’t really do anything to stop him, an especially jarring choice if he could’ve tracked Djarin’s movements and seen he made it through the initial gauntlet and to the clone room (maybe he assumed Mando wouldn’t do anything about the clones?). And the place he waits for Djarin and Grogu to find him? A giant hanger with a view, so that Bo-Katan, who later jets in with backup to take out the base, could easily see him and thus draw her in. Maybe it was part of his plan, he’s so confident he figured why not take out two of the biggest thorns in his side so he was trying to draw her in this way, but I shouldn’t have to do the narrative work for the writers instead of them doing it themselves, like showing us a character’s plans or motivations (no matter what they say about fans doing the work for them).
When Gideon and Djarin face off, it’s a fun fight, but clear Gideon has the edge this time around with his new armor and the Praetorian Guards to mix things up. When Bo-Katan shows up, it’s a great moment, as it only seems fitting she should finally have her chance to take him down, while Djarin should be focusing on trying to help Grogu with the Praetorian Guards anyways. His fight with the guards to protect Grogu, who had previously been hopping around to avoid them but now he’s pushing them and their weapons around to help Djarin win the fight, was neat as well but the stakes never really felt like they were there, be it the pace of the fight or the inescapable feeling they wouldn’t be killing off Grogu any time soon. The same can be said for Bo’s fight with Gideon, the stakes felt absent but so too did the potential emotional aspect of the fight, as they don’t trade many words and their animosity with one another has largely all been off-screen, so them clashing here made for a great visual, but I didn’t feel any weight behind it other than a plot payoff. The Darksaber being destroyed, and Bo-Katan left unscathed, only aids the feeling there wasn’t much weight or deeper meaning to their fight, as they sort of tie but he perishes because Mandalorian’s are stronger together, Djarin helping keep Gideon at bay until…Axe Woves crashes their capital ship into the base, killing him for good. Thankfully before he passed, he was willing to share, Bond Villain style, his plans: his clones were his attempt to give his body the ability to use the Force, which we can all connect the dots as this being the early stages of the work perfected in the Sequel Trilogy, where a strandcast clone like Snoke or Palpatine’s new clone body are able to use the Force. Gideon telling us what’s going on finally just before he dies is just one part of a far too neat bow on the series’ many storylines.
Djarin hitching his flag to Bo-Katan? Well, that lasted about one episode as he seems to feel her song is written now, as the Mandalorians now control Mandalore and he must go off and have adventures with Din (??) Grogu, who is now his adopted son and a Mandalorian apprentice. That this happens without the two really sharing a word, just sharing a fight with Gideon, feels like an abandonment of their arcs together, as it would only make sense the two might have a chat before he goes off with Grogu, but rather…they don’t and them fighting together must’ve been all Jon Favreau felt they needed. We spent all season with these two building a relationship and the last meaningful conversation they have was in the penultimate episode, prior to them going separate ways? It seems like a big, missed opportunity. On top of that, the Mandalorians co-existing felt unearned last episode and continues to in this one, as they are all now peacefully united under the Great Forge being reignited by the Armorer and Bo-Katan. Fighting together to retake Mandalore certainly helps bridge gaps, between their ways, but the only meaningful work towards them getting over their opinions of one another was a fight over chess last episode, leaving this camaraderie at the end feeling too easy and unearned, as it can’t all go out the window this quickly. It leaves me wondering: will the show return to Mandalore and explore the culture’s resurgence? Or how the planet is able to begin sustaining plant life again? Or explore how they get along so well now? Or will this now just be a stop Djarin and Grogu will take every once in awhile and everything will be all fine and well when we check in? How does the larger galaxy, the New Republic even, feel about Mandalore being back on the map? Will the Imperial Remnant care enough to fight them or will that have to wait until the movie or a different show? If The Mandalorian has been any indication on how it’ll handle such threads so far, I’m fine if the answer to all these questions ends up being “all is well on Mandalore and with it being part of the galaxy” because I don’t think they have the ability for enough nuance to make anything more a worthwhile story.
As for Djarin and Grogu…they are Dins together! Wait…what? Adding unnecessary confusion, it turns out Din might be his last name? Or Din is like a title? And Djarin is his first name? Or Grogu gets the same first name to signify they are family/he’s Djarin’s apprentice? Why not just call him an apprentice, an upgrade from Foundling, and be done with it?! Well, I guess everyone’s going to call the little apprentice Din Grogu now, as even Greef Karga, who calls Djarin “Mando” in a camp full of Mandalorians, took the time to call him by his new name. Regardless, I did enjoy and connect with the moment of Djarin adopting Grogu, as it almost felt like we were on the brink of a season spent looking for Grogu’s parents (who I can only imagine are dead/they are hesitant of exploring more of his species anyways) if he didn’t, which sets them up to leave Mandalore and go have adventures again to train the newest Mandalorian Apprentice, Grogu. The show had issues trying to focus on such a big story of retaking Mandalore, taking breaks from it even in the final few episodes this season, so I’m looking forward a bit more to them returning to a series of adventures instead (though those weren’t always that strong either). Bounty hunting won’t give Grogu all he needs to learn, so Djarin finds a different source of missions: Captain Carson Teva!! If this is how they meld in the potential story of the likely cancelled Rangers of the New Republic, I’m all in, as more Teva and adventures with the New Republic at least could lead to some type of purpose behind the many missions instead of a series of random events. It’s definitely the main reason why I’d even want another season of the show.
And it all makes sense they might head that way, as we now know Dave Filoni will be directing a New Republic film which will be the culmination of the storylines from shows in the Mando-verse, like this one (obviously), Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and otherwise. Because of this film, I imagine this is why “Chapter 24 – The Return” wrapped everything up so neatly, as it allows The Mandalorian to reconfigure and refocus towards building to the larger narrative instead. Yet at the same time, this episode felt like a series finale, Mandalore retaken and Djarin and Grogu set to go on adventures, though they have a cute little home to relax in on Nevarro now in between jobs, living a happy life and the evil they know about defeated (and the visit to Teva resulted in them find the missing IG parts and IG-11 is brought back to life as Navarro’s marshal). It’s the safe ending, as Star Wars likes to do, and I don’t have a problem with it, but it left me wondering: do we need to see more of their adventures? At this point, the answer for me is not necessarily, especially since the show didn’t quite give viewers enough reasons to want to come back or think a return of the show is necessarily needed. Do we want tons of more cute Grogu moments? Sure! Is it enough to keep The Mandalorian afloat for endless seasons? No. The Shadow Council and Thrawn and the build up to something bigger certainly warrant a return, but those are stories for other shows (and a film) it seems, so after this finale, there’s not enough to make viewers expect another season. And if they choose to wrap up threads or move characters forward in a different show, like they did during The Book of Boba Fett, and not really acknowledge it in the main show, why should fans return anyways if they can’t always be guaranteed to get the full picture? Only time will tell.
Here are a few other things:
- It’s sort of a silly thought, but now that the cult lives along the main Mandalorians, since no one has really seen their adult faces, what’s stopping them from taking off their helmets more? Beyond honor and their creed, of course? And even if they do, they just need to take a left, a right, and one more left and they are in the Living Waters, redeemed. Will the Armorer move the goalposts for redemption? If someone didn’t go into the Living Waters, despite how easy it’s now, would the other Mandalorians accept them?
- It was cool to see the Mythosaur again, which means the monster last episode was not the mythical beast, and I guess I’m glad it got to remain in its watery home and not have to be bothered.
The Mandalorian’s season three finale “Chapter 24 – The Return” had its fun moments but it only exacerbated the shows festering problems and proved new blood in the writer’s room or in the brain trust behind its story is desperately needed to keep this show fresh and exciting going forward. Maybe the upcoming film will be enough to center it, as the potential of tales of Grogu and Din Djarin helping the New Republic perks my interest a little, but The Mandalorian could end here at this point and I wouldn’t be disappointed, though not because it ended up satisfyingly, but because it hasn’t delivered enough at this point and this felt like a good enough place to end (and maybe let books or comics pick things up from here).
+ Potential in the New Republic guided missions
+ One big Din family!
– Lack of stakes or emotional connection to many of its events and many moments feel unearned.
– Discarding character moments for plot resolution
– Doesn’t give a good reason to come back
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE MANDALORIAN REVIEWS
Season Three: Chapter 17 – The Apostate | Chapter 18 – The Mines of Mandalore | Chapter 19 – The Convert | Chapter 20 – The Foundling | Chapter 21 – The Pirate | Chapter 22 – Guns for Hire | Chapter 23 – The Spies
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5 -Return of the Mandalorian | Chapter 6 – From the Desert Comes a Stranger | Chapter 7 – In the Name of Honor
Season Two: Chapter 9 – The Marshal | Chapter 10 – The Passenger | Chapter 11 – The Heiress | Chapter 12 – The Siege | Chapter 13 – The Jedi | Chapter 14 – The Tragedy | Chapter 15 – The Believer | Chapter 16 – The Rescue
Season One: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 – The Child | Chapter 3 – The Sin | Chapter 4 – The Sanctuary | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 6 – The Prisoner | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption