– Spoiler Review –
“Chapter 23 – The Spies” sees The Mandalorian enter its season three endgame, with no way back, resulting in an exciting, mythos-expanding episode with big reveals, big action, and a great cliffhanger, taking the first giant step towards redeeming the season overall.
There was a lot of hype surrounding The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 23 – The Spies” considering it was first watching by a group of fans a few days early at Celebration Europe 2023, something I’m familiar with after watching several Star Wars Rebels premieres early the same way. It’s hard to recreate such a feeling at home so “Chapter 23 – The Spies” doesn’t quite live up to said hype. However, I never quite expected it to, instead I was curious how much it would help with “redeeming” season three overall from its often-meandering feeling. Sure, there’s tons of great stuff this episode, from Bo-Katan explaining how she lost the blade to Moff Gideon, the reveal of the Imperial Shadow Council still going strong, Captain Gilead Pellaeon emerging in live action (played by Xander Berkeley no less!), Commandant Hux (played by another Gleeson!), Gideon’s glorious dark trooper armored return, the start of the Mandalorian’s attempts to retake Mandalore, and Praetorian Guards showing up, though is it all enough to make up for some aimless moments? In short, it isn’t quite enough on its own, but it is a giant step in the right direction and as long as the finale continues on this path, it’ll all have felt worth it.
“Chapter 23 – The Spies” kicks off with Kane sneaking around alleys on Coruscant, eventually showing where her true loyalties lie, as we all suspected: Moff Gideon. The Moff makes his return this episode, starting as a hologram, surprised by the news she shares of the Bo-Katan and Din Djarin’s covert teaming up to route his pirates’ attack on Nevarro. The episode shifts to his location as he interrupts a cabal of Imperials known as the Shadow Council*, working in secret to keep the hopes and dreams of the Empire alive and away from the prying eyes of the New Republic. There are plenty of new faces in the Council, but two are familiar, making the jump to live-action to the first time: Commandant Brendol Hux, played by Brian Gleeson, who already was on the previous iteration of the Council, has plans which lead to the recruitment and brainwashing of stormtroopers like Finn for the First Order, but in this episode he also talks about Project Necromancer, which might tie into cloning efforts Gideon mentions (and maybe is part of the Sith Eternal stuff on Exegol, though we’ll see). His son is General Hux, played by Domhnall Gleeson (love they kept it in the family!), as seen in the Sequel Trilogy, who goes on to kill him sometime later (as seen in the novel Phasma), picking up his father’s plans for the First Order, though Brendol’s ideas for troopers began in the excellent Servants of the Empire novel trilogy (do not miss out on those!); the other face already made it to canon in Rebels’ final season, though only in voice, so thankfully it’s now in the flesh: Gilead Pellaeon, played by Xander Berkeley! In the Council, Pellaeon is warning caution and patience, hoping to keep everyone in check and ready for the return of his boss, Grand Admiral Thrawn himself! Berkeley has always been excellent in whatever role I’ve seen him in, especially in Nikita where I saw him for the first time, and he’s already pretty great in the part. It’s sort of wild to finally have him in live action, though given the Ahsoka trailer showing the back of Thrawn’s head (for those us not at the convention) and the announcement Lars Mikkelsen is back in the role, he’ll be joined by his boss sooner rather than later.
Whereas Pellaeon is making sure everyone awaits Thrawn’s return, Gideon knows the threat a resurgent Mandalore could pose to them and their goals, so he warns the council he needs all the reinforcements he requested for the job of taking them out for good. With a nod from Pellaeon after some debate, Hux is willing to give Gideon what he needs. This is where the episode cuts away to the title and then back to our main characters, though the moment hangs over the rest of the episode, as the tension grows for just when and where Gideon will appear to mess up Bo-Katan and Din’s plans to retake Mandalore. When it happens, it probably should’ve been obvious to the group, but it results in the episode’s big cliffhanger for the finale. I really loved this opening, as it pays off many aspects of the season and finally gives Gideon is time shine and allows us to see what he’s been up to. And it clarifies Captain Teva’s findings about Mandalorians rescuing Gideon from New Republic capture, as we find out he’s got a beskar wearing army of his own…
But before we get into that, let’s check in with Bo-Katan and Din’s efforts to unite the Mandalorians and retake Mandalore! As expected, there’s tension when the two groups meet, but between Bo-Katan and the Armorer, it dissipates enough for them to form an uneasy alliance, to the point Mandos from both sides (like Paz, Axe, and Koska) volunteer to lead a small strike force to Mandalore’s surface ahead of their planned settling. The tension between the groups remains throughout their mission, to the point Paz Viszla and Axe Woves fight it out (though Grogu intervenes, but we’ll get to how in a moment), but by the end the two sides are quickly united once Moff Gideon makes his move and one of the Mandos makes the ultimate sacrifice to help them all live to fight again. I wish there’d been a bit more interaction between the two sides besides the fight, but I’m glad their issues look to be put aside now the larger enemy has made their power and plans known. Here’s hoping the finale leaves this truce and budding camaraderie intact, though if the various factions split again, I can only pray The Mandalorian will be able to dive into that enough to make a reunion feel earned, as it doesn’t quite here but it’s easy to dismiss with the bigger events happening.
As for how Grogu intervenes in a Mando brawl, it’s because the Anzellans, though still not happy with the little Mando Jedi because he squeezed them like a pet, have created something for him: IG-12! Stripping down IG-11 and reprograming what’s left, the new take on IG is essentially a puppet for Grogu to control, a big splash of irony since Grogu is a puppet in real life, leading us to puppet-ception! Din is immediately against it, thinking Grogu is too young to operate heavy machinery, but thanks to IG-12’s built in response buttons, he gets to “say” his first word: “No,” though it’s in Taika Waititi’s voice. This leads to a hilarious scene of him spamming the “Yes” button as he walks around, showing he’s capable, and he continues to spam it as he walks through Nevarro’s streets, even stealing food via his new suit! I was a little ambivalent when IG-12 walked in, but by the end of the scene I was all in on Grogu having the suit to wear. He doesn’t use it too much this episode, only to break up the fight and help him keep up with the Mandos/be shielded from Gideon’s army’s attacks, but I suspect he’ll put it to good use next episode. Din will be counting on him to do so!
As the group of Mandalorians make their way across the desolate surface of Mandalore, things go far too easily for my tastes, especially knowing Gideon’s out there, somewhere, ready to strike. The first hint of trouble turns out to be the opposite: a group of Mandalorians appears, running a sail ship across the glass surface of the planet! This new group, including two unnamed Mandalorians played by Charles Parnell and Breaking Bad’s Skinny Pete himself, Charles Baker, have been eking out an existence, barely getting by. As the groups unite on their ship for the night, sharing a feast, Bo-Katan opens up with the truth of her part in what happened and led the planet and the Mandalorian culture to where it is now. Turns out, as the Empire sacked the planet in the Night of a Thousand Tears, the ISB, lead by Gideon, offered Bo-Katan a deal: surrender and the planet, the cities, and its people would be spared. Thinking it was the only way, knowing she couldn’t trust Gideon but didn’t see another option, she surrendered, hence how he got the Darksaber in the first place, and then he turned around and initiated the Purge which led them to this moment. Airing out what happens helps alleviate the burden Bo’s been carrying all these years, and it only gets lighter when Din helps reassure her she made the right choice. He pledges his allegiance to her, to serve her as well, as he and their covert don’t care about a sword or bloodlines, just honor, and he’s only seen honor from her. It’s a great moment as it clarifies why Din wouldn’t care much to keep the sword and how the rest of the covert could come around to serving under her, regardless of her past. It’s only now and what she does next they care about.
As the survivors who are sick are taken back to the Mandalorian fleet over the planet by the Armorer, the group makes its way to the Great Forge under the survivors’ guidance, in hopes of reigniting it and beginning their culture anew on the scarred planet. But before they get a chance to visit it, they have to have some sort of problem, right? How about the emergence of the mythosaur?! The great beast erupts through the surface and destroys their ship, hurting some of their group and driving those left underground…where they find the great forge. Like all the other animal attacks this season, this felt unnecessary, especially since they don’t get to take in the view of the Forge for long before Gideon’s army appears, so trouble was already on the way. Wearing beskar armor and jetpacks like the Mandalorians, though white in appearance like the Imperial Supercommandos in Rebels, Gideon’s army is a formidable threat to the group, as their numbers begin to dwindle but they manage to hold their own enough to drive back the new troopers. In what increasingly feels like a trap, though somehow none of the Mandos pick up on it, they chase the troopers deeper into the planet and start uncovering what looks like Imperial hallways, like where we saw Gideon in the start of the episode. Sure enough, seeing the scope of Gideon’s efforts beneath the surface as the chase comes to an end, the Imperial springs the trap and comes raining down on the band of infiltrators, cutting them all off from Din, whom he captures.
While it’s not clear why Gideon captures Din, maybe to lure out Grogu so he can retake him and continue Pershing’s work, it at least gives Giancarlo Esposito a chance to chew up some scenery again and reveal his character’s plans. Gideon’s wearing a beskar-infused dark trooper suit, no longer a droid operated one like in season two’s finale, and he’s glad they brought themselves to his doorsteps as he can finally kill them all, completing the Purge. After his ships are sent after the fleet and Din is taken away, Grogu watching helplessly alongside the other Mandalorians trapped in the blast doors, Bo-Katan reveals herself and Gideon asks her to surrender the blade to him again. She’s not having it this time, running over to the blast door they came through and starts to cut her way out, which prompts Gideon to fly away and let his men take care of the group, opening the door to slaughter them. Paz Vizsla steps up and guards their retreat (not like he was going to fit in the hole Bo cut), and when Bo beckons him on, he tells her to run. His big repeater takes out more and more troopers but it overheats, so he resorts to beating them up as they come to take him out. Things are looking good until some familiar red armorer folks show up…that’s right, as Gideon requested in the opening scene, the Praetorian Guards, famously seen in The Last Jedi’s amazing throne room scene, have arrived! They make short work of Paz and the big Mandalorian falls, the episode cutting to black. It was a cool way to introduce the Praetorian’s into this era, though it didn’t leave an emotional sting since I’ve had zero attachment to Paz, even after this season showed him turning around on Din and us meeting his kid. While his death might not land, it’s a signal more could fall as the stakes and forces arrayed against this band of Mandalorians is far greater than they could’ve imagined. We’ll see how they fare in the finale next week! Maybe they’ll get some help from Carson Teva and friends?!?
Here are a few other things:
- *The Shadow Council first appeared in the Aftermath Trilogy, run by Gallius Rax in the shadows himself per orders from the ‘dead’ Emperor Palpatine, while Grand Admiral Rae Sloane ran it in person and took it in her own direction after the Imperials were defeated at Jakku and headed to parts unknown. We haven’t seen Sloane since, and her absence definitely didn’t go unnoticed here, so I’m curious if and when we’ll get to see her, as she’s pivotal to the start of the First Order and this all certainly is heading towards that with another Shadow Council.
- Speaking of the show heading towards something, it was revealed at Celebration Europe 2023 that shows in the Mando-verse, as we all like to call it, including Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, The Book of Boba Fett, and maybe more, are all leading into a New Republic movie helmed by Dave Filoni. It seems weird to take all these shows and shove their ending into a film, and I have my issues with Filoni lately, so this wasn’t the most exciting news of the convention for me, but it’s certainly interesting to know this is where it’s all going.
- As for “The Spies,” beyond Kane, do we have a reveal coming about someone betraying them all? Armorer? Axe? We shall see!
The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 23 – The Spies” makes the right steps in its endgame to finally push this show to a place of no return, let’s just hope the finale can follow through.
+ Shadow Council and expanding the show’s reach
+ Gideon’s glorious return and all the problems it causes
+ Cliffhanger and the hope the show follows through
– Mando cultures coming together doesn’t feel totally earned
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
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