Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 8 Review – The Return
The Mandalorian Chapter 24 delivers an action-packed ending to Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan's latest Star Wars adventure!
This Star Wars: The Mandalorian review contains spoilers.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 8: Chapter 24
“The Return” is a satisfying ending to what has been a rock-solid season of he (apparent) demise of Moff Gideon.
One of the most dramatic aspects of these past two episodes has been the emphasis on Gideon’s evil plans for Mandalore. He razed the planet, scattered its people, and then had the gall to use their sacred act of forging Beskar armor to bolster his own army of Imperial Mando-lites. Gideon violates. He exploits. He violently misappropriates. Everything he does feels deeply personal, which makes him one of the greatest villains in Star Wars history.
Early in the episode, Din Djarin asks Grogu to be brave and help him take out Gideon once and for all. Framing the conflict in this way is smart, as the duo are the undisputed beating heart of the show. Bo-Katan is proving to be a worthy co-protagonist, but she’s not quite there yet. Din Djarin and Grogu are the marquee players here, and it’s heartening to see them treated as such in the finale.
It was devastating to lose Paz Vizsla at the close of Axe Woves has assumed the lovable grunt role nicely here with his almost impossible feat of heroism that ultimately takes Gideon down. Him sitting alone in the bridge of the cruiser as it’s bombarded by TIE Bombers and Interceptors is a character-defining moment, and while the jet-pack escape kinda-sorta dampens the impact of his sacrifice (going out in a ball of flames would’ve been a truly kickass exit from the show), it’s nice to know that he’ll be sticking around to usher in the new age of Mandalore.
From the symbolically verdant cave farms proving Mandalore’s surface is still fertile, to the iconic image of a the Mythosaur opening its massive eye in approval is a well-earned, full-circle moment. Having Bo-Katan act as the face of this resurrection will surely lead to some big things in the Mandoverse down the road.
But again, the true main event here is Din Djarin and Grogu finally getting their hands on Gideon. They had to earn it, though, fighting through a grueling gauntlet of Imperial commandos and Praetorian Guards to get to him. The finale nails all of these sequences, from R5 having a little hero moment as he’s pestered by mouse droids (a welcome moment of levity amid a cacophony of brutality) to Din and Grogu tag-teaming to kick the shit out of the Praetorian Guards. The shot of the blast doors shutting as the Praetorians back a cowering Grogu into a corner is so heart-wrenching it makes you want to reach through the screen and save the little guy yourself. This little non-verbal, animatronic puppet is one of the best characters on TV, and that’s something the show’s crew and creatives should really be proud of.
Din Djarin telling Grogu, “You did good, kid,” is absolutely everything. This IS the show. This duo is what makes this Star Wars series unique and special, and they really get to shine here as they overcome serious peril as father and son, with the aid of Bo-Katan and the rest of the Mandos, of course.
The theme of the season, that “Mandalorians are stronger together,” is a powerful one and is encapsulated perfectly in this finale. The people of Mandalore work selflessly to defeat a villain who is so self-obsessed and egomaniacal that he literally tried to make a clone army of HIMSELF (but with added Force powers) to take over the galaxy. The solidarity of many triumphs over the tyranny of one. A poetic ending indeed.
Grogu saving Din Djarin and Bo-Katan with the Force bubble is terrific (Thanks, Master Luke!), and Din Djarin adopting him as his son and apprentice and settling down on Nevarro to start a new life as a little bounty-hunting family is just unbelievably cathartic and cute, made all the better by the true return of a fourth season. We can’t wait to see what’s next!
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Bernard Boo is a writer and geek enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Movies, TV, video games, and comics are constantly rattling around in his brain,…