Episode 8: The Return

Compared to other season finales, this one was pretty short but filled with numerous fight scenes. Episode 8 ties the whole season together bringing in all three of the main points from throughout the season. 

The central one involved the larger story of the Mandalorians themselves and how they overcame obstacles. Then the other two points involved obstacles to the Mandalorians’ plan: the overwhelmed and inattentive New Republic bureaucracy and the Imperial remnant forces commanded by the fugitive Moff Gideon.

Picking up where last week’s cliffhanger left off, the episode begins with Din Djarin escaping his stormtrooper captors with the help of some cool spinning kicks and the timely arrival of Grogu in his IG-12 attack armor. 

The pair then go after Gideon, which requires them to pass through multiple deflector shields guarded by troopers with increasingly more powerful weaponry. It is like video game levels. In each level it gets harder and harder to fight them but soon Din Djarin overcomes them.

When Din Djarin and Grogu reach Gideon after destroying a chamber full of his clones, the aspiring emperor boasts about his scheme to acquire mastery of the Force through science. After, he commands his Praetorian Guards to attack Din Djarin.

With the Mandalorians and the Empire at each other’s throats there was not much down time in between the fighting. Some of the Mandalorians retreated to the caves with the other Mandalorians who had stayed on the planet. They show Bo-Katan how to cultivate the plant life in the caves. 

The plants had not grown naturally for centuries because of the planet’s civil wars and overreliance on industrialization. 

While that was going on the Mandalorians came swarming down in their jetpacks and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with flying stormtroopers. Bo-Katan reaches Din Djarin and Grogu and uses the Dark Saber to fight against Moff Gideon.  

Moff Gideon destroys the Dark Saber when Axe crashes a light cruiser into the base, prompting Grogu to make a force shield. Moff Gideon was promptly covered in the fire.

The seed of hope for the Mandalorians to prosper happens after Moff Gideon’s defeat and is shown when the Armorer relights the Great Forge and then recommences the process of anointing foundlings in the Living Waters. 

Din Djarin asks for Grogu to go through the ritual, but because the child cannot speak and has no parents to vouch for him, the Armorer hesitates. Din Djarin formally adopts his ward, now given the name Din Grogu. 

This episode was a clear set up for season 4. The Mandalorians will have to learn to work with other fragments who do not share the same beliefs as them since they are all united as one people.

To wrap up this season keep these things in mind:

• How will the Mandalorians respond when they learn that the Dark Saber has been destroyed? 
• Moff Gideon is presumed dead, but he was wearing armor made of Beskar. 
• With Din Djarin and Grogu back on Navarro, they will soon have to find more work to make a living, leading to new adventures.