“The Mandalorian” - Season 3, Episode 8: “The Return” Review
“The Mandalorian” ended season three in a big way.
“The Return” kicks off where “The Spies” left off with Bo-Katan leading the rest of the Mandalorians to retreat, while Axe Woves goes into the upper atmosphere to receive help from the fleet.
Din is able to break free from the troopers, and Grogu in IG-12 helps him get back on his feet and get on the hunt for Moff Gideon.
R-5, who is on the surface, opens up a different blast door so Din and Grogu can go through and hunt down Gideon, but they find a chamber full of Gideon clones. Grogu is able to connect with one of them, and the entire chamber shatters.
Din and Grogu make it out but are met by Gideon on the outside, who said that he was working on wielding the Force in order to make the clones perfect models of him.
Meanwhile, Bo-Katan discovers the underground gardens of Mandalore, which the Nite Owls have planted to survive the bombings above the surface. She uses this as motivation to keep fighting.
After Woves fights off TIE bombers, he sends the ship down in a Captain America-esque fashion but flies out to escape.
Din, Bo-Katan and Gideon all have a final battle, and right when the ship hits the surface and bursts into flames, Grogu uses the Force to create a bubble around him, Din and Bo-Katan, while Gideon burns.
The episode cuts to the waters of Mandalore, where the Armorer helps Ragnar take the Creed, and Din tells her that he wants Grogu to become his apprentice and take the Creed, too. The Armorer tells him that since Grogu is too young to speak, he is too young to take the Creed, unless Din adopts him. Din officially takes him in as his own, and he becomes Din Grogu.
Din and Grogu head back to see Captain Teva, and Din asks if he can become an independent contractor for the New Republic. On Nevarro, Karga offers Din and Grogu a place to settle down, and the episode ends by Din watching Grogu lift a frog with the Force.
This was a good way to end the series.
This episode was just as much about Din as it was about Bo-Katan, but Grogu also had his moment to shine for what seems like the first time this season.
However, there were some flaws to the episode.
Removing Moff Gideon removes the major villain in the series. “The Mandalorian” has been renewed for season four, so in order to continue the story, the creators either need to come up with a new villain, use Thrawn or use Snoke (depending on the storyline of “Ahsoka”).
Additionally, the Bo-Katan character arc was nice this episode, but fans of “Rebels” have already seen her claim the Darksaber and reunite the people of Mandalore once already, and obviously, that doesn’t work out too well. How are creators going to use that going forward?
“The Mandalorian” spent so much time on side quests this season that it steered away from the original point of the entire series (which really only got resolved in the last two episodes). If they want to do more cameos, they have to make the season longer.
All in all, the last five minutes of the episode set up Din and Grogu for more adventures, and hopefully, more insight into the fall of the New Republic and rise of the First Order.
Rating: 4/5
Adrianna Gallucci is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.
