In “The Mandalorian” recap, Bo-Katan leads the Mandalorians home and an old enemy from the past returns…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It really feels like the obsession with taking back Mandalore might really be the end for the Mandalorians.
During a season long journey to reunite all of the various clans on “The Mandalorian” to eventually return to their home planet, they’ve been ignoring a persistent threat that’s been lingering just under the surface. That threat is named Moff Gideon — the former Imperial commander, who has remained equally obsessed with Mandalore ever since he ordered the planet bombed and demolished when the Empire still reigned supreme.
Despite having the opportunity to end him a season ago, Moff Gideon was released into custody of the New Republic, which seems to be just about the most disorganized government in history. Moff Gideon never stood trial for his crimes — in fact he never even made it to trial and nobody seems to really care all that much.
That said, Moff Gideon made his expected return in the latest episode with further revelation about his grand scheme to help rebuild the Galactic Empire that we all know will eventually be reborn as the First Order. That won’t happen for several years so these are just the earliest stages of putting those plans together but now we finally learn who’s working alongside Moff Gideon while also getting a better idea of the plans to retake the galaxy — namely by resurrecting Emperor Palpatine.
As for the Mandalorians, the previously warring factions are starting to find common-ground under the leadership of Bo-Katan Kryze despite the fact that she was ruling over their home planet when the Empire effectively destroyed everyone and everything that lived there. Still, Bo-Katan seems to know how to communicate with both her Mandalorians and the devoted followers in the Children of the Watch, which puts her in a unique position to potentially win back the planet they all thought was lost.
Of course, Bo-Katan and the rest of the Mandalorians haven’t faced many obstacles lately and that all changes when they finally return home.
With that said, let’s get to our full recap for the penultimate episode of “The Mandalorian” season 3…
Chapter 23: The Spies
The episode opens with the reveal that Elia Kane — aka Amnesty Officer G68 — is still very much loyal to the Empire and she serves at the behest of Moff Gideon.
She sneaks away to a dark alley where an Imperial probe droid is there to verify her credentials before connecting her to Moff Gideon, who is very much alive and no longer in custody. Elia Kane reports to him that the pirates failed to conquer Nevarro, which adds yet another wrinkle to what’s been happening this season, but she also reveals that the New Republic didn’t lend a helping hand.
In fact, it was actually the Mandalorians — a combined faction of the Children of the Watch and leadership from Bo-Katan — that allowed them to vanquish the pirates. Moff Gideon believes those two factions should hate each other, which is a tool he used while conquering Mandalore in the first place but now he’s learned that all of the Mandalorians are working together suddenly.
He tells Elia Kane to return to her mission and report back if she hears anything new.
As for Moff Gideon, he exits that meeting to then retreat to a larger conference room surrounded by holograms as he meets with his fellow Imperial loyalists. The group known as the Shadow Council have quietly been amassing forces and working towards a grand design, which is to end the New Republic so the Empire can rise again.
This is where we get our first live action look at Captain Gilad Pellaeon — a loyalist to Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was previously only in the animated “Star Wars: Rebels” series. It seems Pellaeon is still touting the imminent return of Thrawn, which he believes will usher in a new era of the Empire.
Thrawn is a longtime fan favorite villain, who actually transitioned into the “Star Wars” universe after he first appeared in a set of sequel trilogy books written by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn was so popular that he was eventually adopted into the larger “Star Wars” canon where he often fan afoul of characters such as Ahsoka Tano, who we previously learned was hunting for him when she appeared in “The Mandalorian” season 2.
For now, Captain Pellaeon can only promise that Thrawn is returning but Moff Gideon can’t help but notice that there’s been no sight of him and he’s starting to lose faith that the blue-skinned baddie is actually coming back at all. As much as Pellaeon insists that secrecy is an essential key to Thrawn’s return, the other leaders in the Shadow Council are starting to believe that perhaps he’s not the savior they’ve been promised.
For context, Thrawn was dragged through hyperspace and left in parts unknown alongside Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger at the end of “Rebels,” although we know he’s finally going to make his return in the new “Ahsoka” series coming out later this year. Thrawn’s return had previously been teased with Ahsoka’s arrival last season but again no one has actually set eyes on him, although his reputation remains even in his absence.
Meanwhile, Commandant Brendol Hux — father to the eventual General Armitage Hux that we meet in the sequel trilogy — is touting his plans for Project Necromancer as the key to reviving the Empire and conquering the New Republic government. While he never says it out loud, Project Necromancer would certainly seem like a fitting name for the program meant to resurrect Emperor Palpatine and the cloning technology that eventually brings Supreme Leader Snoke into power.
But with Dr. Pershing gone — thanks to Moff Gideon and his ally on Coruscant — new cloning technology isn’t coming along any time soon. That’s why Moff Gideon wants to continue to consolidate power while also seeking to stamp out his Mandalorian problem.
He then requests additional reinforcements including three Praetorian guards — the red garb wearing soldiers who protected Snoke in “The Last Jedi” — because the Mandalorians are starting to become a thorn in his side again. If Mandalore falls back under the Mandalorians’ control, that could create a problem for the remnants of the Empire as they attempt to retake power in the galaxy.
So the Shadow Council grants Moff Gideon his wish for more ships and the Praetorian guards as he plans to wipe out the Mandalorians once and for all.
Back on Nevarro, High Magistrate Greef Karga is alerted to an enormous fleet of Imperial cruisers that are arrived on the planet but rather than signal an alarm, he soon realizes that these ships have been procured by the Mandalorians as signified by the giant Mythosaur symbol painted on each vessel.
Bo-Katan has returned with her fleet to join those forces with the Children of the Watch in an effort to reunite all of the Mandalorians together. It’s an uneasy feeling with the two sides come together for the first time but the Armorer quickly lowers the tension by telling her people to welcome their guests with a great feast that they will all share together.
As for Greef Karga, he says hello to his old friend Mando and welcomes him back to the palace for a surprise.
There, Greef Karga reveals that he’s managed to get IG-11 up and running again — the memory circuits have been ripped out so now the droid is more like a robot that a small creature could pilot. Yes, Grogu gets his own robot named IG-12!
At first, Mando is against the idea but Grogu loves it, especially after he realizes that he can punch the words yes and no, which allows him to communicate with his surrogate father better than ever before.
That night after dinner, Bo-Katan takes the floor to reveal her plans for both tribes to return to Mandalore where they will begin to rebuild their home planet. Now considering Greef Karga just gave the Mandalorians a stretch of land all their own on Nevarro, it seems odd that they are just going to abandon the planet to move home to Mandalore again but it is what it is.
Bo-Katan explains that due to the bombardment of Mandalore, the planet is hostile with creatures that have resurfaced and the magnetism caused by the fusion bombs doesn’t allow communications to work there any longer. So that means, she’s going to need to lead the fleet to the planet but then take a group of Mandalorians with her down to the surface where they will scout out the Great Forge and attempt to reignite the flame to begin rebuilding the planet.
After a moment of silence, Din Djarin speaks up and volunteers to join Bo-Katan on her mission and before long, members from both factions do the same including Koska Reeves, Axe Woves and even Paz Vizsla as well as the Armorer.
The fleet arrives at Mandalore the next day when Bo-Katan leads her ship down to the planet’s surface along with the garrison of Mandalorians who join her. When they arrive, the Mandalorians find the shell of a once thriving planet but there’s no poison and the surface is habitable, which means they can eventually rebuild.
As they prepare to start on the journey to find the Great Forge, the Mandalorians are interrupted by a massive surface traveling ship that arrives out of nowhere. Moments later, the skeleton crew recognize the voice of Lady Bo-Katan of Clan Kryze and the group reveals that they served her loyally from the time she took on the leadership role in charge of Mandalore. Even after the Empire came to bombard the planet, these loyal soldiers refused to submit and remained behind just waiting for the day that Bo-Katan would return to them.
The group offers to welcome the Mandalorians on board and provide safe passage to the Great Forge.
That night over dinner, the survivors explained how they were brutally punished by the Empire for refusing to surrender but then Bo-Katan makes a shocking revelation — she actually did surrender at the start of the Night of the Thousand Tears.
Seeing her people being killed and cities crumbling under the might of the Empire led Bo-Katan to meet with Moff Gideon where she agreed to surrender so long as no more people would be sacrificed. She handed over the Darksaber as a condition of her surrender — as a reminder the Darksaber serves as the symbol to signify the true leader of Mandalore.
Sadly, Moff Gideon betrayed the truce she struck with him and he completed his mission to demolish Mandalore down to nothing but rubble. Bo-Katan is understandably ashamed at her actions, especially because she was desperately just trying to save her people and yet they perished under her command anyway.
The survivors then asked how the Children of the Watch made it out alive and the Armorer explains that they were hidden on the moon planet Concordia. She also reveals that Death Watch — another faction of Mandalorians — has also been shattered and splintered into various groups after the Night of a Thousand Tears wiped out their home planet.
Bo-Katan then laments that Mandalore has always been too powerful of a planet for anyone to conquer but the warring factions have always led to their downfall. That’s exactly how the Empire eventually took over Mandalore and then essentially destroyed the planet and scattered the people across the galaxy. She knows the only way Mandalore can be reborn is if the people in these various groups finally join forces to fight a common enemy.
Later, Bo-Katan is still pondering how she can manage to lead this group, especially knowing the simmering tensions that exist between them. She only has a weapon known as the Darksaber that has placed her in a position of leadership but otherwise she’s unsure that she’s fit for this service.
That’s when Din Djarin tells her that his people have no knowledge of the Darksaber or what this mythical weapon is supposed to mean to them. He only knows about the Darksaber from what Bo-Katan has told him, although that’s not entirely true.
The Armorer touted the importance of the Darksaber during the events in “The Book of Boba Fett” when Mando had to fought Paz Vizsla to maintain his ownership of the weapon.
That said, Mando promises that honor and loyalty mean far more to him than any symbol such as the Darksaber. He tells Bo-Katan that her song isn’t written yet but he’ll serve her until it is.
It’s a touching moment — perhaps sparks of romance between these two? It sure seems like that’s what the show is leaning into lately anyways.
The next day as the journey continues, the Armorer realizes that many of the survivors who never left Mandalore are not well enough to travel down into the pits of the Great Forge. Instead, these people need medical attention that the ships in the fleet can provide so she offers to take them with her in Bo-Katan’s ship, rejoin the fleet while also informing them of what’s been happening since no communications can make it off the planet.
Later, a friendly game between Paz Vizsla and Axe Woves turns into a conflict as they ultimately decide to engage in a battle against each other. More proof that these factions will never learn to co-exist together.
The fight continues with no one volunteering to separate them until Grogu takes it upon himself — and IG-12 — to separate them and put an end to this petty bickering.
It’s not long after that the Mandalorians get a taste of the creatures that have largely taken over this planet after one rears its massive head and crashes through the hull, which forces everyone on board to abandon ship.
Thankfully they had already arrived at the mouth of the caverns that led down to the Great Forge — and when they arrive, the entire Mandalorian team sees the remnants of a once great planet that was laid to waste by the Empire. Before they can do much of anything to see what can be salvaged, the group soon hears the sounds of jetpacks but it’s not other Mandalorians flying towards them.
It’s Stormtroopers, who have been outfitted with jetpacks and beskar armor.
A massive fight begins between the two sides but the Mandalorians are eventually able to drive back the Imperial forces into a base that had been carved into the site of where the Great Forge once stood. It seems the Empire has set up shop her for some time now and that would explain why they didn’t want the Mandalorians to return in an attempt to reclaim the planet.
Just when it looks like Mandalorians are gaining the upper hand, they are led into a chamber that reveals a massive base filled with ships and troops — and soon the doors slam down shut, trapping Bo-Katan and all of the others inside. The one person left on the other side is Din Djarin and he’s soon subdued by Stormtroopers and the arrival of a Dark Trooper.
This time it’s not a droid but rather Moff Gideon has outfitted a Dark Trooper suit complete with beskar alloy and a helmet all his own. He takes Din Djarin into custody and sends him off to be debriefed while he tells Bo-Katan that the Mandalorians are finished — they had a good run but the planet no longer belongs to them.
Moff Gideon then explains that he’s planning on combining elements from the cloners, the Jedi and the Mandalorians to build a grand army that will finally bring balance to the galaxy as the Empire rises from the ashes to rule again. That would explain why he wanted Grogu and had Dr. Pershing developing new cloning technology under his thumb.
Moff Gideon then orders the bombers and the destroyers to take flight so they can surprise the Mandalorian fleet and wipe them out before they know what hit them. He tells Bo-Katan to hand over the Darksaber and just put an end to this war she clearly can’t win.
Rather than surrender this time, Bo-Katan signals to begin firing while she lights up the Darksaber and uses it to cut a hole in the blast doors to give her people a chance to escape. Moff Gideon orders the main door to open as his Stormtroopers open fire as Bo-Katan desperately tries to get her people to safety.
Paz Vizsla insists on staying behind so he can give them cover to escape as he begins firing on all of the Stormtroopers — and he’s doing an admirable job fighting back just by himself. Bo-Katan tries to get him to flee but he refuses to leave without giving them the time needed to escape.
As the last Mandalorians make it out alive, Paz Vizsla continues to fight until his gun overheats and he’s left to defend himself in one-on-one combat. That’s when the three Praetorian guards arrive and it doesn’t take them long to cut Paz Vizsla down.
He attempts to battle back but ultimately Paz Vizsla is outnumbered and he perishes after the Praetorian guards stab him to death. As he falls to the ground, it appears that all hope is lost as Moff Gideon has once again taken control of Mandalore and the Mandalorians are fleeing for their lives.
“The Mandalorian” returns for the season 3 finale next Wednesday on Disney+
