The Mandalorian - Chapter 24 - Review

It has finally arrived, the final episode of the third season. Does the show end on a cliff-hanger or does it deliver a nice end to a rocky season?

Overall the show does deliver the goods, its provides a solid end and if there is no season 4, then it feels complete, if you ignore some really weird issues. Let us start with Din Djarin and Grogu, the pair have grown quite a bit since we first met them years ago and having Djarin, which is apparently his first name, officially adopt Grogu was a nice end to this part of their lives. Seeing Grogu come to the rescue early on and then have the same done to him, was great as it showed that the pair work well together and are able to take care of each other. Grogu being trapped by the metal pipe felt funny, if only because you could see how slow it fell on him, so as to not damage the puppet and the result is that it took away some of the tension it was meant to provide. Of course, placing Djarin in the same position as Paz Vizsla last week did raise some concerns about the chances of him being killed, but they quickly killed that thought dead, pardon the pun.

Seeing all the Mandalorians come together was also quite a treat, though everything leading up to that felt weird and the shot of them facing off against the Imperial remnants felt a little to Dragon Ball for me. What those moments did provide though, is that there was a clear sense that they knew this was their only chance to reclaim their planet. Having Axe Wolves fly into the upper atmosphere and then board the ship, only to return it to the planet in perhaps the most badass way possible, was great, it also removed doubts about him being a spy. Learning that that those Mandalorians who survived somehow managed to find plants that were thought to be extinct was nice, though it raises some real issues on just how they survived the wars and then the planet being bombed, but hey don’t look to deep, they have grass now. The final shot of them, all surrounding the Great Forge as it was relit once more, was heart-warming, as it felt like they were finally home.

For all the good that the episode had, there were some issues with it and they were not small ones, though there were a few of those. The small ones were mostly around how the fleeing Mandalorians were being chased down by the enemy, when they apparently ran into a single cave last week. The other small one was how Grogu got away from all of them and found another path back to Djarin. These were not easily explained by just assuming there were other doors nearby, because as I said for the last review, if we don’t see it then it doesn’t exist. Those were minor ones of course, the major one was that of Moff Gideon and his master plan, which honestly made no sense whatsoever.

When we first met Grogu, we knew that members of the Empire who were not giving up the cause, were chasing him down and Moff Gideon was behind that. The research of the clones, the embedding of a spy into the new republic, being busted out a transport shuttle, all screamed large plans at work. While all of that happened, the reason why was so that he could get the force, that was it and in the words of Tony Stark, not a great plan. There were two reasons why it wasn’t a good plan, first up is the all important part in that if his clones had the force, he still didn’t, so it would not have helped him in the first place. The second reason it wasn’t a great plan, was simply that for a man without resources, being captured and confined for a while, people still kept building him a secret base and were loyal to his cause and that wasn’t rebirthing the Emperor, but rather make a clone of himself. The entire reason for why he was doing all of this, was pitiful and there is no way to save it, no retconning it by writing a new book or comic, we got a big bad villain whose entire motivation was he wanted the force and only for his clones.

I have major issues with the way this season played out the chief threat, given how we had an episode dedicated to someone that was part of major cloning projects for the Empire, that someone from the New Republic found out Moff Gideon escaped and Gideon himself sought to take over Navarro, there was clearly something major in the works. So for all that build up to be that someone wanted a clone with force powers, it doesn’t feel like a letdown, but rather a massive slap in the face. The first season of the show was slow paced and delved into worlds that were unfamiliar to Star Wars, the second seemed to keep that going, but then pivoted to bringing in old faces in the second half. This season seemed directionless for many episodes, picking up and dropping story beats and never really feeling like a cohesive tale. Don’t get be wrong, issue with plot aside, I do like the pacing of the episode and how it ended, but I just don’t believe that all we saw and put up with, felt worth it for the ending we got.

The Mandalorian started off as a strong show, delivering a slice of life in the Star Wars galaxy, but quickly found itself bogged down by characters from movies and shows. There were moments of greatness across the seasons, but by this season it seems they lost the way and the result was a few episodes that felt good and equally as many that felt bad. With how the show ended, it could mean the end of Din Djarin and Din Grogu’s adventures and honestly, that would be a good thing, if there is another season in the works though, they need to strongly think about the story they want to tell. If you are a die hard fan of the show, this episode will satisfy, but if you are a casual viewer, there is to much that makes no sense and given how the season played out, that is not a great way to end.

The Score

7.5

The Pros

+The ending moments were quite sweet, including the fade in with the circle

+The Dark Sabre being crushed made me so very happy, because the random plot device was not worth including

The Cons

-Moff Gideons plan seemed utterly pointless and undercut all the background tension that they were building across the season

-For all the three seasons delivered, this season felt that it was without purpose