‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Finale Explained: Mandalore Is Finally Reclaimed

The eighth episode finally concluded season 3 of The Mandalorian, and it had the satisfying ending that the producers talked about before the season even premiered. Of course, the season 3 finale picked up from where episode 7 ended when the Mandalorians were losing a fight against Moff Gideon and his Imperial remnants. This time, however, the Mandalorians were willing to fight back.

As expected, it was an action-packed season finale that allowed us to see the Mandalorians fighting for their home and finally exorcising the demons that took their home away from them many years ago. There’s also the fact that Din Djarin and Grogu are still under the spotlight as they try to get rid of Moff Gideon once and for all. That said, let’s look at what happened at the end of season 3 of The Mandalorian.

Din Djarin Fights Back

In episode 7, Moff Gideon could isolate Din Djarin from the rest of the Mandalorians because he had a score to settle with him. He neutralized the titular Mandalorian before telling his elite Stormtroopers to take him away. Meanwhile, thanks to the sacrifice of Paz Vizsla, the other Mandalorians were able to escape certain death as the episode ended with the Praetorian Guard killing the large Mandalorian.

Episode 8 allowed us to see Din Djarin waking up while the troopers took him away. He could fight back against them as he used his superior training and fighting skills despite not having any weapons. Din defeated most of the guards but was about to succumb to one of them before Grogu arrived in the IG-12 suit to save him.

This time, the child saved Din from trouble as they were about to embark on their latest mission, which was to end Gideon once and for all. Din told Grogu to be brave because stopping Gideon was the only way for them to be free. After all, Din and Grogu have a long history with the Moff and are looking to make sure he will never be a problem to them ever again.

The Mandalorians Escape

Meanwhile, the other Mandalorians were running away from the troopers that were tailing them. They needed to find shelter to try to regroup in preparation for a counterattack. Bo-Katan used her comms to tell Axe Woves that TIE Fighters were on their way to the fleet just above the atmosphere. She told him to get to the fleet and tell them to use the drop ships to go down to the surface to back the other Mandalorians up because the only way they could ever defeat Gideon was on the ground.

Axe Woves continued his ascent just outside the atmosphere of Mandalore to save his people before the fighters could get to the ships. Meanwhile, Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians were able to communicate with a rescued Din Djarin, who told them that he was on his way to go looking for Gideon so that he could put an end to him.

Out in space, the other Mandalorians learned from Axe that Gideon was still a threat and that they needed to board the drop ships in a hurry to back Kryze up. Meanwhile, Axe used the capital ship as a decoy to distract the TIE Fighters long enough for the other Mandalorians to head to the surface and help Bo-Katan in the fight against Moff Gideon’s Beskar-armored troopers.

Without hesitation, Axe took control of the capital ship all on his own while firing at the fighters that were overwhelming the light cruiser. The Mandalorians were able to make their way to the surface safely. Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians on the surface, meanwhile, found a part of the surface that was still fertile enough to grow plants and crops. 

The survivors living on the planet for a long time told her that the crops could find a way to survive after the planet was abandoned. Throughout the entire time, the only thing that they needed to do was to help the plants to grow. And this was what made it clear that Mandalore was still fertile enough for the Mandalorians to inhabit once again.

Moff Gideon’s Clones

Din Djarin found a way to get to Moff Gideon’s command center through the efforts of R5, who hacked into the system. The titular Mandalorian fought through several troopers that he cut off using the energy barriers that led to Gideon’s command center. And after he and Grogu defeated them, they found themselves in a room with tanks containing live people.

Upon closer inspection, Din and Grogu discovered that the people inside the tanks were Moff Gideon’s clones. It was clear that Gideon used Pershing’s research not to clone the emperor but to clone himself. And because one Gideon was already a handful for them to handle, Din decided to destroy them all at once.

Moff Gideon finally appeared to tell them that those clones were supposed to be perfect because they could use the Force, which was something that he never had. That was what made it clear that Gideon used Grogu in the past to isolate his Force abilities and use them to create clones that could use the Force. As such, it was obvious that Gideon was never working to pursue the greater goal of the Empire but was only working to pursue his goal of dominating the galaxy.

Jetpack Dogfight

Soon after Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorian scouts were able to find shelter in the garden in Mandalore, the Armorer contacted her to tell her that her backup had now arrived. The Mandalorians flew out of the drop ships to rendezvous with Bo-Katan’s group as they all rallied together to take out Gideon’s Stormtroopers, who flew up in their jetpacks as well.

As such, a jetpack dogfight between the Mandalorians and the troopers began. Bo-Katan led the way with the Darksaber as they took the fight to the overwhelming numbers of troopers. But while Gideon’s forces had the numbers, the Mandalorians were still the better-trained fighters. And that was why the dog fights up in the air slightly favored the Mandalorians.

Gideon and The Praetorian Guard in Action

The two fated enemies clashed in their armor in the scene involving Din and Gideon. But because Gideon’s Dark Trooper armor protected him and enhanced his strength, he was far too strong for Din to handle. Despite being the weaker fighter, Gideon proved to be too much of a match for Din. And the situation only got worse when the three members of the Praetorian Guard arrived to overwhelm him.

Grogu shot at the Praetorian Guard to take their attention away from Din. He isolated the three of them in a separate room to ensure they wouldn’t be a problem in the fight between Din and Gideon. But because the Praetorian Guard was too strong, it was clear that Grogu wouldn’t be a match for them. And Din Djarin knew this well enough to try to save the kid, all while Gideon ensured that the Mandalorian was isolated from Grogu.

Din Saves Grogu

Just as Gideon was overwhelming Din in their fight, Bo-Katan arrived just in time to switch dance partners and take on the moff herself. She told Din to save Grogu from the Praetorian Guard as she was ready to handle their common enemy.

Din entered the room to find Grogu jumping from one platform to another to stay away from the Praetorian Guard. Nevertheless, they got him cornered and were about to kill him before Din prevented them from dealing the final blow. A battle between Din and the Praetorian Guard commenced while Bo-Katan tried her best to keep Gideon at bay.

While Din wouldn’t have been able to beat the Praetorian Guard alone, he was lucky enough that Grogu was around to back him up. Using the Force to push away the other Guard members from Din and provide support whenever the Mandalorian needed it, Grogu successfully assisted Djarin in the victory against their enemies.

The Mandalorians Triumph

Gideon continued to overwhelm Bo-Katan in their fight. While that was happening, Axe Woves contacted her to tell the Mandalorians that he was going to crash the light cruiser into the Imperial Base and that they needed to escape in time before that happened. But Kryze just couldn’t keep up with the power of Gideon’s armor.

Bo-Katan tried her best to fight back against Gideon. However, the Moff was too strong. He managed to grab Bo-Katan’s hand and destroy the Darksaber, as this was his way of telling them that the Mandalorians were now finished. He also told them that the Mandalorians are nothing without their weapons.

Luckily for Bo-Katan, she wasn’t alone. Din Djarin and Grogu arrived in time to back her up. This turned things into a three-on-one affair as Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan worked together to overwhelm Gideon. Nevertheless, their weapons weren’t strong enough to penetrate Gideon’s armor.

While the fight was happening, the other Mandalorians could fly out of the base before the light cruiser crashed. The trio fighting Gideon couldn’t escape in time but was able to push the moff far enough for the explosion from the crashed light cruiser to kill him. But the flames reached the trio as well.

As the flames from the explosion died down, it was revealed that Grogu used the Force to create a barrier that protected him, Din, and Bo-Katan from getting caught in the explosion. Moff Gideon was finally defeated along with the other Imperials that were on the planet.

A Happy Ending for Father and Son

After Gideon’s defeat, the scenes shifted to the Living Waters of Mandalore, where the Children of the Watch were ready to allow Ragnar to recite the creed once more after his first attempt at doing so back in episode 1 was so rudely interrupted by the dinosaur turtle that attacked them. This time, Ragnar could complete his oath and was ready to bring honor to the house that his father left.

Meanwhile, Din Djarin told the Armorer that he wished for Grogu to be added to their ranks as a true Mandalorian, only for the Armorer to tell him that he was far too young to recite the creed. That was when Din told her that he wished to adopt him as his own to voluntarily include Grogu in the tribe. As such, Grogu was now Din Grogu and was now Din Djarin’s adopted son. The father and son duo was told to leave Mandalore for adventures so that Djarin could train Grogu.

Bo-Katan, meanwhile, took her rightful place as the ruler of Mandalore after lighting up the Great Forge in front of a united Mandalore. She could now take back her home planet and unite the people of Mandalore under one banner despite their differences and even though the Darksaber was now destroyed.

Din and Grogu went to Adelphi to meet with Carson Teva, who thanked them for defeating Moff Gideon. But Din Djarin told Teva that he wanted to work as an independent contractor for the New Republic because he wanted to avoid doing jobs that were no longer in line with his moral compass. Teva understood this was a good deal because the New Republic Defense Fleet lacked the manpower to round up all of the Imperials and often could not act without their superiors telling them what they couldn’t do. As such, this implies that Din and Grogu would now work as off-the-books bounty hunters for the New Republic.

Din asked Carson to give him the head of an old IG model as payment for his services. He used this to restore IG-11 back in Nevarro so that the former assassin droid could now work as the new marshal of the planet. Greef Karga was kind enough to give Din and Grogu their own house on Nevarro so they could have a home to return to between missions. Season 3 ended with a shot of Grogu using the Force to play with a frog just outside their new home on Nevarro.