SPOILERS ARE STRONGER TOGETHER
One of the secrets in the sauce of Star Wars is that it is, and always has been, quaint. Even when the original film blasted into cinemas over forty years ago, it was a technological masterpiece with a throwback heart. It’s easy to forget for a modern audience that Star Wars was released three years after Richard Nixon resigned and just two years after the Vietnam War came to an end. America was a country in turmoil and just about to turn to Ronald Reagan for a dose of sunny, authoritarian, “Just Say No To Drugs” vibes. Star Wars was made with cutting edge special effects, but in the spirit of a simpler time.
The Mandalorian lives in that ethos. It’s not an examination of the darkness inside us. It’s not trying to throw us curve balls or challenge what we know about Star Wars. It’s about a very shiny hero who loves a very cute baby. It’s about their adventures. Even when it’s painting a picture on a larger canvas, it’s a portrait of two noble characters who are just trying to make their way in the universe.
The finale of the third season, “The Return,” has a clear focus on The Mandalorian himself and his ward, as they fight side by side to rid themselves of this troublesome Moff. The finale didn’t use the emotional cheat code of a surprising cameo or an unexpected twist. There’s not even an end-credits scene (which is fine, Star Wars lived a happy life for decades without the Marvel-now-mandatory end credit scene deal). It trusts that completing this chapter in The Book of Din is enough.
That’s always been true of this show, truth be told. One might mistake, for example, the operatic audaciousness of Luke Skywalker’s appearance at the end of the second season as Jon Favreau trying to surprise us, but I think it was the opposite. I think that the only character that really made sense to appear in that moment was Luke Skywalker. They made the obvious choice, even if many of us assumed that choice was unavailable to a TV show.
Nothing in “The Return” is shocking, exactly, but it’s all delightful and affecting. We see Bo-Katan Kryze realize her power lies not in the Darksaber but in her community. We see Mando do his best John Wick impersonation. There’s a showdown with the super-cool Praetorian Guards. We see the Mandalorians return en masse to their planet and kick a whole lot of imitator ass. We see a capital ship crashing into the Imperial base, wiping it out for good. We see the Great Forge relit. We see the Mythosaur stir. IG-11 returns as the new Cara Dune. We even get Trapper Wolf. (Who doesn’t seem too busy to help the Mandalorians, frankly.)
Moff Gideon is finally defeated but not before he, in classic villain fashion, reveals his sinister plan to our heroes. (While Dr. Pershing never returns to the series, I think we are meant to assume his mind has been flayed and he’s been forced back into Imperial ‘service.’) Moff Gideon’s cloning plan doesn’t wind up being the return of The Emperor (that’s for Hux in another storyline) but the return of himself. Gideon’s mission to steal Grogu’s blood and capture Mandalore were hilariously ego-driven, his preening self-regard turned into a whole plan to make an army of Force-wielding enunciators. I love that Gideon is the kind of bad guy that can’t think of a better ultimate weapon than more Hims.
I was expecting Axe Woves (whose name, I mean come on, that name, I just can’t, it’s the best and also, I mean, Axe Woves) to (as my wife put it) Laura Dern, but instead the only heroic death is that of the Darksaber itself.
A thousand dorks like me felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if a really a very cool toy cried out in terror, and was suddenly silenced. We felt something terrible had happened. The Darksaber’s death made me wonder 1) if it’s a huge pain in the ass to shoot black-on-black and if maybe the production team was happy to be rid of it and 2) if lightsabers come back as Force Ghosts?
And, at last, Grogu and The Mandalorian make it official. There wasn’t a lot of will-they-won’t they to this (other characters were already calling Din Djarin Grogu’s “Dad”), but there’s a big difference between “he’s like my son” and “he is my son.” Grogu is rechristened Din Grogu (awwww) and the two of them return to Nevarro to take Greef Carga up on his almost constant offers of a place to live. (I feel like if I bought Greef Carga an ice cream he’d try to give me property on the outskirts near the flats, too. He really wants to give people property.) Din and Grogu get a little house on the prairie together, where Din can literally put his feet up (wearing an entire suit of armor, naturally) and Grogu can put one-eyed frogs back in the pond, for once. They have something all their own. They even get a place to park their car, which, as a Brooklynite, it brought a tear to my eye. They have a parking space!
Most Star Wars characters don’t really have homes. Almost all of our main characters live on space-ships or in barracks. Obi-Wan Kenobi has a home we see briefly, but almost no one else has, you know, a house. Even the characters who do have homes live in barely furnished apartments or empty castles. Houses? Rare to non-existent for our Star Wars heroes.
That’s because houses are for people who live somewhere, who are citizens, not Gods. Even though this season inserted Grogu and Din into a wider conflict than the previous two, in the end, the series remembered that Mando & Son are special because they are not at the center of the Galactic Conflict. The saga films, the Episodes, are about mythical characters, both in and out of the fictional universe. The Mandalorian is about everyday characters in the universe. They’re not legends. They are adventurers among many in a Galaxy of Adventures.
Names in Star Wars have a lot of power and identity is at the core of each character’s struggle. Rey becomes Rey Skywalker, Ben Solo becomes Kylo Ren and then Ben Solo again. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi becomes Ben Kenobi. Han Solo’s last name was not originally Solo. Don’t even get me started on Queen-Senator Padme (Naberrie) Amidala. Princess Leia is adopted by the Organas. Grogu taking on the name Din Grogu is a part of a Star Wars tradition.
I have two adopted siblings. I know lots of folks who were adopted or did adopt. It’s a complicated, beautiful, challenging experience. When there was a subset of the fan base who rejected the idea of Rey being a Skywalker (“she’s not a real Skywalker!”) I wanted to ask them what they mean by real. If there’s anything Star Wars is about, it’s that some things are stronger than blood.
The most powerful choice we can make is how to construct our families - to have children, to adopt them, or not have them at all. Adoption is one of many choices available to us, and I hope all the choices that we might make remain forever available to us.
“The Return” felt like a period on the end of the sentence. There are undoubtedly more adventures to come, either in Mandalorian Season 4 or when Dave Filoni’s movie brings these characters back on the big screen. Stories have a way of continuing and this one will too. I found it refreshing and, as I said, quaint to just give our heroes a happy ending. Let Din and his new son enjoy making a meal or two, doing some light work for the New Republic, and lift stuff with the Force. They’ve earned it. This Is The Way.
Maybe they can host a Life Day special? Maybe they’ll be the most popular YouTube Lofi. Maybe the next genre Star Wars has in store for us is a multi-camera sitcom? “One-and-a-Half Dins.” You’re welcome Lucasfilm. That one’s free.
I loved this season for all its weirdness and wonder. It felt like we were taken on a Star Tour through modes of storytelling, from intrigue to celebrity appearances to procedurals to Kaiju battles to Order 66. In the end, the series brought the viewers out into uncharted territory, challenged us and tested our mettle, and then reestablished The Mandalorian’s firmest footing and strongest relationships.
“The Return” safely returned us, along with our heroes, home.
i enjoyed the finale, but could have used 10 minutes more. the pace was a tad too much for me and more breathing room would've been appreciate...and also a brief appearance by Sabine to link to Ahsoka :)