Ending Explained: 'The Mandalorian' Season Three Ending

The Mandalorian is over. Season three’s finale, “The Return”, directed by Rick Famuyiwa, tied up plot threads and loose ends from across the show’s three seasons so far, bringing a definitive ending to storylines while leaving some threads dangling for the future… Here’s how we left our favorite bounty hunter.

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Most of the finale was spent in the climactic confrontation with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who last episode revealed his hidden base beneath the ruins of Mandalore’s surface and his new, shiny Dark Trooper armor set.

Stakes seemed to be at an all time high as Paz Viszla (Tait Fletcher) went down fighting against the unstoppable might of the Praetorian Guards. Our heroes were on the back foot, Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) leading the ground forces into the warren of tunnels as Gideon’s forces took Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) into custody. In the skies, Gideon’s squadron were set to engage the unsuspecting Mandalorian fleet.

Over the course of the roughly 30-minute finale, we saw Gideon’s forces clash against the might of the united Mandalorians. The Moff held strong against Djarin, but when Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda — himself) and Bo-Katan get involved, they just about fight him to a standoff. It takes a crashing cruiser, piloted by Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides), to draw the battle to a full conclusion, with Gideon disappearing into the blast and our heroes protected by Grogu’s extraordinary Force abilities. Also up in smoke? Gideon’s cloning laboratory, where it was revealed that his overarching plan was to create an army of himself, enhanced with Force-abilities taken from Grogu.

In the aftermath, we see the Great Forge relit, hinting at the true start of a return to the Mandalore of old. Earlier, we’d also seen that the planet’s flora can thrive still under the right conditions, again hinting that this supposedly cursed wasteland does have the potential to rejuvenate with care and supervision. That restoration also includes the revival of old traditions: below Sundari, the capital, the waters are used once again to bind new Mandalorians to the Creed — including non-other than the newly adopted Din Grogu, now officially Din Djarin’s son and a Mandalorian Apprentice.

The pair head to the New Republic’s Adelphi Base, where Djarin has a proposal. He will help them hunt down other Imperial Remnants and defend the Outer Rim, in return for… scrapped assassin droid parts. They agree. This moment would suggest that the cancelled Rangers of the New Republic series has perhaps been reworked into season four of the show, with our lead pair fighting the fledgling First Order on the galaxy’s fringes.

The true ending of The Mandalorian goes back to where they began, Nevarro. Djarin is gifted that cabin Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) promised. Out on the range, we feel the Western vibes as our titular Mandalorian sits outside him homestead and Grogu plays with a frog in a nearby pond.

There’s no post-credits scene, or suggestion of danger to come; instead, things conclude on a fairly contented note, in a manner which suggests this is the ending of a broader chapter for The Mandalorian and the future could hold something slightly different. Moff Gideon’s body is never seen, so you can’t definitively draw a line under that one — and absolutely not when we know cloning was involved — but for all intents and purposes, it would feel like a good time to park that villain and allow another, perhaps more blue-skinned opponent to begin to rise to the fore…

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Grand Admiral Thrawn is most certainly on the horizon, after the opening scenes of last week’s episode spoke directly to the Imperial genius’s potential return. He will form a key part of the Rosario Dawson-starring Ahsoka Tano series — the next installment in the Dave Filoni/ Jon Favreau universe — so will surely crossover to impact the world of The Mandalorian too.

Grogu’s official status as an Apprentice may also mean that we begin to see him mature into an accomplished fighter like his father, especially after he became more actively involved in the heavy combat of this finale. The implication that Djarin and Grogu are about to head off on many more adventures in this ending is similar to the way The Mandalorian started: weekly stories which didn’t necessarily have to link to an overarching wider plot.

What did you think to The Mandalorian’s finale? Where do you think the show will go next? Tell us in the comments below.