‘The Mandalorian’, “Chapter 23 – The Spies” Recap

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Episodes of ‘The Mandalorian’, “Chapter 23 – The Spies” Recap

Credit: Inside the Magic

The Mandalorian is jetpacking towards a big finish, and all hyperspace lanes lead to Mandalore. This episode serves us up some villainous reveals as well as moments of wonder, devastation, and violence — as you might expect from a warfaring people returning to storm their ancestral home. Let’s find out what happens in “Chapter 23 – The Spies”…

(L-R): Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) with the Darksaber in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

Related: ‘The Mandalorian’, “Chapter 22 – Guns For Hire” Recap

The episode opens with Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian) stalking through the understreets of Coruscant.

Ducking down a side alley, she receives a message from a hidden Imperial probe droid. It projects a hologram of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who expresses his disappointment at the Mandalorians’ interference on Nevarro. The pirates were orchestrated by the Imperials. Gideon says he will deal with the Mandalorians himself.

We cut to Gideon’s location. He’s within a hidden Imperial base, and enters a conference room where the Shadow Council gathers, the remaining leaders of the Imperial Remnant. Among their number we see Brendol Hux (Brian Gleeson), father to the sequel trilogy’s Armitage Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) and in charge of the Emperor’s prized scientific resurrection program, Project Necromancer.

Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon in 'The Mandalorian'
Credit: Lucasfilm

It’s clear that there is an ambition for power from Gideon, who is not satisfied with the value the council places in the prospect of Grand Admiral Thrawn returning to lead the Empire once again, when the character is thus far still missing. He dismisses Captain Gilad Pellaeon’s (Xander Berkeley) concerns over his plans. Hux confronts Gideon about his interference with Pershing and the cloning, something which seems outside his remit.

Gideon has placed a request for Praetorian Guards and TIE Interceptor and Bomber reinforcements, to deal with the Mandalorians. He convinces them to approve the request by highlighting his theory that they are planning to retake Mandalore.

On Nevarro, we see a huge Imperial light cruiser, branded with the symbol of the Mythosaur, pull in above the city. The Mandalorians have come to claim their land, gifted to them by Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) expresses to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) hope that the two groups get along as this is their first meeting.

(L-R): Nevarro copper droid (Chris Bartlett) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

On the ground, we see the privateers meet the covert members, removing their helmets. The Armorer (Emily Swallow) welcomes them and invites them to make camp, preparing a feast for them.

Karga gives Djarin a bottle from Coruscant, and another gift: a reprogrammed IG-11 (now IG-12). Inside is an Anzellan pilot, turning the droid into more of a mech than a sentient machine. He hops out, eyeing Grogu warily — and warning again, ‘no squeezie’ — before handing the droid over. Grogu fits inside and uses the voice functions to communicate that he is old enough to pilot it. He begins to walk the mech around Karga’s office, repeatedly hitting the ‘yes’ speech function.

Anzellans (Shirley Henderson) in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

In the Nevarro streets he is using the droid to eat as much as he can get his mech’s hands on. Djarin says the arrangement isn’t working for him.

At the encampment, we see the two factions eyeing one another with suspicion. Bo-Katan leads the discussion of retaking Mandalore itself, proposing to move the fleet there so they can scout directly. She mentions the bombings having awoken creatures there.

Djarin and Grogu volunteer first, followed by more and more members of each side, including the Armorer herself.

Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) alongside Grogu on Mandalore
Credit: Lucasfilm

Above the storms on Mandalore, we see the scouting party descend into the lightning. On the drop ship, we see the party get their first glimpse of the planet’s ruined surface, discussing how it is worse than they imagined from the stories. One of them was here during the bombing itself.

They land on the site of the old capital, Sundari. Their plan is to form a safety zone to then bring settlers down into. A ship with sails approaches from the horizon. It is a group of Mandalorians, who recognise Bo-Katan’s voice and the Nite Owl crest. They are loyal to her. They say they refused to let any survivors leave the surface and made an example of Mandalore for refusing to surrender.

But Bo-Katan says she did surrender; after the Night of a Thousand Tears, she met with Moff Gideon and negotiated a cease fire which should have spared the remaining cities and lives. That’s how he came to have the Darksaber. But he betrayed her and continued the Purge as planned.

The Armorer (Emily Swallow) in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

The Armorer says they survived by hiding on Concordia, but not Death Watch due to that group dividing internally into fighting factions. Bo-Katan says it is their own division that destroys them.

Later, Djarin tells Bo-Katan that they were wrong to believe everyone was selfish and had forsaken The Way. But together they will rebuild it. She says they have only the saber to unite them. Djarin says they do it not for the blade, but for her character, her leadership.

The survivors agree to lead Bo-Katan’s group to the Great Forge itself, while the Armorer takes the injured back to the fleet.

On the surface, we see Paz Viszla (Tait Fletcher) playing a board game with Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides). It’s a microcosm of the tensions between the two groups and breaks into violence after Viszla pulls a vibroblade. Both groups let the fight play out, until Grogu steps in to hold them apart in his mech suit. Bo-Katan says he taught him well, but Djarin says he didn’t teach him that.

Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal, top right) and Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher, foreground right) in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

As they approach the Forge’s location, we see a great beast emerge from the rubble. It destroys their ship as the Mandalorians flee into the nearby rock formation. They make it down to what’s left of the Great Forge. They’re suddenly attacked by Imperial jet troopers.

Fending them off, they accidentally follow them into an ambush within a hidden imperial base on the planet’s surface. We see Djarin captured by the overwhelming odds and Gideon lane in his own jet armor. Gideon says he has created the next generation Dark Trooper suit, forged from Beskar alloy and worn by himself. He is using the best of the Jedi, cloners and Mandalorians to create an unstoppable force.

He prepares to deploy his aerial forces to destroy the Mandalorian fleet. He asks Bo-Katan to surrender the Darksaber. She begins to cut them an exit while the rest of the Mandalorians open fire on their enemy. Paz is covering their retreat. He closes the door on her to hold them off and buy them time.

After taking out the regular garrison, he is confronted by Gideon’s Praetorian Guards, who take him out as a trio.

Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon in 'The Mandalorian'
Credit: Lucasfilm

This Is The Way (We See It) The Mandalorian:

What an episode — after a season of teasing, Moff Gideon has returned in the flesh. We knew it was coming, but he is certainly back with a vengeance and no less ruthless or power-hungry. Making Mandalore his base of operations is another spit in the face and insult to the Mandalorians he already oppressed, humiliated, and eliminated. (Although, on one level, props to the Imperial Remnant for deciding that putting up with giant monsters and the devastated surface of the planet was worth it. Truly next-level secret base-ing.)

We saw the heavyweight Paz Viszla go down in a ferocious fight, it taking no less than three Praetorian Guards to bring him down. The rest of the Mandalorians have made it away, for now, but next episode’s finale seems set to be a race for survival as the fleet in orbit deals with Gideon’s newly requisitioned fighter squadron and those on the floor try to survive his Dark Trooper armor.

(L-R): Anzellans (Shirley Henderson) and Grogu in Lucasfilm's THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Credit: Lucasfilm

My personal highlight of the episode comes from a super combo of two of my favorite Star Wars things: Grogu (Baby Yoda) and the Anzellans. Yes, our very own ‘bad baby’ now has a bad mech to match, able to drive IG-12 from a seat within the chassis and vocalize to great effect. I audibly cackled at Grogu walking down Nevarro’s streets hammering the ‘yes’ button like a child who has just gained access to one of those DJ keyboards in music class.

A small confession: I was lucky enough to be at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, where the first 8 minutes of this episode were previewed to the Studios panel audience and introduced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy themselves. Fans who returned later that evening could watch the whole thing in advance, and what an experience that must have been as a group (I didn’t see that, because I’m dedicated to experiencing these episodes in turn with the rest of the world/ I already had theatre tickets).

The Mandalorian seems to have assembled all of its pieces for a grand fight of a finale. I’m interested to see if Kane receives any justice for eliminating Dr Pershing, or if she will continue to operate unseen within the New Republic’s Coruscant infrastructure. I think the season has been interesting in defying expectations: for a long time, the stage looked set for a confrontation between Bo-Katan and Din Djarin, but that simply didn’t come to pass, with a storyline of unification and developing camaraderie taking its place.

Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn in Ahsoka
Credit: Lucasfilm

Related: Thrawn’s Live-Action Visuals Stumped Lucasfilm’s Production Team

In some ways, perhaps that’s the more interesting route, instead of focusing on uniting and getting retribution for a fractured people, over fracturing them further.

The long blue shadow of Grand Admiral Thrawn is cast across both of these final episodes. The much-anticipated villain is surely incoming. We know he will be making an appearance in Ahsoka, but I anticipate him making his debut in the final moments of this season, perhaps stepping in to handle the situation himself if Gideon is not successful in repelling the Mandalorians from retaking their home.

What did you think to this penultimate episode of The Mandalorian’s third season? Tell us in the comments below.

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