The Mandalorian's Season 3 finale saved the entire season by getting back to basics

The third season of The Mandalorian wrapped on Wednesday, and it was exactly what the franchise needed. As a whole, Season 3 has had its ups and downs with some meandering storylines and wondering where things would go.

WARNING: Spoilers for the season finale of The Mandalorian follow. Continue at your own risk.

Well worry no more. Showrunners Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau stuck the landing in the final episode, getting back to what made The Mandalorian such a hit to begin with.

We had so much Grogu and Din Djarin screen time, impressive fight scenes and high stakes moments. After last week’s episode, fans were prepared for the worst: Another heartbreaking finale. The titular Mandalorian, Din Djarin, had been captured by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and the rest of the Mandalorians looked trapped and sweet baby Grogu was stressed by the proceedings while still moving about in his IG-12 ride.

For the first time in the show’s history, we got a finale that didn’t crush our entire spirit. Din Djarin, Bo-Katan and Grogu all traded fight assists, helping each other defeat (for now) Gideon and reclaim Mandalore. We saw Grogu employ skills learned from both his helmeted dad and from his days with Luke Skywalker, and we got a very Guardians of the Galaxy/Groot moment as our little green buddy used the Force to save the trio from deadly flames.

But most importantly, we got an official family happy ending for Djarin and the newly-adopted Din Grogu (we also learned that Din was his family name all along).

#TheMandalorian spoilers

how it started how it’s going pic.twitter.com/YdX52vRk0A

— han (@djarinhowlett) April 19, 2023

Of course, it wasn’t a perfect episode. The destruction of the dark saber seemed anti-climactic (all that anguish over something we lost so quickly?), and concerns about trying to connect the dots to the final trilogy that received mixed reviews.

While solo episodes like those that followed former Imperial officers on questionable searches or trips to meet Lizzo, Jack Black and Christopher Lloyd were hit or miss for many, this return to the formula down the back-half of the season helped close things on a high note.

We also now have an idea what we will see in Season 4 as Din Djarin will have to take his new apprentice and son Din Grogu on journeys to learn the way of the guild. Sign me up for Din family adventures.