The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 “The Spies” Review
“The Mandalorian” is gearing up for its season three finale in a big way.
Spoilers ahead.
The episode starts off on Coruscant, where Elia secretly meets with the M.I.A. Moff Gideon, who makes his first appearance this season.
Elia tells the Moff that Karga asked Din for help on Nevarro, and she believes that the Mandalorians are going to try to take back their home planet.
After meeting, Gideon summons the Shadow Council, which consists of Brendol Hux (General Hux’s father) and Gilad Pellaeon (Thrawn’s right-hand man from the Expanded Universe), and while Pellaeon swears that Thrawn will make his return, Gideon and the rest of the Council agree, more or less, to let Gideon take control of the remnants of the Empire.
On Nevarro, Bo-Katan brings back Woves and his covert to meet with Din’s covert, and the two sides agree to go back to Mandalore. Before they go, Karga gifts Grogu with a refurbished IG-11, which Grogu can drive and communicate with Din.
On Mandalore, Bo-Katan is greeted by the last group of Nite Owls, the faction that she led in “The Clone Wars.”
They tell her that they survived the bombings and can lead Bo-Katan to the Forge, the last ruin of Mandalore. While that crew goes off, the Armorer brings injured and sick Nite Owls back to the fleet in orbit to receive medical help.
In the Forge, the Mandalorians are ambushed by Gideon’s new Shadow Troopers, and when Bo-Katan’s group advances, they find out that Gideon has transformed Mandalore into his own Death Star-style battle station.
Gideon traps Din and takes him away for debriefing, and he also tells Bo-Katan to give him the Darksaber back or he will bomb the rest of the Mandalorians. In an unspoken agreement, Bo-Katan ignites the Darksaber and leads the covert out while Paz Vizla stays behind to fight.
Vizla takes down at least twenty Shadow Troopers, but three Praetorian Guards come out and easily kill Vizla.
This was the best episode of the season.
The episode tied in so much from the Expanded Universe and then upcoming “Ahsoka” show, especially with the Thrawn lore.
Fans who enjoyed Timothy Zahn’s original “Heir to the Empire” trilogy appreciated Captain Pellaeon, who was remembered as a mostly timid yet commanding officer in Thrawn’s new Empire.
He made brief appearances in the “Thrawn” novel and a voice cameo in the finale of “Rebels,” so Star Wars fans who have put the show down for years better get to watching.
The last five minutes of the episode was the best last five minutes of an episode, excluding the season two finale. It sets up the finale perfectly, with an ultimate quest to find Din and to explore Bo-Katan’s real potential as the leader of Mandalore.
Adrianna Gallucci is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.
