The Empire’s plans have started to come into sharp focus in Chapter 23 of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3, ‘The Spies.’
As Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3 reaches its endgame, questions are finally being answered and the stage is set for an epic series finale. After last week’s brief detour, the main cast of character’s combine their forces and head back to Mandalore, on a mission to discover if the battle-ravaged planet can be reclaimed once more.
Chapter 23 kicks off on Coruscant, with Imperial spy Elia Kane having a clandestine hologram meeting with Moff Gideon via probe droid. She tells Gideon about the Mandalorian’s defeat of the pirate forces on Nevarro, but he dismisses the tale and states that the disparate factions would never work together.
He then meets with the Imperial Shadow Council to discuss the hidden Empire’s plans and we get our first live-action appearance of Captain Pellaeon, otherwise known as Grand Admiral Thrawn’s right-hand man. The various Imperial remnants squabble amongst themselves, each with their own agendas and goals, but all are united in their objective to remove the threat of the Mandalorians once and for all.
Back on Nevarro a salvaged IG-11 becomes a vehicle for Grogu to sit in and pilot, allowing the youngling to hold his own in the dangerous mission ahead. The Mandalorian fleet then heads back to their home world, with a small scouting party landing on the planet and encountering ragtag survivors of The Night of a Thousand Tears.
Making their way below the surface of Mandalore, the group is surprised to not only encounter a new style of Stormtroopers that are outfitted with jetpacks and Beskar armour, but also a hidden underground Imperial base. A fierce firefight sees the Mandalorians walk into a trap set by Moff Gideon, who has created his own sleek black armoured suit from the world’s precious metal.
Gideon’s forces cut off the Mandalorian warriors and Din Djarin is captured. Forced to defend himself, Paz Vizsla makes the ultimate sacrifice when he takes on three Praetorian guards singlehandedly, giving the rest of his people enough time to escape into the caves and plan their next move…
Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3 is streaming on Disney+ for all subscribers, with Chapter 24 having dropped yesterday.
Images: Star Wars
