Chapter 24: The Return

"Chapter 24: The Return" is the eighth episode and season finale of the third season of the American television series The Mandalorian. It was written by showrunner Jon Favreau and directed by Rick Famuyiwa. It was released on Disney+ on April 19, 2023, and received positive reviews.

Plot
Bo-Katan Kryze and her reconnaissance squad retreat from Moff Gideon's base. Upon returning to the Mandalorian flagship, Axe Woves sends the remaining Mandalorian fleet to reinforce the planetary troops, while he uses the ship as a decoy for attacking Imperial TIE squadrons. With assistance from Grogu, the Mandalorian escapes from captivity and seeks out Gideon, fighting off numerous beskar-enhanced stormtroopers along the way. The Mandalorian and Grogu discover cloning tanks, which are filled with clones of Gideon, and subsequently destroy them. Bo-Katan and the Armorer lead the Mandalorian reinforcements into the Imperial base and engage in a lengthy skirmish with Gideon's stormtroopers.

The Mandalorian confronts Gideon, who reveals that the clones would have been able to use the Force, but is unable to match Gideon's own suit of beskar armor. Bo-Katan arrives and duels Gideon with the Darksaber, allowing the Mandalorian to leave the fight and defeat Gideon's Praetorian Guards with Grogu. Gideon destroys the Darksaber, but is overpowered by the combined efforts of the Mandalorian, Bo-Katan, and Grogu. Woves rams the Mandalorian capital ship into the Imperial base and Gideon is consumed by the resulting blast; Grogu protects Bo-Katan and the Mandalorian from the blast with a Force barrier.

After the battle, the Great Forge at the heart of Mandalore is restarted and the Mandalorian formally adopts Grogu as "Din Grogu" (after the Mandalorian's birth name "Din Djarin"), allowing him to become his apprentice. Afterwards, the Mandalorian takes up honest contract work with Carson Teva and moves into a cabin on the outskirts of Nevarro's capital, as previously offered to him by Greef Karga, while IG-11 is rebuilt by the Anzellan mechanics to serve as Nevarro's new marshal.

Development
The episode was directed by Rick Famuyiwa, from a screenplay by series creator Jon Favreau.

Casting
Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff star as the Mandalorian and Bo-Katan Kryze, respectively. The Mandalorian is physically portrayed by stunt doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, with Wayne and Crowder receiving co-star credit.

The co-starring cast for this episode returned from previous episodes, including Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Emily Swallow as The Armorer, Simon Kassianides as Axe Woves, Mercedes Varnado as Koska Reeves, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Captain Carson Teva, and Taika Waititi as IG-11.

Music
Joseph Shirley composed the musical score for the episode, replacing Ludwig Göransson.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a score of 76% based on reviews from 22 critics. The website's critics consensus reads: "A disjointed season yields a clunky climax, but "The Return" concludes this particular saga on a high enough note while also promising a fresh start for The Mandalorian going forward".