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Well, that was one heck of a finale, eh?
Star Wars fans have had their fair share of complaints about The Mandalorian's third season, but Jon Favreau managed to bring everything together for an epic, emotional episode that felt more like a series finale than a season-ender.
Thanks to a timely assist from Grogu, Din Djarin is able to escape from the Stormtroopers taking him to Moff Gideon and proceeds to infiltrate the villain's base. Eventually finding his way to the Imperial's command center (courtesy of R5-D4), the bounty hunter is able to fight his way through Gideon's guards and comes face-to-face - or helmet-to-helmet - with his longtime foe after learning the truth behind his cloning experiments.
The two battle, and Grogu manages to draw away the Praetorian Guards. Both heroes are quickly overpowered by their respective foes, but Bo-Katan Kryze - who has led her remaining Mandalorians into battle - arrives right in the nick of time.
Din and Grogu kill those formidable bodyguards, but Gideon destroys the Darksaber while fighting Bo-Katan. Luckily, the trio overpowers him and after Axe Woves sends their destroyed light cruiser hurtling towards the villains base, the Imperial is immersed in flames and seemingly blown to smithereens, a fate Grogu uses the Force to protect himself, Din, and Bo-Katan from.
Gideon is, however, wearing his helmet and armour when that explosion rocks the base so, you never know, he may well have survived.
With the day won, Din Djarin officially adopts Grogu, making his new Mandalorian apprentice his son. He is now Din Grogu, and they must leave Mandalore so The Child can embark on what The Armorer calls his "journeys." Meanwhile, deep beneath the bowels of the planet, we see that the Mythosaur remains very much awake...and that it might be connected to Grogu through the Force.
Bo-Katan later reignites Madalore's forge as its new ruler, while Din and Grogu head to that New Republic base. Talking to Carson Teva, the bounty hunter unofficially takes on work for the New Republic as an independent contractor who can hunt down more Imperial remnants.
A major return delivers one of the finale's most fan-pleasing moments and, back on Nevarro, they finally have that piece of land Greef Karga promised. That offers fans of the show a happy ending as Din enjoys his surroundings and Grogu uses the force to play with a frog.
There were no betrayals or major hero deaths in "The Return," but plenty of exciting developments that should come back around in future stories such as this August's Ahsoka and Dave Filoni's eventual crossover event movie.