This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com; be sure to keep checking that site for all the latest updates on Star Wars and The Mandalorian!
At the end of the latest episode of The Mandalorian, "The Spies," things do not end well for Din Djarin. Captured by Moff Gideon and his deadly new Stormtroopers (find out more about them by clicking here), it looks like the end could be nigh for our favourite bounty hunter...until he's carted away to the villain's debriefing room.
Gideon wants the Darksaber and begins to enact the second Purge of Mandalore, though the remaining Mandalorians - led by Bo-Katan Kryze and accompanied by Grogu - manage to make their escape.
However, in order to buy them some time, Paz Vizsla stays behind.
He's always been a formidable warrior and a character who has shown new sides of himself throughout season 3. Gunning down an entire platoon of Gideon's army, Paz is injured but lives to fight another day...until an enemy even he can't defeat makes their presence felt.
Supplied by Brendol Hux (we're sure that name rings a bell), three members of the Praetorian Guard appear and make short work of Paz, killing him in short order and showing no mercy. It's a heartbreaking moment and The Mandalorian's most shocking death since we bid farewell to IG-11 in season 1's emotional finale.
The Praetorian Guard would eventually serve Supreme Leader Snoke and were first introduced in The Last Jedi. It's unclear what role they currently serve in this version of the Empire, though we wouldn't be shocked if they're what remains of Emperor Palpatine's Red Guard, tasked with overseeing his planned resurrection.
In this instance, they've been ordered to protect Moff Gideon during his latest attack on Mandalore. Sadly, more deaths may well be coming considering the fact he sends his fleet of TIE Interceptors to destroy the fleet The Armorer had returned to just moments earlier.
While we're sad to bid farewell to Paz, this was one hell of a way for the character's story to end, with his heroic sacrifice buying his fellow helmeted warriors the time they needed to escape and regroup.
This is The Way!