REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian,’ Season 3 Episode 7 — “Chapter 23”

Directed by executive  Rick Famuyiwa, The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 wastes no time getting into the moments that will have fans whooping and hollering. On Coruscant, Imperial spy Elia Kane, makes contact with Moff Gideon, updating him on the Mandalorian’s involvement in the liberation of Navarro via an Imperial probe droid. Despite not confirming how he escaped, the mere appearance of an Imperial probe droid on Coruscant immediately calls into question the true effectiveness of the New Republic during this transitionary period. This is further explored when following the transmission, Gideon meets with the Imperial Shadow Council.

 References to TIE Interceptors and Imperial Warlords have been scattered throughout the season. Initially thought to be a singular Imperial at the helm, is actually a collection of Imperial officers working together secretly. Many, myself included, hoped that the leader of these Imperial remnants would be Grand Admiral Thrawn. However, through conversations with high-ranking Imperials like Brendol Hux and Gilad Pellaeon, it would appear that the wait for Thrawn to reemerge is becoming tiresome for many of the officers present. Gideon looks to capitalize on the vacuum in power by diverting Imperial forces to combat the growing Mandalorian threat going as far as to request TIE Inceptors and Praetorian Guards to take to Mandalore. It’s here that the larger themes of this season really begin to make themselves known in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7. 

 Much of Season 3 has been a look at how various cultures and factions in the Star Wars universe working together can play out. For some like in the case of the Mandalorians, they are clearly stronger together. Bo-Katan says as much as to the point where “Mandalorians Are Stronger Together” was plastered on shirts in the official store at Star Wars Celebration 2023. Independent systems like Navarro and Plazir-15 found groups that had a mutual interest in building their thriving societies and leaned on others when necessary. We have even seen when this attempt at collaboration can not work so well, as it is clear the New Republic’s attempt to reintroduce former Imperials into society is not as sound as they think. Further, in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7, we can see what happens when the Imperials, as broken and divided as they are, decide to pool their resources together for what they deem as the great good.

Just like we saw Bo-Katan Kyrze get passed the torch of leader in last week’s episode, so to do we see a similar occurrence in Imperial leadership with Moff Gideon. He is granted the resources he requested, leading to a showdown with the Mandalorians later in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7. But first, the Mandalorians have to get back to Mandalore. After some tenuous interactions with the two different Mandalorian sects on Navarro, Bo-Katan leads her people back to Mandalore in an attempt to investigate and retake the planet. With the stolen Imperial fleet orbiting above Mandalore, Bo-Katan takes a small fleet down to the surface, where the shift to Bo-Katan Kyrze being THE Mandalorian continues.

The sequences that lead up to the inevitable showdown do much to reinforce that Din Djarin has effectively stepped back as the series’s titular character.  On Mandalore, Kryze leads the strike team where they find Mandalorian survives the Night of a Thousand Tears. Despite the revelation of Gideon’s betrayal at the hands of Bo-Katan’s attempt at peace, the survivors, the Children of the Watch, the remnants of the Nite Owls, and the rest of the Mandalorians choose to follow Kryze.

Din Djarin even goes as far as to say that it is not the one who holds the Dark Saber that he chooses to follow. His words are reminiscent of Sabine Wren’s words to Bo-Katan in Star Wars Rebels when she gave the Dark Saber to Kyrze because of her natural ability to lead and the content of her character. It is clear that the Mandalorians are no longer stuck in the ways that have led them to be splintered and divided. However, this doesn’t mean that their path to regaining their sovereignty will be an easy mission.

With the power of a stolen Imperial fleet, the Mandalorians do look more than poised to achieve their goals in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7. However, the overwhelming determination of Moff Gideon may be too much by the season’s end. Gideon himself takes the lesson of the season that encourages collaboration to foster a new era and twists that to his own aspirations. Through some very intense action sequences when the Mandalorians make it to the Great Forge, it is clear that we as fans have vastly underestimated Moff Gideon as a villain. His planning rivals Darth Sidious and his understanding of cultures rival that of Grand Admiral Thrawn. By taking the best of the Empire, the Mandalorians, and even the Jedi Gideon now possess the tools to be a real threat to not only Kryze and company but the New Republic as well.

By the end of The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7, many of the questions that fans have had given the structure of the season have been answered. The incompetence of the New Republic shows how something the like the Imperial Shadow Council could have come to be. The true story of how Bo-Katan Kyrze and the Mandalorians lost their homeworld and the Dark Saber. Even what it means to be a Mandalorian is all but solidified as the group is unified for the first time since their defeat at the hands of the Empire.

With answers come questions that the finale will surely answer. Mentions of Project Necromancy and Thrawn will surely have the lore faithful busy all week. But the biggest of course being, will we see the conflict between Moff Gideon and the Mandalorians resolved next week, or can we expect Dave Filoni’s newly announced movie to focus their war? There is a special sense of importance involved in trusting the showrunners behind a franchise we all love so much. When viewers may have been disappointed in the ends of popular shows like How I Met Your Mother or Games of Thrones, that trust might be harder to give. However, The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 is a great example of what can be if patience is the path taken over dismissing a season in the early going.

Unlike its predecessors, season three of The Mandalorian has had its fair share of discourse in the Star Wars community. Some fans find issues with the season’s pacing and sense of direction, chalking up Din Djarin’s missions during the early episodes and emphasizing the New Republic as “filler.” Others see the shift to Bo-Katan Kyrze being the show’s titular character, as directly undermining Din’s characterization over the last two seasons. Then there is the camp waiting for the smaller story beats that have shown character growth and galaxy-building to come together in the ultimate payoff. The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 will have the latter group pleasantly validated in the latest penultimate episode.

The Mandalorian has always been through the perspective of Din Djarin, which we can all learn a lot from when looking at being fans of this franchise. Whether you are a new Star Wars fan or a longtime die-hard, we have seen the galaxy expand and grow through his perspective. Through the people that Din has met, he has had a clear shift in the way he has lived his life and interacted with the galaxy large. Director Rick Famuyima and The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 solidify the importance of not being stuck in the old ways that have kept the likeminded separated for so long. It is true for the Mandalorian, the remnants of the Empire, and even more for fans of Star Wars as we enter this new Era.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 is available now, with new episodes of The Mandalorian premiering Wednesdays on Disney+.