Awesome / The Mandalorian

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

A remnant of Mandalore faces what's left of the Empire.

The awesomeness of live-action Star Wars, now brought to you on the small screen by Jon Favreau and his crews with state of the art blockbuster craft.

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Season 1

Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

• With IG-11, we finally get to see what an IG series of Assassin Droid can do in combat, and it fully lives up to the hype. IG-11 coldly and efficiently cuts down the majority of the mercs guarding the facility where the bounty of the episode is holed up - a completely literal killing machine. With a full 360-degree rotation of multiple sections of its body and head it can track and fire on targets coming from any angle, and its plating allows it to shrug off blaster fire that would have reduced a B1 battle droid to scrap in one hit. There's a reason it felt confident enough to boldly stride right up to the gates of the facility and demand its quarry.
• The Mandalorian reminds us why his people are considered some of the galaxy's best warriors. He effortlessly demolishes a bunch of thugs at a bar, treats a Sea Monster dragging his ship down like an annoyance, and with some quick thinking manages to hijack a repeating blaster cannon and kill all the mooks that had deployed it against him and IG-11. And all this is done with sub-standard armor that he's trying to get replaced.
• This interaction between Mando and some Stormtroopers.
  Stormtrooper: We have you surrounded, 4 to 1.
  Mandalorian: I like those odds.
• The Client is very good at passing his Charisma checks. Just like Darth Vader in Episode 4, he knows that bounty hunters in Mandalorian armor should be treated respectfully. He greets the Mandalorian when he enters, praises him by saying he's known as the best in the parsec and, when tensions rise and blasters are lifted, he also says The Guild told him that the Mandalorian is "expensive. Very expensive", which is both another point of praise (for being worth every credit/flan) and a reminder that the pay for this mission is very high. This is far more successful than the stormtrooper's intimidation attempts.

Chapter 2: The Child

• Fans have often questioned how a race as weak, cowardly, and diminutive as the Jawas could survive on a planet teeming with hostile savages, ravenous fauna, and "wretched hives of scum and villainy". As of this episode, now we know: The mangy scoundrels rob the deadliest hunter in the parsec, fend him off with relative ease, and then have the gall to rope him into doing their dirty work. Not bad for a band of eccentric midgets.
  • As noted by the Mandalorian, their vehicle is essentially a mobile fortress and it's capable of moving at significant speed. Actual military can take them out easily, but for a lone bounty hunter or even a band of Tusken Raiders, it would be hard to take down.
• Having been thrown around and brutally beaten by a mudhorn, the Mandalorian pulls out a knife as it charges for him... only for the monster to stop mid-charge. Mando looks up and sees the mudhorn suddenly floating. He turns and sees the baby lifting it with the Force to give him an opening. The Child may chronologically be 50 years old, but he's still a baby - both physically and mentally. And yet he has enough control over the Force to lift a massive monster a good ways into the air (even if the act knocks him out for several hours). Even through his helmet we can see Mando's absolute shock at the baby's sudden display of power (and likely realization of why everyone is so desperate to capture the seemingly harmless baby).
• The Mandalorian expresses frustration about how long it will likely take to essentially rebuild his ship upon returning to it with the parts the Jawas stripped from it. Kuiil merely notes it might go faster if he helped and seemingly over the course of a night the two rebuild the Razor Crest to the extent it might as well have never been touched. Little wonder The Mandalorian is so impressed and grateful he offers Kuiil first a portion of the reward and then a job as a crewman.

Chapter 3: The Sin

• The revelation of Mando in his full Beskar armor. It's like the second coming of Jango Fett.
• After turning in the baby for the reward and almost leaving for a new job, the Mando decides he can't leave the baby at the mercy of the Client. He brutally dismantles the stormtroopers in a feat of stealth worthy of any assassin, one highlight being him using his grappling hook to pull an unaware trooper toward him before dispatching the unfortunate buckethead with his knife. After getting the baby back, he proceeds to fight off the remainder of stormtroopers with one arm as he holds the Child protectively to him in the other. He still plows through them with relative ease all the while holding the Child.
  • There's also something truly remarkable about Mando getting paid, then using what he was paid with to screw over his former employer.
• Surrounded and held at gunpoint by the entire bounty hunter guild, the Mando takes a second to assess himself, walks towards the droid-piloted speeder they want him to put the baby in... then proceeds to fight tooth and nail against the small army around him. He pulls out all the stops, fending them all off for a good while. It's a great display of the Mandalorian's tenacity and cleverness on the battlefield as he almost manages to escape all on his own. While he does eventually get surrounded and overpowered, it eventually leads to...
• The entire Mandalorian settlement coming to the rescue, complete with their culture's signature jet packs, to pull a You Shall Not Pass! on the bounty hunters to let him escape with the baby. This includes Paz, the big guy the Mando had gotten into a scuffle with, armed with a gatling laser cannon.
• Pershing shielded the Child from a man that he was almost certain was going to blow the kid away. Given that the Guild seems like the sort to shoot through someone to get a target, brave doesn't begin to cover it.

Chapter 4: Sanctuary

• The first time we see Cara, she manages to give the Mandalorian, who's decked out in full beskar armor, a serious fight. She and Mando prove to be neck and neck in fighting skills, with both going back and forth in having the upper hand, until eventually drawing on each other.
• Mando and Cara take down an AT-ST on foot, by luring it into a ditch, exploiting the walker's weakness of unsteady ground, and then throwing a grenade through the window. The walker's pilot almost catches on to the trap, requiring Cara to use herself as bait.
• Omera herself has a small moment of badass. When Mando asks the villagers who has experience in shooting, nobody raises their hand... except her. Later, during target practice, all the villagers are seen poorly shooting and have subpar ability. Then we focus on Omera, who effortlessly hits her target in the same place repeatedly over and over again - all with a proud smile on her face. Even Mando is impressed, simply staring at her in clear surprise and awe over her rather surprising ability. During the actual battle, she also has small but significant moments of taking charge when her fellow villagers aren't sure what to do and instruct them on what they need to do. She may be a single mom living a simple farming life - but she's definitely no Damsel in Distress and proves she can take care of herself.
• In the end, it wasn't the armor-clad protagonist, the former shock-troop Action Girl, or the child with mysterious powers who delivered the killing blow to the Klatoonian Warlord; it was Caben and Stoke, the two bumbling villagers who first tried to hire the Mandalorian and who could barely hold a stick during the training montage. Yet the moment they stopped cowering and made a stand, that warlord was dead meat.
  • It's the timing that sells it too. When the warlord is distracted by his armored support being destroyed, the two rush in and skewer him with their spears utilizing the bayonet thrust that they were taught. The two clearly are best friends and they sure as hell work well together. You see them slowly walking around their target on opposite sides of him so he can't focus on them individually and they keep out of each other's way.
• The AT-ST's appearance is pretty awesome in a terrifying way. This thing, which the Ewoks managed to outmaneuver and destroy via their many traps on Endor, was perfectly depicted as a legitimate threat against the protagonists, especially with the red lighting and glyphs plastered all over it making it look like some kind of eldritch monster. Against a simple village with only two people who know what it is and how to deal with it, light armored vehicles are monstrous in their power.
• Cara getting the drop on the Bounty Hunter that was about to kill the child. She doesn't hesitate, doesn't try to disarm him, she sees he's going to fire and promptly takes him out.

Chapter 5: The Gunslinger

• A moment sure to make any long time Star Wars fan sit up and say "No way!": the Mandalorian lands for fuel at none other than Mos Eisley, complete with a recreation of the opening shot of A New Hope.
• The episode begins with the Mandalorian being chased by a bounty hunter named Riot Mar in a fighter, who threatens him that "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold." The Mandalorian's response is to suddenly brake, let Mar fly past him, then quip "That's my line." before blowing him away.
• For the first time, we see a respectful and peaceful interaction with the Tusken Raiders. The Mandalorian treats them with respect and easily negotiates passage through their lands. A far cry from the way they're normally portrayed.
• Toro Calican, who for the entire episode was portrayed as a Naïve Newcomer in contrast to the Mandalorian, manages to subvert the Break Them by Talking cliche that Fennec Shand attempts on him. He decides to shoot her for being more trouble than she's worth and bring the Mandalorian to the bounty hunter's guild as a traitor instead, since that will undoubtedly grant the wealth and prestige he was looking for. It doesn't turn out well for him, but it's still refreshing to see.

Chapter 6: The Prisoner

• After so many episodes being a barely-held-together bucket of bolts, Zero manages to get some serious moves out of the Razor Crest.
• Mando takes out a squad of New Republic Battle Droids all on his own in true awesome fashion. The stunned looks on Mayfeld and Burg's faces as they watch says it all.
  • Not to be outdone, Burg beats a heavy security droid into a pile of scrap with another heavy security droid. After the betrayal, he also gives Mando the hardest fight of all the mercs.
  • It should be clarified, out of all the mercs, Burg is the only one who makes Mando work for it. He's strong enough that he can't just be overpowered and violent enough to kill without a second thought. When the Mando busts out his flamethrower, usually his trump card, Burg just takes advantage of the relatively obscure fact that Devaronians are flameproof and No Sells it. Even closing a starship door on him didn't stop him since he just lifted the damn thing up. Mando's follow up of shutting the blast doors also didn't kill him, just snapped off his horns.
• The baby running circles around Zero, who began hunting him down after learning of the bounty. The droid soon finds him, but the Child hid long enough for Mando to blast the droid before it could harm him.
• After being mocked and disrespected since their first meeting, Mando finally gets to lay justified beat downs on the criminals.
  • His fight with Xi'an, while brief, is pretty impressive. She's throwing knife-after-knife at him, which he deflects with his armor until he accidentally catches one in the shoulder. Xi'an goes in for the kill, only for Mando to rip the knife from his shoulder and use it to subdue her.
  • Mayfeld is the best as he's in complete terror now that he's being stalked by Mando, who was already upset after the former threatened his adopted kid.
    • How Mando stalks Mayfeld is straight out of a horror movie. The scene is filtered red by the security lights, setting the tense atmosphere. Mando slowly sneaks up behind the terrified former Imperial as the audience only catches glimpses of Mando through the flickering lights as he gradually gets closer. We then lose sight of Mando as Mayfeld turns around. Mando is suddenly right there behind him before Mayfeld sees him and screams.
  • On top of taking them down, the final scene shows he did so without killing them. All three criminals are now locked in a cell together and will get exactly what they deserve when the ship reaches its destination.
• After getting screwed over and mocked over an entire episode, Mando finally proves he's two steps ahead of the people who openly doubted his ability. He places a tracker on his quarry allowing the New Republic to shoot him and Ran down just as they try to betray and kill him. Despite their previous partnership, Mando knew he couldn't trust Ran and his instincts paid off.
  • Then there's the appearance of the classic X-Wings (not the T-70s introduced in The Force Awakens, but the T-65s from the original trilogy). There are only 3 of them, but they promptly lay waste to Ran's space station with just one pass.
  • As noted by several viewers, the calm and even somewhat jovial demeanor of the three X-wing pilots as they proceed with their attack like it's another day at the office says a lot about their characters. They're most likely veterans of the Galactic Civil War who fought for the Rebel Alliance through numerous uphill battles, maybe including the famed Battle of Endor itself as well, and lived to tell the tale. Taking down common space pirates would feel like a relaxing night out in comparison.

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

• We see for the first time how a TIE fighter (either a regular-issue fighter or one customized for Moff Gideon) lands on a surface... and it looks pretty badass.
• As they did in Rogue One, the Death Troopers prove to be the antithesis of every negative stereotype the stormtroopers have garnered over the years. Within seconds, they slaughter an entire room full of alert and ready soldiers, with the only survivors being those they wanted to spare. And all this happens before we even catch a glimpse of who's responsible for the carnage.
• Greef Karga shows off his gunslinger chops, blasting away two remaining bounty hunters after the Mandalorian and the Child. And he did this so quickly that Cara Dune and Mando manage to train their guns on him only after he raised his, to show he meant our heroes no harm. Kinda underlined his sincerity, didn't it?

Chapter 8: Redemption

• IG-11 gets to show off again. He comes across two scout troopers mistreating the baby and, when they refuse to hand him over, brutally demonstrates how easily meatbags can be physically broken by combat droids. Then he proceeds to steal one of their speeder bikes and cuts a swath of destruction through the city before taking on all the Stormtroopers while shielding the Child at the same time.
  IG-11: I am fulfilling my base function.
  Mandalorian: Which is?
  IG-11: To Nurse and Protect.
• Moff Gideon manages to make what would otherwise be dry Exposition into something chilling, revealing that he knows the identities of both The Mandalorian, Din Djarin; and Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan.
• The group is pinned and Mando is badly hurt, and now a Stormtrooper using a large flamethrower is about to kill them by burning them alive. The Stormtrooper walks in and large flames begin flying towards them. The group helplessly ducks down and just when all hope is lost... the Child steps forward and begins to use the Force to hold the huge wall of flames away from them. After briefly holding the flames, he then pushes and re-directs the flames back at the Stormtrooper, blowing him up with his own weapon. Once again, everyone is amazed and simply watch the Child's power in awe.
  • The flametrooper's entrance might be the first time since the opening minutes of A New Hope or when one shouted "TRAITOR!" that anyone decked out in a regular Stormtrooper armor actually looked badass.
  • This should also be noted as a bit of ironic badass-ness for those up on Star Wars lore. Mandalorians themselves use flamethrowers as a counter to Jedi since they can't be blocked with a lightsaber and force the Jedi to dodge their attack. While stopping flames with the Force is possible, it's very hard to do. Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars was able to stop a blast for a few seconds, but was critically injured. Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus was able to hold back a fuel tank explosion in Star Wars Rebels for about 30 seconds, but at the cost of his own life. So the Child easily pulling off a move that most Jedi knights have been unable to and is a known Mandalorian anti-Jedi attack, all while barely trained? Ironic yet also awesome.
• The Armorer chooses to stay behind in the Covert, refusing to leave her post until her job is done. Five Stormtroopers enter the Forge and find her kneeling with a hammer and tongs in hand. She proceeds to completely Curb Stomp all five of them. Her blows hit with so much force she's able to shatter the helmets of two troopers. Another trooper gets tossed headfirst into her forge.
  • At first, it looks like The Armorer is going to pull a Heroic Sacrifice. But, then we see how she isn't just strong, but a fully capable Action Girl as well. We see as she delivers her blows with impressive speed and precision. None of the Troopers are able to pull off a shot in her direction while every one of her blows lands exactly where she wants it to. There is a deliberate, economic quality in her movements that imply she had already determined how the brawl would play out in advance and was simply dismantling an obstruction rather than fighting for her life.
• Despite having not used one since he was a child, the Mandalorian dons his new jetpack and launches himself up in front of Moff Gideon's incoming TIE fighter, distracting Gideon from the strafing run he was making. Mando shoots over the top and fires his grappling hook to latch on, leading to him being dragged around the sky for a few moments. Upon boarding the fighter he has to hold on while the ship is spinning and trying to throw him off, resulting in one of his bombs being dropped. The last two bombs get successfully stuck to the wing and the Mandalorian jumps off, leaving us to watch the explosion as he descends. And bear in mind, he was doing all this while recovering from a near-fatal head injury. Bacta is great stuff, but one can't discount Mando's own The Determinator-ness.
• Gideon revealing he survived the crash and surprises a group of Jawa scavengers by cutting his way out of the downed fighter using the Darksaber, making its live-action debut.
• The Mandalorians' Big Damn Heroes moment during Din's flashback. His hometown was being absolutely torn apart by the battle droids and, suddenly, the Mandalorians dive down into the battle and begin kicking ass.
• The whole firefight between Gideon's men and our heroes, from IG-11 gatecrashing the party on a speeder bike until Gideon blows up the power pack for the E-Web. Death Troopers, scores of stormtroopers, a BFG Gideon specifically brought along as an ace in the hole... it almost proves to be not enough as our heroes show just why Gideon thought all that ordnance was necessary. Extra points to Din for hefting the E-Web off its tripod and going to town on its previous owners like Doomguy.
• Because it's been (rightfully) praised as a comedy scene, but much like the acting for Mando, the scout troopers also managed to carry out some impressive and hilarious performances through voice and body language alone. It's so good, people didn't notice it to call out on it, which some might say is the highest praise for invisible acting. It's so good it's given tons of characterization and sympathy to what have mostly been Faceless Mooks! In fact, it does such an excellent job humanizing them that you may feel bad for them when they die, even though they've kicked the dog a few times.
• The script called for far more Stormtroopers than the production had costumes for. The solution? Ring up the 501st, the official Imperial cosplay fanclub. It is not unusual for LucasFilm to engage the 501st, the group frequently participates at parades or charity events when Star Wars needs to make an in-force appearance. What is unusual is for them to be called in to an official Star Wars production, to actually play Stormtroopers on camera. These cosplay enthusiasts had no idea until they arrived on set what they were being asked to do, but each of them (with their own Stormtrooper operating number) threw themselves into their roles, totally selling the military precision of the Empire's most dreaded troops. A behind-the-scenes feature states that every fan's dream is to own a "screen-used" prop, one that actually appeared in an official film or TV show. Now, every blaster and piece of armor from these 501st members, most of which they made themselves, are screen-used props.

Season 2

Chapter 9: The Marshal

• Djarin effortlessly deals with his contact's mooks, taking most of them out with a gauntlet full of arrows, then casually grappling the guy as he runs for dear life. To top it all off, for the information he desires, Djarin promises the guy won't die at his hands. He keeps his word.
• Cobb Vanth is everything you'd expect from sticking Raylan Givens into Star Wars. After his town was turned into a slave camp by the mining guild, Cobb escaped, surviving days in the open desert of Tatooine holding onto a container of valuable crystals (not the food or water he was hoping for), and upon being found by Jawas bargained for Boba Fett's armor, which he used to kill all the guild members in the town before setting himself up as its permanent protector.
  • Speaking of which, The Reveal of Boba Fett's iconic armor will have fans of the original trilogy jumping and screaming.
  • An awesome moment of detail with the armor shows Cobb taking out the members of the mining guild. He launches the rocket mounted on the jetpack, similar to how Kenner had planned on having with the original Boba Fett action figure to include that feature.
• The massive battle against the Krayt Dragon. All of it. From the Tuskens and the villagers shooting that beast with everything they got, to Vanth and Djarin using their jetpacks to fly around and try and take it down, and Djarin letting himself get swallowed with a Bantha carrying explosives, then flying out to blast that monster into oblivion, is just pure Star Wars gold.
  • What makes it even better is this isn't one of the smaller, train-sized Canyon Krayt Dragons you fought in Knights of the Old Republic, it’s a Greater Krayt Dragon, which is the size of a Corellian Corvette. And a united posse of Tusken Raiders and Miners managed to take it down!
  • This is also the only time in the series that the screen transitions from widescreen with the black bars on top and bottom, to a complete 16:9 fullscreen display, to underline the scale of this battle against the Krayt Dragon.
• The final Wham Shot, marking Boba Fett's triumphant return to the live-action Star Wars canon almost forty years after Return of the Jedi^note Not counting his appearance as a child in Attack of the Clones..
  • Furthermore, this is the first live-action depiction of adult Boba Fett's face. Granted we've already seen his face through his father and in Legends works. By the way, good to see Temuera Morrison making his grand return.

Chapter 10: The Passenger

• In the opening scene, Mando and the Child are ambushed and thrown from their speeder bike. Mando uses his jetpack to reorient himself and quickly sets about beating up the criminals responsible. When one of them points a rifle at him, he uses his grapple line to snatch it out of the thug's hands. He then draws it so it smacks into the heads of the two guys holding him down. After one of the thugs threatens the Child, he negotiates a trade with the criminal (his jetpack for the kid). After safely retrieving his adopted son, the thug takes off with the jetpack and seems like he's going to get away. Then Mando pushes a button on his wrist and sends the criminal flying around in midair before letting him crash back to the ground dead, while slowly navigating his airborne jetpack to the ground before him.
• While it begins as a Funny Moment, Mando's encounter with the X-wings quickly takes a serious turn. Announced by the X-wings performing the starship equivalent of a Dramatic Gun Cock by popping open their S-foils, announcing to the audience that shit is about to get real.
• The pilots show up again at the end of the episode, pulling a Big Damn Heroes by killing the matriarch ice spider and saving Mando, the Child and Frog Lady from a horrible death.
• The practical effects in this episode are damn near incredible. "Dr. Mandible" and the "Frog Lady" are the obvious standouts, the latter in particular needing to go through a far wider range of motion and emoting than even The Child (being a full-grown and mobile adult rather than an awkward child).

Chapter 11: The Heiress

• The brief Star Wars style pirate theme when sweeping over the Quarren fishing vessel. It sounds like it was remixed from Pirates of the Caribbean.
• Bo-Katan Kryze makes her live action debut into the franchise (as played by Katee Sackhoff, her voice actress from The Clone Wars and Rebels) with style as her and two other Mandalorians jetpack their way aboard a Quarren trawler to save Mando and The Child from the crew that are trying to kill them. They absolutely curb stomp the Quarren, kill their pet sea monster, and finally blow up their boat. The whole sequence is utterly glorious.
  • Hell, the shot of the three of them rising into the slowly setting sun-backed sky as the boat explodes while Mando watches from afar is awesome enough by itself.
  • Koska's Offscreen Moment of Awesome in taking out the mamacore and rescuing the Child. We don't see what she does to it, just flashing lights and explosions in the water before flying out with the pod. She then rips the cover off to remove the Child and gently hands him to Din Djarin.
• Bo-Katan and her allies showing up a second time to save Mando's ass from the relatives of the Quarren she just killed. They effortlessly gun down the criminals before any of them can even get a shot off.
• The squad moving through the Imperial transport, calmly mowing down everyone in front of them. Even Din seems impressed with their skill and coordination. Then he impresses them with his gambit to get the grenades to the last bunch of troopers.
• The Imperial Captain deserves a mention for his Villainous Valor. Not once does he show fear while a squad of Mandalorians are mowing down his men, or when Bo-Katan holds him at knifepoint.
• Bo-Katan's return also reveals that Gideon didn't even have to kill her to take the Darksaber, and whatever he did was so successful that she's not even sure it was him.
• Upon stopping the ship from plummeting into orbit, Din heads out, needing to get back to the child so he can find his species. Bo-Katan holds up to her end of the bargain and tells him about the Jedi he needs to find to help him in his quest: Ahsoka Tano. It's been years since she last saw her, but Bo still trusts her old ally for helping to save her planet from Maul.
  • Additionally, Ahsoka's voiceover cameo in The Rise of Skywalker led many fans to worry that she had died in between the end of Rebels and the Sequel Trilogy. Now, at the very least, we have the reassurance that she was still alive post-Return of the Jedi.

Chapter 12: The Siege

• Greef, Cara and Mythrol are being pursued by three TIE-fighters, the gun on their speeder is destroyed and it looks like they're done for, when one of the TIE fighters gets shot out of the air. Enter Mando on the repaired Razor Crest! It's so satisfying to see her good as new after all the abuse she took in the last couple of episodes.
  • Being pursued by the final TIE, Mando climbs into the sky, then pulls a flip-and-burn to get a target lock, blowing away the TIE in a head-on confrontation. It's an appropriately awesome way to cap off the dogfight.
• Raise a glass to the scout troopers who, with no hesitation, mounted up to chase the transport Greef, Cara, and Mythrol were fleeing in by driving their speeders off a cliff and basically mountain biking down the nearly vertical descent. Only three of the five make it, but they all came ready and were more badass than anyone expected of the Empire, showing up the two scout troopers from Season 1.
  • The three that do make it continue to be an impressive threat to our heroes, as their pursuit manages to come close to either gunning down Cara while she's piloting or getting a grenade inside the transport.
• The sight of Moff Gideon's Cruiser alone. Those who've seen Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels would see a scaled-up Arquitens-Class Command Cruiser.

Chapter 13: The Jedi

• Ahsoka makes her first live-action appearance mowing through a bunch of hapless mooks like a Force-sensitive, lightsaber-wielding Batman, activating and deactivating her Lightsabers to move silently through the dense fog that surrounds them.
  • Just the fact that we finally get to see a live-action Jedi doing what Jedi do best—being an unstoppable Warrior Monk ninja and protector of the weak. And the fact that it kicks off in the first ten seconds of the episode; they know the audience is Just Here For Ahsoka, and so they didn't waste any time.
  • Ahsoka may claim not to be a Jedi any longer, but she still embodies their philosophy. Innocent people are suffering, and she will not stand for it, but those who cause that suffering have one day to repent and retreat. After that, what happens after is not Ahsoka's fault... it's theirs.
  • During the final battle in the village, Ahsoka sneaks up behind two droids and activates her lightsabers horizontally arranged in a way that resembles a samurai unsheathing his katana.
• Ahsoka gets the jump on Mando, which he didn't see coming, before giving him a serious beatdown. She hits him with her lightsabers, only for his beskar armor to withstand the attack. He uses his flamethrower on her, which she easily dodges. He manages to wrap Ahsoka up in his wire, only for her to simply smirk before jumping over a high tree branch, using it to pull him off his feet. To his credit, Mando releases the wire so he's back on the ground by the time Ahsoka cuts herself free. She only calms down when he says Bo-Katan sent him.
  • The fight itself, brief as it is, demonstrates how properly equipped Mandalorians can be a most difficult opponent against Jedi. Din has no experience fighting Jedi whatsoever while Ahsoka has more than her fair share of fighting Mandalorians. Even with a lack of experience, though, he still briefly holds his own against her.
  • Just the fact that it is re-canonized that beskar can resist lightsabers. Few things in the universe can withstand the Absurd Cutting Power of a lightsaber blade... but Mandalorian iron is one of them. Beskar is half the reason that Mandalorians are fearsome battle opponents (the other half is succinctly elaborated in the point above), specifically against Jedi.
• The duel between Ahsoka and Elsbeth. Elsbeth (who was accidentally revealed by a makeup artist to be a Nightsister) is skilled enough in the fighting arts to give a war-hardened Jedi like Ahsoka a serious challenge. It helps that she's played by professional martial artist Diana Lee Inosanto, whose godfather was Bruce Lee himself.
  • However, if you know anything about Ahsoka's regular fighting style, it quickly becomes evident that she is holding back, best shown when she switches from the standard grip to her signature Reverse Grip and defeats Elsbeth in seconds. She needs Elsbeth alive for information, after all.
• Ahsoka and Elsbeth's duel is contrasted with Mando's standoff with Lang, the two gunslingers standing in the middle of the street having a terse conversation about how the fight in the courtyard might be going and whether either man thinks the cause they're signed on with is worth dying over. It ends with a quickdraw, which Mando wins handily.
  • And when Ahsoka does beat Elsbeth? She manages to follow in Bo-Katan's footsteps by mentioning a key figure in the series' history. It's not Gideon...it's THRAWN. Yes, that Thrawn, whom, when last seen, was being dragged away by giant space whales specifically so he can be taken out of the picture and give the rebels a chance to defeat the Empire. The fact he's still alive and kicking speaks volumes to his strength of will.
• The elderly citizen who earlier warned Din about the village's predicament under Elsbeth's reign is later seen watching Elsbeth give the order to kill the three hostages. Without any weapon or chance of stopping the executioners, he still charges out of his house to do something to save his neighbors. At episode's end, it turns out he was the deposed Governor who wanted to keep his people safe.

Chapter 14: The Tragedy

• The fact that Din is taking Grogu to Tython to find a Jedi. Tython is a world mired in Legends as the planet where the Jedi philosophy first originated from close to 38,000 years ago; it is comparable to the biblical Garden of Eden in Christian Mythology where God had first created Adam and Eve.
• Boba Fett finally returns in live-action, and it is glorious.
  • Let's be honest here, Outside of some now non-canonical books and comics, most of Boba Fett's badassedness has been an Informed Ability. Not anymore. Boba Fett has finally lived up to his legend onscreen, with and without the armor.
  • When the Imperials first arrive, Boba still hasn't gotten his armor back, so he blasts at the Stormtroopers with a Tusken cycler rifle before going to town on them with another Tusken weapon — a gaffi stick, smashing their helmets and stabbing right through their armor. Those weapons are archaic but he sure as hell makes the best of what he got his hands on.
  • When he gets the armor back, he goes full One-Man Army, cutting through their ranks while barely breaking stride, putting even Din's arsenal to shame with just how many weapons he has hidden in his armor.
    • Boba is middle-aged and heavily scarred and probably still carrying physical and mental scars from his time in the Sarlacc. If he's THIS good now in spite of all that, imagine what he was like in his prime.
    • Most of the awesome features of Boba's armor had only descriptions in Star Wars Visual Dictionaries before (the rocket-launching knee pads, most notably). Now it's all in glorious display.
  • It has been 37 years since we last saw Boba Fett fully decked out in his armor, yet Temuera Morrison looks just as badass and as cool as Jeremy Bulloch did all those years ago.
  • After Cobb having to awkwardly bend in half to use that much-mocked rocket launcher, Boba shows how it's supposed to be done, taking out both transports with one shot (even if he was aiming for the other one).
  • The introduction of the iconic Slave I into the post-Jedi continuity.
  • After The Clone Wars suggested that Jango Fett (and by extension Boba) wasn't a real Mandalorian, Boba sets the record straight by showing his armour's chain code, revealing to Din that Jango was a foundling, just like our Mando. Boba further cements this by revealing his father fought in the Mandalorian civil war, confirming that both he and his father are true Mandalorians just like Din and Bo-Katan.
  • The way Boba fights was inspired by Temuera Morrison's Māori background, incorporating the Haka in the deliberate and intimidating fighting style seen in the episode, and his use of the gaffi stick shows elements of Mau Rākau.
  • Boba Fett's fight against the Storm Troopers shifts into a Mook Horror Show, with Boba stalking and flanking the heavily-armed troopers, brutally taking them down one-by-one and establishing that he is a remarkably dangerous individual. And only then does he get his famous armor back, with its arsenal of weapons and jetpack. The armor is just gear, albeit very valuable gear. ''Boba Fett' is a force to be reckoned with.
    • It goes without saying that Grand Moff Tarkin was mistaken in overlooking the effectiveness of the Clone Army following Order 66 to have them replaced by recruitments and drafts if the last one of Jango Fetts' Clones even in his old age is still capable of kicking their collective asses like he just did.
• At one point Fennec is pinned down by Stromtrooper fire behind a boulder. The boulder shifts from all that blaster fire. What does she do? She pushes the boulder off the edge of the hill to send it rolling down and over the stormtroopers below, to finally crush the E-Web cannon and gunner as it does so.
  • Props to the trooper at the E-Web, too: instead of jumping out of the way, he opts for an admittedly futile attempt to save himself and the gun by shooting the boulder. He manages to chip away at it quite a bit, but it's ultimately not enough and it still crushes him and wrecks the machine-gun. A vain but valiant effort.
• Just how good a marksman is Fennec Shand? She shoots multiple stormtroopers in the throat where there is no armor covering it.
• Din and Fennec go Back-to-Back Badasses, with Din using his armor to tank all the Stormtroopers' shots so Fennec can get the drop on them.
• The mere fact that Din and the Boba Fett are now a team.
• After he's been abducted by the Dark Troopers, Gideon goes to see Grogu and hears loud banging from inside his cell. He opens the door to see little Grogu using his Force abilities to give a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to two Stormtroopers. Unlike the last time he was kept by two troopers, he is fighting back with everything he's got. He's throwing them around the room like two ragdolls as the men are utterly helpless to his power. He's even able to Force Choke them both at the same time before slamming them into each other. It's a reminder of how, despite his infant body, he's truly powerful when he chooses to show it.
• In hindsight, seeing Fennec and Boba Fett as a team counts as one. The following year, Star Wars: The Bad Batch revealed that Fennec previously fought against clones to secure Omega. Now she is working with a clone about thirty years later.

Chapter 15: The Believer

• Boba Fett has repainted and repaired his armour. While it doesn't look as battle-scarred as it used to, it is still glorious to see its improved condition.
• Din, without his beskar armour, can still single-handedly take down the pirates that are coming after the Rhydonium. Even without all the gadgets and weapons, he's still a damn good fighter!
• The Imperial forces make short work of the pirates once they get within striking range of the garrison. Sending two TIE Fighters to shoot down the Skiffs as Stormtroopers and Shoretroopers pour across the bridge behind the transport and proceed to tear the invaders new ones with very well aimed heavy firepower, totally averting their infamous trope. With both Mayfeld and Din get a hero's welcome from Imperial Stormtroopers, Shoretroopers and refinery workers: all clapping, cheering and saluting the duo as their transport arrives intact.
  Mayfeld: Never thought you'd be happy to see Stormtroopers. (salutes back to the Stormtroopers)
• With help from Mayfeld, of all people, Din accepts that at the end of the line, some things are worth more than upholding Honor Before Reason. Like doing whatever it takes to give himself a chance to save Grogu from Moff Gideon.
• Mayfeld calling out his former commander for his atrocity that left tens of thousands people dead, including Imperials. Even though Mando is silently begging Mayfeld to let it go, he just can't. And when the commander says that he will make that atrocity small in comparison with the explosives Mando and Mayfeld transported, Mayfeld wastes no time and immediately shoots the bastard.
• As they're escaping the refinery aboard the Slave I, Mayfeld borrows a cycler rifle and uses it to hit a small open hatch on a rhydonium tanker parked in a loading dock. To repeat, he hit a two-foot wide hatch from half a mile out, using a low-tech rifle, while he was standing on a moving spaceship. The explosion takes out the tanker next to it and eventually the entire refinery. Even Cara and Fennec are impressed by his aim. He finally shows off that his marksmanship skills aren't just an Informed Ability. Mayfeld, for his part, is pretty humble about it.
  Mayfeld: We all gotta sleep at night.
• Boba releases a seismic charge to detonate the two TIE fighters pursuing the Slave I. Aside from the incredibly precise aiming required for the charge to hit the TIE fighters, its explosion sound is fantastic. His father would be proud of a double-kill like that, having used that weapon in Episode II.
• Din tells Moff Gideon exactly how serious he is about rescuing Grogu — in a scene that feels like a Star Wars version of Taken — by sending him a message that throws his own words back at him:
  Mando: Moff Gideon. You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon, he will be back with me. He means more to me than you will ever know.
  • We would have expected the Imperials to be looking at an intelligence brief of some sort, or to discuss how their plans have been moving splendidly just like in Chapter 12. But this time, Din brings his visage straight to Gideon. It's a reminder that the Imperials aren't as in control of the situation as they wish they were, and an awesome moment for our heroes.
  • Din didn't have to do this. He has the coordinates of Gideon's cruiser and could have chosen a stealthier approach. But no, Din is pissed, and he wants Gideon to know it.
  • Even further, for the first time since his introduction, Gideon actually looks worried afterward.

Chapter 16: The Rescue

• The fight between Koska and Boba Fett shows what happens when two heavily armored Mandalorian warriors with jet packs brawl it out, with much of the bar being damaged as they throw each other around, use jetpacks to boost their attacks, and have a Beam-O-War with their flamethrowers.
• A particularly Jerkass Imperial pilot holds Doctor Pershing at gunpoint while goading Cara about the destruction of Alderaan. When he boasts about being on the Death Star, she retorts with "Which one?" When he gets particularly nasty and starts punching the Alderaan berserk button, she just bullseyes him between the eyes, leaving Pershing mostly unharmed.
• Bo-Katan leads an Amazon Brigade of her, Koska, Cara, and Fennec in a direct assault on Gideon's light cruiser. They cut straight through the Imperial defenders and take the bridge within minutes. And that was the diversion so that Din could stop the Dark Troopers and rescue Grogu.
• After the Dark Troopers' first appearance had them just snatch up Grogu with no fighting, we finally get to see what they're made of as just one gives Din the toughest fight of his life, shrugging off every single weapon that we've seen take out so many other enemies, until Din finally gets it with the beskar spear through the throat (and taking several long seconds to shove it clean through).
  • Din's beskar armor proves its worth when he is pinned against the wall and repeatedly punched in the face by the Dark Trooper. The force of the punches cause his helmet to leave an indent in the wall, while we later see that his face is unharmed. Later on, his armor also protects him from the Darksaber.
• Speaking of the Darksaber, Moff Gideon proves to be quite an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant himself, as he goes toe-to-toe with Din. Din in return shows quite a bit of proficiency with using his beskar spear against Gideon.
• The Darksaber itself deserves one as well. During Moff Gideon's fight with Din, it's clear that the beskar spear is heating up from prolonged contact with the blade. The same spear kept contact with Ashoka's lightsaber for about the same amount of time in a previous episode, with no sign of heating up.
• Just when it looks like the group will go down fighting against the Dark Troopers, a lone X-Wing arrives. Suddenly, all the Dark Troopers stop trying to get onto the bridge and turn their attention to the newcomer. Everyone is confused as to what (or who) could have made them stop. Who's arrived to save the day? LUKE SKYWALKER, who proceeds to cut through the Dark Troopers like they're a minor inconvenience.
  • Just the sight of Luke, the man that defeated Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader and destroyed the first Death Star, causes Moff Gideon to turn from smug to being absolutely terrified, as he knows that his Dark Troopers are about to be dismantled like children's toys.
    • The gradual build-up of terror Gideon displays. When the Dark Troopers suddenly stop pounding on the blast doors and become focused elsewhere, Gideon adopts a look of confusion. When he sees the Dark Troopers preparing to confront a new threat on the security feeds, Gideon realizes something is very wrong. Once Bo-Katan sees that the newcomer is a Jedi Knight, Gideon—who had told Din a few minutes earlier to "assume that I know everything"—has clearly deduced the identity of the Jedi is Luke Skywalker, and the look on his face can only be described as utter terror. To the Imperials, this is the Jedi Knight that entered Emperor Palpatine's throne room with Darth Vader and was the only one of the three to come out alive; the Smug Snake is now trembling in true fear.
    • To make it more awesome (and a touch ironic), Gideon had recently told Din "Assume that I know everything." Once Luke shows up, Gideon realizes that he Didn't See That Coming and is about to pay for it.
    • It culminates in Gideon, who looks like he is going to use the hidden blaster to try to escape, instead using it to briefly stun Bo-Katan and then to try to kill Grogu and then himself after Din does a Diving Save for Grogu. Only Cara's quick thinking prevents him from taking the easy way out and, in one smooth motion, knocks him out with the butt of her rifle.
  • Just the fact that we get to see Luke Skywalker once again in action, in his prime, is a thing old-school fans have been dreaming about since only reading about in the books and comics.
    • The Dark Troopers immediately stopping what they were doing and turning around to face Luke instead is almost like Captain Marvel's entrance to the final battle in Avengers: Endgame: they have the heroes on the ropes, all hope seems lost...and then suddenly they detect one person arriving who they immediately prioritize as a greater threat—even moreso than an entire team of true badasses in the room they were just about to break into—and fight to take down this new opponent. Not that it does them any good in the end, since Luke cuts through them like butter.
  • After the notoriously ropy CGI used to bring back Tarkin and young Leia in Rogue One, it's quite something to see how much better the franchise has gotten at it, as it truly does look like a young Mark Hamill is in the scene with the other actors. The reveal of his face has been known to make grown men squeal and cry in joy.
  • One moment in particular that stands out is Luke crushing a Dark Trooper by the Force alone. And he does it with his cybernetic hand i.e. a part of his body that's less sensitive to the Force!
  • After the new Canon stepped back from Jedi being the One-Man Army they were in the prequels and spinoffs, Luke's rampage over enemies that everyone else expected to die at the hands of proves that even for a Badass Crew of three Mandalorians, a Rebel Drop Trooper, and a Hutt Kajidic Assassin, a Jedi Master is still far beyond all of them combined.
  • The entire scene resembles Darth Vader's rampage at the end of Rogue One, complete with a 'Force Pull to slice an enemy' move, making Luke look like the very best traits of his father.
    • Whereas Vader was up against a mass of terrified rebel soldiers, most of which were actively trying to flee, and one ended up managing to get the Death Star plans away, Luke is up against a horde of nigh unstoppable murder droids the likes of which haven't been seen since HK-47, which are actively fighting back en-masse, and he ends up succeeding in dispatching all of them. It's quite clear that Luke has surpassed his father.
  • The "fight" is noteworthy not just for how one-sided it is, but how almost serene Luke is during it. There's no running, no acrobatics, no heart-pounding action, no battle-cries or shouts of exertion. Luke cuts through his opponents at an unhurried pace, barely breaking his stride or even using his voice box to communicate effort in each encounter. His economy of motion is such that he only moves his lightsaber to exactly where it needs to be to deflect a blaster bolt or slice a droid in half - and he's willing and able to telekinetically pull an enemy into position so as not to break his flow. Compared to how Luke fought in Return of the Jedi, it's obvious that he's a Jedi Master now.
  • The slow build-up. One X-Wing arrives. . . well, that could really be anyone (probably Trapper Wolf or Carson Teva coming back to help and bringing reinforcements with him), but those markings look familiar, and it looks like Grogu senses something. . . a Jedi starts carving a path through Dark Troopers? Well, there could be other Jedi active already, maybe they're recanonizing Corran Horn or Kyle Katarn. The black cloak, hexagonal belt buckle, gloved hand, green lightsaber. . . well, it certainly looks like it's supposed to be Luke, but really, they can't have actually...OH YES THEY DID! THEY PUT LUKE SKYWALKER ON THE SHOW!
  • The fact that Luke does all of the above stuff in the most dramatic Skywalker fashion possible. He could have brought others but chose to come alone, he could have made noise while killing the Dark Troopers but doesn't. We all know Anakin is watching from above going "Yes, son, that's it! SHOW OFF IN STYLE!"
• In The Stinger, Boba finally returns to Jabba the Hutt's palace to claim the throne used by his former master. He and Fennec easily dispatch every guard and walk up to Bib Fortuna, Jabba's old Majordomo who picked up where his master left off, with Fennec taking the time to free the Twi'lek slave he had. Fortuna, clearly scared shitless, tries to feign joy at seeing Boba alive and starts trying to placate him. Boba has none of this and immediately guns Fortuna down, shoving his corpse off the throne and taking it for himself, all while Fennec casually grabs herself some booze and takes a seat on the armrest.
• Jabba and Bib Fortuna both had slave girls by their side. Boba departs from that tradition by having a fellow female bounty hunter, who he allows to free Fortuna's slave, no questions asked. No more Go-Go Enslavement!

Season 3

Chapter 17: The Apostate

• Din's Gunship Rescue of The Children of The Watch from a giant sea monster.
  • The way Grogu pops out of the droid port when they land, as if to say "We're back, baby!"
• While on the way to Navarro in Hyperspace, Grogu catches sight of a pod of purgills traveling the same hyperspace route just out of clear view alongside the N-1. It's safe to say that the whales are just as awe-inspiring in live-action as they were in Rebels.
• Not necessarily badass-related, but the fact that Greef managed to one-up himself in Season 2 and turn Nevarro into a pretty prosperous trading hub (with the help of the populace, of course) also speaks very well of his leadership. It definitely helps illustrate that he was way more than a mere bounty guild handler.
• Greef Karga is confronted by a group of pirates he used to run with, who don't seem to understand that he and Navarro have changed. Greef proves that he hasn't gone soft when he out-draws the leader of the group and shoots the blaster out of his hand.
• Greef's protocol droid manages to stop the reactivated IG-11 by dropping a bust of his master onto the rampaging machine's head.
• Din has gotten Grogu a new pod just like his old one and during the pirate confrontation, Grogu never bothers to close it up for his safety this time. Grogu knows how badass he, Din, and Greef together are against enemies.
• As he's leaving Navarro, Din is accosted by more of the pirates that he and Greef took down earlier in the episode. Mando proceeds to use his ship, piloting skills, and the terrain of the planet's asteroid belt to turn it from a six-on-one into a one-on-one, then, when lured into the sights of the pirates' ship, simply hits the turbo and shoots away.

Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore

• Grogu tries to rescue Din, but can't stand up to the droid, so Din sends him to find Bo-Katan. Grogu still gets his chance to shine, though, violently Force-throwing one of the monsters that gets in his way.
• With Din momentarily incapacitated, Bo-Katan gets a chance to use the Darksaber to fend off the cyborg creature that captured him. She uses it with such speed and grace that would make you believe she hadn't been sitting on her throne for years, showing off the sheer skill it takes to wield the blade.
• Having spent most of the episode thinking that the old stories of Mandalore were nothing more than legends, Bo-Katan finds herself meeting the gaze of a Mythosaur beneath the Living Waters, which serves as her Symbolic Baptism after breaching the surface. The soundtrack lets you know the importance of what Bo saw too.

Chapter 19: The Convert

• When dealing with the last straggler, Bo-Katan shows what her ship can really do. In the middle of speeding forward, she briefly cuts the engines and has her ship do a 180 mid-air spin on its axis before shooting the assailant dead.
• Pershing and Elia are walking though a park on Coruscant when she shows him a rock in the middle of it. It's a fairly large rock, maybe fifteen to twenty feet high. Then Elia explains what it really is: It's the peak of Umate, the tallest mountain on the planet. The only piece of Coruscant's actual surface that still sees the sky. If you've ever wondered how deep the layers of the city go, that's your answer.

Chapter 20: The Foundling

• Grogu beating Ragnar (Paz Vizsla's son) at darts during combat training. At first, nobody takes him seriously because of his youth and his size. But Din quickly realizes that Grogu is holding back because he's been encouraged to hide his powers his whole life. Once Din assures him he's safe and can show the other Mandalorians what he can do, Grogu double flips over Ragnar, then tags him with all three darts rapid-fire when he lands.
  • Of note that Paz himself is impressed even though his son lost, and the Armorer seems to take it as proof that Grogu deserves another piece of armor.
• Kelleran Beq's escape from Coruscant with Grogu.
  • He escapes the temple on a speeder bike, evades a pair of LAATs (drawing one into a tunnel where it is hit by a train), and finally off-world with the help of some Naboo guards, pursued by V-wings until he can make a Hyperspeed Escape. This isn't a new character, he previously appeared as the host of a kid's game show called the Jedi Temple Challenge. Somehow the last character you'd expect to show up during the Jedi Purge, and yet a pitch-perfect character to show up as the rescuer of a Padawan.
  • The few Jedi who were escorting Grogu to Kelleran were able to take stock of what was happening to the Jedi, unlike so, so many who fell to the clones by complete surprise as Palpatine wanted, and put up a decent amount of resistance. Even to the end, their priority was getting a single youngling to safety. And in a grim antagonistic example, the clones were able to overwhelm even the few Jedi who did learn what was happening and were mounting a proper defense. Which goes back around to Kelleran, who survived the siege singlehandedly when his comrades unfortunately could not, even getting to use Jar'kai to fend off the clones long enough for him and Grogu to get on the speeder.
  • The Naboo guards also deserve a lot of credit for their Heroic Sacrifice. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned by dozens of clones, they bravely and unhesitatingly hold the line long enough for Kelleran and Grogu to escape. And why are they even there? It's not hard to imagine that Padme sent them there before she left on her own with C-3PO for her ill-fated journey to Mustafar, so that she could do some good against the nascent Empire where she could. These guys show Undying Loyalty to their Senator and former Queen, and all that she stands for.
• Bo-Katan has the presence of mind after the Raptor's abduction of Ragnar to take her ship rather than try to jetpack after the beast as the other Mandalorians do, and is even able to shadow it to its lair.

Chapter 21: The Pirate

• As Carson Teva gets word of Greef's request for help, a familiar, purple-colored alien in a flight suit steps up to the bar as none other than Garazeb Orrelios makes his live-action debut. And they got Steve Blum to reprise his role!
• The Children of the Watch get another chance to shine as a fighting force, answering Greef's call to liberate Nevarro from Shard's pirates and dropping in to handily kick some buccaneer ass.
  • The Mandalorians do much better as a 'tight military force' who support one another than they did as a group of individuals, relatively easily overcoming the Pirates as opposed to the Covert's struggle to delay Greef's hunter guild to enable Din and Grogu's escape in The Sin.
  • Special mention has to go to Paz Vizsla in the scene where Din proposes helping Nevarro. Longtime viewers will automatically be suspicious of him thanks to his uncle Pre Vizsla and his previously challenging Din for ownership of the Darksaber in Book of Boba Fett. He's the one who speaks up after Din has plead his case and you might think that, as the probable rival to both him and Bo-Katan, that he'll denounce them and that the rest of the Mandalorians will follow his lead. Nope. He rallies them to helping Din's friend instead as thanks for helping to save his son in the previous episode.
    • The way he does it is awesome too. The Mandalorians are clearly reluctant to get involved, this really isn't their fight. Paz addresses all these concerns, pointing out all the reasons why whatever happens on Nevarro means nothing to them (heightening the suspicion that he's working against Din). . . then states none of that matters, because they're Mandalorians, fighting is what they do. And this fight will be to protect the innocent from vile, to be on the right side. The fact that they'll get a plot of land and a chance to live in the open among grateful people is just a bonus, this is the sort of thing Mandalorians were born for.
• Once again, we get to see the Armorer utterly destroy her foes with only her hammer and tongs, and pure efficiency of movement and energy.
• After Din and Bo-Katan shoot down most of the pirate snub fighters, there is a brief shot of one of the other Mandalorians surfing the last one before blasting the cockpit and flying away.
• Bo-Katan's Awesome Moment of Crowning, where the Armorer anoints her as the one who "walks in both worlds" and "can unite all tribes," tasking her with going forth and bringing the fractured Mandalorian Clans and Tribes and Creeds to Nevarro, to unite once more. And not to make Nevarro their home, just use it as a convenient staging area to retake Mandalore. This bears special significance as the Children of the Watch are one of the more zealous Mandalorian sects, refusing to acknowledge anyone else as a "true" Mandalorian. Yet the Armorer recognizes that unity and diversity is strength, and is prepared to make the Children of the Watch accept different Mandalorian Creeds through sheer force of will.
• Carson Teva really gets to shine in this chapter, even though he doesn't even do any real fighting. First, he readily accepts the plea for aid from Greef, then when told the process the New Republic uses to screen calls for aid will take far too long to be of any use (especially as Nevarro isn't within the Republic yet), he personally flies to the New Republic office to request backup. Then when Elia intervenes with the meeting and clearly tries to discourage the CO from authorizing aid, he doesn't even flinch and sternly reminds her that for all her posturing, she isn't the saint she appears to be and he knows it. He's also the one to discover the wreckage of the ship meant to carry Moff Gideon to trial, disturbing as the implications may be...

Chapter 22: Guns for Hire

• Bo-Katan's Awesome Moment of Crowning. After winning her duel against Axe Woves, Bo-Katan attempts to unite the other Mandalorians and reclaim her stolen fleet. However, as Axe Woves points out, only the one who wields the Darksaber may lead Mandalore, which Din Djarin currently possesses. He attempts to bequeath it to Bo-Katan, who once again refuses to accept it as a gift as she did once before, but Din claims it is not. After Din was captured and disarmed by an enemy, Bo-Katan defeated said enemy, meaning that by right of combat, she is now the rightful owner of the Darksaber. Even Axe Woves is forced to admit that this holds true, and once Bo-Katan takes it, she ignites the blade with a triumphant motif.
• The Battle Droids making their grand return in what's likely their biggest role since the prequel era.
• For its brief time going rogue, the B2 Droid put up one hell of a fight against the two Mandalorians, causing panic in a crowded area and showing its Super-Strength by ripping off heavy objects and throwing them at the Mandos. There's a reason those things were nicknamed "Super Battle Droids" during the Clone Wars.

Chapter 23: The Spies

• Seeing the entire Mandalorian fleet that Bo-Katan had amassed flying over Nevarro in all its glory with the Mandalorian crest painted on the underside of the cruiser is quite a sight to behold.
• The fact that other Mandalorians not only survived the Great Purge but have also been living on Mandalore ever since shows just how incredibly resilient they are.
  Din Djarin: For thousands of years, we have been on the verge of extinction. And for thousands of years, we have survived.
  • Crossing with Heartwarming, Din Djarin's fully fledged transformation from dogmatic Child of the Watch to one who views being a Mandalorian on the basis of honor, loyalty and character, swearing himself to Bo-Katan's service based on her admission of surrendering to the Empire in the hopes of sparing her people and planet being worthy of The Way.
• Grogu in the body of IG-12 breaks up the fight between Paz and Axe forcing them apart while repeatedly using the suit to say "No.", stopping them from potentially killing one another.
• Mandalorians continue to prove how incredibly badass they are when they not only survive an ambush by imperials, but even push them into retreat. The imperials in question were wearing beskar armor and jetpacks as well, yet they did not have the experience Mandalorians have of fighting opponents with beskar armor.
• On the opposite side, the fact that the Imperial Dark Troopers managed to be a legitimate threat to the Mandalorians, even getting kills by shooting them in the necks and sides where their armor is weakest or nonexistent. After nearly three seasons of Imperial troops being mooks who only won offscreen, they're finally the threat they're hyped up to be.
  • Even Moff Gideon's ingenuity deserves praise. He "reverse-engineered" the Dark Trooper armor into a full-blown set of beskar armor to wear - this particular modification holds the distinction of being called Phase 4 Dark Trooper armor, which eliminates the need for droids.
• Din Djarin's and Paz Vizsla's Defiant to the End moments:
  • First, Din is cut off from the rest of the party and fights off the Dark Troopers until they restrain him, and even then he's still trying to burn them with his flamethrower and get in some CQC while he's at it.
  • Then, Paz's Last Stand to hold off the advancing Dark Troopers, giving the rest of the recon party a chance to retreat to safety and give their people on the ships some warning. Even on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion and wounds, he keeps firing with his gatling gun until the entire weapon is glowing red hot. Then he engages the commandoes in hand-to-hand, first by braining one with the red hot minigun, then throwing them off the ledge one at a time until they're all dead. And then the Praetorian Guards show up and Paz seems to know he's outmatched, yet pulls out his energy shield and vibro knife anyway, fighting to his last breath - even when pierced through the torso, he pulls the weapon in further just for defiance's sake and dies with his hand around that guard's throat.

Chapter 24: The Return

• Din is able to mostly fight his way free of the Imperial Dark Troopers despite having his hands and feet bound. He's able to cut his feet free using one Trooper's knife and eventually gets his arms in position to snap that Trooper's neck. The second Trooper is able to wrap his grappling line around Din's neck and hold a blaster to his throat. Cue Grogu in IG-12 who pulls the Trooper's arm away and crushes the blaster, distracting him long enough for Din to kick the Trooper and free himself.
• Din Djarin and Grogu have become a full Parent-Child Team at this point, with Grogu providing several assists with The Force as they take Moff Gideon's base. At no point does Grogu get distracted or become a burden like before. He's more than capable of caring for himself now.
• Din, still unarmed, fights his way to Gideon's command center. He uses their own security system against them by having R5-D4 take control and only open them one at a time, giving Din the time to take them out two by two and re-arm himself along the way.
• One simple line by the Armorer: “Lady Kryze, your reinforcements have arrived.”
• Bo-Katan and the Armorer link up with their respective forces and dive for the trench, with Gideon's Dark Troopers rising to meet them. They engage in an aerial furball, with Bo-Katan and the Armorer going to town on the troopers with their hammer/tongs and Darksaber. Special mention goes to the near-POV shot of one Dark Trooper, where the Armorer comes flying in out of nowhere and overhead-smashes him out of the sky.
  • The Mandalorians utterly trounce the Dark Troopers in aerial combat. The Dark Troopers have all the weapons, gadgets, gear, and advantages of the Mandalorians — Nigh-Invulnerable beskar armor, flamethrowers and whipcords, jetpacks — but the Mandalorians still wipe them out of the sky. "Verd ori'shya beskar'gam" — a warrior is more than their armor.
• Axe Woves uses himself and the Cruiser as a decoy, drawing the TIEs fire while the other Mandalorians board the Gauntlets and take the fight to Gideon. Then he ends the fight by crashing the Cruiser into the base (killing Gideon in the process without even realizing). He also makes sure to escape by blasting his way off the bridge at nearly the last second, after making absolutely certain the ship was on course to obliterate the Imperial base.
• The Last Stand between Gideon, Mando and Bo-Katan. Truly a final showdown reminiscent of the original films.
  • Din is clearly outgunned and unprepared for such a battle, but he stands and fights to what could have been his last breath because he is done with Gideon's bullshit, knowing if he doesn't kill him, he will never stop hunting him or Grogu. Even in his disadvantaged state, he puts up one hell of a fight against Gideon and it's only when Grogu is pursued by the Praetorian Guards that he starts to really lose it.
  • Grogu selflessly defending his father figure by distracting the Praetorian Guards.
    Grogu: (via IG-12, marching into the scene and staring down Din's attackers) No.
  • When it seems like Din may truly lose, Bo-Katan sweeps in and rams straight into Gideon and gives Din the chance to rescue Grogu. This is a fight Bo-Katan has wanted for a long time and she brings as much pain as she can to the man who ruined not just her life, but the lives of all Mandalorians regardless if they survived the Purge or not.
  • Din bursting in just in the nick of time to rescue Grogu. Running on pure Papa Wolf fuel, he takes on all three of the Praetorian Guards virtually by himself - with help from Grogu using full crowd control tactics, like nullifying their numbers/weapons advantage whenever possible and keeping them distracted between whether they should go for Din or Grogu - then kills all three of them in under a minute with his ruthlessly pragmatic Attack Its Weak Point fighting style, while also avenging Paz Vizsla's death.
  • All hope seems lost when Moff Gideon crushes the Darksaber, but Bo-Katan finally takes Din's words to heart, realizing she doesn't need it nor any other symbol to lead Mandalore. And she proves it by happily accepting Din's help when kicking Moff Gideon's ass!
    Bo-Katan: Mandalorians are stronger together.
  • Grogu finally gets to cut loose with his Force telekinesis on Gideon, knee-sliding in and giving him a shove strong enough to knock his considerably heavy Powered Armor-clad body flat on his butt, and then also tossing Gideon's melee weapon over the ledge when he grabs for it.
  • When the entire Cruiser crashes into the base, Din and Bo-Katan immediately dive in front of Grogu, despite knowing full well it wouldn't do anything against such a huge explosion. Yet both of them are awed (rightfully so too!) when they realize that they're unharmed, because Grogu is parting the flames around them.
• R5-D4 shows that he's no stranger to a fight (only hinted at by Carson acknowledging the old droid's service in the Rebel Alliance) and engages in antics with enemy imperial mouse droids and emerges victorious. He also aids in Din's awesomeness by hijacking the security system and doing enemy mob control so Din only has to face off against two Dark Troopers at a time and has time to re-arm between rounds. Pretty great showing from a rickety old Cowardly Lion droid.
• The final scene where the Armorer and the tribes swear Ragnar into the way. Din requests the same for Grogu (as his apprentice) to be added to the song. However, Din adopts him through Loophole Abuse (his parents are nowhere to be found). The Armorer accepts and deems the little one "Din Grogu" and sends them both off Mandalore to bounty hunt and teach Grogu the Way, but not before Grogu telepathically connects with the mythosaur below the water!
  • An additional understated bit of awesomeness is the Armorer's loosening regard about helmet strictures; she notably does not ask about Ragnar's adherence to it.
• The Armorer hands Bo-Katan a torch, which she uses to re-ignite the Great Forge! All of the Mandalorians - Children of the Watch, Night Owls, Survivors, and more - cheer "For Mandalore!"
• Din Djarin restores IG-11 as the new Marshall for Navarro for Greef Karga.

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