The Mandalorian (Season 3), Episode 2 Recap and Ending Explained: One of the smartest things “The Mandalorians” has ever done has to be promoting Katee Sackhoff as series regular for the third season. The quest of finding Grogu his right place in the world (read the Jedi life) is now over, and Grogu has basically chosen “the way” for himself. Therefore, the ongoing season basically feels like the start of a new show. The current quest is Din finding atonement for himself and also teaching his adopted kid The Mandalorian ways of life.
The latest episode does not waste any time and puts our favorite duo right inside the mines of Mandalore. But in this show, imminent danger always waits around the corner to pounce on Din and Grogu; and there is no exception here as well. The result of that is Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan literally saving the day and emerging as the real hero; on an episode that is coincidentally airing on “International Women’s Day.” Grogu also deserves half the credit for the same, which, as a matter of coincidence, makes this a week of Pedro Pascal’s fictional kid saving/rescuing him if you know what I mean.
Recommended: 40 Years Later: Star Wars Holiday Special [1978]
The Mandalorian Chapter 18 (Season 3 Episode 2) Recap
As Din could not fix IG-11 without the necessary memory wipe part (in the previous episode), he is still looking for that. Hence, giving a visit to our skilled engineer Peli Motto is essential, and it is always a pleasure to see the very talented Amy Sedaris.
However, Peli Motto fails to help Din as she does not have the part available. As an alternative, she sells another droid, an astromech called R5-D4 which resembles a certain R2-D2 in appearance. Despite lacking the effectiveness described by Peli Motto in her selling pitch, the droid will surely become a crowd favorite in the upcoming weeks.
And we are here
The Mandalore
Marveling at the sight of a very intense-looking planet, Grogu is as amazed as us, understandably. The moon Concordia, where Din grew up, can be seen from afar, which he shows to the little one. After landing, Din sends the droid to check the air and rocks, but the first of many wrong things happens when the droid goes out of sight, and Din cannot trace it on the radar either.
However, this problem gets taken care of soon when Din walks into the cave and fights some Alamites to rescue a really scared R5-D4 hiding behind a rock. The Alamites are scary-looking lizard-like humanoid creatures who used to live beyond the surface wasteland beyond the city, which we get to know later in the episode when Bo-Katan explains this to Grogu. Still, I am deciding to include that information here as using the word “Alamites” is easier than the other thing.
Journey to the center of Mandalore
We get our first proper taste of adventure when Din starts his journey toward the mines of Mandalore with Grogu in tow. That only happens after Din, like a true protective father, asks R5-D4 to check the toxicity level of the air and concludes it is safe for Grogu to breathe the air. This also strengthens Bo-Katan’s claim that the planet is not actually cursed.
Deeper inside the cave, Din and Grogu witness the vast ruins of the civilization. According to what Bo-Katan said, the mines would be further down, at the civic center of the planet. With our hearts beating slightly faster, we see Din and Grogu dive deep into the darkness of Mandalore in order to find the Mines.
Just when you think things might just happen without any real tryst with trouble, Din gets captured by a crab-like robot, which is being operated by a one-eyed, robotic gigantic creature. As the creature takes a trapped Din inside a metallic cage further away, Grogu sneakily follows, as he always would in a situation like this. He tries to use “the force” to help Din release from the cage, but that alerts the creature, who gets ready to attack Grogu instead.
“Get Bo-Katan” are the words Din manages to scream at Grogu, who takes flight immediately. On his way out of the cave, he first collides with a dragon-like creature and then an Alamite at the entrance. But with force being with him, the little one does manage to get past that and gets inside their ship. As Grogu points the planet Kalevala on the radar to direct R5-D4 where to go next, the dragon-like creature attacks them again. But our newly formed “cute-as-a-button” Jedi-Droid duo managed to escape after all.
An unscheduled visitor
We are back again to the rain-soaked Kalevala, where a droid announces to Bo-Katan that she has an unscheduled visitor outside, which visibly upsets her. The sight of Din’s son makes her further mad, and she decides to put an end to this once and for all, as all she wants is to be left alone. But the sight of Grogu and R5-D4 without Din immediately makes her realize that something must have happened to our favorite Mandalorian. The lady takes the two into her own ship and asks Grogu to help her find him.
The Mandalorian- Chapter 18 (Season 3 Episode 2) Ending, Explained
Does Din get saved by Bo-Katan?
Upon reaching The Mandalore, Bo-Katan puts on her Mandalorian helmet and goes inside the caves leading to the mines, along with Grogu. Way beneath the surface of the earth, she asks little Grogu not to be scared and indirectly assures his safety. Grogu is indeed reassured when they come across a bunch of Alamites and Bo-Katan takes care of those without much trouble. “Your dad is not the only Mandalorian,” is what Bo-Katan says to a much amazed Grogu, who follows her as they reach Din, still trapped inside the metallic cage and getting tortured by the creature.
Din’s trouble is short-lived as Bo-Katan attacks the creature with all her bravado and soon manages to free Din from the cage. Not to mention, she fights the creature with the dark saber which she picks up from the floor, which was incredibly cool and easily my favorite moment of this episode.
Nursing back a battered Din with “Pog soup,” a staple Mandalorian food ironically unfamiliar to him, Bo-Katan asks him to rest as she will soon take Din and Grogu back (to Kalevala, I assume) in her ship. But Din is still hell-bent on fulfilling his quest of bathing in the water under the mines and washing away his sin. To him, life does not have a purpose without the creed. He thanks Bo-Katan for saving his life and promises to be in her debt forever. But Bo-Katan seems to be in a “once and for all” mood as she decides to take Din to the water, which according to her, is nothing magical. On their way, Din learns that Bo-Katan took the creed in the same water when she was a child, and her father could not be more proud.
Did we just see “The Mythosaur”?
One particularly likable thing about this episode is not withholding things and keeping delivering on the promise. An example of that is actually witnessing the living waters under the mines of Mandalore. Thanks to Bo-Katan, both Din and the viewers get a little bit of an essential history lesson about it. The mines actually date back to the first Mandalore when they used to be the lair of the beast Mythosaur. According to the legend, the first Mandalore, who was also known as Mandalore the Great, tamed the beast, and that is how the skull signet became the symbol of the Mandalorian planet.
For Din, the time has come. Stepping forward inside the water, he recites the Mandalorian pledge before completely dipping him inside. Right at this moment, something happens, and a big splashing sound implies Din has fallen deep down. Bo-Katan immediately dives into the water, and with our heart pounding like it is about to burst, she spots an unconscious Din on the ground down under. While rescuing him and guiding him upwards, Bo-Katan sees a pair of animal eyes, then the gigantic animal itself, and gasps in disbelief. IT IS THE MYTHOSAUR. NEITHER SHE NOR WE CAN BELIEVE IT. Even in a situation like this, Bo-Katan keeps her calm and takes Din out of the water, and he quickly regains his consciousness. And that’s all we have for the week, as our scouring over the internet about the Mythosaur starts right away.
What does it mean, though?
“The songs of eons past foretold of the mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore.”
That is what the Armourer said in “The Book of Boba Fett” (Again, you don’t have to watch the show if you don’t feel like it) while she also mentioned that it is nothing but a legend, implying that the chances of something like that happening, in reality, is absolutely zero. But this episode clearly changes that as the prophecy seems to be very much real now. This also adds strength to the current and upcoming seasons (as we know, the show has already been renewed for a fourth season). A Mandalorian civil war might just be our way, and we can’t wait to see it unfold on our screens.
This is the way.
P.S.: If you properly pay attention, you can catch many Star Wars Easter eggs throughout the episode. Just giving you an idea to get through the week, that’s all!
