Wow, that was probably the single biggest episode of The Mandalorian yet.

I can’t discuss anything from The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale without spoiling anything, so if you happened to click on this article without having watched The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 8 Chapter 16 The Rescue yet, here’s your warning before you continue.

The episode begins with the crew consisting of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), Cara Dune (Gina Carano) kidnapping Dr Pershing (Omid Abtahi) in order to learn where Grogu (Baby Yoda/The Child) is being kept.

After learning the location of Grogu, they requested the help of Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff) and Koska (Mercedes Varnado). She agrees to help in exchange for the Darksaber.

Their mission to rescue Grogu begins with them infiltrating Moff Gideon’s light Imperial cruiser. Din goes on his own and ended up having to fight a Dark Trooper one-on-one, destroying it with his Beskar spear. He blasts the rest of the platoon out of an airlock into space.

When Din finally finds Grogu, he also finds Moff Gideon waiting there. They get into a classic lightsaber duel, with Din wielding his Beskar spear and Moff with the Darksaber.

Even though Din ends up victorious over Moff, it turns out that he can’t just give the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. Apparently, the ancient weapon has to be won through battle in order to justify one’s ascension to the Mandalorian throne.

Just as they were figuring out what to do next, a platoon of Dark Troopers (who Din previously blasted into space) returned to finish the job.

Just when all hope is lost, a single X-Wing starship arrived, carrying none other than Jedi Master Luke Skywalker himself. Yes, folks, (according to the episode’s credits) Mark Hamill has returned to reprise his role but he’s been enhanced with CGI to make him look younger (in the vein of Admiral Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia in 2016’s Rogue One A Star Wars Story).

He makes short work of all the Dark Troopers, even crushing the last one with nothing but the Force. Luke is there to take away Grogu for Jedi training, and even R2-D2 makes an appearance.

We’re forced to witness a heartfelt and tearful farewell between Grogu and Din Djarin, who even takes off his helmet so Grogu can properly touch his face one last time (*cue ensuing man tears*).

The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale Post-Credits Scene

Oh, wait, there’s more. PSA: Wait until the end of the credits for an additional scene.

In the post-credits scene, we get to see Boba Fett and Fennec Shand’s hostile takeover of what was formerly Jabba the Hutt’s former palace on Tatooine. It’s amusing to find out that Bib Fortuna (Jabba’s former Twi’lek second-in-command) took over the place in the years since Jabba died in Star Wars Episode VI Return Of The Jedi.

In a surprising turn of events, this post-credits scene confirms that there will be yet another Star Wars spinoff series in addition to the 10 previously-announced ones.

It’s titled The Book Of Boba Fett and it looks like it will apparently focus on the adventures of Boba Fett and Fennec Shand on Tatooine. It is set to premiere in December 2021, presumably alongside The Mandalorian Season 3.

Despite everything that’s happened, we still have lingering questions from The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale. Hopefully, the upcoming The Mandalorian Season 3, which will premiere in December 2021, will have answers to these lingering questions:

Will Bo-Katan Reclaim The Darksaber (And Mandalore With It)?

The episode ends just as Luke leaves with Grogu, which means that we never did find out if Bo-Katan took the Darksaber. It’s likely that Bo-Katan will be forced to duel with Din Djarin for the right to claim the Darksaber, which will result in a tragic end.

Who are we kidding? If that were to happen, Din Djarin will probably be the winner, though the duel between Din and Moff Gideon does prove that you don’t actually need to kill your opponent to claim the Darksaber.

That’s good news, as Din and Bo-Katan could just duel for the Darksaber and no one will have to kill anybody. It just feels like a contrived reason for more drama, but what can you do; that’s usually the case with sci-fi lore.

What Will Happen To Moff Gideon (Who Is Still Alive)?

Yes, Moff Gideon is still alive at the end of The Mandalorian Season 2. Cara Dune could simply bring her back to the New Republic as a fugitive but if there are other Imperials in the galaxy, they won’t let this go that easily.

Well, especially considering Grand Admiral Thrawn is still out there somewhere. Thrawn will likely appear in Season 3 and become the new big bad, now that Moff Gideon has been captured.

However, it is also equally possible that Disney Plus might be saving that Grand Admiral Thrawn live-action appearance for the upcoming Star Wars Ahsoka series.

A Dark Fate Awaits Grogu?

It pains me to say this, but even though Grogu is now under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker himself, things don’t bode well for his future. While Grogu’s future remains unknown at this point, let’s not forget that we do already know what happens to Luke Skywalker.

In Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi, it was revealed that Luke Skywalker did manage to rebuild a new Jedi Order, but it ultimately fell and crumbled when Ben Solo AKA Kylo Ren turned to the Dark Side and killed everyone. Yes, every Jedi Padawan in training apparently died, besides several of Ben’s friends who were later killed by him as well (in his own comic book mini-series).

If Grogu were to remain with Luke Skywalker until those events happened, it would mean that he also died during Ben Solo’s rampage. That is, unless he somehow ended up not being in Luke’s Jedi Order and someplace else entirely.

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. Let’s hope that the folks at Disney and Lucasfilm find a suitable role for Grogu in the franchise lore. I’m sure many fans would hate to find out that he just ended up being killed by Kylo Ren or something.

God, I hate the Star Wars Sequels.