In Ch. 23, the song of The Mandalorian is not yet written.

Who the Mandalorians are and what they mean to each other hang in the balance.

The Short Take:

Exactly what I wanted. Essentially what I predicted. And yet, a big mystery still hangs over this penultimate episode. 

Image Credit: IMDb

[SPOILER WARNING: Every pithy line I come up with for this one is in of itself a spoiler. Do not proceed if you have not seen this episode!] 

The Long Take:

But who are the spies?!

I’ve seen some folks poke fun at the naming convention that this series favors, perhaps because it’s so simple, or perhaps because it’s used so frequently. So many episodes have been titled “The [fill in the blank].” It started out innocently enough in Season 1, with “The Mandalorian” and “The Child.” This season, though, it seems to have escalated with “The Apostate,” “The Convert,” “The Foundling,” and “The Pirate.” For me, especially this season, these names have been keys to unlock thematic connections across multiple storylines within one episode. Many of us have continually asked, “who is the [fill in the blank]?” every week, and the answers have been delightfully ambiguous at times. 

Chapter 23’s title, “The Spies” takes this to a whole new level because it actively generates a mystery that, as far as I can tell, has not yet been answered. I might even go so far as to call it a cliffhanger, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an episode title create a cliffhanger before. We open with Elia Cane ducking into an ally to check in with Moff Gideon, so she is clearly a spy to which the title could allude. But the episode title is the spies, plural. WHO ARE THE OTHER SPIES????? Not knowing is stressing me out beyond belief. Yet, I appreciate that this as a very clever long con that the series has been playing. The pluralization of spies, rather than just naming the episode, “The Spy,” is conspicuous. It wants us to notice and wonder. 

And there are actually several suspects with motive and opportunity: 

1.) The one that would break my heart the most is The Armorer. I would much prefer her to be good and wise, prioritizing the unification of all Mandalorians above the interests of her own tribe. But she conveniently volunteered to take the wounded back to the fleet while the rest of the recon party walked right into a trap. [Cue Admiral Akbar.] And other critics have been suspicious of her all season long because of her cryptic behavior and the resemblance her horned/spiked helmet has to those worn by the Mandalorian Supercommandos who were loyal to Darth Maul during The Clone Wars. I thought that was a reach before, but it’s possible I’ve just been in denial. If she has been manipulating Bo-Katan this entire time, it may be because she promised Moff Gideon she would deliver Bo-Katan and the Darksaber in exchange for a place for The Children of the Watch on the new, Moffed-up Mandalore. 

Image Credit: Wookieepedia

2.) Axe Woves also makes a convenient exit before Moff Gideon arrives on the scene; he volunteers to fly back to the fleet and get help immediately after the ambush begins. And he insists that he should go, even though Bo tells him it’s too far. As Greg

Eye On Canon

pointed out when we were texting about the episode earlier today, Axe Woves' betrayal would be consistent with his comment last week: that Mandalorians are noble and loyal to someone as long as they have the credits. He could easily have been bought by Gideon. 

Image Credit: Star Wars News Net

3.) My first thought, though, in light of the pluralization of “The Spies,” went to a group that I would describe as the Mad Max Mandos; they’re much more ragged looking than other Mandalorians we’ve seen because they’ve been on the ruined planet since The Purge, struggling to survive. If they’ve been there all along and Moff Gideon has been there all along (or at least since someone — maybe our spies? — busted him out of the prison transport), then it stands to reason that they have only been able to survive because Moff Gideon allows it. Their desperate situation could make it very easy for them to be bought off with food or other supplies. AND they’re the ones that have the dramatic, “We can do better than tell you; we can show you where the mines are” moment, which, as the kids say, is sus. 

Image Credit: Wealth of Geeks

Regardless of who these spies are, it’s very likely that they are going to unveil themselves in the finale, and at a very inopportune time to gain even more of an advantage over our heroes. With Paz Vizsla gone and Din in captivity, Team Bo-Katan is already in a very vulnerable position. So it’s not looking good, and could get worse. 

This bleak situation will make Bo-Katan’s rise from the ashes all the more triumphant, I hope. The dramatic core of this episode, for me, was Bo finally telling everyone what happened when the Empire destroyed Mandalore, explaining why Moff Gideon had the Darksaber at the start of the series. It was not her warrior grit refusing to bend that brought defeat, but her attempt to save her people through bad faith negotiations with Moff Gideon, who reneged on the terms of her surrender. 

This reveal adds a lot more emotional weight to the struggle Bo has had with leadership all season long. We now know exactly why she acts so bitter and cynical, brooding alone in her castle at the beginning of the season. And we now know exactly why she acted like she was so undeserving of a leadership position last week. Considering what happened all those years ago, it is miraculous, or, perhaps, a testament to her strength that she was able to return to Mandalore, the site of her greatest shame, at all. 

While Bo views her attempt to barter the Darksaber for the safety of The Mandalorian people as a weakness or point of shame, Din sees it as proof of why she should, in fact, lead Mandalore. He doesn’t see the loss of Mandalore as Bo’s fault; rather, it’s just a part of their history. He says, “We’ll rebuild it. Isn’t that our history? For thousands of years we have been on the verge of extinction. And for thousands of years we have survived.” When Bo expresses doubts about her ability to keep everyone together, citing The Darksaber as the only power she has, he says, “I only know of this weapon what you taught me. To be honest, it means nothing to me or my people. Nor does station or bloodline. What means more to me is honor. And loyalty. And character. These are the reasons I serve you, Lady Kryze. Your song is not yet written. I will serve you until it is.” Reader, my heart fluttered. 

I know I said last week that I didn’t ship Din and Bo, and I still don’t. But Din just Jorah Mormont-ed Bo-Katan, right? Perhaps he did so more platonically, but this speech makes him the knight who pledges undying fealty to her. His invocation of “Lady Kryze” here is noticeable and notable because I don’t remember him saying that before. He might as well have called her Khaleesi. I hadn’t thought of it until now, but I could have easily added a discussion of the chivalric code from medieval literature to my discussion of loopholes last week. My memory is hazy, but I feel like bargains and rules that heroes can outwit by still adhering to the rules feels like a very Sir Gawain and the Green Knight sort of gambit.  

Regardless, I love the line “your song is not yet written.” It poetically sums up the arc of this season so beautifully, and positions Bo-Katan as a mythical hero worthy of a ballad. It also shows how Din can be a supporting character in Bo’s song yet still stand as the central figure in the series. His words here, which tell us who Bo-Katan is, also tells us so much about who Din is. His reaction to her confession sets him apart from every other character with which she interacts. 

Image Credit: Vulture

After this episode, I feel like it should be harder for critics to complain that Din has taken a backseat in his own show, and I would say that the same goes for Grogu as well. I very predictably lost my mind at the sight of Grogu settling into his new IG-12 mech and actually expressing himself with the “Yes” and “No” buttons. Part of the magic of Din and Grogu, especially in Season 1, is that the writing for them strikes a chord with my experience as a parent, perfectly capturing the absurdity of interacting with a small child who is at once adorable, infuriating, brilliant and yet immature. The whole “children are all id” sentiment rings so true with Grogu. He can in one moment be a peacemaker, breaking up the fight between Paz Vizsla and Axe Woves, and then, in another moment, he can stuff his face with food for which he has not paid. Din’s concern for Grogu’s safety followed by his complete exasperation when he says, “This isn’t working for me” was as authentic as it was hilarious. 

Laughs aside, Grogu did get a more substantive character moment in this episode. When he steps in to stop Paz and Axe from fighting, it wasn’t just an excuse to bring the “No. No. No” gag back. It showed how invested Grogu is in The Mandalorian Project. He wants them to put aside their differences and unite as much as Bo-Katan and The Armorer (assuming she’s on the up and up) do.

When Bo-Katan compliments Din on teaching Grogu to broker peace, he says, “He didn’t learn that from me.” And while Grogu could have learned to deescalate conflict in his early days in the Jedi Order, it’s much more likely — and so much more beautiful — that he learned it from Luke. That very idea channels so much warmth and good will I feel for this iconic, long-beloved character who perhaps is best known for seeing the good in Darth Vader. 

I’m looking forward to Grogu showing his own leadership skills more. It’d be great, for example, to see him stepping up to help save his dad from Moff Gideon in the finale. That would create an emotional symmetry with the Season 2 finale, in which Din had to rescue Grogu from Gideon’s custody. 

Grogu seems to be actively working to keep The Mandalorians together, but, to go back to the central mystery of this episode, we know that there’s at least someone in their ranks who is actively working against them. Definitionally, a spy is someone who is a traitor to those around them; someone pretending to be on your side but secretly working against you. And so this anxiety over which of these Mandalorians — and it’s likely they are Mandalorian because of the beskar fragment left behind at Gideon’s jailbreak — would betray their own kind is actually the perfect theme for this episode and this season more broadly. It reflects the very fragile formation of The Mandalorians as a people. 

To go back to naming conventions and try to tie everything together, I’d remind us that the question of “who is The Mandalorian?” has been a question on viewers’ minds since Din first decided to go back to free Grogu in Season 1. Could Grogu be the titular Mandalorian, many have asked? And now, others still are asking, at least for this season, is Bo-Katan the titular Mandalorian now? Does the title of this series refer to one individual or many? And that question goes back to the threat that spies in their ranks pose here. Are they individuals with their own agendas, or are they a unified people? 

Lest we forget, the progenitor of The Mandalorians as a concept within the Star Wars Franchise lies with Boba Fett as a foreboding, heartless bounty hunter in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Back then, he was one of a kind with no social ties. He didn’t yet have the potential to be one member of a vast civilization until we learn in Attack of the Clones (2002) that he was a clone of Jango Fett. Later still do we learn that Jango Fett was one of many, when we see the splendor of a populous Mandalore in The Clone Wars animated series. The first Mandalorian, then, was a loner from nowhere just out for number one. That sounds a lot more like our mystery spies, who would rather go against the idea that all Mandalorians could unite under one banner in favor of satisfying a more self-interested need. I could also argue that this is who Din is at the start of Season 1 — a lone bounty hunter — until, of course, he meets Grogu, who prompts him to evolve his outlook and desire a community for his clan of two.

Image Credit: Star Wars News Net

This self-serving loner status is the opposite of Din pledging his service to Bo-Katan. It is the opposite of Paz Vizsla closing the blast doors so he can die trying to take out the enemy. It is the opposite of Bo-Katan giving up the Darksaber at the hope of saving her people from Imperial slaughter. So there is, as always, hope.

Bo-Katan has commented several times now that the main weakness of Mandalorians is their infighting; their inability to unite behind a common cause. Historically they have been self-interested traitors and spies. Who is The Mandalorian now? Someone who can eschew ulterior motives and work towards a greater good? We shall see what kind of an answer we get in the finale.