The Darksaber!?

We nearly made it through an entire first season of The Mandalorian without a face reveal or a jetpack for Mando, and while I would have rated the audacity to complete the series without either, I loved that the season finale gave us both.

It was a stacked episode as nurse-mode IG-11 rescued The Child from Imperial clutches from the outset, joining up with our heroes who were pinned down in the cantina by Moff Gideon’s forces. As it turns out, the repurposed IG unit would effectively be this episode’s surprise title character – it’s his redemption.

After saving The Child, he would go on to save Mando – or should I say, Din Djarin, after Mando’s name was revealed by Gideon – applying some much needed Bacta to a head wound.

And what a smart way to have Din reveal is face for the first time. We’ve all known that it’s Pedro Pascal under the helmet, but a face reveal for the character would always be a momentus moment. Having IG-11 remove the helmet gives us that occasion while allowing Din to retain his squeaky clean 100 percent record at having never removed it in front of another being.

“I’m not a being, I am a droid,” was particularly poignant given Din’s expressed hatred of droids set up in the opening minutes of episode one.

This long-held stance would be stretched to it’s end when IG-11 would eventually make the ultimate sacrifice to save not only The Child, but the entire team – if admittedly, an indirect consequence of programming.

Heading towards the remnants of Gideon’s troops, who had stationed themselves at the lava river tunnel’s only exit, IG-11 knows that capture is inevitable. He gets out of the boat, walks through the lava to the mouth of the tunnel and self-destructs, (in another textbook episode one callback), taking out the entire trooper squadron with him. All while Ludwig Goransson’s score matches the gravity of the moment.

You see Din, droids aren’t so bad after all.

Following IG-11’s noble sacrifice, we reach the series’ climactic set piece where Din’s new jetpack allows him to confront Gideon – now strafe running our heroes in his Tie Fighter. The tussle doesn’t last particularly long before Gideon is grounded. In reality, an extended sequence would have been fun but this was already the longest episode of the series so far at 49 minutes.

And that’s the series. Cara Dune and Greef Karga remain on Nevarro. Din leaves with The Child. Besides IG-11’s heroics, an ending that was more of a fizzle than a bang, but that’s simply symptomatic of a wider issue with the series which I will dive into in my full season review in a few days time. Still a very enjoyable season finale.

One that did feature one final cliffhanger shot. Moff Gideon emerges from the Tie Fighter wreckage, cutting a hole in the cockpit wall with THE DARKSABER!

The last time we saw the ancient black-bladed lightsaber synonymous with Mandalore was when it was given to Bo-Katan, who had united the warring houses of Mandalore in the final season of Rebels. We have no idea as yet how it’s ended up in the hands of Gideon, which is a fascinating unknown with which to enter season two.