‘The Mandalorian’ fans overjoyed as season 3 finally kicks into gear

This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7

The Mandalorian‘s third season has been divisive. Previous episodes have been accused of not moving the plot forward and failing to present an obvious enemy for our heroes. Well, with the penultimate installment “The Spies,” the show has just slammed its foot on the accelerator and crammed a hell of a lot into its almost hour-long runtime.

Let’s take a deep breath and summarize everything that happened. Moff Gideon finally returned in style, trying to unite the Imperial remnants, who’ve pinned their hopes on the long-awaited return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Along the way, they teased “Project Necromancer,” which is almost certainly the “somehow” in “somehow Palpatine survived.”

Meanwhile, Grogu got a mech suit, the two tribes of Mandalorians united to retake Mandalore, and the landing party got a very nasty surprise when journeying to the Great Forge. This is where Gideon has made his base, combining Mandalorian armor and battle techniques with Imperial ruthlessness. We ended with Din captured, the Mandalorian cruiser in imminent threat of destruction, and Paz Vizsla making a heroic last stand against his forces to ensure their escape.

That’s a lot to take in, but for Star Wars fans, this is Christmas come early:

Finally, some good Mandalorian!

Everything we could have wanted:

We just wish this had all happened sooner!

It’s going to be a long week…

Giancarlo Esposito’s return was worth the wait:

Phenomenal indeed:

There’s now a heck of a lot to deal with in next week’s finale, though it doesn’t seem possible for Bo-Katan to wipe out Moff Gideon’s well-established base in just one episode. Either way, The Mandalorian is finally firing on all cylinders, and we love it. More like this please!

The Mandalorian season three finale will air on Apr. 19.