Chapter 16: The Rescue

The Mandalorian and Cara Dune board an Imperial shuttle and capture Dr. Pershing. The Mandalorian and Boba Fett visit Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves at a cantina, and after a quarrel between Fett and Reeves about the purity of the former's Mandalorian lineage,[lower-alpha 1] they agree to help rescue Grogu in exchange for Bo-Katan getting the Darksaber from Gideon. Dr. Pershing warns the cruiser is defended by Dark Trooper droids. They use the shuttle to get close, as Fett pretends to attack them in Slave I, and they crash land in the TIE fighter launch tube. Bo-Katan, Koska, Fennec, and Dune fight through stormtroopers to the bridge.

Meanwhile, the Mandalorian finds the Dark Troopers and attempts to seal them off, although one breaks through. After a protracted struggle, he barely defeats it using his beskar spear and ejects the others out the airlock. He then enters the cell where Moff Gideon is standing by Grogu with the Darksaber extended. Gideon offers to let The Mandalorian take Grogu if he leaves the ship immediately, but Gideon strikes the Mandalorian when his back is turned. The Mandalorian fights Gideon with the beskar spear and overpowers the Moff, inadvertently making him the new rightful owner of the Darksaber. Upon delivering Gideon to the others on the ship's bridge, the Moff attempts to goad Bo-Katan into attacking the Mandalorian so she can rightfully claim the Darksaber and take the throne of Mandalore. The Dark Troopers return and close in upon the bridge, working to break through the blast doors. A single X-wing lands, the pilot of which is a Jedi Knight who engages and destroys all of the Dark Troopers. Gideon seizes an opportunity to kill Grogu but his blaster shot is blocked by The Mandalorian. Instead of dropping his weapon Gideon tries to shoot himself but is disarmed by Cara Dune. The others object but The Mandalorian opens the blast doors to the Jedi, who reveals himself to be Luke Skywalker. Grogu hesitates to leave with Luke, until the Mandalorian gives his permission to go with the Jedi to complete his training. In an emotional farewell to Grogu, the Mandalorian removes his helmet and tearfully looks on as Luke, accompanied by R2-D2, departs with Grogu.

In a post-credits scene, on Tatooine, at Jabba's Palace, Fennec kills several guards, frees a slave, then Fett kills Bib Fortuna and takes the throne.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a score of 94% based on reviews from 49 critics, with an average rating of 8.81/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Rescue balances its emotional stakes with just enough blockbuster action to craft a stunning season finale."[12]

Laura Prudom at IGN gave the episode 10 out of 10, although she wanted to give it 11 out of 10, and called it the "most momentous episode of The Mandalorian yet - both for how it connects to the larger Star Wars universe and for the seismic shift it creates in Din Djarin and Grogu's stories."[13] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone called it "a thrilling and ultimately tear-jerking conclusion to a season that leveled up in pretty much every way from a very satisfying debut year."[14] Keith Phipps of New York Magazine gave the episode 4 out of 5 and wrote: "Great season, right? And it ended well, too, achieving the same heightened emotions as the first-season finale and without killing off anyone."[15]

• Chapter 16: The Rescue on Disney+
• "Chapter 16: The Rescue" at IMDb
• Official website
• Chapter 16: The Rescue on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki