The Mandalorian S3 Chapter 23: Grogu’s Newest Power Upgrade Could Be Bad News For The Fan-Favorite Character – Looper

Yes, Grogu’s constant power-ups have now culminated into full-on battle armor, which is obviously awesome. Unfortunately, this character arc parallels that of the show’s most obviously doomed character, which makes us worry about Grogu’s long-term survival. 

Grogu’s IG-12 suit isn’t the only power armor upgrade in “Chapter 23.” Near the end, Moff Gideon premieres his ominous, Darth Vader-meets-Boba Fett Beskar Darktrooper armor. While old Moff ends the penultimate episode of Season 3 at the height of his powers, it’s hard to imagine a “Star Wars” villain who’s been set up to fall harder. In his very first “Chapter 23” scene, Gideon openly questions Grand Admiral Thrawn’s (Lars Mikkelsen) leadership — a colossally bad move now that we know Thrawn will be the main villain in “Ahsoka.” Later, he openly gloats at every single Mandalorian within earshot, and attempts to kill them all. He captures the nominal protagonist (Pedro Pascal) for the grand finale, a move that has historically rarely gone well for villains. He even haughtily demands that Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) gives him the Darksaber, thus teasing a situation where she’ll do exactly that … blade first, and with some force. In other words, Gideon has managed to anger just about everyone, to the point that the question isn’t whether he’s toast — it’s how crispy said toast will be. 

Now, does the fact that the villain is marching toward his doom in a cool new battle suit mean that Grogu — who also just so happens to acquire a cool new battle suit of his own — is destined to walk the same path toward oblivion? Not in itself. However, the suit thing is just one of the major, ongoing parallels between the two. The other one is that Gideon and Grogu are the two “The Mandalorian” characters who absolutely, positively won’t make it out of the show as they are right now.