"Chapter 8: Redemption," the concluding episode of the first season of the TV show The Mandalorian, represents its eighth installment. Taika Waititi took the director's chair for this episode, which debuted on December 27, 2019 via the Disney+ streaming service.
The pair of scout troopers responsible for Kuiil's demise and the capture of the Child journey to a designated meeting location situated close to the Nevarro settlement. Using his comlink, the lead scout trooper gets in touch with his commanding officer, reporting that they have the "Asset" and are awaiting further instructions. The Child, confined within a knapsack, attempts to peek out, but the scout trooper forcefully pushes him back down. The comlink voice advises them to double-check their status, as Moff Gideon has already landed and eliminated a squad of troopers.
The second scout trooper wonders if Gideon killed members of his own unit. The first scout trooper doesn't express concern and hits the Child again. The second trooper shows interest in the asset but the first trooper is only concerned with following orders. The second trooper asks if he can see it but the first trooper reminds him that Moff Gideon killed several of his own troopers to make a point.
The troopers pass the time by (unsuccessfully) using a nearby transmitter as target practice. The second trooper suggests offering the "thing" some water as an excuse to examine it. The first trooper insists on keeping it in the bag until delivery. Upon requesting an update from the commander, he learns that Moff Gideon has killed an officer for interrupting him and that it could take a while.
The second trooper persuades the first trooper to allow him a glimpse of the Child. The second trooper initially believes the Child to be a pet, but the Child bites his finger. The second trooper retaliates by hitting the knapsack containing the Child, while the first trooper remarks that he deserved it.
At that moment, IG-11 makes an appearance, identifying himself as the Child's nurse droid and demanding their handover. The second scout trooper recognizes IG-11 as a hunter droid, but the first trooper underestimates IG-11, dismissing him as a nurse droid. He attempts to deter the droid by firing his blaster pistol.
However, IG-11 twists the first trooper's arm and throws him to the ground. He grabs the second trooper by his helmet and then slams him against the steering vanes of the speeder bike. After retrieving the Child, he mounts a bike and apologizes to the Child for the violence he had to witness.
Back at the Nevarro cantina, the "Mandalorian", Cara Dune, and Greef Karga find themselves cornered by Moff Gideon and his stormtroopers. The Mandalorian suggests to his companions that they seek refuge in the sewers, where his clan maintains a covert. While he searches for an access point, Cara and Greef observe Gideon's stormtroopers setting up an E-web heavy repeating blaster. The Mandalorian and Cara locate the sewer vent concealed beneath a seat.
Cara attempts to use her blaster to breach the sewer vent. Upon hearing blaster fire, Moff Gideon alerts the group to the deployment of a newer model E-web heavy repeating blaster by his troops. Gideon identifies Cara as an Alderaanian survivor who transitioned into a rebel shock trooper. He also reveals the Mandalorian's name as Din Djarin, a survivor of the Siege of Mandalore and the Night of a Thousand Tears, where many Mandalorian recruits were mown down by the E-web blasters. Gideon also addresses Magistrate Greef Karga, urging him and his companions to disarm and surrender, threatening to destroy their structure imminently.
In response to Greef's inquiry about his proposition, Gideon offers reasonable negotiations. When Greef asks what assurances he is offering, Gideon warns that they cannot trust him since they have proven untrustworthy. Gideon asserts that the only assurance they have is his self-interest, which, in this instance, aligns with their cooperation and benefit, granting them until nightfall to consider his offer.
Greef expresses distrust in Moff Gideon's promises. He suggests making a last stand in the cantina, but Cara argues against their chances against the E-web heavy repeating blaster. Cara wants to shoot her way out. Din Djarin identifies their adversary as Moff Gideon. Cara expresses surprise at Moff Gideon's survival, given his supposed execution for war crimes. Din reveals that Moff Gideon knows his name, a name unspoken since his childhood.
When Greef asks if he grew up on Mandalore, Din says that he was not born on Mandalore. When Greef asks isn't he a Mandalorian, Cara explains that Mandalorians are not a race with Din clarifying that it is a creed. Djarin experiences a flashback of his parents concealing him in a bunker during a Separatist attack on their city. His parents were killed by battle droids, but he was rescued from a B2-series super battle droid by an Mandalorian warrior, who transported him to safety using a jetpack. He observed the Mandalorian Death Watch warriors eliminating battle droids.
Din explains that he was a foundling who was raised and adopted as a Mandalorian. When he came of age, he was sworn to their creed. The only record of his name were in the registers of Mandalore. Din explains that Moff Gideon was an Imperial Security Bureau officer during the Great Purge of Mandalore. Din and his companions deduce that Moff Gideon has not yet killed them because he is still seeking the Child.
Djarin attempts to contact Kuiil via his comlink, only to be met by IG-11, who has the Child. IG-11 informs the Mandalorian of Kuiil's termination, clarifying that he is fulfilling his base structure to nurse and protect.
IG-11 rides his speeder bike into the Nevarro settlement, gunning down the stormtrooper and scout trooper sentries stationed at the gate. He then rides through the streets of the settlement, gunning down stormtroopers with his twin blasters including two who were haggling with a local Jawa. IG-11 fights his way through Gideon's troops outside the cantina.
Cara assists him by eliminating more stormtroopers with her repeating blaster. Din Djarin and Greef Karga join the fray, taking down several death troopers. Despite sustaining a hit to his leg, IG-11 manages to safeguard the Child and bring it to safety. Din also guns down several stormtroopers using the E-web heavy repeater blaster cannon.
A death trooper manages to blow open the cantina's door with a detonator. Death troopers storm the cantina but Cara guns them down. Moff Gideon corners the Mandalorian, shooting him in the head (though his helmet protects him), then shooting a box of ammunition while the latter is preparing to return fire, which explodes and wounds Din Djarin. Cara manages to evacuate the wounded Mandalorian while Greef, IG-11 and the Child retreat inside the cantina.
Moff Gideon orders his forces to "burn them out." Inside the cantina, Cara tends to the wounded Mandalorian, who has suffered concussion injuries. Greef convinces IG-11 to help by unsealing the grate. Din tells Cara to leave him and rebuffs her attempts to remove his helmet. He tells her to protect the Child and to show his tribe his mythosaur necklace and explain that the Child is under his protection. Cara thinks they can make it.
Just then, a red-striped incinerator trooper, who is equipped with a flamethrower, approaches the cantina. After setting the furniture ablaze, he enters the cantina. The Mandalorian wants to hold off the Imperials so the others can escape; Cara refuses to leave him.
The incinerator trooper enters the cantina but the Child uses the Force to deflect the flames back at the trooper, driving him out. The Child falls asleep from the exertion just as IG-11 kicks the grate open. Cara, the Child, and Karga retreat inside the grate. Cara makes IG-11 promise to bring Din.
The Mandalorian asks IG-11 to kill him but the reprogrammed droid points out that he is now a nurse droid rather than a killer. He convinces a reluctant Din to let him remove his helmet on the grounds that he is not a living being, a loophole in the Mandalorian creed. IG-11 removes Din's helmet and applies a bacta spray to treat his brain injuries.
IG-11 and the Mandalorian soon rejoin Cara, Karga, and the Child in the underground tunnels. Greef proposes taking the lava river to the surface but Din Djarin warns that the Empire will be waiting for them and that they need Mandalorian escorts.
Due to the bacta infusion, Djarin is able to lead them to the covert, where he finds the helmets and armor of numerous fallen Mandalorians. The Mandalorian kneels down beside his fallen comrades. When Din asks Greef if the Bounty Hunters' Guild had a role in this massacre, Karga says that his mercenaries melted away.
The Armorer vouches for Greef and tells them that the Imperials arrived following Djarin's escape with the Child and slaughtered those that remained. The Mandalorian armorer thinks that some have escaped offworld. Djarin asks her to come with them but she refused to abandon this place until she has salvaged what remains.
In the smelter, the armorer melts some metal to forge armor. When she asks about the Asset who has caused them so much trouble, Djarin shows her the Child, explaining that he also saved him from the mudhorn. The Armorer remarks that it looks helpless. Djarin explains that it looks helpless but is not injured, explaining that its species can move objects with its mind.
The armorer is familiar with Mandalorian legends about battles between Mandalore the Great and the Jedi, which she regards as an ancient order of sorcerers. When Djarin asks if the Child is an enemy, she replies that its kind were enemies but that this individual is not. She says that it is a foundling and that by creed it is his to raise. Djarin incredulously asks if the Armorer is really telling him to search the galaxy for a force of enemy sorcerers, and the Armorer replies simply: "This is the way."
The Armorer tells Cara and her group to take a tunnel which leads them to the lava river, which leads to the surface. The Armorer tells them they must leave in order to protect the foundling until it comes of age, saying it is the way. She tells Djarin that he has earned his signet before applying a mudhorn signet on his right pauldron. She tells the Mandalorian that he is now a clan. Djarin vows to wear it with honor. Before Djarin and his group leader, she gives him a jetpack, telling him it would make him complete. She tells him to train with it.
As stormtroopers storm the enclave, IG-11 guns down the advance party. The Armorer stays behind and tasks IG-11 with taking care of the jetpack till Djarin is well enough to use it. She wishes them safety and waits for the stormtroopers inside the armory. When a stormtrooper demands to know where are the fugitives, she fights back with her tools, knocking them down. She shoves one into the smelter where he is incinerated. She also smashes a stormtrooper's helmet and knocks down several with her axe.
Meanwhile, Djarin and his companions reach the underground lava river where they find a boat crewed by a seemingly fried ferry droid. After some attempts, Cara manages to use her blaster to separate the lava boat from the fiery lava river. The ferry droid comes to life. Translating for the droid, IG-11 says that he is asking them where they want to go. Greef tells the droid to take them downriver towards the lava flats.
The droid rows their hover boat through the lava river. Several mammals scurry along the banks. As they approach the entrance, the Mandalorian spots a platoon of stormtroopers flanking the sides of the tunnel through his helmet scanner. Cara tells the droid to stop the boat. It ignores her, and she shoots off its head.
Unable to stop the boat, IG-11 proposes that he would eliminate the enemy while they escape. Djarin says they are outgunned but IG-11 proposes self-destructing as per his protocol. The Mandalorian proposes that the droid help them shoot their way out but IG-11 thinks that they don't have a chance of success.
IG-11 convinces Djarin to look after the Child so that he can default to his secondary command, which would allow the Mandalorian and the others to live and him to serve his purpose. Djarin says they need him but IG-11 points out that he has never been alive. The Mandalorian denies he is sad but allows IG-11 to walk through the lava river to face the stormtroopers and scout troopers.
Reaching the mouth of the lava river, IG-11 states that his manufacturer's protocol says that he cannot allow himself to be captured before blowing himself up. The resulting explosion neutralises the platoon, allowing Djarin and the others to reach the plains safely.
Moff Gideon circles them in his Outland TIE fighter and strafes them. Before he returns for a second round, Greef tries to get the Child to use his Force powers. With the Child unable to do so, the Mandalorian ignites his jetpack and pursues the TIE fighter. He uses his grappling cable to latch onto the TIE fighter.
Unable to force his way into the cockpit, he tries to plant a detonator but Moff Gideon shakes it off. He plants a second detonator on its left joint, causing the ship to spiral out of control and crash.
Djarin rejoins his comrades. Greef Karga is impressed with the Mandalorian's combat prowess and says that his bounty rates have just gone up. When the Mandalorian asks if there are more stormtroopers, Cara thinks they have cleaned up the town. She and Greef say they will stay around to make sure. Greef says that Nevarro is a nice planet with the "scum and villainy" washed away.
Greef wants to recruit Cara into his Guild but she has clerical concerns. Greef says that the Mandalorian will be welcome back to the Guild with open arms. He tells him to go and enjoy himself. When he is ready to return, he will have the pick of all quarries. Djarin declines his offer, saying that he has more pressing matters at hand as he lifts the Child. Cara touches the Child's left ear and tells the Mandalorian to take care of this little one. Greef teases that it may take care of him.
The Mandalorian returns with the Child to his ship Razor Crest. He buries his fallen friend Kuiil. In the cockpit, the Mandalorian allows the Child to keep his mythosaur necklace. The Razor Crest departs into space while Greef and Cara walk past.
Meanwhile, several Jawas attempt to salvage Moff Gideon's wrecked TIE Outlander fighter. However, they are startled by a laser cutting a hole through the wrecked ship. Moff Gideon cuts his way out of the fighter with the Darksaber, a symbol of Mandalorian power and authority.
Jon Favreau finalized the episode's shooting script on November 8, 2018. The filming of the episode occurred from November 13 to November 29, 2018, directly following the production of "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian," "Chapter 3: The Sin" and "Chapter 7: The Reckoning," due to shared cast members and sets. Members from the 501st Legion, a Star Wars costuming fan group, participated as extras because the producers lacked a sufficient number of stormtrooper costumes.