The Mandalorian Season 3 is finally settling into a rhythm. So of course, it’s time for the big finale. After a first half of inconsistently long and short episodes, the show delivered a series of 35-40 minute episodes that are basically the equivalent of an hour-long network drama. But as the Star Wars show speeds towards its finale, it’s time for yet another runtime shakeup.
According to Twitter tipster @Cryptic4KQual, who has correctly predicted the runtime of every episode this season, Episode 7 of The Mandalorian Season 3 will be 50 minutes long, making it not only one of the longest episodes of this season but one of the longest of the series as a whole. (For comparison, Season 2 Episode 1, “The Marshall,” was 51 minutes and 47 seconds long.)
This is huge for Star Wars fans — and a key piece of evidence for a theory that’s looking more and more plausible: The Mandalorian Season 3 will have a two-episode finale, a major first for the Disney+ show. If this was just a standalone episode, it probably wouldn’t need 50 minutes, especially since the last episode that was this long involved a completely unrelated adventure on Coruscant (Season 3 Episode 3 has a runtime of 56 minutes and 11 seconds).
We already know what happens at the beginning of Episode 7 — a sneak peek at Star Wars Celebration revealed the episode begins with an Imperial Remnant conference call hosted by Moff Gideon. We haven’t seen Gideon all season, so if he’s showing up now, it’s obviously a big deal.
There’s one more piece to the two-part-finale theory puzzle: both Episodes 7 and 8 of Season 3 are directed by The Mandalorian Executive Producer Rick Famuyiwa, who also directed the premiere of this season. Why would he double-dip on episodes unless they were part of a larger narrative?
It’s still possible that both of Famuyiwa’s episodes are unrelated, but it looks likely they’ll be connected even if they’re standalone episodes — much like how “The Tragedy” and “The Rescue” were connected in Season 2 despite having different directors and settings while sharing a narrative throughline. But it seems likely Star Wars is about to deliver a major first: a two-part episode of The Mandalorian. And if that’s the case, there’s probably a very good reason behind it.
The Mandalorian Season 3 is now streaming on Disney+.
