Since Mando Ep 2 is going to be moderately restructured due to Mando Season 3, I figure I’d give my piece here as it’s most relevant on this thread.

I do agree that while giving Grogu away is an ending rather than a beginning, it still feels like the right move to bump that to Mando Ep 4. As someone who didn’t either Luke coming to save the day in Mando Season 2 (which honestly made me stop Mando Ep 2 at Grogu’s capture because I knew what came next) or the reversal of giving up Grogu, moving both of those moment into one packaged narrative lets me pretend that separating Din & Grogu only for their coming back together to help save the day in Mando Ep 3TBoBF.

As for ending Mando Ep 2 with Grogu’s capture, it’s still a tad TESB-esque, even if it doesn’t have the same weight to it. Empire works because Luke thinks he’s going to get trained & have everything he needs to fight Vader, only to be curb-stomped & have Vader drop that bombshell on him. The closest thing to that moment would be Boba revealing to Din that he & his father Jango were indeed Mandolorians, so there’s a type of brotherhood between Boba & Din that promises they’ll indeed rescue Grogu. That scene & ending with Gideon with the Darksaber is a decent enough ending for Ep 2, and then rescuing Grogu in Ep 3 is your raid on Jabba’s palace