Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian concluded with Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin leading a successful rescue of Paz Vizsla‘s son, Ragnar. Later, Bo-Katan told the Armorer about seeing an actual Mythosaur on Mandalore. Despite Bo-Katan’s insistence it was real, the Armorer appeared to consider what she saw to be a vision.
This week, Djarin’s tribe is called upon for a mission that may bring their people out of the shadows.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore. The sequence of events has also been streamlined a bit for the sake of clarity.
Pirate’s Promise
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
The episode opens on Nevarro, where High Magistrate Greef Karga is going over plans for Nevarro City‘s expansion with his advisors and engineers. The meeting is interrupted when Pirate King Gorian Shard appears over the city in his giant corsair. He hails Karga and begins complaining about the crew he lost while they were acting like homicidal douchebags a few episodes ago. Karga attempts to reason with Shard, but to no avail. Instead, the Pirate King begins bombarding the city, forcing the residents to flee for their lives.
Karga sends a plea for help to Captain Carson Teva (the X-Wing pilot we always see on this show), who’s currently stationed at a New Republic outpost on the planet of Adelphi. As the holo message plays, he’s joined by Zeb, who expresses his disappointment that Nevarro appears to be lost.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
*Side Note: If you don’t watch any of the animated Star Wars programs, then Zeb’s appearance isn’t going to seem like a big deal. For the rest of us, however, it’s huge. This is the first time we’ve seen the big guy since the final episode of ‘Star Wars: Rebels.’ His small-yet-awesome cameo in this episode informs us of two things:
- Since leaving the Ghost crew, Zeb has continued fighting for the Rebel Alliance/New Republic. From the looks of his uniform, he’s also managed to work his way into a leadership role.
- The live-action version of the character looks great.
That last item is important since it’s likely that he’ll end up playing a role in the upcoming ‘Ahsoka‘ series, which is already confirmed to include two other live-action Rebels characters: Herra Syndulla and Sabine Wrenn.
It also appears that at least the first part of the series will center around the search for Ezra Bridger, who disappeared in the Rebels series finale. The final moments of the series jump forward in time to the days following ‘Return of the Jedi,’ which you can see in the clip below (along with the last previous appearance of Zeb).
When Zeb points out that the New Republic hasn’t been great about communicating with their station, Teva decides to fly to Coruscant himself and request help. He walks into the office of Colonel Tuttle, who happens to have our old friend (and former Imperial Coms officer) Elia Kane as part of his staff.
Kane takes note of Teva’s presence and interrupts the meeting to ask if the colonel would like anything from a nearby commissary. When Tuttle asks what she knows about Nevarro, Kane reveals that she used to be stationed there before pointedly remarking that the planet has yet to sign the charter to make them part of the New Republic. Teva points out that they can’t leave the people there defenseless, but Tuttle counters that his office already has a backlog of requests for aid from member planets.
Teva then expresses his belief that the Imperial activity on Nevarro and the pirate attack are connected to something much bigger — a theory made all the more troubling by rumors that Moff Gideon never made it to trial in front of a New Republic war tribunal.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Tuttle moves the conversation back to the immediate concern, which is Teva’s request to lead a squadron to aid Nevarro. Kane once again jumps in, this time expressing her belief that situations like this one help planets understand why they should sign on with the New Republic rather than remain independent.
As you might imagine, Teva isn’t thrilled with Kane’s “Imperial” way of thinking.
After the two subtly snipe at each other for a bit, Tuttle interrupts to say he’ll see if any additional resources can be allocated (which is bureaucracy-speak for getting rejected). Before departing, Teva warns the pair that something dangerous is happening in the galaxy — something that will slip beyond the New Republic’s control if they continue to ignore it.
*Side Note: It looks like my theory about Kane putting her sociopathic skillset to use for the New Republic might be wrong. Maybe she really is still working for Moff Gideon and the Empire.
The Right Way
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
While Greef Karga leads his people to a remote/safe area of Nevarro, Captain Teva flies his X-Wing to the planet where Djarin & Co. are hiding out. Predictably, the Mandalorians aren’t happy about being discovered — especially when Teva reveals that it was R-5 who helped lead him there.
Despite Paz Vizsla’s suggestion that they kill the New Republic interloper, Djarin decides they should let him live (on account of Teva cutting him a break last season). After seeing Karga’s holo message, he decides to hear him out. Teva explains that his New Republic superiors won’t do anything to help, leaving Djarin’s friend in grave danger. He also acknowledges that this isn’t Djarin’s fight while admitting that he thinks it’s connected to something bigger.
Before leaving, Teva assures the Mandalorians he won’t reveal the location of their covert despite knowing they’ll relocate anyway.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
That evening, Djarin makes his case to the tribe for helping Karga, a man they once fought with to help Djarin rescue Grogu (back in season one). He tries to explain that the man has proven to be a trusted ally since then, but it’s clear the others remain skeptical.
Things start to look even worse when Paz asks to speak. Instead of blasting Djarin’s request, however, he praises both him and Bo-Katan for rescuing his son despite the personal differences they’ve had. He goes on to say that when two of their own ask to take up arms in the name of a brighter future, they are duty-bound as Mandalorians to agree.
Paz’s speech results in enthusiastic declarations of “This Is the Way.”
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
The next day, Bo-Katan goes over a battle plan with the rest of the tribe. While she and Djarin provide air support, two strike teams will be dropped into Nevarro City. The Gauntlet and the N-1 will keep Gorian Shard’s corsair and snub fighters busy (and hopefully take them down) while the ground forces take out the pirates.
Before they depart, Djarin reminds everyone that Nevarro was once their home. Although they previously had to hide in the sewers, they now have the chance to return to the planet as heroes.
After a trip through hyperspace, the Mandalorians enter Nevarro’s atmosphere and begin executing their battle plan. Djarin engages the corsair, which launches its snub fighters. Once Gorian Shard’s air support is diverted, Bo-Katan flies over Nevarro City and drops the two strike squads, who begin kicking all types of pirate ass. One of the groups gets outflanked, but is saved when Paz shows up like a boss and begins mowing the enemies down.
The ground teams get in trouble again when a pirate sets up a high-powered gun on Karga’s balcony. Thankfully, the Armorer is able to make her way upstairs and take care of that problem in the most awesome way imaginable.
As the last remaining pirates begin to fall back, they are outflanked by Karga and his people, forcing them to surrender.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Back in the air, Djarin continues to outmaneuver the snub fighters while Bo-Katan uses the opening to take out one of the corsair’s engines. Shard calls the fighters back, but ends up losing even more of them along with another engine and most of his ship’s shields. Vane realizes he’s the only pirate pilot left and bolts, ensuring that he’ll never get a good recommendation from his former boss.
Despite pleas from Shard’s remaining crew to retreat, he orders a bombardment of the Nevarro City refugees. Thankfully, Djarin and Bo-Katan are able to take out the ship’s last remaining engine, causing the corsair to crash and explode.
Once the Mandalorians have regrouped, Karga thanks them for their bravery before offering a large tract of land to call their own.
New Beginnings and Old Threats
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
The Armorer requests Bo-Katan’s presence at her old forge beneath Nevarro City, where she asks her to remove her helmet. Bo-Katan is understandably hesitant, but does so after she insists. The Armorer then expresses her belief that Bo-Katan seeing the mythosaur was a sign that a new age has dawned — one that will require a Mandalorian who’s walked in both worlds of their divided culture.
It is time for Bo-Katan to lead them in taking back Mandalore.
*Side Note: I predicted that Bo-Katan would eventually raise an army from the tribe’s ranks to take back her home planet. What I did not expect/predict was her being granted and charged with a leadership role by the Armorer herself.
Elsewhere, Captain Teva and Lieutenant Reed find a derelict New Republic prison transport with a breached hull. Despite the ship’s details being classified, Teva is able to match up its departure times with the schedule for Moff Gideon’s transportation. After sending a probe into the wreckage, Teva notes that there is no sign of Gideon and that all the New Republic personnel are dead.
Reed then points out a piece of beskar lodged in the ship’s hull, potentially incriminating a group of Mandalorians.
The Verdict
Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Barring a weird/poorly executed time jump, we have two possibilities here:
- Another group of Mandalorians decided to capture Moff Gideon so they could bring him to justice on their own terms.
- Moff Gideon’s previous ownership of the Darksaber means that there are Mandalorians out there who are loyal to him. Considering that a large number of them were once willing to follow Darth Maul, it’s definitely not out of the question.
Whatever the case, my guess is that we’re headed toward a conflict where Moff Gideon defeats Djarin and retakes the Darksaber. This will likely be followed by Bo-Katan defeating Moff Gideon and taking the Darksaber via combat, thus allowing her to reclaim the throne of Mandalore in a way that further unites her people.
Of course, this episode also proved that I can totally whiff on predictions, so take all of that with a grain of salt.
Whatever happens, however, the battle that got us to this point was incredibly fun to watch. Instead of getting routed by a giant alligator, we got to see the Mandalorians work as a deadly and cohesive combat unit. The fact they were led by Bo-Katan made it all the better — especially once it pushed the Armorer to fully accept her as a leader for their people.
Meanwhile, we saw yet another example of how the New Republic is being overtaken by the same bureaucratic rot that caused its previous downfall — all while a subplot involving Elia Kane’s motivations and loyalties simmers toward a boil.
The one thing I was not expecting was Moff Gideon’s escape to be so interesting. We all knew he was going to return, but I certainly didn’t think any Mandalorians would be involved in his liberation. If anyone did, then please pipe up in the comments and start betting on the stock market.
I was also not expecting to like Greef Karga as much as I do now. He’s always been a good character, but his organic development over the last three seasons has made him significantly easier to root for.
On the negative side of things, it’s a bit of a stretch for Teva to connect Gorian Shard’s attack to some larger conspiracy — especially since all the reasons for Shard’s actions were simple and well-established. It was also absurdly convenient for Elia Kane to be working in the exact same office (and at the exact right time) where Teva showed up unannounced to meet with Colonel Tuttle. I suppose you could say she set things up for just such an occasion, but that doesn’t really hold water.
Those complaints aside, ‘The Pirate’ was a fantastic episode that also set up some wonderfully intriguing plotlines to finish up the season. With a return trip to Mandalore and Moff Gideon’s next appearance on the horizon, it appears that season three of Star Wars: The Mandalorian has officially hit its stride.
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