The Mandalorian, Chapter 21: The Pirate

Welcome to my latest episode analysis, where we’ll be discussing the best WTF moments and Easter eggs. Let’s get one thing straight before we start. This episode breakdown includes spoilers!, so make sure you watch The Mandalorian – Chapter 21: The Pirate before reading on.

As of last week, the Loth-cat is out of the bag. Jedi Master Kelleran Beq was the one who rescued Grogu from Order 66 by whisking him away from the Jedi Temple. To me, the revelation seemed anticlimactic at first. After all, the story had generated years of fan speculation, with big names such as Jedi Knight Barriss Offee and even the Seventh Sister of the Inquisitorius being thrown into the mix as potential Grogu saviours. It then turned out to be a character who was really only invented for kids’ TV game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. Pfft.

The big role has rightly been given to actor Ahmed Best. After all, his quirky portrayal of Jar Jar Binks back in 1999 didn’t «just» earn him scorn and ridicule. «I had death threats through the internet. I had people come to me and say, ‘You destroyed my childhood.’ That’s difficult for a 25-year-old to hear,» says Best in an interview with online magazine Wired. Best couldn’t help the fact that Star Wars creator George Lucas had written the part to be so childish and cringeworthy. Nevertheless, the actor seriously considered suicide. So his triumphant return to the Star Wars franchise as Kelleran Beq, celebrated by fans, is the happy ending he deserves.

And we viewers? We’ve got ourselves a thrilling new episode of The Mandalorian.

The pirate

In this episode, the battle lines are quickly drawn. Gorian Shard, the pirate king from Chapter 17: The Apostate is back. The target of his ire is High Magistrate Greef Karga, a former agent of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild who was responsible for issuing bounties on Nevarro. Ever since Greef drove the floundering Empire out of Nevarro with Din Djarin’s help and took control of the planet, the city has been in a state of flux. Criminals are no longer welcome – especially not pirates. Gorian Shard, however, wants to change all that.

Shard’s mercilessness soon becomes apparent; with his modified Hammerhead corvette he bombs the city and its inhabitants. Though Greef is able to escape the city with the survivors, he needs help. Help that might come from the New Republic. As it happens, Greef once declared Nevarro independent, so the city isn’t part of the New Republic, nor is it under Republican protection. And even if it were, it seems the Republic isn’t even in a position to protect the planets near its centre right now – something Gorian Shard derisively points out. So how’s it supposed to defend peripheral planets like Navarro?

The politician

Gorian doesn’t mention why that is. If you’ve read the trilogy of novels Star Wars: Aftermath, however, you’ll be in the know. Yep, Gorian’s talking about the demilitarisation of the New Republic ordered by newly elected Chancellor Mon Mothma, who we last saw in Andor as a rebellious senator. Mon Mothma thought maintaining a permanent military presence was dangerous and not conducive to peace in the Republic. After all, the days of the Galactic Empire ruling with an iron fist were over. Remember Dr. Pershing’s scenes in Chapter 19: The Convert? This demilitarisation was exactly what they were about.

Mon Mothma’s good intentions, however, soon become unfavourable for the New Republic. Part of her plan was to integrate former Imperial commanders and politicians into the structures of the peaceful Republic. After they’d agreed to the amnesty programme and renounced the old ways, that is. We get to see this in live action for the first time in Chapter 19. While some former Imperials really have undergone a change of heart, there are some who still secretly sympathise with the Empire. In The Mandalorian, Elia Kane is one of them. In the books, it’s others, who go on to prevent Leia from being chosen to succeed Mon Mothma as Chancellor.

To make matters worse, while the New Republic is scrapping their military, former Imperials are in the Unknown Regions building a new, evil armed force – the New Order. Leia, seeing trouble on the horizon, founds the Resistance after missing out on being elected. When the New Order finally reveals itself in Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Leia’s resistance really is the only line of defence against the evil organisation. The New Republic, on the other hand, falls victim to the massive firepower of the Starkiller Base. Just shy of 30 years after it was founded, it goes down without a fight.

The ally

Shortly before he escapes from the city, Greef Karga manages to make an emergency transmission. The message reaches Captain Carson Teva at Adelphi Base, a filthy military outpost in the jungle, filmed in sepia tones and set to a rock soundtrack. It’s probably the Nam of the Star Wars universe. And it’s evident Cara Dune likely would’ve made an appearance here had she not been written out of the show two years ago; a decision taken after actress Gina Carano was fired for repeatedly posting controversial and questionable tweets.

Instead, The Mandalorian’s co-creators Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni treat us to a few seconds of another all-too-familiar face – that of Zeb Orrelios, the gruff but big-hearted Lasat from Star Wars: Rebels. Fans of the animated series will know he’s one of the few Lasat to survive the destruction of his home planet by the Empire. This is exactly what motivated him to join the Lothal rebel cell over 30 years ago, led by the Twi’lek Hera Syndulla and ex-Jedi Kanan Jarrus. Zeb was also a close friend of Ezra Bridger, who may already have an important role to play in The Mandalorian, and certainly will in the Ahsoka series. I wrote about this in my episode analysis of Chapter 17.

So now it’s Captain Teva who’s to head to Coruscant and ask the authorities of the New Republic for reinforcements in the fight against piracy. The thing is, as I’ve already pointed out, demilitarisation is in full swing, resources are scarce, and as a non-member, Nevarro isn’t a priority for protection. On top of this, amnesty officer Elia Kane of all people, who has an attitude shaped by the Empire, suggests leaving Nevarro to sustain further attacks. At least until it «recognises» the benefits of being part of the Republic.

So, no help for Captain Teva.

But he does still have an ace up his sleeve in the form of R5-D4, the astromech droid Din Djarin bought from Peli Motto in Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore. In my review of the episode, I mentioned that in the official but non-canon joke comic Skippy the Jedi Droid, R5-D4 is the real hero of the galaxy. In it, R5-D4 is Force-sensitive, has visions of a dark future and destroys himself so that it doesn’t come to pass. Ha! Still, Captain Teva does explain that he once served with R5. So does that mean the droid is a hero after all? Either way, because of their past, Teva is somehow able to track down R5 at any time. And because R5 is currently with Din Djarin, Teva also finds the secret base belonging to the Children of the Watch.

The friend

Although the Children of the Watch aren’t exactly thrilled to have been tracked down by a New Republic pilot, it doesn’t take much to convince them to fight pirates – especially not when it’s for a friend. I mean, we are talking about Mandalorians here.

What follows is, in my opinion, one of the best action sequences of the entire season. After all, last week’s fight against the jai’galaar disappointed me a little. Burly Paz Vizla proved to be especially hopeless, which didn’t fit the image of the Mandalorians, a warrior people who begin training to fight like Spartans or Vikings as early as childhood.

This week, however, the Mandalorians launch a merciless, tactical attack while Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze provide aerial support. It doesn’t matter that they’re outnumbered. Because as soon as Din Djarin utters his iconic phrase from season one – «I like those odds» – I cheer. The icing on the cake? The [Armorer] (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Armorer) finally gets involved in the fighting. Not with a gun, but with two hammers.

Eventually, even pirate king Goran Shard realises he doesn’t stand a chance, screaming as he and his Hammerhead go up in a deadly ball of flames. Nevarro is saved. In a gesture of thanks, High Magistrate Greef Kargo grants the Mandalorians land so that they can build a new home.

The chosen one

The episode isn’t quite over yet. First, the Armorer comes back to what Bo-Katan told her at the end of Chapter 20 about seeing a live mythosaur. For the Armorer, who like all other Mandalorians initially believed the existence of these creatures to be a mere legend, it’s clear that a new age might just be dawning. An era that’ll see the Mandalorians flourish once again after the clans currently scattered throughout the galaxy far, far away are united under a common banner. The banner of someone who’ll prove worthy of the title of Mand’alor: Bo-Katan of House ryze.

Some place far from Nevarro, Captain Teva happens upon a Lambda shuttle drifting through space. There are no signs of life on board. However, a probe reveals it to be a transporter that was carrying prisoners due to be traded securely – and something’s gone awry. In fact, it’s the transporter supposed to be carrying evil Imperial Moff Gideon. That’s the same Moff Gideon who led the Great Purge of Mandalore, which devastated the entire planet and rendered it almost uninhabitable. Since then, there have been very few surviving Mandalorians – and they’ve only just found a new home on Nevarro.

There’s just one weird thing: the prisoner transport was obviously raided to free Moff Gideon. And the pieces of beskar found in the wreckage suggest that Mandalorians of all people had a hand in it. Could there be traitors amongst the Mandalorians? Here’s my theory. In Chapter 16, Bo-Katan said her Nite Owl allies had abandoned her because she didn’t have the Darksaber – a weapon with symbolic power closely linked to the title of Mand’alor. But what if Bo-Katan had in fact sent them to capture Moff Gideon (who wiped out their home planet and nearly all of their people) so that she could execute him herself? Maybe she hopes doing so would gain her the support of the remaining surviving clans.

If you ask me, season three’s numerous loose ends seem to be coming together. So far, we’ve had a bit of Mandalorian action, mystical creatures and prophecies, politics on Coruscant and Grogu’s flashbacks. While these are all superb elements, they don’t really fit together. But The Mandalorian – Season 3 seems to be about to change that.

This is the Way.

What did you think of this episode? Are there any more Easter eggs I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments! I’ll be back with an episode analysis of Chapter 22 next Thursday.