The Mandalorian Season 3: Chapter 21 “The Pirate” Review

By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)

This review contains spoilers.

On Nevarro, High Magistrate Greef Karga is in discussion with his engineers about the further expansion of the city, however, this meeting is interrupted by the space pirate Captain, Gorian Shard! The Pirate Nation wants Nevarro and there is only one way they know, violence! And just like that, everything changed when the Pirate Nation attacked…

Things are not looking good on Nevarro, and with the episode titled “The Pirate” and the opening theme slightly altered, things were being set up for a very exciting episode! On a quick final note about this opening act, there was a great “he shot first” line, which is obviously a very obvious nod to Han Solo and Greedo, that I really enjoyed!

We head to Adelphi Base, where we are reunited with Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee)/ It was great to see all the New Republic pilots just chilling and having some downtime in the bar. But then a character entered the frame that immediately made me raise my eyebrows and my jaw drop. A Lasat, in a blue pilot’s uniform, came and sat next to Teva. First of all, in isolation, that is pretty damn cool! But then he spoke, and a VERY familiar sounding voice came out… it was Steve Blum! Blum, of course, voiced Zeb Orrelios in Star Wars Rebels. I didn’t really react at the time, as it never gave you confirmation that it was Zeb. This changed when the credits rolled, however. As soon as a saw “Steve Blum – Zeb” I freaked out and yelled out loud. I know we have more Rebels characters coming in the Ahsoka series, but to see Zeb in live-action and voiced by Steve Blum? This was a huge moment for me! I also spotted the trio of Dave Filoni (cowboy hat and all), Deborah Chow and Rick Famuyiwa in the bar too, which was a nice subtle cameo! If you remember these three appeared as X-Wing pilots in Series One, as well as directing numerous episodes. Chow obviously went on to Obi-Wan Kenobi as the showrunner and Famuyiwa is now an Executive Producer on The Mandalorian. It’s such a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment, but I just love little connective details like this!

On Coruscant, at the New Republic HQ, Elia Kane (Katy M. O’Brian) witnesses Teva’s arrival, this is a great way of linking her appearance previously to this Coruscant sub-plot. She enters the meeting, clearly trying to run interference for whoever she is working for. Teva again states the rumour that Moff Gideon never made it to trial, so all indicators are pointing in his direction! With the New Republic refusing to help, Teva flies out to the Children of the Watch encampment searching for Din. But how did he manage to locate them? Turns out Teva has previous dealings with R5, who was the one to provide him with their location. He informs Din about the attack and urges him to assist. Din pleads his case to his fellow clan members, but it’s not until Paz Vizsla, thanks to a classic bait and switch, steps up and offers his support, and by proxy, the rest of the clan’s. It’s time to head back to Nevarro!

With the pirates celebrating their victory in the ruins of the bombarded city, and Shard’s ship providing overwatch, it’s up to Din’s N-1 fighter to try and cause a distraction. We are treated to another great ariel dogfight. With Shard distracted and in pursuit, Bo-Katan provides drop-off for the Mandalorians who jetpack into the city and begin to take out the pirate patrols. Now free of her Mandalorian cargo, Bo-Katan joins the ariel fight and uses her superior firepower to try and take out the Corsair. With the firefights and skirmishes continuing on the streets, the Mandalorians push up but are soon pinned down in the market square. That is until Paz Vizsla arrives and forces them back, thanks to his heavy blaster cannon! Not to be outdone, The Armorer, uses her trusty hammers to take out an entire pirate squad! With his ship heavily damaged and Vane ditching his captain, Shard’s ship, and all within it, crashes into the ground and explodes in a giant fireball. Nevarro is liberated once again!

True to his word, Greef Karga grants the Mandalorians their own land, as a reward for helping free Nevarro from the pirates. Shortly after, Paz informs Bo-Katan that The Armorer desires to speak to her and she is escorted to the old underground forge, from the first season. She forces Bo to take off her helmet and claims that she can walk a path to unite all Mandalorians. She is presented to the rest of the clan without her helmet and the first steps to retake Mandalore and united all Mandalorians have been taken…

The episode ends with confirmation that Moff Gideon has been liberated, however the evidence points towards Mandalorians being responsible. Now, I have many theories here, and I’m not ready to commit to any at this stage. First of all, it could be a plant to pin blame and push the New Republic against the Mandalorians. It could also be Mandalorian mercs, for example Bo’s ex-crew, wanting revenge so have taken him to punish him ‘the Mandalorian way’. It could also be either ex-Imperial Commandoes, with Beskar armour (we know there’s a lot of confiscated Beskar out there), working for Gideon or the ‘Imperial Warlord’ that has been previously mentioned. Or, if we really wish to enter tin foil hat territory, could he have been liberated by Mandalorians acting on the orders of The Armorer? Hear me out! In The Book of Boba Fett, Din mentioned that Gideon was to stand trial, to which The Armorer replies “we shall see”. Now, it could be that she just had no confidence in the New Republic, or it could be that she wanted to seek her own justice or use him for her own ends. This theory comes a little bit unstuck given her actions with Bo-Katan, but I still think there is more than meets the eye when it comes to The Armorer and I don’t yet feel like we’ve got the whole story! I do believe, however, that we’ll be getting a Grand Admiral Thrawn name-drop or cameo this season – as I still believe he has a massive part to play in the bigger picture, and this ending could be the start of that story being drip-fed into the narrative.

Overall, this was an incredible action-packed episode of The Mandalorian and the way in which it connects all the different stories together was really well executed. We also move another step closer to Mandalore and the reunification of the Mandalorians. With Din still in possession of the Darksaber, you feel that he and Bo-Katan are on some sort of collision course down the line, and with The Armorer backing Bo, things could get very spicy indeed! There is also still a sinister threat lurking in the background, and I cannot wait to see where this story is heading. Oh, and, ZEB FROM STAR WARS REBELS!!!!

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