It feels good to be a fan of Star Wars right now. Especially with each new episode of The Mandalorian. The third season of the hit Disney+ series has continued bringing us incredible episodes each week, leading us on the journey of the Mandalorians trying to find their place in the New Republic and where they balance in this new age. And this week, we got to see where that’s going.
Week after week, The Mandalorian is exploring characters we might not get to spend time with otherwise. For the most part, the show had been focusing on those characters throughout the entire episode and then we’d check in briefly at the end with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and that’d be it.
This week, though, we got a more balanced approach to the converging storylines as we saw a push towards where the second half of the season will be heading. And what a journey we’re about to embark on for Din, Bo, and the Mandalorians as a whole.
Spoilers for the third season of The Mandalorian ahead
While episode 5 is all about what happens when you leave things open, it is also about Din Djarin’s determination to protect those close to him and be there when they need him. And it’s made abundantly clear that if you hurt his friends, that will be the last thing you do. After all, this is the way.
One of the aspects about this season that really has been driven home week after week is that if you’re on Din’s side, you’re going to always have him there. That’s such a beautiful aspect to his character that I really loved seeing the show explore.
Anything for his friends
The minute the two storylines come together, this episode really clicks. “The Pirate” focuses on Gorian Shard’s revenge after what happened when his pirates came to Nevarro. Gorian brings his ship to the airspace and begins shooting at the newly built city that Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) worked so hard to create. Seeing its destruction hurts, and what happens after hurts even worse.
You’d think that reaching out to the New Republic in hopes that they’d come to help would work, but instead, as we saw with Captain Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), the New Republic doesn’t seem to care unless the planet in question has joined the Republic. Which is, again, showing us how ill-prepared the Rebellion really was to take over after the Empire.
When Teva goes to see Colonel Tuttle (Tim Meadows), he brings him the message from Karga, and the New Republic essentially leaves Nevarro in the dust because it’s on the Outer Rim and is not their problem. So Teva does what he thinks is the best move and goes to find Din Djarin. And it is there that we really see what will get Din to jump into action.
Teva finds the Children of the Watch and to tell Teva to leave, but the minute that Greef Karga is brought into it, Din starts to talk about how he needs to go to him. It also gives him a chance to defend his friend while finding a new home for his clan.
A new home
Din’s determination to help Karga comes knowing that he was offered a spot of land and a job on Nevarro if he wanted it. And it seems that Din is using that to his advantage and bringing his clan with him. But it is something that would work for all involved. They just had their clan on a cursed dinosaur land instead of literally anywhere else, so obviously they need to go somewhere safe.
This is a win-win for everyone involved. Greef Karga gets a built-in group of people who will protect Nevarro, setting up a really interesting future for Din, Karga, and the Mandalorian.
(featured image: Disney+)
