The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4—”Chapter 20: The Foundling”—premiered on March 22 and featured the highly anticipated return of Paz Vizsla. Paz is a descendant of Tarre Vizsla, the creator of the Darksaber, and a member of House Vizsla, which was very influential on Mandalore before its fall. While Paz has appeared in The Mandalorian season 1 and The Book of Boba Fett, “The Foundling” further develops his character, exploring his motivations and priorities beyond the Mandalore creed.
Viewers will recall in The Mandalorian‘s season 3 premiere, “Chapter 17: The Apostate,” that a foundling portrayed by Wesley Kimmel was being inducted into the Children of the Watch when Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) arrived seeking forgiveness. “The Foundling” reveals that the youngling’s name is Ragnar, and he is actually the son of Paz. While viewers won’t be seeing Ragnar’s face anymore now that he has taken the creed, we still got to see him interacting with Djarin and Grogu, and even dueling with the latter. However, their duel is cut short when Ragnar is snatched by a raptor.
The ensuing mission to save Ragnar allows viewers to see a side of Paz they’ve never seen before as he becomes anxious and emotional in his desperation to save his son. Of course, given that Paz is very dedicated to the creed of the Children of the Watch, viewers have not seen his face and may be curious about who is behind the mask.
Who plays Paz Vizsla in The Mandalorian?
Paz is portrayed in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett by Jon Favreau, who is also the show’s executive producer. What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first time he has voiced a Star Wars character. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Favreau voiced another descendant of Tarre: Pre Vizsla. While his Paz is clearly a descendant of Tarre, it is unclear who his parents are. However, some viewers have speculated that he may be the son of Pre.
His prominence in the latest episode of The Mandalorian was very intriguing, especially because Paz, like the Armorer (Emily Swan) and other surviving Mandalorians, has been quite mysterious. We only know of his heritage and intense devotion to the Mandalorian creed and society. Similar to Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), he also has an interest in the Darksaber. The only difference between them was that Paz was willing to fight Djarin for it, but was defeated. His desire for the Darksaber and pride in his heritage is likely why he was so disdainful of Djarin for removing his helmet and breaking the creed.
Now that we’ve seen the more human side of the stoic Paz, hopefully we will get to see more of Favreau in the role as The Mandalorian delves deeper into Paz’s history and family.
(feature image: Disney+)
