The Mandalorian S3E5: The Pirate

"The Pirate" is a treasure trove of Mandalorian goodness

The Pirate" is the densest episode of "The Mandalorian" in terms of the story thus far in season three, packed with action and mystery. The Mandalorians are on full display in Chapter 21 of the series, with familiar faces popping up and helping make "The Pirate" the highlight of the season so far.

I rave about his show week in and week out, but it's just that good. The filmmakers' confidence allows them to craft a story that is only picking up steam as the series goes along with season three, shaping up to be the best of the series so far. And the nods to previous Star Wars material fans are well acquainted with have been spot on.

High Magistrate Greef Karga finds his planet of Nevarro under siege from Pirate King Gorian Shard (Nonso Anozie) and his pirate crew. Shard's corsair parks itself above the capital city and wants just one thing – Karga's surrender. My favorite element of the corsair's bridge scene was the little Mr. Smee-looking Ugnaught that appears to be Shard's right hand. My son was quick to make the association too.

Unable to defend his city from the bombardment, Karga sends a message to New Republic Ranger Captain Carson Teva requesting help from the government and then leads his people away from the city. Teva receives his message while at Adelphi Base and before making lightspeed to Coruscant, we get a great cameo that will please every "Star Wars Rebels" fan. We get our first look at Zeb in a live-action Star Wars property and it's glorious. I was delighted with the character's look and am even more excited for the upcoming "Ahsoka" series.

Once Teva reaches Coruscant, he relays Karga's plea for help, but it falls on deaf ears of Captain Tuttle (Tim Meadows), who refuses to send help. Teva warns that something is brewing with the action in and around Nevarro and that it will be too late by the time the New Republic acts.

Not helping matters is obvious double agent Elia Kane(Katy M. O'Brian) pointing out that Nevarro isn't a charter system and therefore isn't protected by the New Republic. I love how they've shown that the New Republic shared similar failures as the Empire. As a person who grew up with the original movies and loved the Expanded Universe (I refuse to call it Legends), I always thought of the New Republic as flawed but a more perfect idea of government. I like seeing it's as bogged down in bureaucracy and inept as its predecessor.

Teva locates the Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) with the help of his former Rebellion buddy R5-D4 who’s already with the Covert and asks for him to help a friend. Din makes a case for the Mandalorians to come to the aid of Nevarro, but it's Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher) whose impassioned speech rallies the Covert to help Nevarro and reclaim their proud tradition.

The Covert's assault on the pirates once they reach Nevarro is excellent. The air battle is tons of fun, with great action, quippy dialogue, and a nice callback to the show's first season. Din's N-1 Starfighter is just badass. I love the look and the action of the ship in battles. I was excited but worried when it was first introduced, having gone from a large ship with the Razor Crest to a small single-seat fighter, but it suits the character perfectly.

The Covert defeats Shard and his pirate band, all but Vane (Marti Matulis), who deserted when the odds looked bleak. As a reward, Karga gifts them a tract of land to reside in, noting that they may not have a home world, but they do now have a home. Well…., the Armorer (Emily Swallow) has different ideas, it seems.

She summons Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and orders her to remove her helmet. She tells her that all Mandalorians must walk the path together and that Bo-Katan has walked both worlds. She will be the bridge between the two and unite them all. With her seeing the Mythasaur while rescuing Din from The Living Waters, it appears that The Armorer is pinning her hopes of a new age of Mandalore on Bo-Katan.

The episode closes with Captain Teva stumbling upon a disabled Lambda shuttle. He learns it was a classified prison shuttle carrying Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). He has his astromech probe the interior and finds all crew dead, Gideon missing and a piece of Beskar embedded in the wall. It's a great way to add mystery to the episode and give fans a week to theorize who the Beskar belongs to.

It’s possible the individual(s) responsible for Gideon's escape is a former member of Bo-Katan's group who turned to mercenary work, someone from within the Covert, or even Morgan Elsbeth, the Beskar spear wielding Magistrate who fought Ahsoka in season two and is set to appear in the Ahsoka series. The fact that we get a "Rebels" cameo in this episode could be a significant clue. Or it might simply be a ploy to set up the Mandalorians to take the fall for Gideon’s escape.

I loved everything about this episode, but one of my favorite moments was two words in Karga's speech to the Mandalorians – Bullock Canyon. This was undoubtedly to pay homage to actor Jeremy Bullock who donned the Boba Fett costume in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" and was our first real glimpse of the Mandalorian armor. This again shows that executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni understand the universe and what fans want.

"The Pirate" is a top-notch episode of "The Mandalorian," giving fans everything they could want. It's filled with great action, excellent story progression and sets up the final three episodes of this season to perfection.