'The Mandalorian' Season 3, Episode 5: 'The Pirate' Recap and Review
A distress call from an old friend tests the mandalorians’ loyalty
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
This is the episode that connects to the filler that was episode one of this season. It does add some value to the low that was the first episode but somthing feels off with the scale of what was happening. The threat just seems to be dealt with too easily after seeming so grand. But it just might be the might of the Mandalorians or the need to connect a few plot threads and set up a mystery that will reverberate through the rest of the season. This seems to be a case of the small parts being more important than the episode as a whole and while it doesn’t necessarily qualify as filler, it does feel a tad disjointed.
Our episode begins on Navarro where Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) is busy planning new structures to add to his city. Sudden panic in the streets draws his attention and he sees a large pirate vessel looming overhead. He is called by the Pirate Captain Gorian Shard (Nonso Anozie). Karga bluffs and says he is protected by the New Republic but it doesn’t work. Karga orders an evacuation as the ship begins firing at the people down below. He sends one message then heads out to lead his people out of the city.
On a far-off New Republic base, Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) is relaxing in a common room when a message is brought to his attention. It is a plea for help from Greef Karga. The message is overheard by Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum) who talks it out with Teva who decides to go directly to Coruscant to seek permission to help. Teva meets with Colonel Tuttle (Tim Meadows) and shows him the message. Tuttle is skeptical about helping when they are joined by Elia Kane (Katy M. O'Brian) who suggests that they leave Navarro on their own to show them why they should join the New Republic, and Tuttle agrees. Teva leaves disappointed by the decision and suspicious of Kane. From Coruscant, he tracks an old signal to the hideout of the Mandalorians. Slowly the Mandalorians show themselves with guns trained on Teva. Teva meets with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and gives him Karga’s message before leaving of his own accord. Din Djarin then takes on the difficult task of convincing the rest of The Watch to help liberate Navarro after once fighting against being an enemy of Karga’s. Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher) stands next to speak and it sounds like he is against helping at first but then echoes Din’s desire to help, convincing the rest of The Watch. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) lays out the plan of attack and they head to the decimated city. The pirates drunkenly roam the streets until they see Din Djarin in his ship overhead, he attacks the main ship. The Pirates launch their ships which creates an opening for Bo-Katan to drop in the first wave of Mandalorians. The first team drops in and easily dispatches any pirates in their way. Overhead, Din lures the smaller ships away leaving the main ship vulnerable to an attack from Bo-Katan. The Mandalorians on the ground get caught in an ambush that looks dire until Paz drops in and turns the tides. Paz and the others make good progress but are stalled by a gunner in a high tower. But the gunner team is no match for the Armorer (Emily Swallow) who walks in and drops all the pirates with her hammer. The pirates on the ground are chased out by the Mandalorians but are captured by Greef and the citizens who came back to help. Above, only one ship piloted by the slippery pirate Vane (Marti Matulis) is left and he abandons the fight in true pirate fashion. Out of desperation the Pirate Captain turns the ship to target the townspeople but Bo-Katan and Din Djarin take out his last engine and the ship explodes on the side of a mountain. After the fight Greef Karga thanks the Mandalorians and gifts them a large tract of land so that they can live in peace on Navarro. As everyone celebrates, The Armorer summons Bo-Katan to speak with her in private. She explains to Bo-Katan that since she has walked both paths it is her who needs to unite all the Mandalorians, and that her seeing the Mythosaur is a sign that it is time for a new Age. Together, The Armorer and Bo-Katan, without her helmet, go in front of the Watch and The Armorer Announces that Bo-Katan will go and gather the rest of the Mandalorians and together they will all re-take Mandalore. Out in space, Captain Teva finds the wreckage of the transport vessel that was supposed to transport Mof Gideon to the trial. They search the ship and find no sign of Gideon but do find one thing, a piece of Beskar alloy imbedded in the ship.
Oh what a journey it has been by Bo-Katan. As predicted, The Armorer has tasked her with uniting and leading the Mandalorians into a new age. Her character has evolved so much since we first met her in season 2 in terms of her attitude towards The Watch. Since meeting them she has experienced their respect, nobility, and loyalty first hand and knows now that they are not the religious extremists that she once believed them to be. In fact, she has seen more loyalty and interest in re-claiming Mandalore than her own allies whom all have abandoned her. She is now tasked with contacting and gathering more Mandalorians to bring them back to their old home on Navarro, hopefully Din Djarin will go with her. The other thread of this storyline was tied together by our old friend Captain Teva. After a welcome cameo by Zeb Orrelios, a fan-favorite character from Star Wars Rebels, he goes directly to his superiors on Coruscant for help. There we are introduced to a Colonel Tuttle played by SNL Alum Tim Meadows and he is joined by our snake in the grass Elia Kane. Although brief, this scene shows a massive problem within the New Republic. Their overcorrection on foreign affairs feels more of an Empire sort of attitude, especially when encouraged by Kane. This could be the spark that eventually led to the First Order growing from within the New Republic. This also ties into the mystery of who helped Moff Gideon escape. The rumor of his escape was confirmed by Captain Teva after finding the wreckage of a transport ship. As for who broke him out, the only clue was a piece of Beskar logged in the hull. This has a potential to be a splinter group of Mandalorians, such as the Death Watch, working for him. However, with so much emphasis put on the politics and attitude of the New Republic, one could guess it being the new faction within the New Republic with the Beskar being part of a ruse to pit the New Republic against the Mandalorians.
There are a lot of different factors and story threads this season and while it is not so hard to figure out where the season is going, predicting how it gets there is another task entirely. We seem to be leading headfirst towards the liberation and reclamation of the planet Mandalore, but now we are given a good old-fashioned mystery too. Overall, if we look at the first half of the season, there seems to be a different take on how stories are presented on the show. Previous seasons have been focused and simplified chapters in an overall journey but this season seems to be more scattered and almost feels like it is leaping forward in time. While individual episodes have had good moments, one cannot overlook how disjointed the season has felt as a whole. Three more episodes left in the season which leaves a lot of room to improve the overall feel of this season.