In Chapter 21 of The Mandalorian, the episode offers a solid mixture of action and the future direction of the series going forward.

Spoilers follow for the newest episode of The Mandalorian.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s Peter Ramsey directs the newest episode and it’s a delight. I’ll have more in-depth thoughts below the photo below because I do get into spoiler talk. In any event, his directing work on The Mandalorian has me really looking forward to his episode of Ahsoka when the time comes. Maybe we’ll get to see Ramsey directing a live-action feature film down the road? He’s not just an animator but just as capable of directing in live-action.

We’re back on Nevarro where Gorian Shard is back for revenge. The planet is not quite in the New Republic yet but they aren’t going to let pirates take over after battling Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and taking control. Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) contacts the New Republic for help but it’s turned down by Colonel Tuttle (Tim Meadows) on Coruscant. Why Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) has to go all the way to the galactic capital to request the backup is beyond me. He heads to the Mandalorian covert to try and get their help. One line of dialogue sticks out because Teva says, “Fortunately, someone I served with in the Rebellion is amongst your ranks.” R5 immediately responds.

Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) successfully convinces his fellow Mandalorians to aid Greef Karga. Karga could count on him and Bo-Katan but two ships would not be enough. Thankfully, a Mandalorian attack force joins them and they retake Nevarro from pirates. There’s some kick-ass action during the attack, with The Armorer (Emily Swallow) getting in on the fun.

As I was saying, episode takes us to Coruscant for the third consecutive week in a while. But before Teva goes there, there’s a cameo sighting at the New Republic base. Your eyes do not deceive you because everyone’s favorite Lasat, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum), makes his first appearance in the Mandalore. As soon as I heard him speak, my immediate thought was, is that Zeb? Sure enough, the credits confirm it. It was going to happen sooner or later. First, it was Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and then it was Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in season 2. We knew very briefly of his life post-Star Wars Rebels but it’s only a matter of time before we see Sabine Wren. But as a fan of Star Wars Rebels, it will be so nice to finally get closure on the series by finding out the whereabouts of Ezra.

Moff Gideon is still out there. This episode really begins to lay the groundwork for his disappearance. However, I have some questions after they discover beskar allow on the prison transport shuttle. It hints to Mandalorians being involved but we don’t know who. But now that The Armorer directs Bo-Katan Kryze to walk both worlds in reuniting exiled Mandalorians on Nevarro, we’ll know sooner than later. When The Armorer asked Bo-Katan to take her helmet off, I half-exepected her to do the same. This season’s mythosaur sighting was bigger than we thought. The only thing missing is for Bo-Katan to reclaim the Darksaber and rightful rule of Mandalore. For the meantime, their old conclave is serving as New Mandalore.

Three episodes remain in season three of The Mandalorian. Bryce Dallas Howard helms the episode on April 5 so that’s sure to be exciting. Will it be another half hour episode or a longer one like this week? Rick Famuyiwa directs the final episodes of the season. We’ve yet to see either Moff Gideon or whichever character that Christopher Lloyd is playing. They’re bound to show up over the remaining three episodes. Regardless, if you’ve yet to start watching Star Wars Rebels, now is the time to do so.

DIRECTOR: Peter Ramsey
SCREENWRITERS: Jon Favreau
CAST: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Katy M. O’Brian, Tim Meadows, Emily Swallow, Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder

Chapter 21 of The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+. Grade: 4/5

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