In “The Mandalorian” recap, Greef Karga calls for help after a pirate king comes looking for revenge on Nevarro and his only help may be the Mandalorians…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It’s safe to say that “The Mandalorian” has expanded far beyond the singular focus from the first two seasons.
While almost every episode to start the series focused on Din Djarin and his mission to protect and save Grogu from falling into the hands of the remnants of the Galactic Empire, the show had to eventually move beyond that and it’s clear the expanse of this series is getting much bigger in season 3.
There have been numerous narrative story arcs through the first five episodes with hints that “The Mandalorian” may be laying the roots to show how the First Order eventually came to power while going up against a seemingly overmatched New Republic — a group great at tearing down fascist monarchies but not so great at democratic governing.
The latest episode brings together several elements that have been teased throughout the season including a past villain, a New Republic hero and the first real evidence that the biggest bad that “The Mandalorian” has ever faced is still alive and kicking somewhere on the outer rim.
While last week’s episode was largely a standalone adventure where Mando and Bo-Katan proved their worth to the rest of the Mandalorians by leading a mission to rescue Paz Vizsla’s son, this latest installment included a trip across the galaxy and a massive fight sequence involving a battle on both the ground and in the air!
With that said, let’s get to our full recap for the latest episode of “The Mandalorian”…
Chapter 21: The Pirate
It seemed like Greef Karga — excuse me, High Magistrate Greef Karga — had everything running smoothly since taking over leadership on the planet Nevarro. With Moff Gideon defeated, he was able to transform the planet into a haven for peace where families could raise their children as well as serve as a port for shipping and receiving on the Outer Rim.
Unfortunately, Greef Karga failed to take into account that he might need better defensive capabilities, especially after a small band of pirates nearly upended him if not for the intervention of Din Djarin during a skirmish earlier in the season. Defeating those pirates was always a set up for a future fight and that’s exactly what unfolds in this episode as Greef Karga attempts to lay out some ambitious new plans for construction on Nevarro but he’s rudely interrupted with the ship led by Pirate King Gorian Shard arrives looking for revenge.
With several of his men killed the last time they visited Nevarro, Gorian Shard is now demanding that Greef Karga surrender to him and hand over control of the planet or else. Of course, Greef Karga declines, which leads to the Pirate King raining down fire from the sky, which destroys so much of what had just been built up in the main town square.
As the pirates descend upon the planet, Greef Karga has no choice but to gather up as many of his people as possible and flee into the lava flats that will give them cover but won’t provide them much else now that their homes have either been destroyed or taken from them. The citizens of Nevarro don’t seem overwhelmed by Greef Karga’s promise that help will be on the way soon.
Prior to the battle beginning, the High Magistrate sent out a distress call to the New Republic — specifically a message aimed at Captain Carson Teva, who led a group of X-wing pilots that had previously appeared on “The Mandalorian” and actually recruited Cara Dune (Gina Carano) to join them as a marshal — although we already know what happened with that!
Captain Teva offered assistance to Nevarro before and Greef Karga is hoping to call in that favor, although he had previously spurred an invitation to join the New Republic because he saw them as nothing more than absentee landlords just like the Empire.
When Captain Teva receives the message, he’s enjoying drinks at a bar at the Adelphi Station — a staging outpost for the New Republic — and he hears Greef Karga ask for his help to stop the Pirate King Gorian Shard from taking over Nevarro. Captain Teva believes allowing Nevarro to fall into pirate hands will cause more problems for the New Republic so he suggests intervening but he’s soon reminded that they haven’t received messages back from Coruscant in weeks due to a backlog of issues that need handled.
The friend speaking to Captain Teva is none other than Zeb Orrelios — the first live action appearance of a character made famous in “Star Wars: Rebels.” In that series, Zeb was a member of the Lasat race, who saw their home planet dismantled and the people nearly eradicated thanks to an invasion by the Empire. As a result, Zeb turned to fight alongside the rebel forces but he also previously teamed up with Bo-Katan Kryze to help her liberate Mandalore from their Imperial overlords.
It’s hard to imagine that Zeb was shown in this episode — now an X-wing pilot and a member of the New Republic — if he wouldn’t eventually appear again, perhaps in a reunion with his old friend Bo-Katan.
As for Captain Teva, he decides to travel to Coruscant himself to bring this matter to the attention of the New Republic because he believes there’s more happening on the Outer Rim than just a pirate king invading a planet.
When Captain Teva arrives on Coruscant, he’s met by a brick wall of bureaucracy when he encounters a superior officer named Colonel Tuttle (played by the great Tim Meadows), who can’t offer him much help, especially with the backlog of requests the New Republic has already been receiving. To make matters worse, Colonel Tuttle has Officer G68 — better known as Elia Kane — pissing in his ear about how Nevarro refused to join the New Republic charter thus the planet doesn’t deserve the help requested.
It’s rather obvious that Elia Kane is still under Moff Gideon’s employ and she’s secretly working to tear down the New Republic from within, which further cements why she fried Dr. Pershing’s brain as revenge for him turning on the Empire. Captain Teva seems wise to her intentions as well, immediately distrusting her after seeing that she’s an Amnesty candidate who previously served the Empire.
Still, Captain Teva tries to convince the Colonel that this is a fight worth winning, especially to keep the Pirate King from taking over the planet. Captain Teva also mentions that he’s heard rumors that Moff Gideon never made it to his trial, which leads him to believe that there’s something far worse brewing on the Outer Rim and the New Republic would be wise to intervene.
Despite his pleas, Colonel Tuttle declines to help and Captain Teva is left with only one more option to save Nevarro.
That leads him to the mystery planet where the Mandalorians reside thanks to intel he received from R5 — the droid that Din Djarin got from Peli Motto back in the debut — because apparently this particular droid previously served in the rebellion. The droid helped lead Captain Teva to the planet because he sought an audience with Din Djarin to tell him what’s happening on Nevarro with Greef Karga and the Pirate King Gorian Shard.
While the rest of the Mandalorians seem very untrusting towards a New Republic pilot just landing on their shores, Mando admits that he owes Captain Teva for helping him out of several jams. He promises to see what he can do to help Greef Karga even if the Mandalorians don’t have a fleet of ships of their own that could take down Gorian Shard’s vessel.
Before leaving, Captain Teva tells Mando that something strange is happening on the Outer Rim, perhaps it’s the Empire trying to rise up again and he feels the Pirate King is involved somwhoe. He also tells Mando that he already knows the Mandalorians are going to relocate now that their secret home has been discovered but he also promises not to reveal this information to anybody else because he was only seeking their help thanks to the New Republic refusing to intervene.
With that, Mando decides to state his case to the Mandalorians with hope that they’ll back him in this fight against Gorian Shard but even Bo-Katan knows he’s got an uphill battle ahead of him.
That night in a council with the entire group of Mandalorians, Din Djarin lays out his plea for help while explaining that despite Greef Karga’s previous betrayal, he’s become a good friend who has saved his life. Now Mando wants to return the favor plus now that Greef Karga is a High Magistrate, he’s offered a tract of land on the independent planet of Nevarro.
Mando wonders if it’s not time for the Mandalorians to finally have a home of their own again where they can live out in public and their children can play in the sunlight rather than dwelling in the sewers or caves as they’ve been doing for the past few years. Helping Greef Karga defeat the Pirate King would allow the Mandalorians to start fresh on a new home planet.
When the Armorer asks if anyone else wishes to speak, Paz Vizsla voices his opinion but in a surprising move, he actually backs Mando and Bo-Katan after they helped him save his son. Paz Vizsla believes the Mandalorians are warriors by nature and they should never back down from a fight even when outnumbered.
With that, the entire group decides to help Mando in his quest to free Nevarro and thanks to leadership from Bo-Katan, who orchestrates a battle plan, they fly out ready to do battle with the Pirate King.
As they arrive, Bo-Katan sets out to use Mando and his N-1 starfighter as a distraction to draw attention away from the main ship, which will then allow the rest of the Mandalorian forces to land on the planet and take out the pirates that have already overrun the town.
The strategy works to perfection after Mando attacks the Pirate King’s ship, which forces him to dispatch his snubfighters and they give chase to the much faster and more evasive N-1 that draws them further and further away from town. Meanwhile, the Mandalorian forces quietly land on the ground where they engage in a fire fight with the pirates.
While there are a few dicey moments, Paz Vizsla lays waste to a whole bunch of pirates and we even get to see the Armorer spring into action when she takes down a gunner firing from up on a building. As for Mando, he’s able to lure the snubfighters into a trap where he destroys several ships while Bo-Katan focuses her weapons on the main vessel led by Gorian Shard.
After taking out several engines and the shields failing, Gorian Shard is warned that his ship will soon fall but he refuses to concede. Even Vane — the outspoken pirate servant who encountered Mando on Nevarro previously — knows the fight is lost and he flees before going down with the ship.
That’s exactly what Gorian Shard does after his attempts to defeat the Mandalorians fail and his entire cruiser crashes into the ground in a fiery explosion. The Pirate King is dead.
In the aftermath of the battle, Greef Karga leads his people back to town where he celebrates the Mandalorians’ victory and looks to put the past behind them while offering the group the land they need to start fresh with a new home. He proclaims that the Mandalorians may have lost their home planet but they have now found a new home on Nevarro.
Following the celebration, Paz Vizsla finds Bo-Katan and tells her that the Armorer has requested her presence.
Bo-Katan is led to the catacombs beneath the city, which is where the Mandalorians were previously hidden before being forced to flee the planet. There, the Armorer shows Bo-Katan the remnants of the Forge that was built there that mimicked the Great Forge that once burned bright on Mandalore — Bo-Katan remembers it well.
The Armorer then makes a surprising move by telling Bo-Katan to remove her helmet — a practice strictly forbidden under the rules of the Children of the Watch. Still, Bo-Katan does as she’s instructed as the Armorer reveals why she must remove her helmet.
The Armorer says that she was told the Mythosaur only existed in stories but Bo-Katan saw one for herself back on Mandalore. That’s all the proof the Armorer needs to know that this is a sign that a new age is upon them and it’s time for all Mandalorians to unite together — and because Bo-Katan walks between the two worlds, she’s the person best suited to bring about this reunion.
She then leads Bo-Katan out amongst the rest of the Mandalorians, who are shocked to see one of their members walk around without a helmet. The Armorer then announces that Bo-Katan will leave to find other Mandalorians and lead them back so that they can all unite together again under one banner — and because she walks between two worlds, she may do so without her helmet on.
The Armorer then declares that it’s time to take back Mandalore for the Mandalorians.
A proud Bo-Katan holds her head up high as she prepares to leave and find the other Mandalorians scattered across the galaxy with hopes that this will finally bring her home planet back to prominence in a way that she failed to do in a previous attempt, which ended with Mandalore’s downfall.
It seems Bo-Katan really was the chosen one but this time she’s tasked with reuniting all Mandalorians together again.
Before the episode ends, we catch up with Captain Carson Teva who is back in his x-wing traveling across the Outer Rim when he comes across an abandoned Lambda class shuttle that’s been attacked and left in ruin. The ship bears no markers and offers no identification but Captain Teva is smart enough through his own research to discover that this was the transport that was supposed to take Moff Gideon to his trial.
Just as he suspected, Moff Gideon never stood for his crimes and he’s now escaped.
Captain Teva then sends a probe into the destroyed ship to look for clues but at first all he finds are the dead crew members left in the wake of the attack. Before the scan is finished, the probe finds Beskar shards implanted in the ship’s hull, which leads Captain Teva to question if perhaps Mandalorians were behind this attack.
Was this an elaborate plan orchestrated by Moff Gideon to escape and then try to turn the New Republic against the Mandalorians — including Din Djarin, who defeated him in single combat and won the Darksaber — or is something more nefarious at work. Knowing that the First Order will eventually rise from the ashes of the old Empire and with Moff Gideon working on cloning technology, it seems entirely possible that he’s playing some part in resurrecting Emperor Palpatine and by extension the creation of Supreme Leader Snoke, who was effectively his puppet when rising up against the New Republic.
Obviously we won’t know that for certain until later but given the suspicions that something wicked is happening in the Outer Rim and we now know that Moff Gideon escaped, it’s entirely possible that he’ll be the main architect helping Emperor Palpatine and the Sith create the First Order.
“The Mandalorian” returns for a brand new episode next Wednesday on Disney+
