THE MANDALORIAN Season 3 "Guns For Hire" Was a Campy Side Quest with Big Cameos But Bo-Katan's Story Gets Better!
The most recent episode of The Mandalorian Season 3 is titled “Guns For Hire” and it took Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), and Grogu on a campy side quest on the independent planet Plazir-15. It’s here that Bo-Katan was looking to negotiate with her former compatriots, and convince them to rejoin the cause of retaking Mandalore.
When they land, they are met by a pair of Imperial droids who greet them and force them on a high-speed rail where they are taken to meet members of the planetary democracy. This is where the big cameos come into play.
Din Djarin, Bo-Katan, and Grogu are introduced to Captain Bombardier, who was played by Jack Black, and a Duchess, who was played by Lizzo. They want to hire the Mandalorian warriors to protect them due to the charter preventing ex-Imperials from having a military.
They are then told about how some of the reprogrammed battle droids from The Clone Wars, are rebelling. So, they want Din and Bo-Katan to fix this droid problem. In return, they will move to recognize Mandalore as a sovereign system again and petition the New Republic to confirm it.
The Duchess falls in love with Grogu and she holds him, feeds him, and knights him. Jack Black and Lizzo playing these characters, unfortunately, pulled me out of the story as they were more distracting than anything. But, on their journey, they meet an overseer named Commissioner Helgait, who was played by the great Christopher Lloyd. I was so excited when I heard Lloyd was going to be in The Mandalorian Season 3! I just wish he would have played a better and more interesting character.
On their mission, Din and Bo-Katan learn that Helgait is a former Separatist and Count Dooku sympathizer who sabotages the city because he believes in the Separatists' ideals. He was the one behind everything and in the end, his villainous intentions were unmasked in a way like we’d see at the end of a Scooby-Doo episode.
What I did like about the episode is that it felt like in was from The Clone Wars series as it is set in an unfamiliar new world that feels unique. It’s also a self-contained story that is full of callbacks. It was also fun to see Din and Bo-Katan on a little mystery-solving adventure. There are some fun moments on their little quest.
Things get really good at the end, though! It’s here that Bo-Katan’s story takes a big step forward! After Commissioner Helgait is exiled to a moon for his crimes, the Duchess gives Din and Bo-Katan both the key to Plazir and they grant an audience with Axe Woves, the ex-Nite Owl, and leader of Bo-Katan’s former group.
Bo-Katan greets Woves at the Mandalorian base where she challenges him to a fight for leadership over the group, resulting in a battle between the two. In this moment we get to see Bo-Katan in action showing off her combat skills. It’s not an easy fight for her, but in the end, she gets the advantage, and Woves cedes his position.
He tells her she will never be the true leader because she no longer holds the Darksaber. She is criticized for losing it. As Woves discounts Djarin’s Mandalorian status, Djarin steps in and explains how Bo-Katan defeated the enemy that defeated him, on Mandalore. And this is where things get awesome, as he describes a chain of succession due to how she rescued him, and how that would place the Darksaber back into Bo-Katan’s hands! I thought for sure we’d get to see Bo-Katan and Din Djarin fight, but they managed to avoid that and find a great and unique way to get the Darksaber back to her.
Bo-Katan takes the Darksaber and ignites it and the emotions hit hard! Bo-Katan’s journey in The Mandalorian Season 3 is easily the best thing about it so far! What did you think of the most recent episode!?