We open on peaceful Nevarro with High Magistrate Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) discussing plans with some of his assistants. Unfortunately, a pirate ship looms in the sky, ready for attack. Gorian Shand (Nonso Anozie) contacts Greef via holo, notifying him that he has plans to “shoot first.” The ship begins to blow up the town as citizens flee in terror.

Elsewhere, at a New Republic base, pilots hang out together in a bar. We remeet Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), who receives a message from Greef asking for help. And then, someone walks up to Teva after having seen the message. A big purple guy. Is that….. is that…. ZEB ORRELIOS (Steve Blum)?

ZEB FROM REBELS????

It is Zeb from Star Wars: Rebels!

This is the first live-action (well, he’s CGI) appearance of Zeb, a significant character from the aforementioned animated series. Seeing him was so much fun, and I know I can’t be the only one excited about it. It’s smart to speculate he’ll make another appearance later this year in the Ahsoka series.

Teva goes to meet a colonel and request aid for Nevarro, but unfortunately, Elia Kane (Katy M. O’Brian), the traitor from the Amnesty program, is also present. She lets the colonel know Nevarro isn’t a part of the New Republic, which means it doesn’t get priority.

Back in Nevarro, Greef Karga’s people travel to find safety in the desert. He tells the group that help is on the way. Elsewhere, Teva finds the location of the Armorer’s covert. He warns Din (Pedro Pascal) of Nevarro’s imperilment and asks him to come to the planet’s aid. Din tries to rally the other Mandalorians to assist him, especially since Greef agreed to give him a plot of land, but the covert is unsure. Paz Viszla (Jon Favreau) stands up to speak, and because of his brusque nature, it seems that he’ll argue against it. However, he doesn’t. He embraces the chance to help Din.

Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) comes up with a plan, and they begin to execute it. Meanwhile, the pirates have taken over Nevarro, drinking and chatting among the ruins. Din’s Starfighter makes its rounds, with the pirates following him. Meanwhile, Bo-Katan pilots a ship to drop the teams of Mandalorians on the ground. Skirmishes begin while Anzellans (Babu Frik’s folks) watch on. Some Mandalorians become surrounded, but Viszla arrives with his machine gun-like blaster to clear away. Above in the skies, Din continues to make quick work of the pirates’ snub fighter ships. The Armorer (Emily Swallow) sees combat as well, using her blacksmithing tools on the ground to aid her comrades. Eventually, the remaining pirates on the surface surrender, and Vane (Marti Matulis), Gorian Shard’s right-hand man, deserts. Shard, desperate, begins to attack people on the ground, but Din and Bo-Katan take out his ship’s last engine, causing it to go down in an enormous blaze.

Now liberated, the Nevarrans cheer as Greef Karga thanks the Mandalorians for their aid. He grants them a plot of land as a new home.

The Armorer summons Bo-Katan to meet her at the old forge, where she tells Bo to remove her helmet. Bo-Katan is shocked and wants to refuse, but the Armorer reminds her that she’s the covert’s leader. The Armorer tells Bo that she has the power to lead the disparate groups of Mandalorians, and doesn’t need to wear the helmet to unite them. The Armorer believes that Bo seeing the Mythosaur in episode 2 is a sign that a new age has come for their people and that Bo can lead them. The two of them emerge into the daylight, where the Armorer tells them that Bo-Katan will be looking for other Mandalorians. “It is time to retake Mandalore,” she declares. The episode ends with Bo-Katan heroically looking off into the distance–

–except it doesn’t. We get a final scene of Captain Teva approaching a New Republic vessel floating in shards in space. He sends his R7 unit to investigate, and Teva learns that it is the ship transporting Moff Gideon. Worst of all, the ship’s wall has a fragment of beskar embedded in it. Why would Mandalorians break Gideon out?

That is where the episode leaves us.

Once again, I couldn’t quite get into this episode. It’s good, but it lacks the dreamy soulfulness that made The Mandalorian my favorite show in the first place. Is it because there are so many characters? Have we lost the Wolf and Cub of it all? Something about this episode feels a little like moving around action figures in free play without a clearly developed story with character stakes. 

Rating: 6/10