Most of episode 6 of The Mandalorian season 3 is dedicated to a side quest. The episode, titled Guns for Hire, sends Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and Grogu to the opulent planet of Plazir-15, where they hope to convince Bo-Katan’s former Mandalorian followers to rejoin their cause to retake Mandalore. Before they can do so, however, they have to perform a task for the planet’s leaders, a former Imperial officer named Captain Bombardier (Jack Black) and his wife, The Duchess (Lizzo).
As its guest stars suggest, Guns for Hire is a surprisingly silly installment of The Mandalorian. However, that doesn’t mean it didn’t leave us asking a few important questions.
Are there more Mandalorian privateers?
In its first scene, Guns for Hire reintroduces viewers to Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides), Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado), and the other remaining members of Bo-Katan’s former squad of Mandalorian resistance fighters. When the episode catches back up with them, it’s revealed that Axe Woves has not only become the group’s new leader in Bo-Katan’s stead but they have also become full-time privateers, a.k.a. mercenaries for hire.
By the time Guns for Hire ends, Bo-Katan and Din Djarin have successfully convinced the group to leave their privateering days behind. Nonetheless, the group’s role in the episode does force us to wonder whether or not there are other Mandalorian privateers operating throughout the galaxy at the time of The Mandalorian. If so, that may help explain the still-unresolved final moments of episode 5 of The Mandalorian season 3.
Was that Jack Black and … Lizzo?
Yes, it was. And yes, that was Doc Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd, as Commissioner Helgait. Guns for Hire also, notably, features guest vocal performances from Tom Holland’s brother, Harry Holland, and veteran character actress, Dale Dickey.
Frankly, we have no idea why there are so many cameos in Guns for Hire, but that won’t stop us from wondering why The Mandalorian’s creative team chose to call in so many celebrity favors for this specific episode.
Did Axe Woves and his privateers free Moff Gideon?
At the end of its previous episode, The Mandalorian revealed that there were traces of Beskar steel found in the wreckage of the ship that Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) was presumably extracted from following the events of the series Season 2 finale. At first, it seems like Guns for Hire is going to reveal that it was Axe Woves and his fellow Mandalorian privateers that potentially saved Moff Gideon from his New Republic trial, too.
The episode never goes that far, though. In fact, it isn’t revealed one way or the other whether Axe and his privateers had anything to do with Moff Gideon’s rumored extraction. Unfortunately, it seems like viewers will just have to wait to find out if it was, indeed, Bo-Katan’s former followers who rescued Gideon, another faction of rogue Mandalorians, or another group altogether.
Will Din Djarin get a new weapon?
After getting more than his fair share of upgrades in The Mandalorian season 2, Din Djarin has spent quite a lot of time since then giving many of them up. He gave up his Beskar spear in The Book of Boba Fett and, at the end of Guns for Hire, he gives his Darksaber to Bo-Katan. As noble as these sacrifices have been, they do leave us wondering: Is Din Djarin going to get a new upgrade of his own sometime soon?
He’s certainly in need of one, at least, because his weapon supply is starting to run surprisingly low.
Who is the lead of The Mandalorian?
In its early episodes, The Mandalorian season 3 did a fairly good job of splitting its focus between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan. In recent weeks, however, the show has begun to seem more invested in Bo-Katan’s current emotional journey than Din Djarin’s. The show’s title, of course, leaves the door open for other Mandalorians to be its lead instead of Din Djarin.
That said, it’s hard not to feel like The Mandalorian will have to choose between Bo-Katan and Din Djarin’s stories at some point. While it’s impossible to say which direction the Disney+ series will ultimately take, too, the final shot of Guns for Hire certainly seems to suggest that it’s Bo-Katan who is in the driver’s seat of The Mandalorian now.
New episodes of The Mandalorian premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.
