REVIEW: ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3, Episode 6 – “Chapter 22”

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Following last week’s episode that saw the beginnings of a Mandalorian resurgence, director Bryce Dallas Howard takes fans on a full-on procedural crime drama in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6. Bo-Katan and Din Djarin embark on their quest to seek more Mandalorians to join their cause to retake Mandalore. When their search brings them to Axe Woves, the duo must solve a mystery on an independent planet before they can gain access to Kyrze’s former right-hand man and the fleet he is now in possession of.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 opens with Axe Woves possessing an Imperial fleet as he attempts to capture a Quarren vessel. Woves, now embracing the role of a mercenary, has been contracted by the Mon Calamari to reclaim a royal asset allegedly stolen by the Quarren. In true Bryce Dallas Howard fashion, viewers are shown and not told a love story between the Quarren captain and the Mon Calamari prince who absconded together. While the scene is mainly a vehicle to display the power that a sect of Mandalorians now possess, it also serves as a world-building piece and a hint at one of the larger themes of the episode.

Fans of The Clone Wars animation will remember that the Mon Calamari and the Quarren do not have the best relationship. There is an entire three-episode arc that covers their civil war on Mon Cala. In one of the most underrated arcs in the series, at the end of those episodes in season 4, the two species had come back to a seminal harmony. However, decades later it would appear that harmony has been broken and a forbidden love has been formed. Much of the theme of this season of The Mandalorian has been centered on the fact they are stronger together. The Clone Wars showed that the Mon Calamari and Quarren were stronger together. The Mandalorians with Woves are nothing more than mercenaries just like the Quarren have been reduced to piracy now that they have splintered from the group. Thankfully, The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 does give a glimpse of what two groups coming together could actually achieve.

Navarro isn’t the only thriving independent world in this New Republic era. Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kyrze track Woves to Plazir-15, a new world in the Star Wars canon in the Outer Rim. In what will surely be a surprise casting, the duo meets an eccentric couple. While not much is known outside of the exposition provided, it is clear that Plazir-15 represents the best of what a government can provide in the post-Empire universe. As a democratic society, Plazir-15 is thriving, using the droids left by the Empire to do the labored work so that citizens can focus on recreation and art. However, all is not perfect the coupled leadership of Plazir-15 asks the Mandalorians to look into the malfunctioning repurposed Separatist and Imperial droids who have been harming the civilians. What might seem like yet another side quest to get to Mandalore suddenly has more meaning when Plazir-15 offers to recognize Mandalore’s sovereignty, adding another system to support their cause.

If you can think of a procedural drama trope, Bryce Dallas Howard made sure to include it in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6. There is a chase sequence, a good cop-bad cop interrogation, a trip to the morgue and forensic scientist, and of course, the big reveal of whodunit. Din and Bo-Katan further their working relationship as they both play off their strengths and weaknesses to get the job done. It really shows the range of Star Wars stories this franchise can tell when you blend other genres into the universe. Further, by playing off Din’s natural mistrust of droids, there is a clear highlight on the autonomy of droids on full display. Kryze and Djarin have an interest in protecting the people of Plazir-15, but also the droids who have been largely discarded post-Empire rule that still want to contribute. Most importantly though, the investigation shows the flaws in the democracy of this time period, even one that thrives like Plazir-15.

From the opening sequence to Din Djarin and Bo-Katan’s detective work, The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 feels like an episode of The Clone Wars in the best possible ways. Many episodes of The Clone Wars and Star Wars animation do a fantastic job of letting moments speak for themselves. Every scene that Bryce Dallas Howard puts forth has weight and importance. Even the smallest moments like the Quarren-Mon Calamari scene, while not a major plotline after the opening minutes, builds out the world and shows that not everything that goes on is focused on the main story we follow in The Mandalorian. Not everything needs a major explanation to hold weight in the grand space opera of Star Wars. Further, the episode continues the series’ dedication to practical effects with its aliens and droids. Each character feels as important to the set pieces as the humans who carry the dialogue. It is the kind of attention to detail to creature design that is seen far more in animation than live action and helps with the immersion.

If there was one miss for me this week in The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6, it would have to be with the ending. Not necessarily with the results of the episode, but how fast the sequence is resolved. Having a moment as big as the moment that proceeds the credits rolling should have felt grander. Whether it be all the celebrity appearances, wrapping your head around watching NCIS in Star Wars, and even seeing droid autonomy in live action, the meeting of Din Djarin, Bo-Katan, and Axe’s Mandalorians came and went as fast as the Quarren-Mon Calamari scene in the opening. The last five minutes of the episode are certainly not enough time to let those moments resonate. I would estimate that they wanted to get to this point in the story before Star Wars Celebration takes place in London this weekend. While understandable, I can’t help but feel like it is a missed opportunity to leave a quality cliffhanger for fans to return to after a whirlwind of announcements surely to come this weekend.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 continues Bryce Dallas Howard’s streak of delivering the best blend of emotion and action that the series has to offer. Aside from the rushed ending, this week’s episode has all the markers of a perfect episode of Star Wars, even outside of the main story that The Mandalorian is trying to tell. From balancing practical effects with the limits of the Volume to incorporating another genre of storytelling into Star Wars, Bryce Dallas Howard shows to be a true master of showing without telling and allowing the world to build itself. The intentionality of the plot, even one as silly as the one presented this week, is felt throughout, as the Mandalorians continue to build support for their mission and get one step closer to retaking Mandalore.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 is available now, with new episodes of The Mandalorian premiering Wednesdays on Disney+.