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The Mandalorian Chapter 22 (S3E6) Reaction | Guns For Hire
I am really sorry to say that The Mandalorian has turned into Halo for me. Season three has been a slog for me and I am sad to report that […]
I am really sorry to say that The Mandalorian has turned into Halo for me. Season three has been a slog for me and I am sad to report that it has been over a month since I have watched an episode of Din DJarin and Grogu traversing the universe.
And the saddest part? I haven’t missed it. This episode, Guns For Hire, has been on my phone downloaded since April. But here we are, at the end of may, checking in on the sixth episode of Star Wars’ most bankable project.
With myself taking the long breaks, these long “Previously On” segments before the starts of the episode are fantastic. They do hit all the important points. In this particular reminder we get a flashback to the pirate rescue Bo-Katan had of Mando in season two. There is a lot of Dark Saber talk, and the last thing we see before the episode starts is The Armorer telling her clan that Bo-Katan can walk both paths, helmet or not. She can bring the Mandalorians together.
This is where I should also note that episode six is not well liked by fans or critics. A 6.3 rating on IMDB is not kind, so I knew I was potentially entering a world of hurt.
Turns out, the folks were right.
We start of Guns For Hire with various Mandalorians who are in possession of a Imperial Ship. Turns out that these bounty hunters were once under the leadership of Bo-Katan, but now they are under the shadow of Axe Woves. This attractive man notifies Quarren Captain, a female alien ship leader, that he has been hired to take back a boy, a Mon Calamari Nobleman, back to his home planet. Turns out that Quarren was running away with this Calamari youth in the name of young love.
Gross, everything about this is gross. This talk of love is so cheesy. It feels like it is from a Saturday morning teenage bit of Degrassi. Turns out this whole episode is incredibly childish. There is no nuance in Guns For Hire. It is just as you see it. Nothing below the surface at all. You see faces you recognize and events transpire that are just throw-your-hand-up “Okay Sure, Why Not” moments.
I mentioned that there are a lot of faces you can recognize in Guns For Hire. You have Jack Black and Lizzo acting together as the important ruling married couple on this hidden, quiet, strange world that Bo-Katan and Din visit. Their are shots of Mercedes Varnado (formally Sasha Banks) back in her purple Madalorian armor. And let’s not forget Christopher Lloyd who plays the head of security within this strange opulent world and city.
We first meet Captain Bombardier (Jack Black) and The Duchess (Lizzo) at some lavish party and our two heroes are pulled aside to look at the gorgeous view. This was just cover though because this ruling duo needs help from the Bounty Hunters; their city and planet, which is ruled by a true democracy, is suffering at the hands of some former Empire droids malfunctioning. It turns out that that droids can have their hardwire altered to be productive for society; but you have to have all the ingredients to create this mischief.
Din Djarin and Bo-Katan go about a Scooby-Doo mystery and traverse around the city looking for answers. They find out that the droids drink a think called Nepenthe, and these malfunctioning droids all got contaminated from a bad bit of Nepenthe served at a local droid bar. There are little nano droids in the drink and they have writing on them, which means they have an origin, which means you can trace it back to where they came from. This batch of Nepenthe came from the Security Office, which is illegal (said very dramatically in the episode), and the man in charge of the security office is none other than Commissioner Helgait (or probably more referred to as Christopher Lloyd).
The Mandalorians confront Helgait, bring him in front of Captain Bombardier and The Duchess. Sticking with the campy Saturday morning vibes of this entire episode, Helgait tells everyone why he did the plan, then shows remorse when his bosses shame him and make him feel guilty for how much they trusted him. He apologizes (but can he really mean it), and then this whole ordeal ends with Helgait walking himself off to the side while the elected leaders of this weird-ass happy-go-lucky planet give Mando and Bo-Katan the key to the city. Why was this necessary at all? Oh, and The Duchess knights Grogu. What the fuck did Grogu do? Absolutely nothing. It didn’t even need to be in this episode. You could be forgiven for forgetting that this green creature even existed.
So we have wrapped up the one episode throw away mystery. Helgait was angry at the droids, but he couldn’t just shut them off because society had become reliant on them. Society had become lazy and complacent living their lives of recreation and happiness. Now he will got to the Moon of Paraqaat for the remainder of his days, wherever that is.
Is this episode trying to make a political statement about how the wealthier sorts of community are willing to put up with the revolting bits of society as long as they can continue to engage in their preferred lifestyle? I think this is a bit of a stretch, but there are some threads that one could pull.
For myself, I really didn’t like this part of Gun For Hire. I do not have the empathy for droids that Star Wars sometimes insists the audience has, so I don’t feel any sympathy for them having to work. I also hated all the love talk at the start of the episode with the teenage soap opera, and the editing/fluidity of the Duchess & Bombardier scenes was choppy. In particular the sequence with the key to the city and the knighting of Grogu; all of that made me cringe on multiple levels.
BUT WAIT, the episode is not over!
Now that Bo-Katan and Din have helped the Bombardier and Duchess with their droid problem, they have access to go and speak to the privateers, the hired muscle, the rogue Mandalorians. This is where we come back to Axe. He talks bad upon Bo-Katan because she is no longer the leader that she thought she was. She lost the Dark Saber, and she lost the respect of those who used to follow her. Not willing to roll over lightly, Bo-Katan challenges Axe to a one-on-one battle for supremacy. The winner gets the Imperial fleet that these Mandalorians travel on.
For the record, this is the fleet that Bo-Katan built up but lost when she lost her leading power.
Bo-Katan wins this hand-to-hand combat pretty easily. There are maybe a couple of seconds where Axe had a slight edge, but Bo-Katan mainly wipes the floor with her opponent pretty easily.
Axe still doesn’t respect Bo because she doesn’t have the Dark Saber, and that is when Mando steps in.
This pisses me off.
Mando tells the story of Bo-Katan saving his life in the Mines Of Mandalore and therefore because she defeated an enemy that he could not, then she would have the rightful claim to the Dark Saber. Axe agrees that this is the case, and so Mando just hands over the Dark Saber to Bo-Katan.
So the most mythical weapon on The Mandalorian is now like a conch shell? If you have it then you can lead. If you don’t then you have to step aside? What was the point of Mando trying to learn to wield the weapon if he is just going to give it up. Does Bo getting HANDED this weapon really pay her story arc off well, not having to fight for real respect back? The biggest obstacle of Bo-Katan getting this Dark Saber back was putting her helmet on for a couple of episodes.
We can end this tangent of a pessimistic thought experiment with a positive. At the start of the episode, just before the title comes blaring on the screen, there is am exchance between this Calamari Nobleman and The Mandalorians. He is noting that the tribe taking him away used to be honorable, and Woves makes a good points that Mandalorians are honorable, and it only costs a few credits.
Nothing in the world comes free. Not even morality.
Other Random Thoughts
- Bombardier sounds french, and he and the Duchess are acting French. The extra kind and gaudy flamboyant life style.
- What is this chain code thing that the subway line checks on Din Djarin and Bo-Katan? Is this always a thing? How come I do not remember it? Is it just because I am just out of the loop on stuff?
- Helgait’s inspiration was Count Dooku. First time we have heard his name in The Mandalorian, right?
- When Bo-Katan and Din first arrive at this planet, their ship is taken in on a tractor beam just like how the Death Star took in the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope.
- Another reference to A New Hope was the droid bar. It is a bit of an inverse from what people first saw in Lucas’s story. In A New Hope the droids are not welcomed into the bar on Mos Eisley. When Din and Bo-Katan enter the droid bar, they get the same sort of dirty looks that reminds you that there are different sects within a city.
- There are Ugnaughts in Guns For Hire, which is a reference back to season one. Din Djarin knew how to talk to these people, these under city workers. Bit of a diplomatic language barrier for Bo-Katan, but that is why teamwork makes the dream work.
I have two episodes left of The Mandalorian. And it feels like homework. And I wish it wouldn’t.
The Mandalorian is available to watch on Disney+.
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