Who plays Pirate King Gorian Shard in The Mandalorian season 3?

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1. 

The new season of The Mandalorian introduces new villains to test Din Djarin, Grogu, Greef Karga, and the people of Nevarro. When Din and Grogu return to Nevarro, they see how the planet that was a hive of scum and villainy in season 1 is now a thriving hub for trade, and flourishing even more than when they returned in season 2.

Nevarro has never looked better and is now a safe and prosperous place for its citizens and visitors to enjoy. This success has not gone unnoticed by outsiders and dangerous business partners from Greef’s unsavory past, which leads to Pirate King Gorian Shard sending his pirates to Nevarro.

After an intense standoff, Greef and Din make quick work of the pirates and kill them all, only leaving one named Vane to run away and send a clear message to Gorian Shard to stay clear of Nevarro.

When Din leaves Nevarro, Vane tries to lure Din into a trap where Gorian Shard can make the Mandalorian pay for taking out his men. Thank to Din’s modified N-1 starfighter, he and Grogu are ale to escape, but not before showing Shard, who looks like a combination of DC’s Swamp Thing and Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Davy Jones. With Din having bested Shard twice now, the pirate king will likely return later this season to try and get his revenge.

Who plays Gorian Shard?

Shard is played by Nonso Anonzie. He has played memorable characters in a variety of other popular television stories, including Sweet Tooth, Game of Thrones, and Ted Lasso. In Sweet Tooth he plays Tommy Jepperd, who saves the half-deer hybrid child Gus and ends up protecting him.

Game of Thrones fans will remember Anonzie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos in season 2, a merchant prince who makes a grave mistake when he double-crosses Daenerys Targaryen. Anonzie provides his voice talents in Ted Lasso season 2 as Ola Obisanya, the father of AFC Richmond star Sam Obisanya.

Given the setup in The Mandalorian season 3 premiere, audiences should expect to see Anonzie continuing to play Shard in season 3. While the Imperial remnant will likely remain the big villain of the series, Shard and his pirates can be secondary villains. Anonzie’s appearance is unrecognizable beneath Shard’s Swamp Thing/Davy Jones aesthetic, but his acting and voice talents are already helping to make Shard a memorable Star Wars villain.

See if Gorian Shard returns as new episodes of The Mandalorian release on Disney+.