The Mandalorian S3E4: Top 3 takeaways that can tie in with Star Wars future

In the last week’s episode of The Mandalorian, we saw pirate Gorian Shard attack Navarro after Greef Karga and Din Djarin massacred some of his minions in the first episode.

The unexpected invasion led to a chain of events that gave us a glimpse into where the show was headed. In terms of story building, this episode was perhaps the most significant of the season.

Here are the 3 key takeaways from The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 5:

The Empire-New Republic: Two sides of the same coin?

One of the best about the latest season of The Mandalorian is the picture we are getting of the post-rebellion New Republic. It is easy to leave things at the joyous celebrations we see at the end of Return of the Jedi, but in reality, running a galaxy is more complicated than that.

Jon Favreau is shouldering the challenging task of showing the pitfalls of the new government and how things are not as hunky-dory as we think. This reflects in the conversation Captain Carson Teva has with Colonel Tuttle at the New Republic headquarters in Coruscant.

Even if someone is not outright evil and truly out of resources, apathy is still a common-enough affliction. Moreover, Elia Kane continues to seem like she’s still working for Moff Giden and likely there are others like her.

Between that and the New Republic having its own Operation Paperclip, the situation is possibly headed toward a full-blown infiltration similar to Marvel’s SHIELD-Hydra storyline.

R5-D4 is more than he looks

In Star Wars, droids are almost always more than they look. Not just the fan-favorite R2-D2, but the ones like Andor’s B2EMO and Lando’s L3 as well.

In The Mandalorian season 3, Peli Motto’s shy and timid R5-D4 unexpectedly got a bit more screentime as the mechanic lent her to Din for Mandalore exploration. Last week’s episode made it clear why.

Turns out, R5 was not only a member of the Rebel Alliance from Imperial times but is also a New Republic Spy. Moreover, Star Wars Legends comic book Skippy the Jedi Droid by Peter David reveals R5 to be Force-sensitive as well. It is a Force vision that prompted him to fault his motivator so that Own could buy R2-D2 instead.

R5 passed on the location of the Mandalorian Covert to Captain Teva and is possibly in touch with other New Republic officials as well. However, with the possibility that Moff Gideon still has people within the ranks of the New Republic, one wonders if such a connection could be exploited in the future.

Survival is greater than age-old traditions

Emily Swallow has done an excellent job of portraying the sturdiness of the Armorer. She has always been fiercely loyal to the covert but is also unbending about the rules of the Way.

Yet, in last week’s episode, we see the protectiveness in the leader win over the need to preserve traditions. For the first time, we see her somewhat affectionate when she speaks to Bo-Katan Kryze in the dungeons of Navarro.

Turns out, she believed Bo-Katan after all about her vision of the Mythosaur. Now, she believes she could be the one to preserve Mandalore in its former glory as she has walked both the Way and the world outside of it as a former Nite Owl. She instructs Bo-Katan to take off her helmet and sends her on a mission to gather all Mandalorians scattered around in the galaxy.

The Mandalorian – Ending Notes

Bo-Katan’s mission could directly tie in with the consequences of the last scene of the episode. The Beskar alloy Captain Teva finds embedded in the Lambda shuttle that held Moff Gideon could belong to any Mandalorian in the galaxy.

There are several theories roaming around on the internet about who extracted Gideon. Some are saying the Mandalorians are being framed by the Remnant Galactic Empire by using stolen Beskar, while others think it could be Ursa or Sabine Wren.

All signs point toward this season having a strong connection with Star Wars Rebels – from the appearance of purrgils to the cameo of Zeb Orrelios.

Find out what happens in The Mandalorian Season 3 every Wednesday only on Disney+.