I'm Gonna Say It: 'The Mandalorian' Has Lost the Way

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Come one, come all, fans of The Mandalorian. Each Wednesday morning, we're breaking down the newest episode, from the best Grogu closed-captioning moment, to what’s going on with the latest friends and foes in Mando's redemption arc, to what it all means for the rest of the galaxy far, far away. Pop on The Mandalorian theme and dive in. This is the way.

"Chapter 21: The Pirate"

Disney+'s Cryptic Plot Summary: I actually don't know! My Disney+ Roku app—I kid you not—shows incomprehensible lines of code all over The Mandalorian's landing page. The thumbnail for this episode was just THE MANDALORIAN written on a blue square. Disney+ is rotting from the inside out.

Main Players: Greef Karga, Captain Teva, Gorian Shard, and pirates. Lots of pirates.

Director: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey, who makes his Star Wars debut with this episode. He's already confirmed to helm at least one episode of Ahsoka.

Can't-Miss Star Wars Easter Egg: Zeb Orrelios, the Star Wars Rebels character who makes his live-action (see: CGI) debut in the bar with Captain Teva.

Best Grogu Closed-Caption Moment: Between the two Grogu subtitles we get—[GROGU COOS] and [GROGU COOS]—I choose [GROGU COOS].

Captain's Log

Pick a Story, Any Story!

Allow me to introduce a new game, just for me, where I simply list every subplot in The Mandalorian off the top of my head. I won't cheat. If I get them all, you have to ship me the Mando Merch of the Week:

• Grogu's continuing education, Jedi, Mandalorian, or otherwise. I'll throw in the unspooling of the kid's Order 66 memories here, too, as a treat.

• Bo-Katan Kryze's spiritual journey, which may or may not lead to a battle to the death over the Darksaber with Mando.

• Mando not really knowing how to swing around the Darksaber—and the Darksaber itself—is a D-plot at this point, right?

• The trials and tribulations of Greef Karga as he tries to make Nevarro a Happy Place.

• The Andorization of this show—i.e. whatever's going on with Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane. Plus, the implications of Pershing's research. This dude was trying to engineer Force-sensitive Stormtroopers, remember?

• The exiled Mandalorians' search for a permanent home, whether that ends up being Nevarro or Mandalore.

• Mythosaurs!

• Captain Teva's search for Moff Gideon is going to be a thing now.

• (Related: Implied Moff Gideon redemption?!)

• Boba Fett, who's in a bacta tank, somewhere, hibernating until fans once again call for his return.

• The looming shadow of the sequel trilogy.

• The daddification of Din Djarin? (He doesn't really have a story anymore, post-bath.)