SPOILER REVIEW: The Mandalorian - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of the Mandalorian brought in lots of new, interesting world building aspects to the galaxy far, far away. It begins with the Razorcrest entering a space station run by one of Mando's ex-crew members, Ranzar "Ran" Malk, played by Mark Boone Jr. Ran's station is a no questions asked facility, but that won't stop him from requesting a favor from Mando in return for repairing the Razorcrest.

Ran is putting together a crew to break one of their members our from prison. The crew will be led by Mayfeld, an ex-imperial sharpshooter who doesn't take stormtrooper jokes too well, and is played by Bill Burr. Also on crew is Xi'an, a Twi'lek who has some history with Mando, played by Natalia Tena. She was in the crew with Ran and Mando before he left them. Rounding out the crew is Burg, a Devaron and the muscle of the group, played byClancy Brown, and the droid Q9-0, played by Richard Ayoade.

The job is to break into a New Republic prisoner transport vessel and break out their man. Mando is seeming only only accepting of this after he learns the crew is manned entirely by droids.

Every member of the crew has some sort of problem with the Mandalorian, whether it be from stories or person. He is the odd man out, only on the job because they need his ship. It is the only one that the crew has access to that can't be tracked by the New Republic.

While they travel, Burg and Mando get into a small brawl which opens the door to Mando's quarters, revealing the Child to the crew. Mayfeld makes jokes about a pet and how he wouldn't mind having the Child as a pet for himself. Mando remains calm but obviously not happy at the remarks, setting up the rivalry between the two that will carry on throughout the episode.

The crew arrives on the New Republic transport, breaking the tension. It's an easy in and they make their way into the cruiser. It was satisfying to get to see the interiors of a New Republic cruiser for the first time in live action with its clean white walls, like a modern Tantive IV.

(From left to right) Xi'an, the Mandalorian, Burg, Mayfeld inside the New Republic Transport

The crew encounters a mouse droid which Burg shoots, setting off the alarm on the ship. Security Droids attack the crew and hold the upper hand until Mando flanks them and wipes them out. Xi'an makes a joke about Mando hating droids, further showing that everyone who has ever met the Mandalorian knows he really does not like droids.

When the crew reaches the commend deck, they find a human New Republic pilot, played by none other than the voice of Anakin Skywalker, Matt Lanter. Everyone seems to be alright with simply killing him besides Mando. There's a quick stand off when the pilot threatens to alert the New Republic but Xi'an throws a knife into his chest before things get too heated. The problem is is that the pilot was able to press the button on the tracker and alert the New Republic.

The crew rushes to find their prisoner, who is Xi'an's brother, Qin, who was also part of the old crew and Mando left him to die on one fo their missions. When he is out, they push Mando into the cell, trapping him inside. They all rush back to the Razorcrest. Meanwhile, Q9-0 spots the Child on the ship and pursues him. The Child is elusive and hides.

Shortly after, Mando is able to grapple a security droid up against the cell and break off its arm to free himself from the cell. He runs to the command center and shuts off the lights and closes doors to intimidate the crew. They are all split up after Mando shuts one of the doors between them and they split up to go find him. The episode turns into Star Wars horror at this point, with Mando hunting the crew who betrayed him.

The Mandalorian hunts the crew that betrayed him.

Burg fights with Mando in the command center, showcasing the Mandalorians whits and use of surroundings to take down the bigger foe. Mando makes quick work of Xi'an with the help of his knife deflecting beskar armor. Finally, the Mandalorian sneaks up on Mayfeld, catching him off guard. Mando finds Qin, who doesn't seem to care much about his sister, and simply bargains Mando down to not kill him and he gets the pay from the gig.

Q9-0 find the Child hiding in the Mandalorians quarters and seems to be about to shoot him. In what can easily be described as one of the cutest scenes in history, the Child raises his hand to use the force to stop Q9, but Mando arrives and shoots the droid.

The Mandalorian arrives back on the station with Qin and receives his pay from Ran. Ran questions where the rest of the crew is, but Mando knows the rules, no questions asked. Mando goes to leave, but Ran calls top a shuttle to go hunt him down. As it's about to leave, Qin finds the tracking device the New Republic soldier used to call in back up. Three X-Wings jump out of hyperspace. Their pilots played by none other than Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, and Rick Famuyiwa. They destroy the station and the Mandalorian makes his escape. Mando gives the Child his favorite to, the ball on the top of one of the levers on his control panel.

The episode was incredibly entertaining from start to finish. The introduction of the past crew was a great addition to the character of the Mandalorian and making is character development into a "single dad" even more interesting. Each new character felt real and had interesting stories. There were tons of fantastic visuals in the hanger of the space station, the New Republic transport, and seeing T-65 X-Wings again in live action.

This episode felt to give the final couple of episodes a direction to go with, whereas the last couple felt almost aimless. I think this one of if not my favorite episode of the series, so far. There are plenty more stories to tell with the Mandalorian and the Child, with episode 7 airing on Wednesday the 18th, and the season finale, episode 8 airing on Friday the 27th.