The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 6: ‘The Prisoner’

WARNING: Possible SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Episode 6 follow

RECAP

Mando has reached out to man named Ranzar Malk (Ran) and goes to meet him and his crew aboard his space station.  Ran knows that Mando and the Guild are not on great terms.  Ran has a 5-person job, for which he has 4 people and lets Mando know he needs the Razorcrest, and that was the only reason he let Mando back here.

Mayfeld, a former Imperial sharp shooter is now running the show for Ran, and will be accompanied by a Devaronian named Burg, a pilot droid named Zero, and a Twi’lek named Xi’an.  They also inform Mando that the droid will be piloting his ship for this mission.  Along the way to their mission Mando and the team get in a skirmish over him taking his helmet off, during which the child is exposed.

The droid hastily docks the Razorcrest to the imperial ship, distracting everyone from the child.  During their first shootout, Mando shows Mayfeld his value by dispatching of a group of droids all by himself. The team discovers which room the prisoner is in and go set him free.  Mando realizes he knows this person too, he is Qin and is brother to Xi’an, and that’s when the team turns on Mando and locks him in the cell, leaving him for dead.

Mando uses a scouting droid to escape his prison cell and proceeds to kill power to the lights and communications equipment. The team and Mando are now in a, four on one, deadly game of hide and seek, in a dark imperial ship. Mando is able to jail the team one-by-one and make his escape. 

Back on the Razorcrest he saves the child from the droid Zero and together they head back to Ran to collect their winnings.  As Qin was the only one to return with Mando, Ran asks where the others are, to which Mando replies it’s against the guild code to ask questions.

THOUGHTS

This is a cool episode in that it has a lot of new ideas that stand on their own, but also ties into many previous ideas from the movies, as well as The Mandalorian itself.  For instance, to start this one Mando meets Ran on a space station, which I don’t believe has happened in this series yet, every other episode goes to a planet.

It was cool to see a Twi’lek in live action like this.  Some of the best, and most beloved, characters of Star Wars are Twi’leks and we haven’t seen them much at all in the movies.  It was also cool to see Burg in this episode, as I don’t believe we have ever seen his species in live action before.  The whole time we are being introduced to Ran’s team, I felt like we were in a new, never before seen side of Star Wars. It brought the old feel of Star Wars but with something fresh and new!

Seeing how ruthless these mercenaries are to each other is a bit disheartening, but I guess that is the point, and true to their nature.  Even the Twi’lek brother and sister (Qin & Xi’an) didn’t seem to care too much what happened to the other, when it came down to it. I lean towards wanting my “good-guys,” even the anti-hero to be good to the core; so when I see Mando take out an old friend, like Ran, it is tough for me to accept. 

Even though, what Mando does may be justified, I always hope he will differentiate himself from the rest of the criminals through his actions.  But I guess that is what makes The Mandalorian so intriguing, is that he walks a fine line on the side of what is right and what is wrong.  It’s interesting to see the dichotomy of a bounty hunter willing to kill anyone in his path to survive, but on the other hand has befriended, protected, and is becoming a father figure to a Child.

Speaking of the child, I also like seeing the interaction with other characters when they see the child.  When the team discovered the child on Mando’s ship, they were genuinely astonished.  So, this is definitely a rare species, that inhabitants of the galaxy are not used to seeing.  The crew didn’t even know if the child was a pet or something similar.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Xi’an – a female Twilek mercenary, is played by a nearly unrecognizable Natalia Tena, who I know most as Tonks from the Harry Potter series of movies. Wookieepedia.
• Burg – is a male Devaronian mercenary, a character we have never been introduced to before. His is also a race we have never seen in live action. One of the most well-know Devaronians is Cikatro Vizago, from the Star Wars Rebels animated series. Wookeepedia.
• Mayfeld – A human mercenary played by Bill Burr, is also a brand-new character we’ve never met before.  He is an ex-imperial sharpshooter who left imperial service. Wookieepedia.
• Zero – the mercenary droid accompanying the team on their mission, has a full name of Q9-0, and this is also the first time we’ve seen this droid! Wookiepedia.
• The X-Wing Pilots were made up of some of the Directors of the show including, Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, and Rick Famuyiwa!

What did everyone think of episode 6?  I thought it brought a lot of new people, species and some of the best jokes to the Star Wars universe, while being upbeat and entertaining.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

You can watch new episodes of The Mandalorian on Disney+.