Many fans have been hoping that The Mandalorian would finally start focusing less on standalone diversions and more on "world-building," and there's plenty of that in this week's excellent "The Heiress." After crash landing on Trask with the Frog Lady still in tow, she and her husband make good on her promise and point Din Djarin in the direction of more Mandalorians. Heading to a nearby bar, a mysterious woman watches him from afar (if she looks familiar, it's because it's WWE Superstar Sasha Banks). There, a Quarren offers to take the bounty hunter to them...for a price.
On his sea vessel, the Quarren shows Din and The Child a creature they have on board, but throws the baby into its waiting mouth - luckily, he's inside his crib - and his guardian isn't far behind. They want his Beskar armour, and just as it's beginning to look like they might be done for, three Mandalorians blast in and save them. What they're wearing looks familiar, and while two of them appear to be new characters, one is instantly recognisable: Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan Kryze (a character from The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels). Banks is one of them, so no, she's not playing Sabine Wren after all!
Din is horrified that they've removed their helmets and blasts off after declaring that they can't be "real" Mandalorians. However, as Bo-Katan explains, he's considered a "Child of the Watch," a group she describes as a "cult of religious zealots" whose goal was "to re-establish the ancient way." Later, they save him from an ambush, and he agrees to hear them out. It turns out, they can point him in the direction of a Jedi, but he'll have to help them steal some Imperial weapons in return.
The bounty hunter agrees, and they're soon blasting their way through an Imperial ship full of Stormtroopers. Eventually reaching the weapons, Bo-Katan changes the goalposts and makes it clear that they're not just here for those; they want the entire ship (all in a bid to retake Mandalore, a planet Din believes to be cursed and uninhabitable thanks to the Empire). As they make their way to the cockpit, we learn these Imperials are working for Moff Gideon, who orders the officer in charge to crash the ship and take his own life ("Long Live The Empire!"). Bo-Katan questions him about the location of the Darksaber, but he kills himself as Din and Banks' Mandalorian manage to right the ship. They head off to Mandalore with the weapons, but not before telling their fellow Mandalorian where he can find the Jedi, Ashoka Tano.
With that, he heads off - in a barely repaired Razor Crest thanks to a local Mon Calamari - to finally reunite The Child with its people, and the stage is obviously set for the live-action debut of Ahsoka...hopefully, as soon as next week!
What did you think about "The Heiress"? Click HERE to see last week's poll results for "The Passenger."