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Peli Motto has become a staple of The Mandalorian, both as an ally to Din Djarin and a great admirer of Grogu's! Searching for the part they need to bring IG-11 back online, the duo returns to Tatooine at the start of yesterday's "The Mines of Mandalore."
We're not sure if this means Din has now abandoned his quest to revive his old ally, but Peli manages to talk him into buying one of the droids she has on hand: R5-D4.
He first appeared in A New Hope and was very nearly purchased by Owen Lars from the Jawas. However, after it purposely malfunctioned its motivator, Lars bought R2-D2 instead (R2 is thought to have convinced R5 to do self-sabotage).
R5 remained with the Jawas for a time before managing to survive an Imperial attack on its Sandcrawler. What happened to him next is unclear, but he eventually found his way into Peli's possession and now, unexpectedly, belongs to Din Djarin!
After Peli converts his N-1 Starfighter, the cowardly droid is taken to Mandalore where he - very reluctantly - tests the atmosphere and concludes that the air is breathable. We're not sure whether R5 will be a permanent part of Din and Grogu's travels moving forward, but this was a fun way to connect The Mandalorian to the original Star Wars trilogy.
It's not the first time we've seen R5-D4 in Mando's corner of this Galaxy, of course, but giving a droid that played such a small role in A New Hope a crucial role in this episode is still a fun surprise.
It also ties the series back to Luke Skywalker, a character who obviously showed up in both The Mandalorian's season 2 finale and The Book of Boba Fett. We don't think he'll come looking for the droid his uncle once considered splashing out on, but would love to see R5 play a recurring role in the series from here.
What do you guys think?
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