By George Bate & Josh Bate
The pirate king Gorian Shard returns in a new episode of The Mandalorian full of action and interesting story developments. Check out all of the easter eggs, trivia facts, and references from Chapter 21 below!
The infamous “Who shot first?” debate from the original Star Wars is referenced in a conversation between Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga and Nonso Anozie’s Gorian Shard. Shard angrily claims Greef and Din Djarin killed several of his pirates and Greef replies, “He shot first.” A vengeful Shard replies, “Well, now I will shoot first.”
In his conversation with Greef Karga, Gorian Shard makes a reference to the card game Sabacc.
One of Gorian’s pirates is an Ugnaught, a species introduced in The Empire Strikes Back. The most notable Ugnaught is Kuiil, who played a prominent role in Season 1. Playing into the pirate theme of Gorian’s gang, this Ugnaught is dressed like Smee from Peter Pan.
At the New Republic base on Adelphi, several directors of The Mandalorian can be seen having a drink at the bar. These include Deborah Chow, who helmed Obi-Wan Kenobi and two episodes of The Mandalorian’s first season, Rick Famuyiwa, who executive produced this season, and Dave Filoni, whose character Trapper Wolf can be seen wearing Filoni’s famous cowboy hat. These three directors previously appeared together in Chapter 6: The Prisoner.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who TheHoloFiles had the pleasure of interviewing for The Mandalorian’s second season, returns as Captain Carson Teva in Chapter 21.
Teva is accompanied at the bar by a Star Wars character Rebels fans are intimately familiar with. Chapter 21 marks the live-action debut of Garazeb Orrelios, most commonly referred to as Zeb. The character is voiced again by Steve Blum and is rumored to appear in the upcoming Ahsoka series.
Din Djarin gives a callback to a line from Season 1 in Chapter 21. When Greef says the pirates outnumber them 10-to-1, Din says, “I like those odds.” This is the same thing Din said when The Client’s four stormtroopers cornered Din in Season 1.
Chapter 21 is directed by Peter Ramsay, who co-directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
