Chapter 22: Guns for Hire

"Chapter 22: Guns for Hire" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American television series The Mandalorian. It was written by showrunner Jon Favreau and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. It was released on Disney+ on April 5, 2023, and received positive reviews.

Plot
Bo-Katan Kryze, the Mandalorian, and Grogu set out for the idyllic planet Plazir-15, where Bo-Katan's former army, now led by Axe Woves, have set themselves up as mercenaries. Before they can meet them, they are involuntarily diverted by the planet's rulers, ex-Imperial officer Captain Bombardier and the unnamed Duchess of Plazir-15, who ask for their help in neutralizing several repurposed—but malfunctioning—Imperial and Separatist droids.

After stopping a rogue droid, Bo-Katan and the Mandalorian follow its trail to The Resistor—a droid bar—and convince its bartender and clientele to help them. They discover that the droids were sabotaged through nanodroids in the bar's maintenance fluid, which were covertly imported by Commissioner Helgait, head of the planetary Security Office. Confronted, Helgait reveals himself as a Separatist, threatening to activate the droids back to their original 'battle droid' programming before Bo-Katan knocks him out. The Duchess sentences a remorseful Helgait to a penitent exile on the Moon of Paraquaat.

Granted an audience with the Mandalorian privateers, Bo-Katan challenges Woves for leadership and defeats him. Woves tries to goad Bo-Katan into challenging the Mandalorian for the Darksaber, telling her that the true ruler of Mandalore should possess the ancient weapon. Bo-Katan reasons that in order to retake Mandalore, they should stop fighting each other and join forces. To help her ascendance, the Mandalorian admits his capture by the cyborg in the mines of Mandalore and his rescue by Bo-Katan, defeating his captor. Seeing the truth in this revelation, Woves and the others accept that the Darksaber rightfully belongs to her. The Mandalorian then bestows the weapon to her.

Development
The episode was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, from a screenplay by series creator Jon Favreau.

Casting
Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff star as the Mandalorian and Bo-Katan Kryze, respectively. The Mandalorian is physically portrayed by stunt doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, with Wayne and Crowder receiving co-star credit.

The co-starring cast for this episode includes Simon Kassianides, Mercedes Varnado, Jack Black, Lizzo and Christopher Lloyd as Axe Woves, Koska Reeves, Captain Bombardier, The Duchess and Commissioner Helgait, respectively. Favreau cast Black and Lizzo as Bombardier and the Duchess because of their reputations in social media as Star Wars fans, with Black often doing funny videos of The Mandalorian on his Instagram and TikTok accounts while Lizzo often cosplayed as Grogu in videos that Favreau's kids showed to his father. As the showrunners were preparing to make an episode with an eccentric royal couple in a court that felt like something taken from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Favreau reached out to Black and Lizzo and they gladly accepted, especially for the opportunity of interacting with the Grogu puppet.

Music
Joseph Shirley composed the musical score for the episode, replacing Ludwig Göransson.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a score of 81% based on reviews from 21 critics, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Even more of a lark than usual, The Mandalorian indulges in some broad comedy and star-studded cameos in an altogether amiable adventure."