The Mandalorian Episode 6: Jack Black and Lizzo Cameos, Explained

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Mandalorian “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire.”] Wednesday’s episode of The Mandalorian thought it was About Damn Time for another celebrity cameo — or three. Season 3 episode 6, “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” follows Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Grogu, and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) to Plazir-15, an opulent, Epcot-like planet independent of the New Republic and the Outer Rim’s only remaining direct democracy. The Mandalorians are there to track down Mando mercenaries: Captain Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides) and his defecting privateers, including hired gun Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado, a.k.a. WWE’s Sasha Banks). 

One hyperloop pod trip later, the trio of Din, Bo-Katan, and Grogu are introduced to the prosperous leadership of the planetary democracy: the Duchess (“About Damn Time” Grammy winner Lizzo) and Captain Bombardier (The Super Mario Bros. Movie star Jack Black). In-between sing-song declarations of love for his wife, Bombardier reveals he was once a facilities planning officer during the war who helped rebuild Plazir-15 as part of the New Republic Amnesty Program.

“Plazir suffered greatly under Imperial rule. My husband came here as part of his rehabilitation,” the Duchess explains. “He oversaw the rebuilding of this planet on which my family served as nobility since it was originally settled, and we fell in love.” (The couple also falls in love with a cooing Grogu, fawning over the foundling in a luxurious dining hall.) 

The Duchess and Captain Bombardier are both royals and elected leaders, but with their charter forbiding Plazir-15 from having a military because of Bombardier’s Imperial past, they’ve resorted to hiring Axe Woves and his Mandalorian privateers for protection.

When Din and Bo-Katan learn of Plazir-15’s “droid problem” — a series of suspected coordinated malfunctions, including Clone War-era battle droids — they learn that Plazir’s head of security, Commissioner Helgait (Back to the Future‘s Christopher Lloyd), is behind the “malfunctions.” The Mandalorians race to stop Helgait, a Count Dooku-supporting Separatist who threatens to trigger a failsafe that would convert the planet’s workforce back into battle droids and unleash them on the unsuspecting citizens of Plazir-15. 

In the end, the royals banish Helgait to live in exile on the moon of Paraqaat for his crimes, and The Mandalorian wraps a cameo-filled episode in a season that saw former Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best return as the Jedi Master Kelleran Be and SNL alum Tim Meadows cameo as the New Republic’s Colonel Tuttle.

New episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.