I Still Can't Believe Star Wars Fans Hate This Clone Wars-Inspired Mandalorian Season 3 Episode Even After 2 Years

This season 3 episode of The Mandalorianhas been unpopular since it was first released, which is surprising given how much it has in common with the fan-favorite Star Wars TV show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The Mandalorian is largely considered one of Star Wars' best TV shows, and its lead characters, Din Djarin and Grogu, are among Star Wars' best characters. This popularity has no doubt contributed to Lucasfilm's decision to make The Mandalorian and Grogu the next to be released of Star Wars' upcoming movies.

Yet, The Mandalorian hasn't had a 100% success rate. On the contrary, there have been a few episodes that received backlash or intense criticism, and season 3 continues to be viewed as the worst season of The Mandalorian. One episode from season 3 is the least liked of all The Mandalorian episodes, but I believe it's not as bad as the episode's scores would have you think.

Guns For Hire Is The Mandalorian Season 3's Lowest-Rated Episode

Per IMDB, This Mandalorian Episode Is The Worst Rated—By A Lot

The Mandalorian season 3, episode 6, "Guns for Hire," is the lowest-rated Mandalorian episode, according to The Mandalorian's IMDB page. Notably, this episode was the one that included massive celebrity cameos—something that is admittedly out of the ordinary for Star Wars movies and TV shows—from Lizzo, Christopher Lloyd, and Jack Black. For many, this was a major factor in their dislike of the episode, which is reflected in the currently shockingly low 6.4/10 IMDB score for "Guns for Hire."

Episode Title	IMDB Score
Season 1, Episode 1, "The Mandalorian"	8.6/10
Season 1, Episode 2, "The Child"	8.5/10
Season 1, Episode 3, "The Sin"	8.9/10
Season 1, Episode 4, "The Sanctuary"	7.7/10
Season 1, Episode 5, "The Gunslinger"	7.5/10
Season 1, Episode 6, "The Prisoner"	8.3/10
Season 1, Episode 7, "The Reckoning"	9.0/10
Season 1, Episode 8, "Redemption"	9.2/10
Season 2, Episode 1, "The Marshal"	8.8/10
Season 2, Episode 2, "The Passenger"	7.8/10
Season 2, Episode 3, "The Heiress"	8.7/10
Season 2, Episode 4, "The Siege"	8.3/10
Season 2, Episode 5, "The Jedi"	9.3/10
Season 2, Episode 6, "The Tragedy"	9.1/10
Season 2, Episode 7, "The Believer"	8.9/10
Season 2, Episode 8, "The Rescue"	9.8/10
Season 3, Episode 1, "The Apostate"	7.4/10
Season 3, Episode 2, "The Mines of Mandalore"	8.2/10
Season 3, Episode 3, "The Convert"	7.0/10
Season 3, Episode 4, "The Foundling"	7.6/10
Season 3, Episode 5, "The Pirate"	8.1/10
Season 3, Episode 6, "Guns for Hire"	6.4/10
Season 3, Episode 7, "The Spies"	8.7/10
Season 3, Episode 8, "The Return"	8.4/10

Some viewers argued that seeing such major stars in The Mandalorian took them out of the galaxy and felt like too big a departure from what Star Wars had done in the past. Others pointed to the slow plot and lack of action or excitement as reasons for disliking the episode, and many also cited tonal continuity issues not only with the larger Star Wars franchise but also with The Mandalorian itself. While these aren't unfair arguments, I remain surprised that this episode didn't land better with audiences, as it is so reminiscent of The Clone Wars.

This Episode Felt Like Something Straight Out Of The Clone Wars

The Off-Beat, Unexpected Tone Of The Episode Was Exactly Like The Clone Wars

Anakin holding his hands up kneeling between The Daughter and Ahsoka who are both lying suspended in the air — Anakin saves Ahsoka on Mortis in The Clone Wars.

While the tone and the cameos in "Guns for Hire" were legitimately out of the ordinary for The Mandalorian, the playful oddities of this episode also felt like they were straight out of The Clone Wars. Particularly given the sheer number of episodes of The Clone Wars, there were plenty of arcs, typically three-episode arcs, in The Clone Wars that went off in their own direction and weren't exactly tied to the show's main narrative.

The playful oddities of this episode also felt like they were straight out of The Clone Wars.

Among these arcs are the episodes in which Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi become involved with the Zygerrian slave trade, with Ahsoka even posing as a slave being sold by Anakin (ironic given his own traumatic history). There was also an arc in which a defecting clone was revealed to have a secret family, and, arguably, even the Mortis Gods arc in The Clone Wars was unusual compared to most of the show. Sure, that may pale in comparison to how jarring it was to see Jack Black in Star Wars, but, tonally, there's a connection.

Ahsoka Tano looking suspicious, edited with the Father and Captain Rex

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The Mandalorian is aware of those similarities, as "Guns for Hire" has several direct connections to The Clone Wars. For one, the episode includes Separatists and battle droids, among them the type used by Separatists throughout the Clone Wars. In the episode, Bo-Katan also directly references the Clone Wars, and, most surprisingly, Count Dooku himself is named dropped in this episode, with Christopher Lloyd's character, Commissioner Helgait, saying, "Count Dooku was a visionary."

Count Dooku himself is named dropped in this episode.

Guns For Hire Wasn't Perfect, But It Was Still Pure Star Wars Fun

It Is Far From The Mandalorian's Most Serious Episode, But That Doesn't Make It Bad

B1 battle droids in The Mandalorian season 3, episode 6.

In addition to "Guns for Hire" sharing these themes and a side quest style similar to The Clone Wars, the episode was simply fun to watch. If one can forgive and embrace the major cameos, the characters become much more enjoyable, and they become less distracting. The episode also has a bit of fun with The Mandalorian's main characters, including by having Grogu get knighted by Lizzo's character, the Duchess of Plazir-15.

It's fair to say that "Guns for Hire" is not The Mandalorian's strongest episode, and the show's other episode ratings on IMDB make that clear enough. However, the episode also didn't deserve all the hate and backlash it got at the time and continues to get even now. For my part, I don't believe this episode of The Mandalorian is as bad as the IMDB score suggests—especially because of its connections to Star Wars: The Clone Wars.