Why Were the Pirates In 'The Mandalorian' So Set On Killing Themselves?

Last Friday, the newest episode of The Mandalorian was released. Chapter 15, “The Believer,” was a character episode that focused on the interaction between Din and his wisecracking frenemy Migs Mayfeld. During the episode, Din and the former Imperial Sharpshooter infiltrated an Imperial base to get information they needed to retrieve Grogu, but on their way they were attacked by an unknown group of suicidal alien pirates. Sounds weird, right?

The context does not clear much up. To get inside the base, Din and Mayfeld steal an armored ground vehicle loaded with highly explosive Rhydonium: a type of fuel mined from the planet. Driving too fast would make the Rhydonium destabilize and combust, driving too slow means they are vulnerable to attackers. To that extent, it is like a reverse Speed, but in space. While driving, Din and Mayfeld hear the last desperate calls of other transports like theirs under attack right before they explode into a fiery death ball. Moments later, they are attacked by the same group that destroyed the other Rhydonium carriers: a group of aliens on flying skiffs that the main characters call “pirates.” The pirates jump on top of the Rhydonium carrier, but none of them make a move to stop the vehicle and steal the Rhydonium; they only destroy it. They plant explosives on it, shoot blasters near the combustible compound, and sacrifice their lives to try and make sure those explosives go off. Even at the end of the chase where the carrier gets within spitting distance of a heavily armed Imperial Base, they do not run; they keep trying to destroy the carrier.

It is usually pretty hard to sell stolen fuel you destroy while you are dead. So what is the reason for why the pirates are so set on charging headfirst into blaster bolts and live grenades?

The answer lies in a scene right after they took the carrier, but before they met the pirates: the village. While Mayfeld was having a philosophical chat with Din about the rules of whether or not Mandalorians can remove their helmets, they have to slow down the vehicle to pass through a village. While Mayfeld talks, we look at downtrodden faces, letting Mayfeld talk about how it does not matter to them whether the Empire or the New Republic is in charge: a sentiment that feels very much like The Last Jedi’s character DJ. It was jarring for a few reasons: the villagers do not come up again directly, even though the Imperial base right next to them is turned into a crater at the end of the episode, and there was nothing directly connecting this to the alien pirates that come only minutes later.

The answer? They probably weren't “pirates” at all in the original script, only edited to be changed into pirates later during a rewrite. The pirates were not pirates because, originally, they were the villagers.

Think about it: everything that happened during the attack suddenly makes sense if they were not out to steal the Rhydonium, but to destroy the Empire’s way of taking it. Earlier in the episode, the planet was pointed out by the crew to be out of the way of the war effort as another planet with little strategic value. If the Empire cannot have the Rhydonium, there's no reason for them to be on the planet. As we saw, an all-out attack on the base is a suicide mission for the “pirates." They had to attack the Rhydonium transports while they were vulnerable outside the base instead of destroying the base itself. The pirates were suicidal not because their drive for treasure was greater than their need to live, but because the stakes were higher: they used to be villagers protecting their planet. That’s why they fought to the death: out of desperation, not greed.

Now comes the next question: if they were villagers originally, then why did they get changed to pirates? Surely the suicidal attackers from Saw Gerrera’s rebel group the Partisans in Rogue One were the same, right? Not quite: in Rogue One, where the moral ambiguity of war gets featured on screen, we do not get introduced to the Partisans as a group of downtrodden people to be sympathetic to. We do not drive through the Partisan’s village showing specifically how desperate they are, and they are not portrayed with much sympathy at all: Saw’s methods are an example of how his means are too gruesome and cruel to justify the ends.

But the main difference between Saw’s group and the pirates is that Din ends up killing dozens of them. As interesting as some of the moral questions get in The Mandalorian, they are still a far cry from the moral shoulder-shrugging of Game of Thrones. It makes sense: Din is supposed to become more sympathetic, not less. It would definitely be a downer if you idolized Din as a kid, and suddenly he’s a killer of victims of the Empire.