The Mandalorianon Disney Plus is no stranger to cameos. It feels like the cozy tavern of theStar Warsuniverse, where characters from all over the franchise can show up without too much fuss, and everyone is cool with it. But sometimes a cameo can blur the lines between the scenes, and one blink-and-miss-it moment from a recent episode may have done just that.
The Mandalorianseason 3, episode 5, already featured a pretty exciting cameo fromStar Wars Rebels, which likely drew the attention of many viewers away from what else was happening in the scene at the time. There was the episode’s main arc, led byKim’s Conveniencestar Paul Sun-Hyung Lee asNew Republic pilot and Ranger Carson Teva. His drive to save the people of Nevarro was an inspiring tale. But while he briefly chatted with the imposing but friendly Zeb in the New Republic cantina, some viewers may have been too focused on the return of their favorite Lasat to notice another cameo right under their noses.
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As pointed out byThe Direct, the scene in the cantina was also home to a cameo from Dave Filoni, creator of the animatedStar Wars: The Clone Warsseries and several others. He serves as executive producer onThe Mandalorianand even appeared before in the series as New Republic X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf, the same character he is seemingly portraying here. He can be seen sitting at the bar a few seats down from Carson, though he’s easy to miss despite wearing Filoni’s trademark cowboy hat.
Filoni has shown up as Trapper 3 times onThe Mandalorian, usually in bite-sized scenes where he shows up with other pilots to carry out New Republic business. This characterfinally got Filoni his own action figure, complete with his flight suit and helmet. While previous appearances involved a bit of action (and his part in the timely rescue of Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin), this one shows him relaxing with his fellow pilots. It seems like something he’s earned.
Filoni seems to be a source of constant positivity in theStar Warsworld. When he’s not working on a series likeThe Bad Batchor the upcomingAhsoka, he’s marveling at the “remarkable"variety ofStar Warsshowsand stories. As the Executive Creative Director at Lucasfilm, he’s a big cheese in the company. But with comments like that and cameos like this, Filoni puts out an energy that only comes from being a genuine fan of what he’s doing.
This franchise can always use more positivity like Filoni’s. Fromracist backlash fromStar Warsfansto harassment of actors they simply don’t like for whatever reason, there’s a significant improvement in the mood whenever Filoni or someone like him is involved. Sure, the actual story and writing quality can be debatable. But if good stories can’t be told without hatred flinging about, maybe a palate cleanser of some goofy cameos is warranted sometimes. Here’s hoping Trapper keeps returning like the Stan Lee toStar Wars' Marvel Cinematic Universe.
