More familiar faces return for the third season of ‘The Mandalorian’

L-R – Obtahi, O’Brian — Lucasfilm

(SPOILERS) After two episodes of the new season dealt with Pedro Pascal‘s Din Djarin redeeming himself for the sin of taking off his helmet, the just-dropped third episode of The Mandalorian really opens things up. 

The action returns to Coruscant, the capital city planet first seen in the Star Wars prequels and recently seen in Andor. After the fall of the Empire, it’s the home of the New Republic — and viewers learn it’s also the home of an amnesty program for former agents of the Empire. 

Like Project Paperclip did in the U.S. after World War II, when former Nazis were drafted by our country to aid in the space race and military tech, some surprising faces resurface.

Omid Abtahi‘s cloning scientist Dr. Pershing, and Katy O’Brian‘s comms officer who formerly worked for Giancarlo Esposito‘s evil Moff Gideon, are back. We learn her name for the first time: Elia Kane. She plots — illegally — to help Pershing restart his research. 

O’Brian, recently seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, told ABC Audio it was “wild” to join the Star Wars universe. 

“My brother’s a big Star Wars fan, you know, and I wasn’t really that into it. So I guess I didn’t really understand how big of a deal that was. And then I started watching them again. I’m like, ‘OK, you know what? It’s actually pretty great.'”

She explains she was inducted into the fan costuming charity group the 501st Legion, adding, “They’re such a great, great group of people, and they’ve gotten me into a lot more charity work, which is what I want to do.”

She adds, “So it kind of feels like this really cool community. And then you also get to play this awesome character on screen.” 

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