Who is Zeb in ‘The Mandalorian?’ Zeb Orrelios, explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers for season 3 of The Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian season 3 is continuing the series’ trend of throwing in fan service cameos for Star Wars fans well-versed in the franchise’s deep lore. In this week’s episode, “The Pirate”, audiences were ecstatic to see a certain character make the jump from animation to live-action.

For those who may not have watched Star Wars Rebels, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios made his live-action debut on episode 5 of The Mandalorian’s third season this week. The show reveals he is now working with the New Republic and appears to be serving as a pilot, as he did for the crew of the Ghost on Rebels. While Orrelios may have a look that suggests he is built for brawn and not much else, the Lasat male is actually highly intelligent and articulate. He learns to fly various crafts without any formal training, has refused to fight wounded opponents, and even has a dry sense of humor in various situations and incidents.

As well, some may assume his species has been seen in the Star Wars franchise before, but this is not the case, either. Lasats first debuted on Star Wars Rebels and are based on concept art for how Chewbacca was intended to look before the original Star Wars films entered production. They are located in the Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy, worship a spirit considered a personification of the Force, and were nearly exterminated by the Galactic Empire. This near-genocide is a deep point of guilt for Zeb, though he feels joy when he realizes his species managed to endure the purge.

In “The Pirate”, Zeb continues to be voiced by his animation actor Steve Blum, so, it is possible he could appear in the future and if so, it may be on the coming Ahsoka show. Several other characters from Rebels will be there, and, given how Star Wars never lets anyone rest, we see a reunion of those who were on the Ghost being all but inevitable in the near future.