The Mandalorian – Season 2, Episode 7 Recap, “Chapter 15: The Believer”

This week, The Mandalorian made the briefest of political statements. One that went beyond that age old (and honestly rather tired) Star Wars trope of freedom versus order. But I’ll get to that.

After the relentless action and world building of the previous two episodes, “Chapter 15: The Believer” feels like the calm before the storm. There are no callbacks here to previous plot lines in the greater Star Wars universe. We aren’t reintroduced to fan favourite characters. There aren’t any Jedi or lightsabers. This is the one where our heroes regroup and get ready for the coming storm. This is the one where they prepare to take the fight to the bad guys.

The purpose here was to refocus our attention on the core narrative of the series. Throughout this season, we’ve already had our fanboy appetites satiated with Bo Katan, and Ahsoka Tano, and Boba Fett, and now it’s time to get back to what this show is really about: Mando and Grogu.

Le salaire de la peur

Every episode of The Mandalorian is a lesson in cinema history. Favreau and his team wear their inspirations on their sleeves, citing, and imitating, and paying homage to the movies and television shows that are the standard bearers for this sort of storytelling.

This week was no different. The action of the second act is clearly inspired by Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 classic The Wages of Fear, as Mando and Migs drive a transport vehicle filled with the explosive rhydonium across bumpy roads while being attacked by wave after wave of pirates.

It was, as has become a calling card for this series, yet another superbly choreographed set piece. The action is relentless. The tension, which is rooted in the idea that everything could explode at any second, isn’t just a device to keep us at the edge of our seats, but a metaphor for the entire episode.

This middle section of the episode, which begins with Mando swapping his Beskar for Stormtrooper armour and ends with Imperial forces saluting them as they roll into the rhydonium refinery on Morak, is a fantastic character piece in itself. One that pushes back against Mando’s core beliefs and the sacrifices that he’s willing to make in order to achieve his ends.

Writer/director Rick Famuyiwa, in his third outing on The Mandalorian, manages to create an awkward anxiety in the audience. We’re so happy and relieved when those TIE Fighters show up at the end to save Mando and Migs, but we’re also aware that they’ve just killed these anti-Imperial pirates who, under any other circumstance, would be the good guys.

It’s some incredible writing.

The Politics of Star Wars

We’re all the same. Everybody’s got their lines they don’t cross until things get messy. As far as I’m concerned, if you can make it through your day and still sleep at night, you’re doing far better than most.

Migs Mayfeld

The thrills this week, however, came less from the shootouts than it did from the conversations that took place in between.

Things were always incredibly black and white in the Star Wars movies. While there was always the possibility of redemption from evil, the overarching theme of the franchise was always light versus dark, right versus wrong, good versus bad. The Empire is bad. The Rebels are good. And the same goes for The First Order and The Resistance.

The Mandalorian stands apart by blurring those lines. Our “heroes” here, while driven by their own moral compass, aren’t saints. And they aren’t trying to be either. These are complex individuals, often with less than noble backstories, who are now forced to confront both their worldview and the sins of their past.

We see it when Mando breaks the cardinal rule of his religion and takes off his mask so the Imperial communications terminal can scan his face. We see it when Migs, reminded of the Imperial atrocities of the past, impulsively shoots his former commander, Valin Hess, and blows up the refinery.

Both men do what they need to. In order to survive. In order to further their own personal agenda. In order to stay true to their own principles. For Migs, it’s being able to sleep at night. For Mando, it’s doing whatever it takes to save Grogu.

Even Cara Dune, newly appointed Marshal of the New Republic, put aside her beliefs to spring Migs from his confinement on the Karthon Chop Fields so she could help Mando.

And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programme…

This week’s episode ends with a callback to the first season, with Mando leaving a message for Gideon, and making the very same speech that Gideon did in “Chapter 7: The Reckoning.” But where Gideon came off as menacing, Mando sounds like a man on a mission.

He means more to me than you will ever know.

The Mandalorian

Gideon was practically twirling his moustache when he said this line back in Season 1. The tone and timbre of Mando’s delivery, however, was dripping with love and loyalty for his now adopted son.

I have no idea how they’re going to play next week’s finale. It could be an all out, epic battle royal in which Mando and his newfound posse take on Gideon and the Empire. Or it could be something a lot more character driven and intimate. Knowing The Mandalorian, it’s likely going to be a deftly balanced piece that somehow manages to blend plot, and action, and character. It is, after all, what they’ve managed to pull off all season.

But whatever it ends up being, I’m ready for it.

Calamari Flans

• This is only the second time in the series where we get to see Pedro Pascal’s perfect face.
• It was great having Bill Burr back as Migs Mayfeld. He plays an incredibly watchable asshole.
• Boba Fett’s been to the dry cleaners since we last saw him. His armour’s all clean and shiny. He’s looking slick.
• Given that they make a point to tell us early on that the Morak Imperial base is protected by various devices which identify and weed out wanted fugitives, what does it mean when the communications terminal scans his face and approves his request? Does he have a past with the Empire that we’re unawares of?

Someone must have told them about my little manoeuvre at the Battle of Taanab.

Lando Calrissian to Han Solo

• When Migs tells Valin Hess that his “commanding officer” suffered hearing lost while in a battle at Taanab, he might be referring to the same one that Lando was talking about in Return of the Jedi. Which is an unnecessarily deep cut.
• Operation: Cinder and the Attack on Burnin Konn, which triggers Migs’ bout of conscience, is a reference to a massive skirmish that took place soon after The Battle of Endor. It was first mentioned in the Marvel comic series Star Wars: Shattered Empire.
• “Let’s go fill out those TPS reports, so we can recharge the power coils.” Just don’t forget the new cover sheets Migs! It seems that the people who make this series are also big fans of the movie Office Space.

The Mandalorian, Season 2, is now streaming on Disney+.