The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 7: “The Believer” Review
“The Believer” is the penultimate episode of Season 2. It put the pieces into place as Mando prepares to save Grogu from the clutches of Moff Gideon. But the first step in that mission was finding out where Gideon’s Light Cruiser waits for him.
Din Djarin’s team already consists of Fennec Shand, Cara Dune and Boba Fett. Fortunately for Djarin, Fett has Slave 1 so he can still get around the galaxy. Since the Razor Crest was basically disintegrated in the last episode, Mando has found himself without a ship.
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Even with the crew he already has together, Djarin is going to need more help. This could lead to the return of Bo-Katan Kryze and the Nite Owls, or possibly Ahsoka Tano. Whoever Grogu contacted on Typhon might even make an appearance to help out. Fans will have to wait until the season finale to find out.
Mayfield faces the believer (Spoilers)
At the end of the last episode, Mando went to Cara Dune for help. Specifically, he needed her assistance as a member of the New Republic to spring Mayfield from prison. He hasn’t been seen since Season 1 when he failed to screw Mando over during a prison break.
As a former Imperial, Mayfield knew the codes and protocols required to get Gideon’s location. They headed to an Imperial rhydonium refinery on Morak. There, Mayfield could access the Imperial database and get the info Mando and his crew needed.
Cara Dune was naturally quite suspicious of Mayfield. The former Rebel Drop Trooper and the former Imperial Sniper had some expected issues between them. But by the end of the episode, it became quite clear that Mayfield might hate the Empire more than anyone.
In the refinery, Mayfield ran into one of his old commanding officers. It became quite apparent that the CO was a true believer in the Empire. This led to a strange conversation where Mayfield talked about a battle the believer was in charge of.
A lot of Imperial soldiers and civilians lost their lives unnecessarily that day. Mayfield’s rage boiled over and he shot the CO dead in the officer’s mess. It certainly complicated their escape. Taking things a step further, Mayfield even blew the refinery up.
Mayfield’s time as an Imperial left a lot of scars on him. He might not be ready to full-on fight the remnants of the Empire, but it looks he might be heading in that direction. There might even be a place for the character in the recently announced series, Rangers of the New Republic.
The Beskar doesn’t make the Mandalorian (Spoilers)
“The Believer” saw a couple of big moments for Djarin. First, he took off his armor and put on an Imperial uniform. His face was still covered by a helmet, of course. Mayfield and Mando piloted a transport filled with highly explosive rhydonium.
Unsurprisingly, the transport was attacked by apparent pirates. The odd thing was they weren’t trying to steal the shipment. They were trying to blow it up. It’s unclear who these pirates were or what they wanted in this situation but they certainly had a lot of thermal detonators.
Djarin fought them on the roof of the moving transport. He really missed his Beskar armor. That cheap Imperial crap wasn’t useful in a fight. Still, he laid an epic beating on them until too many pirates showed up. The Empire actually saved Djarin and Mayfield. Mando probably never thought he’d be happy to see Stormtroopers.
But the crazy scene was when Mando had to remove his helmet. A face scan was required to access the information. That meant all the Imperials in the room and Mayfield saw Mando’s face. They almost immediately killed everyone so it wasn’t a big deal for long.
After learning earlier in the season that all Mandalorians don’t observe the helmet rule, this could be the start of big changes for Djarin. It also showed how far Mando is willing to go to get Grogu back. He broke one of the most basic tenets of his religion.
Calling his shot (Spoilers)
This was the first episode of The Mandalorian that didn’t feature Grogu in any capacity. It was honestly kind of weird not to see the little guy. But it did feature Mando delivering a stark warning to The Child’s captor, Moff Gideon. “The Believer” showed how intent Djarin is to get him back.
In the closing moments of the episode, Djarin sent Gideon a message. It wasn’t a threat, though. Mando wanted Gideon to know how much Grogu means to him and that he plans on retrieving him, no matter what. This moment set the stage for the season finale battle against Gideon.
Letting Gideon know they’re coming might not have been the smartest move. But putting him on notice also may have put him of balance. Gideon has an army at his back but there’s no way he’s ready for the angry Mandalorian coming for him.
