The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: ‘The Believer’

With last week ending on the shocking cliffhanger that the Empire had successfully retrieved The Child from the titular bounty hunter, Disney+’s The Mandalorian Season 2 has returned for an all-new episode seeing Mando reconnecting with old friends and enemies to help rescue the young Jedi.

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I Thought You Were This Other Guy

Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) is currently working in a prison scrapyard following Mando’s ploy in season one leaving him locked up on the New Republic prison transport alongside the rest of his crew, Burg, Zero and Xi’an. He is visited at the prison by Marshal Cara Dune, who remands him into her custody with the offer a job, though he expresses concern over what the job is. They head back to the nearby parked Slave I, where Migs meets Boba Fett and Fennec Shand and initially shows concern over the former, joking he thought he was “this other guy,” only to be shocked when Mando walks down the ramp.

That Was a Long Time Ago

With Mayfeld’s past as an Imperial, the group bring him along for his knowledge of protocols and clearances to help them discover and infiltrate Moff Gideon’s cruiser, and though initially unwilling to help without some form of compensation, he agrees to help after learning it’s to save Grogu and in exchange for a better prison sentence. However, in order to track down Gideon’s ship, he needs access to an internal Imperial terminal, the only one of which he knows is on a planet named Morak, where there is a secret Imperial mining hub in which they are refining an explosive substance known as rhydonium.

We Need to Go In Quiet

The plan is to go in quiet, with Mayfeld and Dune replacing Imperial drivers to sneak in and then plan to get to the roof, where they will be extracted by Boba Fett, though Mayfeld notes that the security system was put in place by the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) and scans any genetic lifeform that enters, thereby making it impossible for Fennec, Dune or Fett to go in, leaving Mando to be the one to go in with him and exchanging helmets and armor with the drivers inside so as to not show his face in line with the Mandalore creed, leaving his armor with Dune. Mando and Mayfeld successfully pass through the tunnel and make their way through the refinery, passing a desolate village on the way and during which Mayfeld notes he and Mando are much alike, much to the latter’s distaste.

Proceed With Caution, Is She Serious?

During their conversation, a radio broadcast comes in from another transport calling out for help as they come under attack from something and Mando and Mayfeld watch as an explosion rocks the road ahead of them and listen as another comes under attack and subsequently explodes. As they pass by one of the destroyed transports, they are suddenly set upon by the attackers, a group of pirates, with Mando attempting to shoot them down before they can use thermal detonators to destroy their vehicle, successfully shooting one off and with him the detonator that destroys the pirates’ vessel. Before Mando can head back inside, however, another group of pirates shows up, requiring him to engage in melee combat as his blaster is out of juice and he successfully takes out the first wave while Mayfeld tries to keep the driving steady and the engine’s temperature down so as to not overheat the rhydonium, but Mando is overtaken by the second wave, who are initially able to plant the thermal detonator on the rhydonium, though Mando gains the upper hand once again and throws it back at the pirates, killing them. As they approach a bridge, Mayfeld shouts to Mando they’re going to have to stop as they can’t cross it at the fast speed they’re going at, but two more pirate vessels approach, with those on board all arming thermal detonators in a kamikaze-style effort, but as Mando tiredly stands up ready to try and fight them, they’re saved by Stormtroopers and a pair of TIE fighters, helping them successfully reach the refinery, where the various Stormtroopers celebrate their arrival.

All We Need To Do Now Is Find a Terminal

The duo make their way through the excited crowd toward’s the officer’s mess hall, where Mayfeld accesses the terminal while Mando awaits outside, though Mayfeld quickly backs down as an officer named Valin Hess (Richard Brake) sits inside. Mayfeld and Hess have a past as the former served under the latter as a field operative and is afraid he’ll recognize him, even after Mando’s pushing and reminding Mayfeld it’s for The Child, so Mando takes the data stick from him despite the terminal requiring a facial scan to work.

Do You Have The Phrase Hat On a Hat?

Hess watches as Mando attempts to access the system with his helmet still on, but after the console denies due to a bad facial scan, he surprisingly removes his helmet for a proper facial scan, which works and he’s able to retrieve the coordinates for Gideon’s ship. However, he’s also interrupted by Hess, who asks what Mando’s designation is, with the bounty hunter responding he’s part of transport crew, but after initially failing to come up with a TK number, Mayfeld steps in and says he’s serving under Mando, giving a fake number of TK-593. Before they can get away, Hess commends them for their ability to to deliver the rhydonium successfully and offers to get them a drink.

RELATED: The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: ‘The Jedi’

I Wonder What’s Taking Them So Long

While Mando and Mayfeld continue their disguise inside, Dune and Fennec look down upon the roof of the refinery from an elevated cliff and notice cannons and Stormtroopers up top that will need to be taken out before Boba can successfully extract the duo. Fennec elects to take out the cannons while Dune takes out the troopers with their snipers when the time comes. Looking to shake things up, Hess proposes they toast to something out of the norm and though initially asking where “Brown Eyes” Mando is from, Mayfeld interjects offering that they toast to Operation: Cinder (from Star Wars Battlefront II), revealing he took part in it on Burnin Konn, where Hess recalls he made very “unpleasant decisions” that day. Mayfeld notes that he lost his whole division in that town that day, rough 5-10,000 people, whom Hess calls “heroes of the Empire” and says they sacrificed for the greater good, further angering Mayfeld that points out their deaths weren’t good for anyone other than the Empire, including their families, friends, etc, to which Hess retorts that the rhydonium Mando and Mayfeld delivered will make Burnin Konn look like nothing as they use it on other planets across the galaxy in the Empire’s attempts to reclaim power.

I Never Saw Your Face

Mayfeld finally loses his cool and shoots Hess, resulting in Mando and Mayfeld having to shoot the others in the mess hall and Mayfeld giving Mando his trooper helmet before they leave, telling him he never saw his face before turning away while Mando puts the helmet on. The duo then shoot all advancing Stormtroopers and make their way along the South Wall ledge of the refinery with Fennec and Dune providing sniper cover until Boba flies in. The two narrowly reach the Slave I but before they leave Mayfeld uses one of the rifles on board to blow up the refinery, impressing everyone in the group. However, before they can head back to pick up Fennec and Dune, Boba must try and outrun two TIE fighters, utilizing the seismic charges to destroy them with ease.

It’s Too Bad Mayfeld Didn’t Make It Out Alive Back There

While Mayfeld says goodbye to Fennec and accepts Mando’s thanks for the help, wishing him luck in getting Grogu back, he’s ready to head back to the prison yard with Dune, though she and Mando agree to say he died during the explosion, allowing him to go free. Mayfeld watches from a nearby hill as the Slave I heads to find Gideon’s ship. Meanwhile, Gideon receives a transmission from Mando warning The Child will be back with him soon and that he means more to Mando than Gideon will ever know.