The Mandalorian Review: Chapter 15 “The Believer”

(L-R) The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). Photo Credit: Disney + and LucasFilm LTD.

By Michelle Gonzaba

At the end of last week’s episode, Mando is in desperate need of help. Luckily, he has made a few allies during his galactic travels. His number one ally, Cara Dune, doesn’t hesitate to assist. She uses her new Republic Marshal powers to get former Imperial sharpshooter Mayfeld out of galactic prison for a “special” mission. Before Mayfeld can ask any questions, he’s led to Boba Fett’s ship where Mando and his friends await his arrival. But why does Mando need him? Due to his Imperial past, Mayfeld can access Moff Gideon’s coordinates. Between the choice of prison and forced favors, Mayfeld chooses the latter.

Unfortunately, Mayfeld can’t find the coordinates using any old technology — he needs access to an internal Imperial terminal, which can only be found on Imperial bases. He knows of one on the planet Morak, so the crew jets off to their next fight.

To get to the terminal, they must break into the heavily fortified Imperial refinery. The plan? Two people will drive a juggernaut into the refinery, access the terminal, and wait on the roof to be extracted by Boba Fett. Since Dune and Fennec Shand’s faces are known by the Empire, Mando has no choice but to go with Mayfeld. They quickly take out two juggernaut drivers and slip into their Imperial armor to disguise themselves. Mayfeld tries to pick at Mando about taking off his Mandalorian armor, but Mando doesn’t take the bait. Before the awkward conversation can continue, the radio suddenly alerts them to dangers up ahead on the road. Two juggernauts have already exploded; the trucks are filled with a highly explosive material called rhydonium, which can explode by simply hitting a bump on the road. Mayfeld and Mando continue to push ahead but quickly find out what’s really causing trouble.

Alien pirates are taking out the juggernauts one by one. Mando fights off a group of them but more quickly show up. He doesn’t finish this fight as quickly as his others; remember, he isn’t wearing his indestructible Mandalorian armor. Fortunately, he is able to take down every pirate while Mayfeld successfully drives them to the refinery.

Mando and Mayfeld are treated like heroes once they deboard the juggernaut. They were the only truck that made it to the refinery! But after some fake salutes and waves, they head off to find a terminal. Luckily, there is one in the officer’s mess, but they instantly hit another roadblock. An Imperial officer named Valin Hess is near the terminal, which is bad news for Mayfeld. He used to serve under him, he says, and he might recognize him. Mando doesn’t have time for his problems, so he volunteers to access the terminal. But Mando has his own problem: the terminal must scan your face before it can be accessed. Although Mayfeld is overall not a super nice individual, he knows Mando won’t take his helmet off due to the Mandalorian code. But like any great Dad, Mando will do anything to get his kid back.

While looking incredibly suspicious, Mando walks to the terminal and takes his helmet off for the facial scan. And because he looks like the most guilty person in the galaxy, he draws the attention of one Valin Hess. Hess walks over to Mando and grills him on his name and ID. Luckily, Mayfeld saves the day by coming over and helping out with the questions. Hess, without recognizing Mayfeld, wants to get them drinks for their heroics in delivering the rhydonium. Unable to talk their way out of it, the duo sits down with the Imperial officer. While Mando stays silent, Hess and Mayfeld discuss an earlier mission where they both served. Although Hess is clearly proud of the work they did, Mayfeld is clearly guilty and angry about the deaths they caused. He allows his emotions to take over and shoots Hess dead. His action immediately starts a shoot-off between with the stormtroopers in the refinery. With the help of Shand and Dune’s sniper skills, they are able to reach the roof and jump on Fett’s ship. Before they escape, Mayfeld takes one last shot at the refinery and blows the place to pieces. He gives no explanation, but tells Mando, “We all need to sleep at night.”

Impressed and thankful for his help, Mando and Dune agree to let him go; they both agree that the prisoner “died” in the explosion on Morak. With their heads turned away, Mayfeld leaves them behind.

Before the episode ends, we see that Mando has sent a message to Moff Gideon. He makes his intentions clear: he’s coming for Grogu and nobody can stop him. Gideon, looking a little apprehensive, listens as Mando declares, “He means more to me than you will ever know.”

Highlights and Observations:

• Not even one glimpse of Grogu! They could have at least showed him at the end wearing his tiny handcuffs.
• I didn’t like Mayfeld very much when he first appeared last season, but his character growth was great this episode. He was still a jerk, but a jerk who wants to correct his past mistakes.