Dec 13, 2020
Mandalorian Ep. 7 was the Best Episode this Season (Spoilers)
I know that saying that the most recent episode of the Mandalorian is a bold statement, after a season that has given us some amazing episodes.
looking back at previous episodes this season has been absolutely fantastic. I am a big fan of the the animated Star Wars series Rebels, so I was very happy to see the introduction of Ashoka to the show.
We have also seen the introduction of Bo-Katan another Rebels character. This is still not mentioning Boba Fett’s return and so many other amazing characters and plot points that we have seen this season.
So, after such an amazing season with so many great characters, why is that I believe that episode 7 of Mandalorian was so important. Let me explain.
Episode 7, The Believer, was a slower episode that was meant to show us the perspective of the other side. It gave us a look at storm troopers struggles. The show even early on in the episode uses Bill Burr’s Mayfield as a device to carry the message that wherever you grow up is the message that you believe.
This message is carried out through the episode. We see that Cara Dune does not want to work with Mayfield, we see that the pirates want to destroy the empire for militarizing their planet and that the message can even change as we see Mayfield’s character get revenge against the empire.
Speaking of Mayfield, I am also really impressed with the way that they used his character in this episode. While I like the episode where they sneak on the ship from the previous season, and then the Mandalorian takes them all out one by one. I did not feel that Mayfield was all that interesting of a character, I didn’t really think anyone in that episode was all that interesting. It was a pleasant surprise to see them bring this character back and actually make him interesting.
Yet, even with all these great moments I have not touched on why I think that episode 7 is the best episode of the season. It all lies in the structure of this episode. The episode starts out with them picking up Mayfield. He is freaked out when he sees Boba Fett, then realizes that it is not Mando, but then gets freaked again when he does see Mando.
The episode then tasks the group with breaking into a base controlled by the empire. There is great action in this episode and they kill a lot of Storm troopers and blow up their base. I personally loved this as it reminds me a lot of Rebels. Rebels was always about them going into bases filled with storm troopers and sabotaging the bases.
Finally, we have the moment that Mando has to take off his helmet in order to have the empire’s system scan his face. This moment is super important, as earlier in the episode Mayfield talks about how everyone has their line, but sometimes it has to be moved. This is an example of Mando doing something he truly does not believe he should do, in order to save Grogu. It then leads to another great moment where Mayfield hands a trooper helmet back to him and tells him you did what you had to, I never saw your face.
This episode was so important, developmentally for so many characters. It changed Mayfield’s outlook on the empire, it changed Mando’s outlook on what lines he’s willing to cross and it changed Cara Dune’s out look on Mayfield who she just saw as a member of the empire. It makes me so excited for what episode 8 will bring, what did you think of episode 7? Let me know in the comments.
