These are all the Star Wars Easter eggs from a strangely Baby Yoda-free edition of The Mandalorian. Following on from last week's tragic capture of Baby Yoda by Moff Gideon's Dark Troopers, Din Djarin has assembled a motley crew of Cara Dune, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand to carry out a daring rescue mission, but the band needs one more member. Encouraging Dune to pull some strings with the New Republic, Djarin busts Bill Burr's Migs Mayfeld out of prison, hoping to use his Imperial past to score the coordinates to Moff Gideon's ship.
"The Believer" is mostly a heist episode, with Djarin and Mayfeld running point and infiltrating the Imperial base. Naturally, the mission goes sideways, and the unlikely duo must blast their way out with assistance from their friends on the outside. Mando unearths Gideon's location, sets Mayfeld free, and sends a chilling warning to his arch nemesis that echoes Gideon's own words from The Mandalorian season 1, setting up an almighty showdown next week.
As Mando and Mayfeld stroll through their covert mission/buddy cop caper, The Mandalorian drops some of the best Star Wars Easter eggs season 2 has to offer, with in-jokes, original trilogy callbacks and nods to little-known events from the Empire's history books.
"The Believer" begins in the Karthon Chop Fields - a prison labor camp where felons dismantle junk for the New Republic. Among the wreckage, some recognizable TIE fighter parts can be spotted, including those distinct hexagonal wings and the glass cockpit screens. It makes sense that the New Republic would be getting their prisoners to strip down disused enemy ships, especially with the Imperial remnants still wreaking havoc. Later in the episode, some fully-functional TIE fighters appear, blasting a band of pirates before turning their attention to Slave I. The mass of junk on Karthon also includes what appears to be a podracer engine.
As Migs Mayfeld is being escorted from his hard labor sentence to the relative luxury of Slave I (ironically), The Mandalorian offers a glimpse at his fellow felons. One of these appears to be a Hassk - a wolf-like species who feature most prominently in Star Wars Resistance. A Hassk was also seen among last week's flurry of mugshots, as Cara Dune rifled through her prisoner files. If these Hassk are one and the same, the Karthon Chop Fields would be located on Selnesh, as this is where the Hassk from the mugshot (Sart Juloss) was imprisoned. The Mandalorian season 2's scrapyard scene also brings back the prison guard droids from last season.
Arriving on the planet Morak, Din Djarin's crew soon discover the Empire are processing Rhydonium, a highly volatile substance that makes for some impressive explosions during transport. This certainly isn't the first occasion Rhydonium has featured in Star Wars canon. The highly-coveted resource debuted in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has since appeared in Star Wars Rebels and The Force Awakens. Rhydonium has a wide array of uses, from simple demolition jobs to fueling star ships, and has been mined by the Empire, the Confederacy, and even Jabba the Hutt.
When Din Djarin and his companions are plotting their raid on Morak's Imperial facility, they soon realize sneaking in will be harder than first thought, as Mayfeld reveals the "ISB" could potentially recognize them. This acronym stands for Imperial Security Bureau - essentially the Gestapo of the Empire. During the Imperial reign, the ISB would ensure any subversion was quashed quickly and quietly, both among citizens and within the Empire's ranks. As a shady intelligence division, the ISB were widely feared, and have made their presence felt across a wide variety of Star Wars stories since debuting on the Death Star in A New Hope.
A version of Boba Fett first appeared in the oft-mocked Star Wars Holiday Special, but the bounty hunter's proper debut came in The Empire Strikes Back, where he was hired by Darth Vader to seek out the Millennium Falcon, before dragging a frozen Han Solo back to Tatooine to become an ornament in Jabba's palace. The Mandalorian season 2 has finally brought Boba Fett back from the dead, but his reappearance in "The Tragedy" was more fixated on the here and now than Star Wars history. In "The Believer," however, Boba finally alludes to his movie origins. When Din Djarin asks whether Boba could sneak into the base undetected by the ISB, he replies with "they might recognize my face," most likely with a wry smile underneath his helmet.
As Mando struggles to find an ally inconspicuous enough to accompany Mayfeld inside the Imperial base, the convict warns how being detected would mean Din Djarin saying goodbye to his "little green friend" forever. This line is borrowed straight from Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith. During the Emperor's showdown with Yoda, he belittles the Jedi as "my little green friend," prompting Yoda to get back up and continue the battle. On one hand, the recurring line may be nothing more than a nod to this famous Palpatine prequel scene, but there's also a clear parallel drawn between Yoda and Grogu in this scene. These similarities have become far more common since Ahsoka Tano revealed the young puppet's true name.
It's a Star Wars classic that (almost) never fails. In the original 1977 Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo don Stormtrooper outfits to infiltrate the Death Star and rescue Princess Leia. Clearly, the Imperials didn't learn their lesson, because Din Djarin and Migs Mayfeld pull exactly the same stunt in "The Believer." Though Cara Dune does the beating-up, Migs and Mando borrow two Stormtrooper suits and use the disguises to bluff their way into the base. Had the duo not acted so suspiciously in front of Valin Hess, they might've been able to walk away without triggering the alarm. But where's the fun in that?
As Din Djarin and Mayfeld ride their stolen Juggernaut to the door of Morak's Imperial base, they're beset by angry local pirates looking to ignite the Rhydonium supply being transported. While simple pirates wouldn't usually cause trouble for Mando, they come armed with a generous array of thermal detonators. These classic Star Wars weapons date back to the original Star Wars trilogy, most famously when a disguised Princess Leia threatened to detonate one in Jabba the Hutt's palace in Return of the Jedi.
Among the various Stormtrooper types at the facility on Morak is the rarely-spotted Shoretrooper. This variety of Stormtrooper is most famous for appearing in Rogue One, fighting on and patrolling the beaches of Scarif. The Morak scenes mostly take place in grassy forest areas and rural villages, but the base's placement on a dam perhaps necessitates the need for Shoretroopers. That the Empire would design a Stormtrooper specifically suited to the beach is certainly strange, but perhaps their specialized armor protects against sand which, as everyone knows, is coarse, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere.
"The Believer" has some fun by turning a classic Star Wars trope on its head. When the undercover Din Djarin and Mayfeld arrive at their Imperial destination, fresh from skillfully evading pirate pursuers, they're greeted like heroes. Stormtroopers cheer as the pair disembark, colleagues offer high-fives, and the atmosphere is jubilant. In fact, the scene is incredibly reminiscent of A New Hope's closing moments, where the surviving X-Wing pilots return to Rebel HQ after taking down the Death Star. Watching the Empire celebrate for once is a neat twist to remind The Mandalorian's viewers that Stormtroopers are people too.
After a helmet-free Din Djarin arouses the suspicion of Hess in the Imperial base's mess hall, the senior officer demands to know the stranger's TK number. Lost for words, Mando is saved when Mayfeld swings by and concocts some story about being hard of hearing. The concept of Stormtroopers being assigned a "TK number" has existed in Star Wars lore for some time. Imperial troopers are designated a code consisting of two letters and a series of numbers, and the TK series dates back to A New Hope - the Stormtrooper who famously "left his post." There's no firm answer on what "TK" might stand for, but it's clear the two letters denotes a generic rank and file Stormtrooper.
Mayfeld drops a deep cut Easter egg with a shout-out to Taanab. Covering for Djarin (who probably would've been less conspicuous in his full beskar), the convict tells Hess that his friend's hearing was damaged at Taanab, a planet that boasts a rich history in both the official and Legends realms of Star Wars canon. Taanab is most famous for being the location where Lando Calrissian scored an impressive victory over a pirate fleet prior to Return of the Jedi, earning a promotion within the Rebel Alliance. Taanab played host to much Imperial activity, so it's plausible that an officer could've damaged their hearing in the line of duty there.
Desperately trying to escape talking to Hess, Mayfeld invents an excuse to leave, citing TPS reports and recharging power coils. The TPS reference hails from classic 1999 comedy Office Space, where Peter is chastised about his "TPS reports" by overbearing jobsworth boss, Bill Lumbergh. The TPS report scene has since become a staple internet meme, and The Mandalorian season 2 pays homage by likening the Empire to a real-world office environment full of unnecessary admin and awkward line managers.
Stationed outside of the Morak base are officers in all-black uniforms and distinctive elongated helmets. While the headgear might suggest these are members of the Empire's cycling division, the goons are actually Imperial Weapons Technicians, and are first seen manning the Death Star's laser in A New Hope. Whenever there's a big gun to be fired, it's these officers typically assigned to the task, rather than the standard Stormtrooper. Even in a post-Return of the Jedi landscape, the Imperial Weapons Technician job is still active.
Despite their best efforts, Mayfeld and Mando are forced to sit down for a drink with Hess. While Din Djarin continues to look lost without his helmet, Mayfeld becomes increasingly irritated by Hess' presence, and it soon emerges that Operation Cinder is the reason why. A contingency in case Palpatine was ever defeated, Operation Cinder was activated when the Empire fell at the Battle of Endor, and Palpatine himself was presumed killed by Darth Vader. On the Emperor's instruction, the remaining Imperials began destroying worlds - dismantling the planets of the Empire so that the First Order could rise anew in the unknown regions. Mayfeld was apparently present on Burnin Konn when Hess instigated his part of Operation Cinder, and countless officers were culled.
As a result of the trauma outlined above, Mayfeld has some unfinished business with the Empire, but he manages to deliver a parting shot while being whisked away in Slave I. A marksman as well as a rogue, Mayfeld nabs Boba Fett's cycler rifle and detonates the entire facility by hitting a weak point and triggering a chain reaction (that sounds familiar...). Cycler rifles are typically weapons of the Tusken Raiders. During his time on Tatooine, Boba Fett learned to wield the gaffi stick seen in last week's episode, and has apparently also taken custody of a cycler rifle.
As Slave I flies away from the flaming Imperial base, a pair of TIE fighters emerge and give chase. Rather than engage directly, Boba Fett flies his ship into the upper atmosphere and drops an explosive that decimates both enemy ships as if they were made of Stormtrooper armor. This tactic is ripped straight from the playbook of Boba's father, Jango Fett, who uses these seismic charges on Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack of the Clones while a young Boba looks on from the passenger seat. This isn't the first time The Mandalorian has shown Boba being directly inspired by Jango - he echoed his father's words when meeting Din Djarin for the first time in last week's adventure on Tython.
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