Rewatching Season 1 Chapter 6: The Prisoner of #TheMandalorian , the last ep @RickFamuyiwa directed before the latest & where we first meet Mayfeld.

The themes/journeys in these two eps are very similar & The Believer is a continuation of The Prisoner.

LOOK AT THE PARALLELS! 1/

I MEAN??? IT'S LIKE POETRY, IT RHYMES! 2/

In The Prisoner Mando has to face the sins of his past/shadow self, all the dodgy shit he used to do & the shady characters he did it with. Xi'an goads him about this whilst balancing a knife on her finger – Din's morality balances on a knife's edge, as we see in The Believer. 3/

Xi'an says "I know who you really are" but that's not true – she's referring to a past version of Din. At this moment in s1, his identity is in flux due to Grogu entering his life, and in The Believer, he's had his past identity stripped away & has to decide who he is now. 4/

In The Believer, it's Mayfeld's turn to face the sins of his (Imperial) past/shadow self. Mayfeld goes from being an asshole about Din's helmet & threatening Grogu in The Prisoner, to empathising with & respecting Din's helmet angst, and helping Din's efforts to save Grogu. 5/

Din is adamant about not killing the Republic officer in The Prisoner; he's determined to hold onto his moral integrity whilst surrounded by immorality, to prove (to himself most of all) that he's changed & to attempt to atone for his past. But in The Believer he kills... 6/

... all those guerrillas/rebels. @RickFamuyiwa forces Din to go against his morals & kill people he'd normally help because they threaten his goal of saving Grogu, illustrating Mayfeld's point about how we often bend/break our own rules for what we believe to be a just cause. 7/

Even when we are on a path towards the light, our shadow is always just behind. We are only ever one misstep away from the darkness. Redemption, atonement & choosing the light is a daily practice, not a one-and-done deal. Which is the entire Campbellian message of Star Wars. 8/

I love how Mando is in hell (red light, devil) hunting down the shadow aspects of his (masc/dark) psyche, and at the same time Grogu (feminine/light) is being hunted by Zero in the Razor Crest (womb). 9/

The fight with Burg is full of hell-like imagery. Burg looks like a devil, red lighting, smoke, sparks, and fire, which has no effect on him (the devil likes it hot). Din is looking down on him from above but Burg drags him down to hell with him – ie. we're not so different. 10/

Din sneaking up on Mayfeld from behind in the strobe lighting is just hands down one of the coolest little sequences in the entire franchise.

@RickFamuyiwa's MIND! 11/

The final parallel between The Prisoner & The Believer:

Din brings the Republic X-Wings down on Ran & Qin on their base, just as Mayfeld destroys the refinery on Morak.

Both Din & Mayfeld choose retribution. They're on the path but still haven't found the Middle Way. 12/12