"This is the Way."
Written by Jon Favreau
Directed by Deborah Chow
Release date: November 22, 2019
"To the winner...go the spoils."
— The Client
The battered Mandalorian returns to his client for reward.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Pershing begs the Mandalorian not to hurt him or the kid, which is probably why he gets to live.
- All There in the Script: The bulky Mandalorian is named the Heavy Infantry by the subtitles and is credited as Paz Vizla.
- Arc Words: "This is the Way." The Mandalorian acknowledgment of their Path. The Armorer uses it to defuse Paz and Mando's scuffle, and Mando and Paz repeat to one another when Paz and the others show up to help him, implying that no matter the trouble it brings the Tribe, they are nonetheless committed to aiding him.
- Ascended Meme: The camtono is based on the ice cream maker that
Willrow Hood carried when he evacuated Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. Its name seems to come from the viral video
where a father tries to get his baby daughter to say "ice cream" but she keeps saying "camtono". - Bling-Bling-BANG!: This time a cuirass is forged for the Mandalorian from the beskar steel. However, the Armorer warns him that this will attract attention and envy. Cue "Awkward Silence" Entrance when the Mandalorian enters the Bad Guy Bar in his shiny new armor.
- Bookends: In the opening scene, the child steals the knob off one of the ship's controls and the Mando takes it back with a terse "That's not a toy." At the end of the episode, the child reaches for the knob again, but this time the Mando unscrews it and hands it over.
- Bottomless Magazines:
- Averted with the Mandalorian's flamethrower. Sustained use causes him to empty the fuel tank right in the middle of the battle with the bounty hunters, causing them to redouble their efforts now that they know he's down a weapon.
- The whistling birds can be used to kill a group of enemies simultaneously, but It Only Works Once.
- BFG: They don't call him Heavy Infantry for nothing.
- Brick Joke:
- The Kowakian monkey lizard grill stand from the first episode can be seen again as the Mandalorian walks through the marketplace to the Imperial hideout.
- In the first episode, the Mandalorian refused to ride on a droid-driven speeder. In the climax, he has to trust one that can get him and the Asset out of the shootout, but it doesn't get too far before Karga shoots it dead.
- Carnival of Killers: Turns out Greef Karga handed fobs to all his bounty hunters. The Mandalorian walking into the Bad Guy Bar with his brand new beskar armor arouses their jealousy, and they go en masse to confront him when a second contract is put out to recover the Asset he stole.
- The Cavalry: Just as the Mandalorian and the baby are cornered by the Guild, the Mandalorian covert shows up to fight them off
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The Asset playing with the takeoff lever's knob at the beginning causes the Mandalorian to have a change of conscience as he's about to leave the planet.
- The Armorer forges whistling birds out of the excess beskar for the Mandalorian and tells him to use them carefully as they're rare. The Mandalorian later uses these when he gets cornered by Stormtroopers while breaking the Asset out.
- There are many references in the first three episodes to the Mandalorian being a foundling and just how important the foundlings are to the new Mandalorian way of life. This culminates in the main character going back to rescue the baby and the other Mandalorian warriors gladly joining the fight to protect an orphan.
- Greef Karga brags to the Mandalorian about being paid with a couple of beskar ingots, one of which ends up saving his life.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: Feeling guilt over what the Imperials may do to the Asset, the Mandalorian decides to go back and rescue it.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Averted — No matter how badass you are, if a few dozen trained bounty hunters come at you at the same time, you are going to be overwhelmed by simple numbers. The Mandalorian finds this out in the climax of this episode.
- Contract on the Hitman: When the Mandalorian takes back the child from the Imperials, all the tracking fobs previously given out once again light up, which all of the other bounty hunters in town immediately try to collect.
- Cryptic Background Reference: At some point, the Empire carried out the Great Purge on the Mandalorians, forcing them into hiding. This also allowed the Empire to steal loads of beskar from the Mandalorians.
- Dark and Troubled Past: We're given more context to the Mandalorian's flashbacks. As a child, the Mandalorian's village was attacked by the Separatists during the Clone Wars and his parents died while trying to hide him. He was then found by a super battle droid... but the flashback ends before we can see what happened next.
- Double-Meaning Title: "The Sin" can refer to the Mandalorian turning in the Asset to the Empire, the Mandalorian working with the same Empire that oppressed his people and are now wanted war criminals, or the Mandalorian becoming wanted by the Guild for rescuing the Asset.
- Double Tap: When fighting the Stormtroopers, the Mandalorian knocks them down, then shoots them in the chest to make sure they stay down.
- Expressive Ears: The Asset's ears droop when he realizes the Mandalorian has just handed him over to Imperial stormtroopers.
- Forging Scene: With the same flashback by the Mandalorian.
- G-Rated Drug: Subverted. Greef Karga suggests that the Mandalorian buy some "spice" which, in Star Wars canon, refers to any of a number of illicit drugs distributed throughout the galaxy. He implies that this will help the Mando forget all about his guilt. However, it's not like any kids watching would understand the implications of what he's saying.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Not that they were good people to begin with, but the other members of the Bounty Hunters Guild hate the Mandalorian for being the one to successfully collect the huge bounty for the Asset. When he walks into their hangout wearing his shiny new armor forged from the bounty, they all turn and give him venomous Death Glares. Greef laughs to the Mandalorian how they all hate him with a passion for doing what they failed to do. It also gives them all the more motivation to go after the Mandalorian when he steals back the child and a new target is pinned on him.
- Gun Accessories: The Stormtroopers turn on lights attached to their blasters while searching a dark room.
- Gut Punch: As Pershing whisks the Asset away into another room, the baby looks at the Mandalorian one last time and lets out a whimper. The sight of this clearly troubles our hero.
- High Priest: The Armorer shows off shades of this when she diffuses a scuffle between the Mandalorian and Paz Vizsla in-regards to The Mandalorian accepting a Beskar payment by Imperial Remnants with the two holding each-other at Vibroblade point.Armorer: The Empire is no longer, and the Beskar has returned. When one chooses to walk The Way of The Mandalore; you are both Hunter and Prey. How can one be a coward if one chooses this way of life? Have you ever removed your helmet?
The Mandalorian: No.
Armorer: Has it ever been removed by others?
The Mandalorian: Never.
Armorer: This is The Way.
Mandalorians: This is The Way.
Paz: [lowers his vibroknife] This is The Way. - I Surrender, Suckers:
- When surrounded by four Stormtroopers, the Mandalorian sets down the infant and his blaster. While he's doing his, he arms the whistling birds in his gauntlet and kills all four without getting up.
- The Mandalorian moves to put the child in the speeder, then jumps in himself and forces the droid piloting it to drive off at gunpoint.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Some things never change.
- Infrared Xray Camera: The Mandalorian has one in the scope of his rifle, which he uses to find Pershing and the Client in the Imperial hideout. He also has a directional mic that can pick up their voices through the walls, albeit with limits.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: When he hands the child over, Dr. Pershing refers to him as a "specimen", which clearly bothers the Mandalorian. On the other hand, Pershing refers to the child as "him" several times even when the Mandalorian says "it", showing that Pershing at least bothered to learn the infant's gender. It's also subverted because Pershing does genuinely care about keeping the Asset alive in spite of whatever larger purpose his employers want it for, as he has to argue against the Client wanting to take what they need regardless of the harm it would cause and is genuinely concerned that the Mandalorian means the child harm when he shows up.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The big Mando (credited as Paz Vizla) who picks a fight with the Mandalorian for accepting stolen beskar as payment from the Imperials shows up front and center when the rest of the clan pulls their The Cavalry moment. He even flies after the departing Razor Crest and gives the Mandalorian a salute before flying off.
- Knife Fight: Mando and Paz Vizla have a brief one over him accepting beskar as payment from their former oppressors, before the Armorer defuses the situation.
- Medal of Dishonor: The Armorer offers to put a Mudhorn symbol on the Mandalorian's new armor, but he refuses since he does not consider what he did worthy of being honored. His excuse is that "it wasn't a noble kill," as he was aided by "an enemy who did not know he was my enemy."
- Mid-Season Upgrade: After turning in the bounty on The Child, the Mandalorian is paid with a Camtono filled with Beskar; which is then given to The Armorer who reforges most of it into a full set of pure Beskar armor that he wears from that point onwards.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Thinking the Mandalorian is there as per a contract, Pershing begs him not to kill the Asset as he's only a child. He also claims to have convinced his superior not to kill the Asset in order to study it.
- Mythology Gag: The bounty hunter who Greef Karga refuses to pay says "Echuta", the word that caused C-3PO to say "How rude!"
- No Questions Asked: The Bounty Hunters Guild Code states that a hunter must capture their target, turn them in, then take payment and leave, and that's the end of it. No questions, no second thoughts, as both the Client and Greef Karga are quick to remind the Mandalorian when he starts asking about the fate of the child.
- No, You: Mando gets one of these from the stormtrooper who roughly grabs the Child's pram.Mando: Take it easy with that.
Trooper: You take it easy. - Not-So-Harmless Villain: Separatist battle droids have traditionally served as mostly comic relief in the Prequel Trilogy, having been effortlessly cut down by trained Jedi and experienced clone troopers. The Elite Mook B2 super battle droid, featured in the flashback, was more dangerous but certainly nothing a Jedi couldn't handle. The Separatist attack in the Mandalorian's flashbacks shows off just how fearsome they are from the perspective of unarmed civilians.
- One-Man Army: Deconstructed. The Mandalorian single-handedly mows through the stormtroopers in the remnant base, but he fights them one-on-one or in small groups and frequently takes advantage of the element of surprise or the cover offered by the narrow hallways. When he's caught out in the open and surrounded by the entire Guild, it's clear he's fighting a losing battle and they'll eventually overwhelm with superior numbers. He only manages to escape because the rest of the Mandalorian covert comes to his aid.
- Papa Wolf:
- When the Mandalorian returns to the Client's hideout and discovers the baby's bassinet in a dumpster, he immediately mounts a raid on the Imperial hideout to rescue him, mercilessly slaughtering the Stormtroopers as he makes his way through the hideout.
- Once he finds him, he is in complete shock to see the baby on a dissection table and an interrogation droid above him, looking as though to harm him. The only reason Pershing didn't get blasted like the droid is because he confesses to protecting the baby. At least for as long as he could.
- Later on, when he is confronted by The Guild, the Mandalorian is ready to give up his life just so he can protect the Child by standing his ground against them.
- Pocket Protector: Karga survives a blaster shot from the Mandalorian when it hits right on Greef's left chest... where his beskar ingots (his cut of the pay) had been stashed. Considering that the Mandalorian was earlier shown being good about remembering to Double Tap downed enemies, this might have been deliberate.
- Police Are Useless: Karga suggests the Mandalorian report the Imperials to the New Republic, but the Mandalorian scoffs at the idea as useless.
- Roboteching: The "whistling birds" are small antipersonnel missiles loaded into the Mandalorian's right vambrace. They're easily able to curve and hit enemies behind him.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Mandalorian decides to go against The Bounty Hunter's Guild Code to rescue the Child even though it will cause him to be targeted by the other bounty hunters and essentially force him to go underground.
- Shout-Out: The shot of Heavy Infantry flying aside Mando's ship with his Jet Pack and doing a salute is referring a scene from The Rocketeer.
- Smoke Out: When Karga has him at gunpoint, the Mandalorian fires a shot into his carbon-freezer causing the ship to fill with tibanna gas.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Mandalorian manages to disappear with the Asset while Pershing is cowering and begging for his life.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The look on Greef Karga's face when the Mandalorian's bounty pops up.
- We Need a Distraction: The Mandalorian triggers the scanner eye at the Imperial hideout and then rips its eye off. While the Stormtroopers investigate, he moves to an adjacent wall and blasts it open.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Paz Vizla gives one to the Mandalorian for working with the same Empire that subjugated their people. After a brief scuffle, the Armorer defuses the situation by reminding both sides of how they live.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: The other members of the Tribe arrive in their The Cavalry moment by Jet Pack, and Paz Vizla briefly flies after the Razor Crest to salute him. It's not explained why the Mandalorian doesn't have one of his own, but he wants one.The Mandalorian: [after Paz Vizla flies off] I gotta get one of those.
