Migs Mayfeld

Migs Mayfeld is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise who appears in the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian. He is a former Imperial sharpshooter turned mercenary who leads a crew in an attempt to rescue a prisoner from a New Republic prison transport ship. His team includes the show's protagonist, "The Mandalorian", with whom he repeatedly clashes and ultimately betrays. The Mandalorian outsmarts him, resulting in Mayfeld's arrest and imprisonment, though he is later released so that he can aid the Mandalorian's efforts to rescue Grogu. As a result, the character evolves from a minor antagonist to an ally of the Mandalorian, with whom he eventually makes amends during their mission.

Mayfeld is portrayed by actor and comedian Bill Burr, who was not a fan of Star Wars and repeatedly publicly mocked the franchise and its fans before he accepted the role. The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau offered the part to Burr, believing his past criticism of the franchise would make his casting that much more amusing. Several reviewers have noted that Mayfeld's sardonic personality and hard-edged sense of humor are similar to Burr's real-life comedic style. Burr was extremely impressed with the filming of The Mandalorian, complimenting the technical aspects of filming as well as the writing style of the series.

The character of Mayfeld received a generally positive response from reviewers, with many complimenting Burr's performance and the humor the character brought to the series. Reviewers critical of Mayfeld felt the character was flat, underdeveloped, or too incompetent as a mercenary. Mayfeld received a more positive response for his appearance in second season episode "Chapter 15: The Believer", which explored his character in more depth. Burr received a significant amount of mock outrage from fans for a scene in "Chapter 6: The Prisoner", in which he dropped Grogu, the show's hugely popular breakout character.

Appearances

Backstory

Migs Mayfeld is a former sharpshooter from the Galactic Empire, which has fallen out of power by the time that The Mandalorian is set. He uses two blaster pistols, as well as a third blaster controlled by a droid arm attached to his backpack, which he can extract and retract as necessary for additional firepower. The character's first name was not revealed until second season of The Mandalorian.

Season 1

Mayfeld appears in the episode "Chapter 6: The Prisoner", in which he leads a crew of mercenaries in an attempt to rescue a prisoner from a New Republic prison transport ship. He is appointed by Ranzar "Ran" Malk, the leader of the mercenaries, as the point man for the mission, Ran asserts that Mayfeld has the same level of authority on the mission as Ran himself would. with a crew that includes the show's protagonist, a bounty hunter known as "The Mandalorian", as well as fellow mercenaries Burg, Q9-0, and Xi'an. Unbeknownst to the Mandalorian, however, the rescue target is a Twi'lek alien named Qin, with whom the Mandalorian previously had a falling out, and the mercenaries intend to betray the Mandalorian once Qin is rescued.

When the Mandalorian mockingly questions Mayfeld's abilities, alluding to the fact that former Imperial stormtroopers were notoriously bad shots, Mayfeld defensively responds, "I wasn't a stormtrooper, wiseass." During the trip to the prison transport, Mayfeld repeatedly mocks the Mandalorian as well, urging him to remove his helmet, and suggesting he may be hiding his face because he is secretly a Gungan. At one point, the mercenary crew discovered Grogu, a young alien also known as "The Child", whom the Mandalorian was hiding within his ship, the Razor Crest. Mayfeld questions whether Grogu is a pet, and further mocks the Mandalorian by pretending he is going to drop Grogu. When Q9-0 suddenly takes the ship out of hyperspace without warning the crew, Mayfeld falls and does drop Grogu, but he is unharmed. Upon arrival at the prison transport, Mayfeld, Xi'an, Burg, and the Mandalorian enter the ship while Q9-0 disables onboard surveillance and transmits directions to them from the Razor Crest cockpit.

After gunfights with several security droids, Mayfeld's party reached the transport's control room where they encounter a New Republican guard named Davan. Mayfeld wants to kill Davan, but the Mandalorian disagrees, and the two draw guns on each other as a result, leading to Xi'an killing Davan with a knife. The mercenaries reach a prison cell and release Qin, after which Mayfeld and the others trap the Mandalorian in the cell and try to abandon him there. After the Mandalorian escapes, he jams communication between Mayfeld's crew and Q9-0. Mayfeld and Qin become separated from Xi'an and Burg. While the latter duo attempts to find and kill the Mandalorian, Mayfeld and Qin decide to try to escape on their own; Qin promises he will triple Mayfeld's compensation if he gets Qin off the ship. After Mayfeld and Qin split up, the Mandalorian stalks Mayfeld, sneaking up on him in a hallway as the lights flicker on and off, and Mayfeld screams as the Mandalorian comes upon him. The Mandalorian did not kill Mayfeld, but instead locked him in a cell in the prison transport with Xi'an and Burg.

Season 2

Mayfeld is mentioned and pictured at the end of the episode "Chapter 14: The Tragedy". After Grogu's capture by Moff Gideon's Imperial remnant, the Mandalorian decides to break out Mayfeld, who was arrested by the New Republic and sentenced to 50 years of service at the Karthon Chop Fields. To learn where he is being held, the Mandalorian visits his ally Cara Dune, who has become a marshal for the New Republic and has access to files on Mayfeld.

In "Chapter 15: The Believer", Mayfeld (also called inmate 34667) is temporarily released from prison by Cara to assist the Mandalorian and his group by accessing the Empire's network in Morak, a secret Imperial mining hub, to learn the location of Gideon's ship. After successfully infiltrating the hub with the Mandalorian, Mayfeld becomes nervous and panicky when seeing his old commander Valin Hess, forcing the Mandalorian to retrieve the data by removing his helmet. However, when Hess questions him, Mayfeld intercedes, and when they reminisce about their participation in Operation Cinder in which thousands were killed, Mayfeld shoots Hess, initiating a violent escape during which the entire facility is destroyed. For his help in obtaining the data, Mayfeld is allowed to leave by Cara, who assures him that he will be declared dead.

Characterization

As a former Imperial sharpshooter, Mayfeld is good in a fight and is an excellent marksman; the character Ran Malk refers to him "one of the best triggermen I've ever seen". He has a hard-edged sense of humor, which several reviewers compared to the real-life comedic style of Bill Burr, the actor and comedian who portrays the character. Mayfeld enjoys mocking others, and has a bullying personality; a Polygon article by Charlie Hill described him as "the epitome of a schoolyard bully but with a murderous streak". He also speaks with Burr's same real-life Boston accent. Mayfeld is arrogant, hot-headed, ruthless, unpredictable, and has a sardonic attitude. Space.com writer Scott Snowden described him as a cowboy-like character. Mayfeld is also duplicitous and untrustworthy, as he shows by his willingness to betray the Mandalorian after their mission together. Comic Book Resources writer Sam Stone theorized that Mayfeld's cynicism and mean-spirited personality may be rooted in bitterness toward the Galactic Empire having lost its war with the Rebel Alliance, thus reducing Mayfeld's role to that of an outlaw. Stone wrote that Mayfeld appears "visibly frustrated by his time fighting for the losing side of the Galactic Civil War before taking his talents to less-than-legal clients".

Concept and creation

Portrayal

Mayfeld is portrayed by actor and comedian Bill Burr. Burr was not a fan of the Star Wars franchise, which he had repeatedly and publicly mocked in the past, as well as Game of Thrones and several other popular science fiction and fantasy franchises. In a 2015 interview with Conan O'Brien, Burr described the original Star Wars film as a "cheesy self-help book put in outer space with, like, Muppets". Burr also regularly mocked Star Wars fans, particularly during the release of new films, saying things like: "How old are you? Why are you still dressing like Boba Fett?"