WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for The Mandalorian, season 2, episode 7, "Chapter 15: The Believer."
Season 2 of The Mandalorian saw the return of Migs Mayfeld, the ex-Imperial sharpshooter who had a run in with Din Djarin in season 1. While the end of their meeting resulted in Mayfeld's arrest by the New Republic, Djarin now needs his help in finding Moff Gideon, who has taken the child and disappeared aboard his Imperial cruiser.
In The Mandalorian, season 2, episode 7, "The Believer," Mando and his rag-tag team recruit Mayfeld to help them locate Moff Gideon. The former sharpshooter is of great value to Djarin's quest to retrieve the child, since his various ties to the Empire, as well as knowledge of its key information and systems, are the best chance Mando has of tracking down the Imperial officer. Mayfeld begrudgingly agrees to the terms, and together, the group plans an intelligence-gathering mission, targeting a secret Imperial refinery on the planet Morak.
Due to various circumstances, Mando finds himself infiltrating the refinery dressed in Imperial armor alongside Mayfeld; new details emerged about the latter's time and experience with the Empire as a result, and he revealed that he was present on the planet of Burnin Konn during Operation Cinder. While The Mandalorian offers a glimpse of how horrible and traumatizing the experience was for Mayfeld, the exchange offers little explanation as to what the event actually was. Those with knowledge from the greater Star Wars franchise may remember Operation Cinder as an Imperial plan tied to Emperor Palpatine — so what is it, and what does it mean for the future of the Star Wars galaxy?
What Is Operation Cinder? Emperor Palpatine's Plan Explained
Operation Cinder was the posthumous final command of the Emperor after his death in Return of the Jedi, to be carried out in the event of his passing. Serving as a cruel contingency plan, the Emperor believed that if he was to die, then so should the rest of his Empire. Sending messenger droids bearing his likeness, key Imperial commanders were chosen to raze and destroy a select group of critical Imperial worlds and holdouts such as Vardos, Nacronis, Candovant, and even Naboo, the homeworld of Palpatine and a rallying point for many Imperial supporters. The Empire's attacks upon itself took a variety of different forms, including satellites placed in orbit above planets in order to create devastating climate disruptions, and others saw the crust of planets' being bombarded until they shattered. Countless Imperial forces were eliminated by their own Empire in the aftermath of the Contingency.
Operation Cinder made its first appearance in the Shattered Empire series from Marvel Comics and Greg Rucka, and featured the attack on Naboo. However, it was also featured in a variety of other pieces of media, such as the campaign story of EA Games' Battlefront II, seeing the Empire's Inferno Squadron working to complete their orders and roles for Cinder. However, Operation Cinder eventually caused the squad to dissolve. Part of the team actually defected to the New Republic, including its leader Iden Versio, no longer willing to support the chaos and death their new orders were causing to their Empire that they had worked so hard to protect.
Burnin Konn & What Happened To It
In The Mandalorian episode "The Believer," Djarin and Mayfeld managed to take the place of two Imperial soldiers, charged with driving an Imperial Combat Assault Transport straight into the mining facility where Mayfeld can get the location of Gideon's ship. After being attacked by scores of pirates, the pair makes it to the facility where they're hailed as heroes by the Imperial forces stationed there. While they do get the information they need, an Imperial officer Mayfeld once worked under offers them drinks for successfully delivering the cargo on the transport they came in on (though he doesn't recognize Mayfeld). In an effort to keep up appearances, Mayfeld suggests that they toast Operation: Cinder, which he was a part of on the planet Burnin Konn when he was still an Imperial.
According to Mayfeld's old officer Valin Hess, Burnin Konn was a hard day where he had to make "many unpleasant decisions." Mayfeld agrees, revealing that an entire city was destroyed and all of its inhabitants, including Mayfeld's entire division of five to ten thousand Imperial troops. While Hess declares them all heroes of the Empire and a small price to pay for its greater good, Mayfeld counters that they're all dead. Was it truly good for them, their families or all of the civilians who died along the way? Especially considering that Mayfeld then shoots Hess in a stronghold filled with Imperials to Mando's shock, it's evident that Operation Cinder motivated Mayfeld to view the same Empire with the same mix of horror and hatred that Iden Versio did with the Empire's similar destruction of her Imperial homeworld of Vardos.
What The Mandalorian's Palpatine Reference Means
As far as what this means for the future of the Star Wars timeline in general, the endgame and final phase of Operation Cinder was revealed in the novel Aftermath: Empire's End from Chuck Wendig. The book's final chapters revealed that while key Imperial officers were tasked with wiping away and cleansing vast swathes of the Empire, others were tasked to live on, retreating into the Unknown Regions of deep space so that the Empire could eventually come back, stronger than ever. Star Wars fans know that eventually these Imperial survivors would be reborn years later as the First Order under Supreme Leader Snoke at the start of the Sequel Trilogy. Additionally, they would then transform into the Final Order alongside the resurrected Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker, ready to resume their reign of order through terror once more. Now that the Emperor is living once more, so will his Empire (at least until his ultimate destruction by Rey and Ben Solo).
However, as far as what this means for the future of The Mandalorian and its position on the timeline preceding the rise of the First Order, it seems likely that the Empire Din Djarin is facing under Moff Gideon are Imperial forces that have yet to head into the Unknown Regions. Thanks to the child Grogu, they still have business to take care of in the galaxy proper. The New Republic government has yet to attain a proper foothold in the Outer Rim territories where the majority of the Disney+ series has taken place, making it the perfect regions for the Empire to work in the shadows.
The Empire has certainly been pushed back to the perimeter, but they haven't left all of civilized space just yet. Operation Cinder cut away the dead branches, leaving only the strong roots behind so that the Empire could rise once more with their reborn Emperor. As The Mandalorian continues into future seasons, it will be interesting to see what other elements of the Emperor's plans could come to light, as Din Djarin continues to put himself in the Imperial remnant's crosshairs for the sake of the child he now deeply cares for.