The Mandalorian: Penn Pershing’s Complete History Explained – Looper

As part of Pershing’s rehabilitation in the Amnesty Program, he’s asked a series of questions about his feelings towards the New Republic. Initially, when he answers them, Pershing seems to be at peace with his situation — in fact, one could say that he’s downright happy. Since joining the Amnesty Program, he’s been given a platform to discuss his research, made friends, and no longer feels in danger as he once did within the Empire. However, once he begins to hang out with Kane, he starts to question his position, as he notices that his new job requires him to delete valuable scientific projects that the Empire has worked on. Pershing believes that, in the right hands, this information could help people, much like his cloning research. Once he begins to question this, all his feelings of happiness and contentment begin to falter.

The biggest sign that Pershing is beginning to question things is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment between him and the New Republic rehabilitation droid that asks him his daily questions. When the droid asks, “Have you experienced feelings of anger or resentment towards the New Republic government or its representatives?,” Pershing is briefly shown touching his ear before answering no — a clear lie. 

How was his ear damaged? It’s the work of Cara Dune (Gina Carano), who did it as she boarded his transport ship with Din, looking for Grogu. Cara shot and killed the pilot of Pershing’s ship and grazed his ear in the process, leaving it noticeably scarred. Cara is a representative of the New Republic, and this means he holds some lingering feelings of resentment towards them.