Has The Mandalorian Seen The Last Of Moff Gideon?
This article contains spoilers for the season 3 finale of "The Mandalorian."
Moff Gideon has been the villainous hand pulling the strings in every episode of the first three seasons of "The Mandalorian." His machinations set Din Djarin on his journey that brought him together with Grogu, it put him on a path of reuniting the Mandalorians, and they culminated in the season 3 finale — wherein Gideon finally revealed his grand plan. He wanted to create an army of Moff Gideon clones, taking the best aspects of every being he could find and imbuing them with the Force. Then, he wanted to put them in beskar alloy armor modeled after the Mandalorians, making his army all but unstoppable.
Sadly (for him, that is), all of the wheels and gears Gideon turned in his plot only served to strengthen the Mandalorians he sought to eradicate. Ultimately, they were able to defeat him in a fiery explosion thanks to Axe Woves, who crashed a cruiser into Gideon's base on Mandalore and Gideon himself with it. But is this the last we've seen of Moff Gideon and, more especially, Giancarlo Esposito in "Star Wars"?
It's doubtful.
Beskar super armor
Moff Gideon spent years working on Death Troopers, the elite robotic storm troopers that were vital to his plans in the second season of "The Mandalorian." When he set up his secret base on Mandalore and combined their technology with the stolen Mandalorian beskar, he created a nearly impenetrable augmented suit for himself. Mandalorian armor can hold tight against the vacuum of space, it's fireproof, and it can even stop a lightsaber blade.
All we saw in the show's season 3 finale were the flames of the explosion from the downed cruiser consuming Moff Gideon. Was he obliterated? Was he annihilated completely? Or is it possible he could have escaped?
Remember, this is "Star Wars," a world where Darth Maul once survived his bisection and became a pivotal player in the future of the galaxy. With no body to speak of, Moff Gideon could have very well survived this explosion and may yet return to haunt the Mandalorians and Din Djarin another day.
The clones
We finally got a good look at the clones that Moff Gideon was growing on Mandalore and they looked very much like him. He explained that he wanted to empower them with the Force and create a super-army composed of their ranks. Din Djarin may've destroyed the Gideon clone batch on Mandalore, but we've already seen other batches elsewhere in the context of "The Mandalorian." The first cloning containers we glimpsed were on Nevarro, in the secret Imperial installation there. We saw even more on Moff Gideon's cruiser. Are those the same ones Djarin demolished in the season 3 finale or are they still out there?
If the creatives behind "The Mandalorian" wanted to bring Giancarlo Esposito back as Moff Gideon, it wouldn't be a stretch to have him return in the form of a clone. With as meticulous a planner as Moff Gideon is, it's not unreasonable to assume he had many contingencies in place and didn't put all of his clone eggs in one — or even three — baskets, so to speak.
Can you imagine how cool it would be to see multiple Moff Gideons running around, doing their best to destroy Mandalore and bring back the glory of the Empire? That would truly be a threat worthy of "Star Wars" and a brilliant acting challenge for one of the finest actors working today.
Have we seen the last of Moff Gideon?
I would doubt it.
"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" is streaming only on Disney+.