This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3 finale.
The Mandalorianseason 3 has now concluded with the release of Chapter 24:The Return, which was an action heavy episode helmed by returning director Rick Famuyiwa. This outing was essentially a continuation of the last episode ofThe Mandalorian, where Moff Gideon had trapped the remaining Mandalorians in his underground base as he attempts to finally complete the Purge of Mandalore, the extinction event that was meant to wipe out all of the living beings on the planet. Some Mandalorians survived, however, and were seeking revenge against Giancarlo Esposito’s villain for what he did during the course of this episode.
That revenge did seem to finally come, after years of the Mandalorians hiding in the shadows to avoid being persecuted, as Moff Gideon met his end at the hands of Din Djarin, Grogu, and Bo Katan Kryze. The Imperial warlord became engulfed in flames from the crashing of a Star Destroyer, and its here that he appeared to die. However, the way in which this sequence was directed was hardly definitive. After all, this is a galaxy far, far away, where the likes of Palpatine and Maul have gone through worse and still come out the other side. That fact combined with Gideon’s various clones of himself earlier in the episode makes it a real possibility that the villain’s role in this story is not yet done.
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As stated, Gideon appeared to be burned alive during the action heavy outing. He was fighting Bo Katan and Din Djarin when Axe Wolves crashed his Star Destroyer into the base in an attempt to destroy Gideon and his remaining forces, which appeared to do just that as the villain’s sleek new soldiers were all but wiped out after the explosion.Gideon himself appeared to succumbto the same fate as his army, but whether or not he will return at some point over the course of these MandoVerse shows is still up for grabs.
His return could be as simple as surviving the fire and escaping the planet to hide in refuge elsewhere. After all, Gideon did have beskar alloy armor, so he would have been well protected from the elements crashing down around him. Other Mandalorians such as Din Djarin, who has pure beskar armor, also faced some fire from Gideon’s army, but it didn’t seem to affect him all that much. Therefore, it’s a real possibilitythat Gideon escaped and fled the worldin order to regroup.
Another possibility is that Moff Gideon did indeed dieat the hands of the Mandaloriansat the end of this episode, but that he will live on through his clones that he was creating. Din Djarin appeared to destroy these clones by unplugging them and removing them from their healing chambers, but the scene cut quickly, so it was hard to see just how successful that attempt was. Therefore, it’s plausible that a clone of Gideon made it out, perhaps with the help of his soldiers, and that he will return to face these Mandalorians at some point. Given what fans now know about Gideon’s grand plan, if a clone of him does indeed appear down the line, it seems likely that he will be a more formidable threat as the experiments taking place were donein order to infuse the Forcewithin these clones. An Imperial warlord dressed in beskar armor and equipped with the Force would be an entirely different enemy all together, and one that would be sure to cause the Mandalorians more trouble in the future.
It’s also possible that Moff Gideon has other clones placed elsewhere, so that even if he did die and the replicas of himself on Mandalore were destroyed, he could still return one day. Gideon did have these same tanks on Nevarro during season 2, which is where audienceswere first properly introducedto the idea of cloning. Although that Imperial base was seemingly wiped out during season 2, there is potential to have more secret bases scattered across the galaxy.
It appears as if fans will have to waitforThe Mandalorianseason 4before getting answers to these questions, although a continuation of this series has yet to be officially confirmed. If it does indeed happen (which it probably will, especially given the popularity of Din Djarin and Grogu), Moff Gideon might return as Pedro Pascal’s lead hero continues to help the New Republic wipe out the rest of the Empire’s forces scattered across the outer rim.
Next up inStar Warslive action television isAhsoka, which is scheduled to premiere this August on Disney+. The first trailer for the series was shown at Star Wars Celebration Europe earlier this month and included abrief look at the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Beyond that, bothSkeleton CrewandThe Acolyteare in active production are set to be released at some point later this year or early next year.
