The Mandalorian Season 3 Explains The Downfall Of Moff Gideon
Contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" Season 3, Episode 1 — "Chapter 17: The Apostate"
"The Mandalorian" finally returned with an explosive season premiere featuring Pedro Pascal as the blaster-wielding Din Djarin (aka "Mando") alongside the adorable Grogu (voiced by sound editor David Acord). In Season 3, Mando faces the consequences for defying The Mandalorian code after taking off his helmet for Grogu. The premiere kicked off his dangerous adventure with enormous and ravenous creatures, alien space pirates, and even the mention of a formidable foe from last season.
Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) gave Mando quite the challenge in Season 2 with his unstoppable ambition and ruthless determination. With the commanding Darksaber at his disposal, he sought out Grogu to harness his force abilities and use the extraordinary power for himself. Thankfully, he was adverted by a little-known Jedi named Luke Skywalker (originally played by Mark Hamill, reprised by Max Lloyd-Jones), who saved Mando and Grogu from Gideon's wrath.
Sadly, Luke took Grogu away from Mando until they were finally reunited in the other "Star Wars" bounty hunter series: "The Book of Boba Fett." Now back in their own show, the beloved duo received an important piece of information from an old friend. Mando's former leader Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), now in a glorious new position of power, informed him what happened to Gideon after his malicious actions in Season 2.
Moff Gideon was sent to a New Republic War Tribunal
In the Season 3 premiere, titled "Chapter 17: The Apostate," Mando returned to the former home base of the Bounty Hunters Guild on the planet Nevarro. There, he reconvened with Greef Karga to obtain the bounty-hunter droid IG-11 (voiced by Taika Waititi), who sacrificed themselves at the end of Season 2 in a glorious explosion. In a seemingly throwaway comment, Karga revealed what happened to Cara Dune and Moff Gideon after Luke singlehandedly destroyed his entire fleet of droids.
Karga offhandedly told Mando, "He was sent off to a New Republic War Tribunal," but he didn't specify his exact fate. However, in "The Book of Boba Fett," Mando implied something graver could and possibly should happen to Gideon. In "Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian," he suggested that Gideon should be executed for his heinous crimes against Mandalore. If the judiciary branch is as unforgiving as Mando, perhaps Moff Gideon will be sentenced to death.
It would be incredibly interesting and harrowing to see any form of a New Republic War Tribunal brought to life on "The Mandalorian." While it's possible we may not return to Gideon's character or his deserved fate, this revelation from Karga gives viewers some peace of mind that the despicable villain will get his just deserts. After his heartless pursuit of Grogu and selfish use of the Darksaber, fans will certainly revel in the news of Gideon's fitting downfall.