The Mandalorian really didn’t hold back this week.
The penultimate episode of the Disney+ series’ third season, titled The Spies, takes more than a few shocking turns. Not only does it open with the long-awaited return of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), but it also ends with the Imperial warlord taking Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) hostage and launching a deadly ambush on Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and her Mandalorian followers. In case that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also revealed in the episode that Moff Gideon has been hiding out on Mandalore all along — mining its precious resources and building a secret Imperial base.
The Spies ends on the somber death of Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher), who dies at the hands of three Praetorian Guards just moments after single-handedly wiping out an enter garrison of Moff Gideon’s Beskar-equipped troopers. With all this in mind, here are 5 questions we’re dying to have answered after The Mandalorian season 3 episode 7.
Who are the members of the Shadow Council?
In the opening sequence of The Mandalorian’s latest episode, Moff Gideon participates in a meeting with a group of Imperial warlords known as “The Shadow Council,” which aims to secretly undermine the New Republic in order to prepare the galaxy for the Empire’s return to power. Throughout the meeting, some of the council members spar and bark at each other, but they ultimately band together behind Gideon’s goal to rid the Galactic Empire of its Mandalorian problem once and for all.
While the focus of the scene is clearly on Gideon, viewers do get a chance to meet some of the Shadow Council’s other members, including Commandant Brendol Hux (Brian Gleeson) and Captain Gilad Pellaeon (Xander Berkeley). The former character is the father of General Hux from the Sequel Trilogy, while the latter is a beloved figure among die-hard Star Wars fans.
The identities of the rest of the Shadow Council’s members aren’t revealed in The Spies, which leaves us to wonder not only who they are, but what more we may learn about them in the coming weeks and years.
What is Project Necromancer?
During the opening scene of The Spies, Captain Pellaeon says that the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) would provide Commandant Hux with the amount of time he needs to finish his work on “Project Necromancer.” It’s not revealed in the episode what the project in question is and The Spies marks the first time that it’s ever been mentioned, which means no additional information about it is available right now.
So what is Project Necromancer? Given its name and Moff Gideon’s remark about Commandant Hux’s fascination with cloning, it seems safe to assume that Project Necromancer may be the name of the cloning operation that resulted not only in the creation of Supreme Leader Snoke but the return of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker. At least, it certainly makes sense that Hux and Co. would refer to a plan to bring Palpatine back as “Project Necromancer.”
Star Wars fans will, however, likely have to wait a bit to find out more details about the mysterious Imperial operation.
What will Moff Gideon do if Grand Admiral Thrawn does return?
In The Spies, Moff Gideon makes his skepticism about Grand Admiral Thrawn’s long-heralded return known among his fellow Imperial Remnant warlords. Unfortunately for him, the first trailer for Ahsoka not only features an appearance from Thrawn but seems to suggest that the Imperial’s return may, indeed, be just around the corner. Assuming that is what comes to pass, it begs the question: How will Moff Gideon react to Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return?
The Mandalorian has made it clear that Moff Gideon doesn’t like playing second fiddle to anyone, including his fellow Imperial leaders. Therefore, it seems unlikely that Gideon would immediately want to fall in line behind Thrawn upon the Grand Admiral’s return. As formidable as Gideon is, too, he’s no match for a master strategist like Thrawn. That means there’s a legitimate possibility Gideon could end up meeting his fate at the hands of none other than Thrawn himself.
Either way, The Spies does a lot to set up an unexpected, but seemingly inevitable rivalry between Moff Gideon and Thrawn.
Who are the spies?
The title of The Mandalorian season 3’s penultimate installment is The Spies, but outside Elia Kane’s (Katy M. O’Brian) secret meeting with Moff Gideon in its opening scene, the episode doesn’t feature any “spy reveals.” That forces us to ask: Who are the spies that the episode’s title refers to? A large portion of Mandalorian fans seem to believe that the episode’s anonymous spy may turn out to be The Armorer (Emily Swallow), who has, admittedly, been acting quite out of character in recent weeks.
There’s also the possibility that The Spies could refer to the three Mandalorian survivors who are introduced halfway through the Disney+ series’ latest episode. Considering that it’s revealed in The Spies that Moff Gideon has set up a new base for himself on Mandalore, it definitely doesn’t seem out of the question that the three “survivors” Bo-Katan, Din, and their allies meet in the episode could be the traitors referred to by its title.
For now, fans will just have to wait to discover who the unidentified spies are in episode 7 of The Mandalorian season 3.
Is Din Djarin going to die?
For a few moments in The Spies, it seems like Din Djarin is legitimately about to die at the hands of Moff Gideon and his Beskar-armored Imperial troopers. Instead, he is taken to the “debriefing room” by Gideon’s soldiers. In other words, while Din doesn’t die in the episode, he definitely isn’t in the clear yet. As a matter of fact, it still seems like there’s a chance that Din will die in The Mandalorian season 3 finale next week.
Killing Din would be the most shocking thing that The Mandalorian has ever done. For what it’s worth, it’s not totally clear whether The Mandalorian is even the kind of show that’s willing to do something as dark as that. Din dying next week would, however, help explain why the show has done so much to set Bo-Katan up as its new lead. Maybe this has been Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s plan all along.
All of which is to say that Mandalorian fans may want to prepare themselves for the chance that they’ll have to say a heartbreaking farewell when they tune into the show’s season 3 finale next week.
The season 3 finale of The Mandalorian premieres Wednesday, April 19 on Disney+.
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