The third season of The Mandalorian ended with the end of the story. After battling the Imperial forces of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and helping Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and other masked warriors retake Mandalore, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and baby Yoda finally found a place to call home. and everything ends in peace like true parents and children.
It’s a very good ending to the story and would be a great ending point for these characters’ journeys. But we know it won’t be like that. The showrunner of the series, Jon Favreau, has already said that he has the script for the fourth season written, which means that the Mandalorian hero will return.
Attention! This text contains spoilers for the finale of The Mandalorian season 3!
But which way not just The Mandalorianbut the whole universe of Star Wars should follow after everything we’ve seen so far? The recent announcements of films and other series perfectly match the hook left by this end of season, leaving good clues of what is to come within the saga. And these stories looming over the horizon couldn’t make fans more excited.
The Heir to the Empire
The last episodes of The Mandalorian make it quite clear that the Empire was never actually defeated in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The Council of Shadows has shown that most of the Imperial leadership is still alive and well, operating clandestinely across the galaxy and operating a grand plan under the New Republic’s radar. And this is where the future of the franchise must bet its chips.
The series makes it very clear what the names of these generals are: while posing as warlords fighting for spoils of the Empire and influence in isolated points of the galaxy, they work to regain power. And, for that, they need a new figure to centralize the command. And that heir is none other than Admiral Thrawn.
The villain is an old acquaintance of the most hardcore fans of Star Wars. It appeared in the books of the old Expanded Universe and became so popular that it ended up being incorporated into the official canon of the saga. In short, he is an extremely skilled Empire military man and strategist, and therefore the perfect choice to fill the gap left by Palpatine.
It is to this path that The Mandalorian point. It is clear that the former generals are pulling their strings to ensure this return – albeit against their will, like Gideon himself – and this is something that will reverberate in the future of the franchise as a whole.
The biggest example of this is in Ahsoka. The new series arrives on Disney+ in August and the first trailer released leaves no doubt that the hunt for Thrawn will be the central point of the plot. So much so that actor Lars Mikkelsen has already been confirmed to reprise the role he played in Star Wars Rebels.
And that should encompass not only Rosario Dawnson’s series, but the very future of The Mandalorian and its characters. With Ahsoka having only one season, it is very likely that Thrawn’s saga extends to other productions, including the new adventures of Din Djarin and Grogu.
And it may be in this great new arc that the recently announced Mandoverse film directed by Dave Filoni and which will end the Mandalorian’s adventures should fit. Although nothing has been said so far, it makes sense to imagine that the final fight against the heir to the Empire is something that deserves the cinema screen and not just streaming.
The New Republic Ranger
Another tip left by the last episode of The Mandalorian is the tone the next season should take. The chapter shows Din Djarin making an irresistible proposal to Carson Teva (Paul Sun Hyung Lee): become a kind of bounty hunter for the New Republic and hunt down imperials who are acting in the Outer Rim.
In practice, what the hero is suggesting is becoming a patrolman for the new government. It’s something that makes sense within the previous point, with the Mandalorian finding evidence about the real intentions of these warlords and facing the threat of Thrawn and the return of the Empire.
The curious thing is that this fits within the concept of Rangers of the New Republico spin-off they The Mandalorian what it was Canceled after Gina Carano’s resignation from the series. Thus, this journey that would belong to Cara Dune will now be in charge of Din Djarin and his son.
Even so, it is a very interesting departure, as it allows the new season to maintain the adventurous atmosphere of Pedro Pascal’s hero. Thus, he can continue traveling through the galaxy alongside baby Yoda within this formula that has been so successful.
Connection with the new trilogy
People know that The Mandalorian takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi and before The force awakens. This means that despite all the efforts of Din Djarin and Ahsoka to stop Thrawn’s rise, the Empire will live on with the rise of the First Order. And the series leaves room for Star Wars keep filling in the gaps between the classic trilogy and the latest movies.
And there are several elements that were left in the show that could lead the story towards the emergence of these villains. In addition to showing the Imperials still operating in the shadows of the New Republic, it may have left some clues that will connect with what the Episode VII presented.
Even though the last episode revealed that the idea of kidnapping Grogu was to make a clone of Moff Gideon with Force domain, there are still gaps that justify Palpatine’s return in Rise of Skywalker, for example. The story of scientist Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) is still too loose within the series and can be redeemed to make these ties.
The same can be said for Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian), the Imperial undercover in the New Republic. While she was clearly working for Gideon on his cloning plan, she could be the bridge that will lead to the creation of the infamous Emperor clone and possibly the emergence of Snoke.
This is all based on a very specific dialogue from this third season of The Mandalorian. During the Shadow Council meeting, the military talks about a so-called Necromancer Project, which seems like a pretty obvious name for the plan to bring Palpatine back to life via a clone.
The Mandalorian it is available on Disney+.
