SPOILER WARNING: This article contains some spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7 of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and earlier episodes, as well as mentions of characters appearing in other Star Wars shows, including Rebels.
A clip from Season 3, Episode 7 of The Mandalorian shared at Star Wars Celebration 2023 hints at the live-action return of a beloved Star Wars character.
During the Lucasfilm Studios Showcase panel, a clip from next week’s episode showed Moff Gideon being asked about the whereabouts of none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Thrawn is widely considered to be one of Star Wars fans’ favorite characters, although he has only appeared in current canon in Star Wars: Rebels.
However, the character has not one but two trilogies of books about his journey and is rumored to be making his debut in the live-action Star Wars universe soon in Ahsoka. However, given the mention of Moff Gideon in this clip, it appears he’s showing up sooner than expected.
The clip begins with a futuristic city where Elia Kane is speaking to Moff Gideon through a hologram. Moff talks about the Mandalorians and asks which ones are causing problems and of course it’s Bo-Katan and Din Djarin.
It’s Mando time. Here’s Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, with Pedro Pascal joining us for a little video hello. #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/sKXOJvhohl
— IGN (@IGN) April 7, 2023
“I’ll take care of our Mandalorian friends,” Moff Gideon said, before saying that “Grand Admiral Thrawn is missing. With all due respect, our only hope of success depends on the secrecy of his return,” he continued. “I never hear a word from Thrawn. You spoke of his imminent return. Maybe it’s time we looked for new leadership.”
The Mandalorian has just two episodes left in season 3, although executive producer Rick Famuyiwa teased that it will cover storylines from previous seasons.
“Things built up over the two seasons of the show and Book of Boba Fett,” he said. “Of course I think by the time we get to seven and eight, a lot of interesting things have been planted and we’ll see a solution.”
In our recap of last week’s episode, IGN said: “The Mandalorian gets very silly in Guns for Hire, where Bo-Katan and Din Djarin can’t meet up with any more Mandalorians until they do a side quest for Jack Black and Lizzo . While the episode looks nice, a thin mystery and obvious finale leave you feeling unsatisfied.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll be talking about The Witcher all day.