The Mandalorian Season 3 ends with a surprisingly peaceful conclusion.
Despite throwing a wrench into the penultimate episode in the form of a Beskar-armored Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), The Mandalorian’s third season still finds a way to conclude with relatively few casualties and even fewer bad breaks for its heroes. Everyone from Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) finds themselves exactly where they want to be. Even Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) gets the new marshal he’s been asking for in the form of a reprogrammed IG-12 (Taika Waititi).
Unfortunately for them, with Ahsoka set to premiere later this year, it seems unlikely The Mandalorian’s heroes will get to enjoy their new lives for long.
Ever since Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) showed up in Season 2, The Mandalorian has been dropping hints that Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) may return from the exile he was sent into at the end of Star Wars Rebels. In Season 3, The Mandalorian continued to set up Thrawn’s return, with several members of the show’s Imperial Shadow Council making mention of their leader’s re-emergence. And thanks to the first trailer for Ahsoka, it looks like there may be more to Thrawn’s long-rumored return than just speculation.
Admittedly, there’s no telling what plans the creative team behind The Mandalorian and Ahsoka have for Thrawn. But assuming the fan-favorite Star Wars villain doesn’t meet some surprising end in Ahsoka later this year, it seems fair to say he’ll likely have a role to play in the overarching New Republic storyline that’s been building over the past four years.
That suggests Thrawn will return from his exile soon, which would be a troublesome development for the galaxy’s New Republic-era heroes, including Bo-Katan and Din Djarin. Based on how Moff Gideon’s fellow Shadow Council members reacted to word of a potential Mandalorian resurgence in Season 3, it seems safe to say Gideon isn’t the only Imperial warlord interested in preventing Mandalore’s reconstruction.
Should he return, we can’t imagine Thrawn will be any more willing to let Bo-Katan rebuild Mandalore than Gideon. Thrawn has always been regarded as a master strategist, and a fully-functioning Mandalorian society would represent a major obstacle to any plan the Grand Admiral has for reclaiming the Empire’s hold over the galaxy. That means Thrawn’s return would also mark the emergence of yet another threat to the peaceful lives Bo-Katan and Din Djarin are trying to build for themselves and their people at the end of The Mandalorian Season 3.
The Inverse Analysis — Right now, it looks like Din Djarin may finally be able to return to his relatively carefree life as a bounty hunter. But will he actually be able to enjoy his reset life for long? If Ahsoka does, as many fans expect, see Grand Admiral Thrawn make his long-awaited return to the fold, then what are the chances Din and Bo-Katan will be able to just ignore his presence?
This is all pure speculation for now. However, should Ahsoka go the route fans seem convinced it will, it seems reasonable to assume that any future seasons of The Mandalorian will have to reckon with the ramifications of Ahsoka’s story. That won’t mean anything good for Bo-Katan, Din Djarin, and the rest of The Mandalorian’s heroes.
The Mandalorian Season 3 is streaming now on Disney+.
