Knowing that Emperor Palpatine never really died at the end of Return of the Jedi, some fans of Disney’s The Mandalorian think that Darth Sidious may appear in the show at some point.
The first season of Jon Favreau’s hit series had a lot going on in terms of spectacle, action and compelling storytelling, but it also presented us with more questions than answers. What exactly is Mando’s cute sidekick? How can Baby Yoda be so strong in the ways of the Force? What do the remnants of the Empire want with him? Who does Moff Gideon work for? And what’s so special about this particular Mandalorian, who goes by the name of Din Djarin?
Of course, to find the answer to these questions, we have to wait until the next season comes along. Yet that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about all the possible directions that Favreau and the rest of the writers at Lucasfilm could take with the series next. For instance, some believe that Baby Yoda is actually our very own Grand Master Yoda who’s traveled in time. Others speculate that Moff Gideon wants the Child to turn himself into the next Darth Vader.
Now, a new theory going viral on Reddit suggests that the Imperial Governer is actually working for Palpatine. And it makes sense, too; as we learned from The Rise of Skywalker, the evil Emperor never died, but in fact, transferred his subconscious to a new body on Exegol. Besides, who but the Final Order and the Sith Eternal could fund Gideon’s army of Stormtroopers?
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Palpatine has secretly inflicted his will on the galaxy after his apparent demise at the end of Episode VI. The Knights of Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke and ultimately, the First Order were just some of the cogs in the machinery of Darth Sidious and his evil plan to return and rule the galaxy. It’d make sense for the former Emperor to want to experiment on Baby Yoda, too, as this would allow him to regenerate himself for the battle that was yet to come.
I guess we won’t know for sure until the next season of The Mandalorian arrives in October. But until then, let us know your own thoughts and theories in the comments section below.