People became so swept up in the Baby Yoda phenomenon that dominated the internet for months, as well as the news that fan favorite character Ahsoka Tano was set to appear in the second season, that many are overlooking the fact that The Mandalorian‘s debut run of episodes ended on a huge cliffhanger, one that could have big implications for the show going forward.
We didn’t get to see a great deal from Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon in the first season, but it was certainly made clear that he’s going to have a large role to play in the ongoing story after he emerged from the wreckage of his ship wielding a darksaber. For those that don’t follow the expanded Star Wars universe, the darksaber was initially forged by a Mandalorian and kept in the Jedi Temple before eventually falling into the hands of Sabine Wren, who was trained to use the weapon by Kanan Jarrus, two characters who have both been heavily linked with joining Ahsoka Tano in making the jump from animation to live-action.
In a recent interview, Esposito teased that his role in the second season is going to be much bigger, as well as making the distinction that Moff Gideon is an altogether different beast from the role he’s best known for.
“Moff is very different from Gus Fring. He wields his own darksaber. He does his own dirty work and is certainly willing to. He’s much more volatile, he’s much more of the warrior, and that could tell us some things about him next season.”
The Mandalorian is one of the rare Star Wars projects to arrive since Disney’s takeover of Lucasfilm that hasn’t generated any negative backlash among the fans as of yet. As such, hopes are already high that the upcoming batch of episodes will live up to the expectations established by the critical acclaim that greeted Mando’s first adventure.