Most of the buzz surrounding the upcoming second season of The Mandalorian has focused on the fan favorite characters that will be joining the ensemble, with Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan making their live-action debuts. The legendary Boba Fett will also be returning, and there are rumors that Temuera Morison could be pulling double duty as The Clone Wars‘ Captain Rex.
The unstoppable rise of the Baby Yoda phenomenon may have been the major talking point of the first batch of episodes, with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s embracing of the extended universe dominating the conversation when it comes to the second run. But The Mandalorian wouldn’t have cast an actor of Giancarlo Esposito’s standing if they didn’t have some pretty big plans for Moff Gideon.
The Breaking Bad star has already teased a much bigger role this time around, with the 62 year-old brushing up on his saber-wielding skills, and a new theory claims that Moff Gideon could end up dueling with Ahsoka Tano over the fate of the Darksaber. In the extended Star Wars universe, the Darksaber was crafted by Mandalore’s first Jedi, and has been held by Darth Maul and Sabine Wren in the past.
As per the theory, Moff Gideon is the only person in The Mandalorian that we’ve seen with a saber, and given Ahsoka Tano’s ties to Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi and the Darksaber, the epic battle that Esposito has been teasing recently could potentially be against Ahsoka. And she’s no slouch either when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.
Ahsoka also battled Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars, another character who had previously been in possession of the Darksaber, and if The Mandalorian is looking to embrace the expanded canon as heavily as we’re being led to believe, it seems like a distinct possibility that she could battle Moff Gideon head-on in an attempt to reclaim the weapon for the forces of good. And it could even wind up in the hands of Mando himself at some point.