Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian ‘Chapter 23: The Spies.’
The Mandalorian season three might not be the absolute finest slice of Star Wars television we’ve ever seen, but it sure hasn’t skimped on the ties and links to the wider lore of the saga. We’ve had everything from Christopher Lloyd’s character being a Dooku-worshipping Separatist sympathizer to the triumphant return of Ahmed Best as Kelleran Beq.
And yet no prior episode can compare to “Chapter 23: The Spies,” as the penultimate installment of the Disney Plus hit’s third season has gone well and truly beyond the pail by stuffing in references and connections to as many as 10 different Star Wars movies and TV series from across the history of the franchise. Let’s recap.
The Mandalorian fully embraces its ties to the sequel trilogy
In a bid to stay on the fans’ good side, The Mandalorian typically leabs hard on original trilogy nostalgia instead of jumping into sequel trilogy lore, excepting the odd nod like Babu Frik’s species turning up. “The Spies,” however, throws ties to the First Order era at us left, right, and center. Brendol Hux, the father of Armitage Hux (who debuted in The Force Awakens) is revealed as one of Moff Gideon’s allies. Plus, the villain is joined by the Praetorian Guards from The Last Jedi. And then of course the hints at Project: Necromancer foreshadow the events of The Rise of Skywalker…
Palpatine’s resurrection plans spread throughout the saga
It looks like we finally know the “somehow” behind “somehow, Palpatine has returned.” Gideon and his allies confirm that the Imperial remnants are working on Project: Necromancer, which is almost certainly Palpatine’s attempts to clone himself a new body. As well as tying back to the Emperor’s interest in Kamino’s cloning abilities in Attack of the Clones, Project: Necromancer has previously been previewed on The Bad Batch, which is also currently airing its second season on Disney Plus.
Thrawn is coming
In a nifty bit of time on Lucasfilm’s part, “Chapter 23” namedrops Grand Admiral Thrawn hot on the heels of our first glimpse at his live-action debut in the upcoming spinoff Ahsoka, in which Lars Mikkelsen will reprise his role as the Chiss arch-villain that he previously played in Rebels. Thrawn is represented on the Imperial Shadow Council Gideon is a part of by his right-hand man Pellaeon, a character who likewise hails from the Legends novels.
Gideon’s Mandalorian armor has many deeper meanings
Gideon has always fancied himself something of a Darth Vader figure, but he makes that official in “The Spies” thanks to donning his own dark Mandalorian armor which definitely has a strong flavor of the Sith Lord to it (who, of course debuted in A New Hope). In addition, Gideon’s armor comes with an underrated weapon that featured on the title character’s own armor in The Book of Boba Fett — a handy rocket dart launcher built into the knee-pad. Last but not least, the horns on his helmet seem to be a reference to Maul’s armor when he took over Mandalore in The Clone Wars.
The Mandalorian reaches its season three finale next Wednesday on Disney Plus.