Here's Everything 'The Mandalorian' Fans Need To Know About Moff Gideon

When The Mandalorian began back in November, there seemed to be three main characters: The Mandalorian, The Client, and The Child. The first was the hero, the second was the villain, and the last was just stinkin' cute. But since then, things have diverged. Mando is still the hero, and Baby Yoda is still generating enough memes to power a small city. But the Client fell to the wayside. By the penultimate episode, he was shown to be front for Moff Gideon all along. But who is Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian? Warning: Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 1 follow.

Moff Gideon didn't turn up until nearly the end of the episode when he called The Client to warn him the cradle that supposedly held Baby Yoda was empty, and Mando was about to attack. It turned out he wasn't calling from far away.

When Mando took out the Client, the assumption was the rest of the ex-stormtroopers who worked for him would immediately drop their weapons and back off. Cut off the head, and the rest scatter. But that didn't happen. Instead, large transports holding dozens of stormtroopers pulled up, and a TIE fighter landed. Moff Gideon walked out, clearly in control of these forces. The Client wasn't the one in charge, Gideon was.

That this guy is still being called "Moff" even after the rise of the New Republic, says a lot. The title "Moff," once upon a time, denoted Sector Governors under Imperial rule. It suggests that the New Republic has little to no control over this sector, and Gideon has established himself as the power base.

This would explain why there were so many ex-Imperial troops out there to occupy Navarro in the first place. It also puts some of the Client's rants about "reestablishing the natural order of things after a period of disarray" in context. Moff Gideon was, at some point, exceptionally high up in the Imperial order, as he also has a squad of the black-clad "death troopers" who are part of his defense.

But what's also interesting is Gideon's outfit, which resembles that of Darth Vader. Moreover, he knows who and what Baby Yoda is. But most importantly, Gideon seems also to be force-sensitive. At least, sensitive enough to know that Baby Yoda was not in the city with Mando and the others. Does that mean he's a Sith or at least a Sith-wannabe? Are his abilities to sense the Force part of why he's gained so many followers? Could that explain why he's styling himself after Vader?

So many questions remain, and there's only one episode left of Season 1 of The Mandalorian to answer them.