Instead of conveniently dying off-screen, we saw Gideon’s apparent death. However, a very outside-the-box fan theory suggests this won’t be the last time we see the old Mandalorian-obsessed Moff. Some eagle-eyed fans have noticed something very different about the Gideon we meet in season 3 versus how he’s appeared in the past.
“Moff Gideon had a mustache in the first 2 seasons. He didn’t a mustache in season 3,” writes @clonehumor. “The Gideon clones also didn’t have mustaches which means the Gideon we saw walking around was actually a clone. Therefore, the real Moff Gideon is still alive!”
Now, as you can probably tell from this user’s Twitter handle, @clonehumor is joking, but the joke soon turns into other fans wondering in the thread whether this theory is actually right…It certainly wouldn’t be the wildest explanation for the comeback of a major villain that Star Wars has ever attempted. But beyond the case of the missing clone mustache, there’s other evidence that, somehow, Gideon will return.
As we only saw Gideon caught in the explosion in the season 3 finale, it’s possible his beskar armor protected him from the blast. After all, we’ve seen Din’s own Mandalorian armor take quite a bit of heat throughout the series, including during his fight with the Imperial commandos at the start of the episode. He even weathers a flamethrower at point blank range in that sequence. Of course, an explosion as big as a light cruiser crashing into an Imperial base is a whole different level of fire and devastation. But what if Gideon had more than just beskar armor to protect himself from the explosion?
“The Return” finally made good on the Nevarro cloning facility glimpsed in season 2. Now on Mandalore, Gideon confirmed he’s trying to create an army of Force-sensitive super clones in his likeness. If the Gideon Din, Bo, and Grogu fought in the finale really was one of these clones, could he have used the Force to create a bubble around himself just as Grogu did for the trio of heroes as the cruiser crashed into the base? Then again, if Clone Gideon already had Force powers, wouldn’t he have used them to defeat his enemies? Or were they perhaps latent powers that were only triggered once Gideon really needed them in his final moments? We admit we’re really stretching logic here!
Either way, even if our heroes did just deep fry the real Gideon, The Mandalorian has already established that there may be way more of him out there. Before their face off with Gideon, Din and Grogu pull the plug on his clone tanks, presumably killing all of these lab-grown Gideon’s for good. However, like we saw with the Nevarro cloning facility, who’s to say Gideon didn’t have more strongholds out there?
