With the next season of The Mandalorian quickly approaching, fans are already speculating about what to expect from the upcoming chapter.
Given the show’s overwhelming popularity, it shouldn’t really come off as much of a surprise that people can’t wait to see more of Mando and Baby Yoda. The finale ended on a promising note, showing Moff Gideon emerging from the wreckage of his TIE fighter wielding the Darksaber. So, it’s safe to say that the remnants of the Empire, whomever their allegiance belongs to, will continue to hunt the duo down. Now, seeing as how Ahsoka Tano will also join the cast of season 2, the mystery surrounding Baby Yoda and these seemingly infinite legions of Stormtroopers trying to get their hands on him becomes more perplexing than we originally thought.
What’s more, the next season’s episode titles have reportedly found their way online, so some fans are theorizing that the upcoming chapter will include the threat of the Empire’s resurgence. In that case, the penultimate and final episodes are titled “The Return” and “The Empire,” respectively. While the former could hint at Ahsoka Tano, it could also point to a certain Darth Sidious who’s hiding on Exegol. And it goes without saying that the latter is the most alarming, which, so far as we know, could only refer to the former Galactic Empire.
Some fans have already speculated that Palpatine is the one who’s pulling the strings. But what does he want with Baby Yoda? Well, for one thing, he probably wants to find a powerful Force-sensitive being to rejuvenate his decaying body, the same way he did with Ben Solo and Rey at the end of The Rise of Skywalker. Since the Child seems to have a knack for accessing the cosmic living Force, then this theory isn’t entirely unreasonable. Even if Moff Gideon is working independently as an Empire loyalist to restore the dictatorship back to its former glory, then it’ll be up to Mando and his crew to stop him before he can bring about a new order.
Of course, all of this is mere speculation until the next season of The Mandalorian premieres in October. And since the crew has already wrapped filming, it’s highly likely that we’ll get to experience the next chapter of the story on time despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
