Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7.
It’s hard to find a more menacing-looking group of warriors than the elite Praetorian Guard. Clad head to toe in red armor, they are the supreme badasses of the Star Wars universe, leaving little but death in their wake. Originally seen as an eight-person team tasked with protecting Supreme Leader Snoke in The Last Jedi, the crimson-colored posse ultimately found themselves utterly outmatched by the combined might of Rey and Kylo Ren. Each one was an expert martial artist and melee fighter, with members preferring to use edged weapons such as Bilari electro-chain whips capable of causing excruciating pain to a victim.
But what are they doing in the latest episode of The Mandalorian?
When Bo-Katan returned to Nevarro, she called for volunteers to help her scout for a foothold on the planet Mandalore. Paz Vizsla was the second member of The Watch after Din Djarin to offer his services, followed by several other volunteers. The scouting party would ultimately discover a hidden Imperial base overseen by Moff Gideon nestled deep in the bowels of the planet.
Led into a trap by Beskar-armored Stormtroopers, Gideon unleashes his newly-formed Praetorian Guardsmen on Paz, who stays behind in an effort to give Bo-Katan and the remaining Mandalorians a chance to escape. Muttering his clan’s iconic motto “this is the way,” Paz begins his final, epic stand, swiftly dealing with rank-and-file troopers before being set upon by three Praetorian Guards, suffering multiple mortal wounds in the process.
As to the identities of these villains, it is possible that the Praetorians, who so brutally killed Paz, might just be the same ones who go on to fight Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. Even though The Mandalorian takes place twenty-five before the events of that film, Star Wars has a long tradition of warriors sticking around way past their fighting prime. After all, Darth Vader was in his forties when he took on Skywalker, and Bo-Katan herself is around fifty. And while no one knows what’s in store with the return of these deadly enemies, we can be sure mayhem is about to be unleashed.
