Moff Gideon is Planning Something Big
The Mandalorian Episode 12 Review
Ever since he was introduced back in “The Reckoning”, fans have been asking questions about the new villain, Moff Gideon. We know that he’s dangerous and that he wants to get ahold of Baby Yoda, but why? What’s his endgame or master plan? After seeing the latest episode, I have a theory as to what Moff Gideon’s plan is…and it’s not good for anyone.
Return to Nevarro
So, after it becomes apparent that the Mon Calamari that fixed the Razor Crest last episode did a terrible job, Mando makes a detour to get his ship fixed at Nevarro. And the first thing that he notices is that the town’s changed since Moff Gideon’s men got driven out. Under Cara and Greef Karga’s leadership, things got a lot safer and cleaner. They even turned the old bar into a school! Obviously, life’s gotten a lot better, except for a single remaining thorn. Not far from the city lies an Imperial Base loaded with weapons and ships. Karga and Cara want it gone, so they recruit Mando (and a mark that Mando captured in the first episdoe) to blow the base to kingdom come!
I, for one, liked seeing Nevarro becoming such a safe place for people to be. Throughout the franchise’s history, the Outer Rim’s largely been the equivalent to the Old West of America. Crime is rampant, there are varying levels of infrastrcuture, and people have to fend for themselves. They can’t count on the New Republic to help them out. Ergo, seeing the town prosper makes me feel hopeful about the sector’s future.
A future that’s being threatened by Moff Gideon.
The Unholy Plans of Moff Gideon
Whilst running through the base as its about to go sky high, the team stumbles on something disturbing. There’s an entire room full of beings floating in tanks, but a lot of them are misshapen and deformed. What’s even more unsettling, though, is a recording that the group finds in the base’s computers. It’s a message from the Doctor that we saw experimenting on Baby Yoda to Moff Gideon. The message clearly says that the Doctor was drawing blood from Baby Yoda in order to tranfuse it into other people in order to give them a high “M-count”.
It was at this moment that everything clicked into place for me. The M-Count has to refer to Midicholrian Count. For those who don’t know, Midicholrians are micro-organisms found in the cells of all life and tied directly to the Force. The higher the count, the stronger they are in the Force. Baby Yoda is Force-Sensitive, so it’s the only explanation. There’s only one reason Moff Gideon would draw blood from Baby Yoda, then: he’s trying to artificially create an army of Force-Sensitives.
This isn’t a new idea, either. In the old Expanded Universe, an Imperial Remnant led by a Dark Jedi tried to create an army of Dark Side-wielding warriors artificially imbued with the Force. While that succeeded due to extenuating circumstances, no one was able to do so otherwise. And from the sounds of it, Gideon’s remnant has also been met with failure. However, the thought of him somehow succeeding is terrifying. An army of Force-Users loyal to him and the Empire could conquer the entire Galaxy.
They Need Ashoka, Now!
In the end, Mando’s team manages to destroy the base and kill the Imperials in it, and the Razor Crest is good as new and ready to take him and Baby Yoda to Corvus to find Ashoka. Which is a good thing, too. Now that I have an idea of what Moff Gideon’s plans are, I know that the two will need the aid of the former Jedi. Especially since one of the Moff’s spies put a locator beacon on board the Razor Crest during the repairs.
Some people may say that this episode was filler, but it’s filler done right. Besides offering a fun side quest and giving Carl Weathers a chance to show his directing chops, it advanced the plot of the show in the best way possible.
Overall, this was another stellar episode from a season that’s already given us plenty of good episodes. While I’m bummed that we didn’t see Ashoka this week, the next episode has to have her one way or another. Why?
Case closed. This is the way.
I Give “The Siege” a 4.5/5
Stray Observations
- This episode made jeans and tees canon in Star Wars!
- There’s a statue of IG-11 in the town. A tribute to the droid that helped save it.
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Blog Posts, Disney TV, General Sci-Fi, Live Action, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, TV Shows
Is this building towards a new “War For Mandalor?”
I hope so. That would kick ass!