This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7.The Mandalorian season 3 had its penultimate episode this week as Chapter 23 was released to audiences on Disney+. The episode was previously shown to audience members in attendance at Star Wars Celebration in London, England, last week. This new episode finally moves the plot forward, something that many fans have been begging for quite a few weeks, and also sets up what should be a thrilling finale. Moff Gideon makes his long-awaited return in Chapter 23, where he meets with a group of fellow Imperials, discusses the impending arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and shows off his new army of threatening troopers.
Late on in this episode of The Mandalorian, Gideon appears in his brand-new Mandalorian helmet, which is fittingly black in color and features spiky components reminiscent of the Maudalorians from the Clone Wars era. With this new Mandalorian helmet, questions have arisen in regards to how Gideon got a hold of such of a piece, especially given how rare Beskar is. While the official has not yet been revealed, there are a few likely possibilities that tie into Gideon’s role in the purge of Mandalore and his role as a potential new leader of the galaxy.
Gideon made his first appearance in season 3 right away in this episode, where he spoke with Elia Kane via a probe droid and then proceeded to have that conversation with the other Imperials. There was a lot packed into just that one scene, including writer Jon Favreau reaffirming Gideon’s desire to become the new leader of the remaining Imperial factions. As stated previously, Thrawn was also mentioned, and there’s obviously some animosity between him and Gideon. It appears that the duo have some history together that began well before the start of this show, most likely dating back to when the Empire ruled the galaxy. The father of General Hux, who was a main character in the sequel trilogy as a leader of the First Order, also appeared in this scene.
Gideon makes an appearance with his helmet on late on in the episode, right around when Din Djarin is taken prisoner by Giancarlo Esposito’s character. The entrance of Gideon in his helmet is haunting, adding to the threat that he poses to these characters and, therefore, makes him an even better villain. Masks and helmets have always been a key part of the attire for villains in a galaxy far, far away, with Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and Boba Fett being prime examples of this, so it feels fitting that the main villain of The Mandalorian gets one for himself. It also perfectly matches the color scheme of the rest of his look, which is made up of mainly black but does feature a few specks of red.
The question remains as to how he came into possession of the helmet, though. One possibility is that he made it using beskar found on Mandalore, as his newly introduced troopers (along with his refreshed body armor) are equipped with the steel-like substance. If that’s the case, Gideon likely crafted it in order to be as intimidating and scary as possible to his enemies.
However, Gideon making his own Mandalorian helmet himself is far from confirmed. There are other interesting possibilities as to how he has such a rare and iconic new piece of armor, such as that he might have killed a Mandalorian and taking their helmet as his own. Gideon is a known enemy of the Mandalorians and he was essentially the main figure behind the genocide of their people during the reign of the Empire, so there’s no telling how many Mandalorians he’s destroyed. If that’s the case, he’s had ample opportunities to take armor from them and keep it for his own use. It’s possible that Gideon used the pure beskar from a fallen Mandalorian in order to craft his own helmet from scratch, or he just used it as is. It’s also a possibility that Esposito’s villain is using the same general helmet of a dead Mandalorian but made some alterations to it along the way.
Any of these latter theories are backed up by the fact that there was once a faction of Mandalorians who were loyal to Maul, the fallen Sith Lord who looked to the planet for power and control in the galaxy before becoming a crime lord. Like Gideon’s new helmet, they too had spiky pieces on the top of their head in order to mirror the look of Maul, who’s species is unique in that they have devil-like horns on their face.
It’s possible that the answer to this question is revealed in the season 3 finale next week, which premieres Wednesday on Disney+. Given the events of this episode, the finale promises to be quite a spectacle as the Mandalorians face off against their greatest enemy. Fans have seemingly been mixed on this season thus far, but this latest episode has gotten things back on track in an exciting and action-packed way.