WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 5, "Chapter 13: The Jedi," streaming now on Disney+.
One of the biggest qualms fans had with the new Star Wars trilogy was the lack of proper, nuanced villains. Snoke didn't register because the audience had a difficult time reading him, and then he got killed off in The Last Jedi without much insight provided into his background or motivations. Kylo Ren kept wrestling with the Light Side of the Force, leaving him feeling more like an angsty teen than an actual threat. Finally, Palpatine's return in The Rise of Skywalker felt like it was forced just for the sake of nostalgia.
Fortunately, the Star Wars franchise is making up for those mistakes in Season 2 of The Mandalorian as the Disney+ series lays the groundwork for the return of an iconic villain.
Moff Gideon is already proving to be quite the threat, being even more daunting now that fans theorize he's using his Darksaber and the remains of the Empire's army to hunt Grogu to create Force-wielding super-soldiers. Aside from him, though, the latest episode confirms Grand Admiral Thrawn's alive and well. Thrawn is considered one of the most fearsome characters in the franchise, so much so that some believe him to be more dangerous than Darth Vader.
If Ahsoka's looking for him now as part of her journey, chances are he made it out of the hyperspace pocket he and Ezra Bridger got lost in. With that sense of war embedded in him and his military genius, Thrawn can now step into the role Allegiant General Pryde tried so hard to be in The Rise of Skywalker. Pryde didn't have time to be fleshed out, but now the franchise has the opportunity to turn Thrawn into an even more imposing force if he wants to bring the Empire before the events of The Force Awakens.
Thrawn's reemergence can also show him being the catalyst for building the Final Order, Palpatine's fleet from The Rise of Skywalker. In this scenario, Thrawn will get ample time to stamp that sense of dread on the galaxy, learning from the Empire's defeats in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. He could become even more ruthless because he'd be directly under Palpatine's thumb rather than someone waiting behind the likes of Vader and Tarkin.
Regardless of where the powers that be choose to use him, though, whether it be in a future spin-off or in The Mandalorian itself, having Thrawn around will go a long way in fixing the villain problem the Star Wars franchise is currently facing.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, with guest stars Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez. New episodes arrive every Friday on Disney+.