The Mandalorian Season 2 is right around the corner, and as excitement builds for the return of everyone's favorite bounty hunter and his young charge, theories circulate around which characters will take center stage. One such character could be Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who, in the Season 1 finale, was defeated at the hands of Din Djarin. Who exactly Gideon is and what his plans are for The Child are still a mystery, but a Reddit user found a surprising connection between the Imp and the Hebrew Bible that may reveal him as a former member of the Empire's Inquisitorius.
Despite the fall of the Empire, Gideon -- a former operative in the Imperial Security Bureau -- still holds considerable power and commands several Imperial forces in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, including a heavily armed battalion of elite Stormtroopers. Very few details of Gideon's past, besides his role in the Great Purge of Mandalore, have been revealed, but given his determination to recapture The Child and his possession of the Darksaber, the warlord could very well be a former Inquisitor, and his name holds the key to this revelation.
Introduced in Star Wars Rebels, the Imperial Inquisitors are Dark Side users trained by Darth Vader to hunt and kill Jedi. The group spends most of the series hunting down the like of Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, only disappearing once the Empire believes the Jedi threat to be neutralized around the start of the Galactic Civil War. How Gideon fits into that goes back to the fact that he spends Season 1 of The Mandalorian attempting to recapture The Child, a powerful Force user who could bring the Jedi out of hiding. If a threat to the Empire's return was forming, who better than a former Inquisitor to snuff it out before it could grow any stronger.
If that wasn't enough to convince theory-hungry fans out there, Reddit user u/TheMediocreCritic poses the idea that Moff Gideon shares his name with Gideon, a judge and military leader from the Old Testament who defeated the enemies of the Israelites. The theory suggests that both Gideon and his biblical namesake are not only skilled warriors, but also act as judges -- similar to an inquisitor. The post goes on to point out that many ideas in Star Wars were inspired by the Bible, and that The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau, who grew up with a Jewish mother and Catholic father, could be following suit with his antagonist.
Season 2 could further expand on Moff Gideon's motivations in recapturing The Child and provide key details into his past. Whether he's a Dark Side user and former Inquisitor trained to wipe out the Jedi or just an Imperial warlord trying to restore the Empire remains to be seen, but the connections between him and his biblical namesake could provide the clues to his backstory and motivations that fans are still searching for.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Taika Waititi and Emily Swallow. Season 1 is available now on Disney+, with Season 2 premiering Oct. 30.
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