The Mandalorian S03: Giancarlo Esposito on Moff Gideon’s Whereabouts

If there was one lingering persistent thread that’s probably annoying some fans in The Mandalorian season three is the whereabouts of the series’ antagonist Moff Gideon, played by Giancarlo Esposito. When we last physically saw him was during the season two finale, “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” which was released on December 18th, 2020. Has it really been over two years? The episode saw him lose the Darksaber to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) while he and his crew, including his current season three companion in Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), rescue the foundling Gorgu. The only update we’ve had since on Gideon is a prisoner transport gone awry where he may have been rescued or kidnapped but still not a physical presence in the episode “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire.”

The Mandalorian: Giancarlo Esposito Tight-Lipped on Moff Gideon’s Status

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Esposito told Entertainment Weekly on their “Degobah Dispatch” podcast at Star Wars Celebration. “I’ve been regaining my dignity and harnessing all of my energy with a plan.” As far as whether he agrees with the less-is-more approach adding mystique to the character, “Without a doubt, and that’s the real golden egg of great writing is that you tease it, but you also tantalize the audience. And as well as doing that, you strike fear in them. Because the longer you don’t see me, the more pissed off I’m going to be when you do.”

As far as how far ahead Esposito knows ahead of time, “We don’t often get scripts if we’re not in them,” he explains. “I think it’s just the way of trying to keep things under wraps for our creators. So you make a phone call, and you say, ‘Hey, what’s happening? What’s the plan?’ And they’re tightlipped in giving you little clues as to what may happen.” Before his capture, Gideon was harnessing the midichlorians from Grogu to help fuel his dark troopers before Grogu’s master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) saved our heroes by single-handedly dispensing them. With two episodes left, The Mandalorian streams Wednesdays on Disney+. Hey, at this rate, it might be more likely we see Gus Fring back than Gideon.