The Star Wars sequels left us with a lot of unanswered questions, with many of the biggest relating to Supreme Leader Snoke. Shortly after his introduction as the mysterious leader of the First Order, the villain was casually killed off in The Last Jedi; however, The Rise of Skywalker would reveal that Snoke was simply one of Emperor Palpatine's puppets.
Clearly, the Emperor had controlled what many believe to be a failed clone from the start, but how does all of this tie into what's currently playing out in The Mandalorian?
During Friday's episode, Din Djarin, Greef Karga, and Cara Dune came across what appeared to be vats full of failed clones, one of whom looked a lot like Snoke (Doctor Pershing also mentioned needing The Child for its "M-Count"). Now, a fan has shared a video which appears to confirm that it was indeed Snoke's theme that could be heard playing in the background of that scene.
What does this all mean?
Well, it seems likely Moff Gideon is attempting to resurrect The Emperor, but he needs The Child's Force abilities to create a vessel capable of holding his leader. Based on what we saw in The Rise of Skywalker, however, it seems likely that Din Djarin's intervention is what ultimately stops Palpatine returning to full power decades before his final defeat.
Check out the clip below:
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some revealing concept art from "The Siege."
Now he's done stealing Frog Lady's eggs, The Child has turned his attentions to cookies. When his classmate on Nevarro refuses to share his treat, the adorable creature uses his Force powers to take them, and that leads to one of the show's funniest moments to date later in the episode.
Nevarro has changed a lot since we last visited the planet, and that's thanks to Greef Karga and Cara Dune. Earlier in the episode, we saw her taking down some thieves, though the creature she saves definitely didn't have the ability to breathe fire; clearly something changed during shooting!
The Imperial base is another of Moff Gideon's projects, though we caught a glimpse of some deformed clones there (one of whom looked an awful lot like Supreme Leader Snoke). The Child's "M-Count" appears to be vital to this process, and that's obviously a reference to Midi-chlorians.
As Din Djarin jetted back to make sure The Child was safe, Cara Dune and Greef Karga (alongside the Mythrol) made their way back to town...with the Empire on their tale! It was one of the show's best action sequences to date, and proved that Carl Weathers is a great fit for the Star Wars franchise.
"The Siege" ended with a visit aboard Moff Gideon's ship, though it wasn't a traditional Star Destroyer! Instead, the villain appears to be in charge of an Arquitens class ship. Those are most commonly associated with The Clone Wars, and while they were once used primarily by the Jedi, the Empire later made use of Arquitens-class command cruisers, so that's likely what we see here.