The Mandalorian has established Giancarlo Esposito as the show's big bad, with the villain really showing the extent of his evil machinations in season 2. After unleashing the Dark Troopers and successfully capturing Grogu, Din Djarin - along with a helping hand from Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker - managed to take him down.
Now in the custody of the New Republic, recent comments from Giancarlo Esposito in an interview with Entertainment Tonight suggest he won't remain behind bars for long in season 3.
"Yes, it’s assumed he is behind bars," the actor started. "I think we could have an opportunity to see him escape those chains that bind him. We want to see a guy who is a mastermind who has an idea for the future that no one else has. And so, we want to know what that is, and we want to know if that’s good or bad."
Esposito would go on to say, "I keep holding onto this idea that he really wants to save this Galaxy. Of course, everyone does. But everyone assumes he just wants to control it. So, let’s find out if that’s true or not."
From what little we've seen of Gideon's plan, it appears he wishes to use Grogu in some sort of cloning experiment. Throw in that vat with a creature inside which definitely had a striking resemblance to Supreme Leader Snoke (even the score hinted it might be the case), and our guess is he's looking to help resurrect Emperor Palpatine.
In the Moff's mind, that's likely the only way to restore order to a Galaxy that's started to spiral out of control since the fall of the Empire.
As for what role he'll play in season 3, that remains to be seen. We've heard rumblings he might don his own set of Mandalorian armour, though can't imagine he's fighting on Din's side to help retake the planet.
The Mandalorian returns to Disney+ on March 1.