Chapter 13 was pretty easily the best episode of the Mandalorian yet. There’s no debating it at this point.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched this episode yet, please do not read the rest of this post. Come back later.
We finally got some details on our tiny, green friend Baby Yoda, whose name turns out to be Grogu. But that wasn’t even a top five moment of this episode.
We also finally got our first look at a live action Jedi on the small screen. Ahsoka Tano made her debut on The Mandalorian and what a debut it was. Mando been seeking her out to have her train Baby Yoda (aka Grogu). But she won’t do it.
Wait, why won’t she train him? She’s a Jedi, right?
Well, yes and no. Tano actually left the order shortly before the end of the Clone Wars. She’s lucky she did because after she left Order 66 was executed and her master, Anakin Skywalker, turned into Darth Vader. Which is exactly why she won’t train Grogu.
Baby Yoda sees Mando as a father figure. That’s an attachment, attachments can lead to hatred which can also lead to another Vader. Ahsoka saw happen up close with her master. She’s afraid that’ll happen again.
But that’s not the most important development of this episode. It’s what comes after that reveal that has everyone shook.
Grand Admiral Thrawn — one of Star Wars most dastardly villains — is still alive. And that opens up a whole new can of worms.
Alright, slow down. Who is Grand Admiral Thrawn?
If we had a Mount Rushmore of Star Wars Villains, Thrawn would be up there along with Darth Vader, Palpatine and Darth Maul. He’s that bad.
Long story short, Thrawn was a genius strategist for the Empire before it fell. He worked with both Palpatine and Darth Vader and was the main villain in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. He was in charge of quelling the rebellion on Lothal.
So what happened to him?
Well, the last time we saw him he was locked into a battle with the young Jedi Ezra Bridger — the main character of Star Wars Rebels.
Last time we saw them, Bridger trapped both of them on a Star Destroyer and had a fleet of Purgill (basically, giant space whales) pull the ship out into hyperspace. We had no idea where they were being transported or whether they were even alive because the ship was falling apart.
Until now, anyway. Thrawn is, apparently, still kicking.
How do we know that?
Ahsoka is looking for him. In Chapter 13, the magistrate Tano fought in the village at the end turns out to be Morgan Elsbeth. Elsbeth worked under Thrawn and, apparently, knows his current whereabouts.
Wow, that’s wild. How did Thrawn survive?
We have no idea. But it’s a big deal that he did. Because if he survived, then Ezra probably survived, too. And one of Tano’s quests is actually finding out where he is and what happened after the jump into hyperspace.
When we saw her last at the end of Star Wars: Rebels, she set out on a quest along with Sabine Wren to go find Bridger. If she can find Thrawn, then she’ll have a really good shot at finding Bridger.
Will we see Ezra Bridger in The Mandalorian?
It’s possible! And it might happen soon thanks to Baby Yoda.
Tano is sending Mando and Baby Yoda over to Tython to access the ruins of an old Jedi temple. There, she’s hoping that he’ll make a connection to the force and that another Jedi out in the universe will pick up that signal.
There’s a chance it could be Bridger! But it could also be Luke Skywalker. It could also be Cal Kestis, who is the main character from the new Star Wars: The Fallen Order video game. It could be someone else. We have no idea.
All we know is things just got really interesting here. And I can’t wait to see what happens next.