Who Attacked Bo-Katan's Base In The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 3?

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Mandalorian.

In "The Convert," the nineteenth installment of "The Mandalorian," Bo-Katan and Din Djarin leave Mandalore and head back to Kalevala, where Bo-Katan's castle resides. Unfortunately, they're attacked by a squadron of fierce TIE Interceptors. The Mandalorians wonder where any random Imperial Warlord could have gotten such firepower in the age of the New Republic, but they don't have time to ponder further. They have to fight if they want to survive.

Bo_Katan gets Din Djarin back to his N1 starfighter, waiting on the landing pad of her castle and the pair of them fight back the TIES. As they make their triumphant return, they discover TIE Bombers shattering Bo-Katan's home. Bo-Katan goes after them, but more enemies appear on the scope, far more than the pair of them could fight. Overwhelmed, Din Djarin convinces Bo-Katan to retreat and they exit in hyperspace as fast as they can.

But who was responsible for this attack? There are a few options. The first option is that this really is a random Imperial Warlord, but somehow, given the interconnected nature of the Favreau and Filoni television universe, I don't think that's the case.

This entire episode has Moff Gideon's fingerprints all over it. Although he was believed to have been headed to a New Republic War Tribunal, rumors abound that he has escaped. His former communications officer, Elia Kane, just so happens to be stationed in the same Amnesty Program that his former asset, Dr. Pershing, is in, and she lures him into having his mind wiped by the New Republic. It certainly makes one believe that Gideon is pulling the strings here. But could he be the one who has marshaled this force against Bo-Katan?

He certainly has the motive. As the one responsible for the Night of a Thousand Tears, he seems to have a personal vendetta against Mandalore and its people — Bo-Katan in particular. She was also part of the force, led by Din Djarin, that boarded his cruiser, took his Dark Troopers, arrested him, and sent him to the New Republic. He certainly has added reasons there to want to make Bo-Katan suffer.

But he didn't even have a Star Destroyer at his command before. Where would he have gotten a fresh resupply of TIE Interceptors and Bombers in a way that the New Republic wouldn't notice? Perhaps he's working for a higher power now.

Grand Admiral Thrawn's original story in the "Star Wars" Legends canon was to come back some 5 years after "Return of the Jedi" and bring the Imperial threat back to the forefront of the New Republic's mind. We've already heard whispers of his name in the previous season of "The Mandalorian," and we know that Ahsoka Tano is searching for him.

Last we saw him, his Star Destroyer Chimaera and the rest of his fleet were sent out into the unknown parts of space by Ezra Bridger and the purrgils. Could these extra resources Moff Gideon found (if Gideon was even the one behind it, though he appears to be the only one with a motive) be the returned Imperial Fleet of Grand Admiral Thrawn?

And if Thrawn has returned, could he have found even more, making him the single largest threat in the New Republic? Namely, the Katana fleet.

The Katana Fleet is another part of Thrawn's story out of "Star Wars" Legends. There's every chance it plays no part in the future of "The Mandalorian," but it wouldn't be a surprise to see some iteration of it come onto the show. The Katana Fleet was a massive fleet of Dreadnaughts built in the last days of the Old Republic. Unfortunately, on its maiden voyage, the fleet had a hyperspace problem and vanished, never to be seen again.

That is until Grand Admiral Thrawn assembled all the clues he needed to retrieve the Fleet and become a potent threat to the New Republic rather than just a leftover Imperial nuisance.

That story could be adapted to the Imperial technology we've seen and offer Thrawn all of the Imperial era tech he wants. Could this be where all of the storytelling is heading? It's a distinct possibility. There's no doubt we'll discover the true villain behind this plot against Bo-Katan and Mandalore this season, but in the meantime, this is the most compelling possibility.

"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" is streaming only on Disney+. New episodes come every Wednesday.