‘The Mandalorian’ Fans Are Loving This Week’s Connection To ‘The Last Jedi’

WARNING: Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 below.

After spending time with Jack Black and Lizzo last week, The Mandalorian finally revealed the shadowy force behind the scenes of Season 3: Moff Gideon. Despite fan theories to the contrary, Giancarlo Esposito’s warlord is still in command of the Empire’s lingering presence. However, Star Wars fans know that Grand Admiral Thrawn is waiting in the wings. Not only was Thrawn name-dropped in this latest episode, Chapter 23 “The Spies,” but Lucasfilm recently confirmed that Lars Mikkelsen will portray the cunning blue alien threat when Ahsoka arrives in August.

In the meantime, Moff Gideon has other plans. Specifically, his secret base on Mandalore where he’s building a new army fitted with the warrior race’s powerful Beskar armor. He also knows that it’s only a matter of time until Bo-Katan and Mando arrive to retake the planet, which they think is uninhabited, and Gideon is fully prepared to leverage that fact.

With the element of surprise on his side, the cunning warlord’s forces make short work of the Mandalorians after luring them into the secret Imperial base. Mando is captured in the battle, but what happened next melted Star Wars fans faces. As Jon Favreau’s hulking Paz Vizla stays behind to give the remaining Mandalorians a chance to escape, he’s cut down by the arrival of three Praetorian Guards a.k.a. the red dudes from that badass throne room fight in The Last Jedi.

Star Wars fans lost their mind at seeing The Mandalorian continue to weave itself into the Sequel Trilogy’s lore. You can see some of the reactions below:

New episodes of The Mandalorian stream Wednesday on Disney+.