The Mandalorian revealed a huge clue about Palpatine’s return

polygon.com:

The Mandalorian’s latest episode seems to finally start connecting the dots on a tease the show made all the way back in its very first season. The series’ ties to the larger Star Wars universe have always been off and on, sometimes connecting as directly as you can get, and other times preferring references and Easter eggs. But “Chapter 23: The Spies” seems to hint that the whole thing is tied into the Skywalker saga pretty closely, or at least one character’s reappearance in that saga.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Episode 9 — The Rise of Skywalker.]

The Mandalorian’s third season has brought us all over the galaxy in search of a home for Din Djarin and his wayward Mandalorian sect, but it turns out the most important developments for the Star Wars universe were happening on their homeworld of Mandalore the whole time.

The latest episode revealed that Moff Gideon, the antagonist of the show’s first two seasons, built a base on the abandoned, thought to be uninhabitable planet. Taking advantage of Mandalore’s infamous reserves of beskar, he has equipped a new variety of Stormtroopers with beskar armor, mirroring the strength of the Mandalorians’ own signature gear.

While there’s plenty of fighting to go along with Gideon’s return, that isn’t the most important thing that happens in this episode. That honor belongs to a conversation between Moff Gideon and some Imperial Warlords, including Captain Pellaeon and Commandant Brendol Hux — father of Armitage Hux from the sequel trilogy — who are seeking to build the First Order.

Gideon turns most of their conversation to Grand Admiral Thrawn, whose promised return to leadership has yet to materialize. But in talking, references