The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 Makes Some Big Connections to Ahsoka & the New Republic Movie

The latest episode of The Mandalorian all but guaranteed a major crossover is on the way between the Lucasfilm shows on Disney+.  As revealed at Star Wars Celebration over the weekend, the Shadow Council is the group overseeing all remnants of the Empire. It's this group Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) is a part of, alongside the likes of Brendol Hux and Rae Sloane. The group was finally brought to live-action through Episode 7 of The Mandalorian Season Three.

Previously introduced in Chuck Wendig's Aftermath novels, the Shadow Council also features Grand Admiral Thrawn as a member. We've known for a while the character would be appearing in Ahsoka, but the latest episode of The Mandalorian wanted to make sure fans definitely knew the character was on the way, given his namedrop during the meeting of the Shadow Council.

Now that we know the Shadow Council is what's pulling the strings behind this era of the Star Wars timeline—coupled with the fact Hux may or may not be the one working on resurrecting Emperor Palpatine—it's apparent the group will have a heavy presence in the studio's Disney+ offerings moving forward.

Will Thrawn appear in The Mandalorian?

As the season begins to wind down, fans are running out of time to see Lars Mikkelsen's return as the iconic Star Wars villain. If he does happen to appear in The Mandalorian, you can expect him to be at odds with Gideon and the other members of the Council. After all, Esposito himself told us much at Celebration earlier this month.

"Admiral Thrawn hasn't really shown up for his duties and he's agreed to be a part of this council, but he's not around, so [Moff Gideon] doesn't think much of him as a leader at present," Esposito told us. "Moff Gideon is fearless and there's a danger coming to any meeting like this, but Moff is not afraid of that. He has some tricks up his sleeve in regard to that as well."

The Mandalorian is still releasing new episodes for its third season every Wednesday while Star Wars: Ahsoka is expected to debut on Disney+ this August. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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