‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3: Could The Armorer Be Working for Moff Gideon?

Editor’s Note: The following contains minor spoilers from Season 3 Episode 7 of The Mandalorian.Season 3 of The Mandalorian is coming to a dramatic close as its penultimate episode titled, “The Spies” raised the stakes to a major level not just for Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) but for all the Mandalorians. Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) has once again made a major move to take back power and revive The Empire and the odds seem to be in his favor by the episode’s tragic close.

In a shocking twist, it is revealed that Moff Gideon has been hiding out on a secret base located on Mandalore of all places. He’s a powerful member of the Imperial Shadow Council and has been coordinating the demise of all Mandalorians with the help of the council and covert informants. We know one of the spies infiltrating the New Republic is Elia Kane (Katy M. O’Brian), a not-so-former Galactic Empire comms officer who worked under Moff Gideon. Though she is masquerading as reformed Amnesty Officer G68, she is truly still working under Gideon and briefing him on any and all updates surrounding the Mandalorians as well as carrying out tasks like mind-flaying Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) as we saw in Episode 3.

But as the plural title hints at, it is clear that Kane isn’t alone in her efforts to aid Moff Gideon. And considering Moff’s shiny new armor and his entire fleet of Dark Troopers outfitted in armor made out of Mandalorian Beskar, it seems that there is a traitor in our heroes’ midst and all signs point to someone you might not expect: The Armorer (Emily Swallow). The leader of the Children of the Watch and stern enforcer of the Creed, her devotion to her clan makes it hard to believe she’d ever betray them. But consider, for a moment, her actions in the past couple of episodes. Is it possible that The Armorer has been playing some sort of long game this whole time that culminates on Mandalore? We’re laying out all the evidence that suggests her betrayal below.

Mandalore Myth

By this point, in the series, both casual and devout viewers are quite familiar with the Great Purge of Mandalore and its subsequent obliteration. In addition to the bombings, we were also informed by The Armorer that Mandalore has been “plundered, ravaged, and poisoned,” making it completely uninhabitable. This is why Din’s task of bathing in the Living Waters is treated as an impossible task and the reason why he is cautious to test the air with a droid before stepping out of his N-1 Starfighter. To our collective surprise, it turns out Mandalore’s air is completely fine, and although it is indeed ravaged, there’s no reason they can’t rebuild.

The only reason the Children of the Watch have yet to return to Mandalore is because of The Armorer’s claims, but perhaps she made the story of the inhospitable atmosphere up so that Moff Gideon could construct his base on the planet uninterrupted and without fear of detection. It’s possible she intentionally centered Din’s redemption on bathing in the Living Waters because she believed he’d never attempt it due to the alleged inhospitality of the planet. And with Din exiled from the Children of the Watch and foregoing the creed, she’d have gotten rid of the biggest threat to her operation.

The Great Forge

The Armorer is revered and powerful because she is the one that creates the armor for her covert. She is a master of her craft as we’ve seen her fashion armor for Din, Bo-Katan, and even Grogu. Additionally, as you might imagine forging Beskar into Mandalorian armor is no easy task — it takes time, patience, and most importantly, experience. The Armorer has makeshift forges wherever the covert set-up camp, but she has spoken countless times of The Great Forge, the legendary and sacred site on Mandalore where it is described that the “air rang with the music of a hundred hammers.” This now mythic place is likely The Armorer’s happy place and where she would feel most in her element. Add to that the fact that Moff Gideon has inexplicably come into a wealth of Beskar and masterfully-crafted armor, perhaps she’s been making use of the forge all this time.

Moff Gideon may be an avid appropriator of Mandalorian culture (just look at his armor and obsession with the Darksaber) but he is by no means experienced with the forge nor would anyone he surrounds himself with be. However, if he allied himself with The Armorer and allowed her access to his base and The Great Forge, she could supply him with the Beskar necessary to outfit himself and his army of Dark Troopers.

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Bending the Creed

Though Mando has a very strong deep-rooted belief in the Creed and will do anything it takes to Walk the Way, The Armorer is by far the most devout follower of the Creed. When she learned that Din took his helmet off she didn’t hesitate to bring the hammer down on him. Though she cares for the covert, she is as strict as can be, that is until recently. This season The Armorer welcomed Bo-Katan into the creed as she inadvertently bathed in the Living Waters. This made sense considering she did bathe in the waters as she had to rescue Mando, and since she hadn’t removed her helmet since. Surprisingly, Bo was even willing to commit to the way as well and kept to it, even though she has made her opinion on their religion clear in the past.

It isn’t until later that things get iffy. The Armorer pulls Bo aside to talk and instructs her to take her helmet off. It’s an order that just feels wrong after hearing her preach about the Creed for so long. Bo is clearly suspicious but abides and removes her helmet. The Armorer tells Bo that she is the one who can walk between both worlds of Mandalorian ideology and that she will be the one to unite all Mandalorians together again. The Armorer even goes as far as to announce this in front of the Children of the Watch who are just as confused as the rest of us.

Despite The Armorer’s claims for unity, something just feels wrong. The idea that someone like The Armorer who has such a strong religious belief in the Creed would ever want to merge her cult with those that do not walk the way raises several red flags. It’s an odd request, but there is nothing inherently sinister in her actions… yet.

A Convenient Departure

Following The Armorer’s request, Bo-Katan reunites with the Nite Owls and regains their loyalty thanks to an assist from Mando who grants her claim to the Darksaber once more. In “The Spies” we see Din and Bo unite both tribes for the first time. The apprehension is palpable but the combined efforts of Bo and The Armorer are enough to soothe any frustrations among the tribes.

Once they are settled in, Bo gathers a crew of both tribes to travel to Mandalore. Din is the first to volunteer followed by Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado), Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides), Paz-Vizla, (Tait Fletcher), and others. The Armorer also volunteers, which is odd considering she usually stays back with the covert during missions, but all of a sudden she is eager to voyage to Mandalore with Bo, Din, and the rest of the now-united Mandalorians.

Everything is set, but after encountering a group of Mandalorians that survived on Mandalore after The Great Purge The Armorer suggests that she should ferry the ailing survivors off-world back to the ship as they need medical attention. Bo agrees and The Armorer takes off. Now, two glaring problems have presented themselves. First, The Armorer has successfully convinced Bo to unite all Mandalorians and round them up on Mandalore, leading them into one large ambush by Moff Gideon’s forces and bowing out beforehand. Secondly, as we previously discussed, The Armorer is a major zealot of Mandalore and The Great Forge. After committing to the voyage with the rest of The Mandalorians, it’s very odd that she’d abandon an expedition headed straight there. That is unless she’s already been spending plenty of time there crafting Mandalorian armor for the Empire and is using an excuse to get off-world before the ambush she’s set up.

Moff Gideon’s Rescue

At the end of episode five, we learn that Moff Gideon did indeed escape the transport ship and never actually made it to prison. And a scan of the scene reveals that he was saved by Mandalorians. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean Mandalorians rescued him, but whoever did was clad in Beskar armor. That being said, perhaps The Armorer orchestrated Gideon’s escape and provided the armor to the troops in order to break him out. From there, Gideon could set up his base of operations on Mandalore and The Armorer could continue to keep the covert in the dark and off-world until Gideon’s plans were ready.

A Familiar Helmet

As you probably noticed, Moff Gideon is continuing his Mandalorian appropriation by sporting a brand-new helmet to go with the rest of his Beskarian ensemble. And if you take a closer look at the detailing, the helmet is adorned with horns very similar to The Armorer’s own helmet. The similarity seems too calculated to just be a design coincidence and could foreshadow their allegiance. After all, they aren’t the only ones with horns on their helmet. In The Clone Wars Gar Saxon of the Death Watch also had horns on his helmet as a show of loyalty and allegiance to Darth Maul. This, of course, is a rabbit hole that leads to The Armorer’s true identity where a prominent theory posits she could be Saxon’s right hand, Rook Cast. Long story short? Horned helmets equal trouble.

The evidence has been piling up for weeks now, and it’s safe to say, either consciously or not, we’ve been overlooking it, but with the finale incoming and the fate of Mandalore at stake, it’s time to accept the fact that Paz Vizsla’s death and whatever Moff Gideon has in store for Din is all because of The Armorer’s betrayal. Considering how essential of a character she has been throughout the last 3 seasons of The Mandalorian and the impact and influence she has had in Din’s life it would be a heartbreaking twist, to say the least. And if executed well, it could go down as one of the greatest plot twists in Star Wars lore, which is no small achievement.