Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3 episode 5.
The Mandalorian season 3 episode 5 took the action up a notch after Carson Teva received a distress call from Greef Targa. After he passed on the message to Din Djarin and the Mandalorians, the former Resistance fighter flew off and didn’t return until the very end of the episode.
Teva stumbles upon an abandoned New Republic prison transport, which he quickly ascertains was used to transport Moff Gideon. It seems the Imperial officer was extracted from the ship before ever making it to trial - but who by? Well, the only clue left behind is a trace of Beskar steel, leaving all signs pointing toward the Mandalorians.
However, Star Wars fans have already been sharing their own theories about who else it could have been. "Teva said it was Beskar alloy, the Dark Troopers are back," wrote one Reddit user. "I wonder if they started making Dark Troopers out of Beskar after seeing Luke mow them down,” theorized another, while a third added: “Maybe a new version of Dark troopers with Beskar coating?"
The battle droids were used by Gideon in the season 2 finale before Luke Skywalker destroyed them all. While they’re not seemingly made of Beskar, some fans have been theorizing they may have had an upgrade since then.
Although there are some other theories floating around too, including that some Mandalorians may have aligned themselves with Gideon. "Probably Mandalorians that defected to help Gideon," suggested another. "Like the Imperial Supercommandos." A second agreed, before adding: "Very possible but also possible it's Mandalorians out for vengeance or a McGuffin to frame Mandalorians and get the New Republic to hassle them."
