Star Wars FINALLY Reveals Why Moff Gideon Was TERRIFIED of Luke Skywalker 

I will agree that the one who single-handedly defeated both of the highest-ranking members of the Empire and was involved in the destruction of two Death Stars would have a formidable reputation amongst the surviving imperial officers.

Ultimately, irrespective of whether Gideon knew who he was or not, he saw Luke wipe out the Dark Troopers without missing a step. That’s terrifying.

Considering how almost everyone was scared shitless of Vader, the guy who defeated him would be even more fearsome. Plus the Dark Trooper droids were already quite powerful. Even seasoned Mandalorian warriors struggled against them and yet Luke just breezed through them let a hot knife through butter.

I can’t believe it’s taken me decades to consider the reputation and mythology of Luke Skywalker among the imperial survivors. This is spot-on.

Ah yes. Because if a man who destroyed the first death star, supposedly killed Vader and the emperor, helped blow up the second death star and effectively toppled half the fucking empire in the process, I'd just brush it off. After all, there's no need to be afraid of (according to empirial propaganda) a vengeful member of a nearly extinct race of super wizards whose kill count is in the millions.

"I'm a hallway killer, just like my father before me!" So cool that luke is the boogeyman to imperial remnants just as how his dad is to the rebels

Palpatine dismissed his guards after Luke was brought to him. That Luke had been brought before the Emperor was probably not a secret. What mattered was that Luke survived. Vader and the Emperor (seemingly) did not. To the Empire, that would look like Luke had killed them both despite having originally been a prisoner. Further, back between ANH and ESB, Vader was openly obsessed with capturing Luke and the Imperial fleet (and certainly the bridge crew of the Executor) knew that this was Vader's goal. Moff Gideon, not having an audience view of the story, would merely know that Luke had once been a highest priority target for Vader and the Emperor. A target, that once captured, seemingly killed them both. This would have understandably scared him witless. Gideon has quite an ego and he is Force-sensitive. But he's not going to be stupid enough to take on somebody who seemingly beheaded the Empire!

So “Star Wars” didn’t “finally reveal” anything? This is just an 8 minute video saying Moff Gideon knows history.

While I figured that Gideon had possibly known of Luke, I figured that reason he tried to off himself was that Gideon knows things that he didn't want the Republic or New Jedi to know. Like the plan to revive Palpatine.

Question: What villain WASNT scared of Prime Luke after ROTJ? Like seriously bro I’d pass out.

Especially after witnessing how easily Luke walked through the dark troopers, Moff Gideon had no doubt that the stories were true, and he truly feared more what Luke would or could do to him more than death itself.

Your reasoning definitely provides a good general outline as to why Gideon would be terrified of him. Within that story there are quite a few different, but plausible sub-stories he could have known about or believed, all of which would amount to him crapping his pants upon seeing that hood & green lightsaber cutting through his machines like a hot knife through butter.

He was in his late teens or early 20s during the clone wars. He knew the name Anakin Skywalker. A young powerful Jedi and hero. He also knew the name of the pilot that took out Death Star1.. Season 2 was about 5 years after he took out Vader. He was justified in crapping his uniform when Luke was destroying his dark troopers

Here's why Moff Gideon was shitting bricks when he saw Luke: He knows that at one point, Luke was in the same room as Emperor Palpatine and his top dog, Darth Vader, and only Luke walked out alive, dragging Vader's body with him. Darth Vader was the boogeyman to the Empire and everyone it ruled over. And Palpatine was even scarier. Now you see this ONE Rebel/Jedi who, as far as anyone else knows, killed BOTH of them. Gideon has EVERY reason to be terrified of Luke.

I saw this explanation a lot and I subscribe to it myself: Gideon might not have know what Palpatine and Vader are (siths that is), but he definitely know that these two are both terrifying and have unthinkable might. So you have these three figures in one room. Only Luke comes out alive. With Vader in his grip, barely living. This story would definitely spread like wildfire across the Imperial Ranks and by word of mouth would be told even scarier from time to time.

One of the most iconic scenes in recent human culture. Seeing Gidians face, who spent the whole series being badass unflinching and always in complete control, turn and show such worry and fear at the Meer sight of luke approaching and then for him almost blow his own brains out was sooooo powerful. This man took part in the destruction of mandalor and led a superior fighting force and was completely defeated before luke had even done anything. Luke's power is what he means to us! He is the voice of our hope and desire that no matter what evil and hardship which relentlessly attack us will ultimately be defeated and ultimately overcome by the sheer weight and magnatitude of the willpower of good.

Two slight problems that I can see with this explanation, which largely parallels my thoughts. I don't think it was widely known by the Empire or anyone that Palpatine was a Sith. He was feared yes, but because of the might of the Empire and Vader as his personal agent. The second point is that nobody there knew who Luke was on the bridge of Gideon's ship. With his information gathering resources, Gideon might have been able to piece together that the figure they saw cutting through the Dark Troopers was the infamous Luke Skywalker who killed the Emperor and Vader. Or maybe not. But he surely knew the stories of the Jedi Generals of the Clone Wars and what they were capable of. Whether or not he guessed it was Luke, the fact that a Jedi was on board carving up his last line of defense certainly would have been enough to panic him.

Hello There Edit: Thanks For 1K Likes This Is The Most I Ever Gotten

the funny thing was only giddeon knew exactly who was on that lone X-Wing, having heard all the stories from the grunts about the lone jedi knight who flew a battered X-Wing (Luke's x-wing was a first generation x-wing, the thing is OLD compared to even New Republic standards), grogu knew there was a powerful force user on board but doesnt personally know luke and everyone else have no idea who this guy is. That means only Giddeon knew how much shit he was in when that one x-wing arrives because who knew of only 1 hero who would fly an x-wing to a capital ship by himself and walk away.

You gained another follower. That was very well done. I look forward to more of your content. 👏🏻 thank you ! This is the way

Basically. Moff gideon was afraid of Luke skywalker because he is luke skywalker.

I think Gideon feared that Luke was capable of seeing his mind, what they were doing and what they were planning, and feared all would be revealed whether Gideon was willing to give it up or not. That or Gideon feared someone else, someone higher up in the organization, and what the punishment would be for allowing himself to be captured by Luke.

Another fantastic analysis. Appreciate the holistic approach and depth, bringing in both the lore and psycho-emotional and relational realities at play. Always a treat.

Add in that Gideon, being a force user, could FEEL Luke's power. Even from the distance. That Luke had also masked himself, using the force, until he started walking the halls and trashing the defenses. Imagine thinking you have won, then suddenly, this dude you should have sensed appears on your ship

Great analysis. This ties into the Book of Boba Fett too. Fett witnessed Luke defeating himself and Jabbas guards. When coming out of the pit, he may have wondered wtf happened. If his number one, Fennac, mentions this to him, he could also be building his own defenses as he was the man who brought Solo to Jabba, and the series of events leading to his almost death. Stay low, grow strong then protect… maybe a future fight between the newJedi and Boba’s empire… who knows. Lots of possibilities… doubt Disney goes this route, but at least we have a New Hope in enjoying Star Wars.

Well, Luke DID live up to Gideon's expectations when he took on AND defeated the entire Dark Trooper legion on the ship, and though his encounter with Vader and Palpatine didn't go as so many people thought, he DID not only defeat Vader in single combat, but by redeeming him, leaving to him killing Palpatine, he WAS responsible for Palpatine's death.

Sounds like a good explanation to me. It's interesting as a fan to start seeing perspectives of the story from other characters.

That description is so true! We as the audience just see Luke as a farm boy, but the name Skywalker has all the baggage of Anakin attached to it, good and bad, but the galaxy never knew Anakin's fall to Vader, they would have known him and remembered him as the insanely popular war general. NEW HOPE GIVES US THIS!! Red Leader commented to Luke about meeting his father!

Reasoning is solid, but I think you should have mentioned how he basically walked through his Dark trooper project, his pet project to re conquer the lost territories of the Empire. Luke finished them all off basically unimpeded by them.

I agree. The legend surrounding Luke was enough to terrify Moff Gideon and in his mind there was nothing he could do to survive a direct confrontation with Luke Skywalker. When I watched the last episode of The Mandalorian I was watching Moff Gideon's reaction to seeing Luke and I was for a few minutes a little confused by his reaction. I hadn't at that point considered what Palpatines remaining followers thought about Luke. I assumed most would want to get even and try and destroy him, but I never had any thought as to what story had been told after the deaths of Vader and Palpatine. Gideon's reaction makes perfect sense to me now. Thank you for such an informative video. I can't wait to see what happens next with The Mandalorian, Luke, Grogu, Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra and Thrawn!

context is EVERYTHING! nice work!

Thank you for your videos friend. May the force be with you

If I were Gideon I'd be pissing my pants

I assumed that Gideon tried to kill himself because he was worried that Luke wud use his Jedi powers and find out Palpatine was still alive

great content thanks for your insights...very well done

Love the analysis. Well done

Imperials would share fables about Luke Skywalker standing onthe nose of his X-Wing and deflected ship fired lasers with the force, crushing TIEs with the force, so it's no surprise that a Moff has heard of him and wo uld fear him. Even if he didn't know it was Luke specifically... but I guess he did, because it was a single X-Wing that landed.

This what I figured. Luke might have told the Rebel Alliance that Vader killed the Emperor, but the remnants of the Empire probably didn't believe that. Plus they did see Luke carrying a badly injured Vader, the man who had a reputation as being the invincible fist of the Empire. Gideon likely was afraid that Luke would drag him back to the New Republic where he would be interrogated for information on his accomplices. Or he might have simply decided to kill himself because he'd rather die than surrender. It would fit the Nazi theme of the Empire since many real life Nazi leaders committed suicide to avoid capture.

wow, that was awesome. Definitely made me think & go deeper into the story. I think this is a good companion vid to the movies regardless if you seen mandalorian season 1 & 2. This vids summary could be redone by lucas film & made cannon like somebody (a teacher) telling students/children the story/legend of luke skywalker.

I agree that Gideon would fear Luke and might panic on realizing that Luke was there, but I still don't see why death would be preferable. It's not like a Jedi would torture him. Maybe he has a higher up boss he has to protect (Thrawn?).

Wasn't Luke Skywalker the Grim Reaper for imperial officers tho?

What made Luke so powerful was his ability to overcome his greatest fear (being corrupted to the Dark Side, like his father) and seeing the good in people that he magically lost when he attempted to murder his best friend and sister’s only child while he slept. Moff Gideon only sees power in material might; not in righteousness of character.

SUPER sick video!!!! I was so into this!!! Great content my dude!!!!

An extremely reasonable explanation because it's the exact same one I went over in my head as I read the title of the video. Well done!

It's an ok reason but watching that episode I took it more as moff Gideon who has made himself pretty well known for having all the info and being pretty sure that even though it was going to be a rough fight on his ship that he still would win, and the lone xwing coming to help was a major unknown to him. Also while he was the main bad guy in the mandalorian so far it kind of felt like while he was big and important that he wasn't the top guy. Shooting the mandalorian and trying to get grogu then himself felt.more like a lieutenant trying to clean up loose ends and prevent his knowledge from falling into rebel hands but that's just my abridged opinion lol. Still, nicely laid out

I mean I feel like any evildoer who has heard of Luke and what he accomplished in such a short time would have feared him

A solid point of view with a slant I'd never thought of, a very good video.

What I still have yet to understand is how do people not know that Anakin became Darth Vader. I mean his 501st troops literally went into the Jedi temple with him as Darth Vader and even though he went off to fight Obi Wan alone there was still a Darth Vader at the end of the fight but now in a suit. Did all of those 501st clones die before hand? Did they not make the connection that anakin was Darth Vader and still is? Could you possibly do a video on that?

Glad you came to this conclusion. I had the same when I saw Gideon's expression in the last show of S2. The Empire and all its military by then knew to their bones, for 2 decades by then, that both Vader and Palpatine were THE most dangerously, by far, powerful beings alive. They were supremely deadly and had proven their enormous power and influence many times over. And yet when Luke was captured, and brought to the Death Star, all the military saw, was a boy being brought in binds by Vader, alone, in to the same room with Palpatine. And a short time later, all they saw was Luke carrying out a fatally wounded Vader, and no Emperor, and the rapid collapse of their Empire. What other conclusion could have Gideon come to?

For me this is an good example of “the mind is your own worst enemy “

To me it's the most logical explanation of what transpired. Excellent content and job well done of telling the tale!

You Brought Up Outstanding Points That I Never Thought Of.

He mentions that the surviving imperials told their interpretation of the events that took place on the second death star, and leaving it at that. I don't think that's all there is to it, as stories like this one tend to change and morph as time goes on. I wouldn't be surprised that, by the time it reached him, it had become "Luke Skywalker killed the Darth Vader and the Emperor with a mere thought." It might not have been as dramatic as what I just stated, but I would think that it would have been far more dramatic than what it had been when the Imperials told it.

You got this all wrong. He wasn’t afraid of Luke, he saw R2. That’s one badass little droid and his reputation is well established by 9 films.

You just reminded me how awesome that scene was and how much more angry I was over Luke's treatment in the movies that shall not be named.

Love the exposition of the percieved story!!

Adding tô the análisis, we have tô remember that in the empires eyes, Jedi were super Wizards who tried tô take palpatines life multiple times in the past, leaving him scarred...and theyre considered traitors and higly dangerous...tô the Empire, palpatine is the only way tô achieve peace, and yes since Luke defeated Vader which was seem as unbeatable, Luke is then feared as highly dangerous and probably one of the reason for the empires remnants tô operate in the shadows

It’s a great theory but honestly I don’t think they were thinking that (the show writers). I believe they portrayed him trying to kill himself to avoid being captured and sent back to the republic to be interrogated. Capturing a Moff would be the real life equivalent of capturing a grand admiral of the navy.

I love how Giancarlo Esposito staring at a screen intensely is all anyone needs to confidently state 'He's legitimately scared here, i've never seen him this shook.' Testimate to a freaking amazing actor.

I love this reasoning entirely. It seems extremely likely that Luke’s triumphs would turn into urban legends far larger than their realities. I’d say it even helps explain why legions of grown men were crying upon witnessing his return in Mando… Luke _IS_ a Legend.

Yeah I don't think Vader or Palps were big on advertising their training. Tarkin knew, but even he played it close to the vest because he knew it didn't serve him to leak it. The empire structure concerning their anti-Jedi policies were very insular. Vader ran the inquisitors and that was all the authority anyone needed. Even Krennic went to Vader. I think the Tarkin book was really good at describing that only the emperors' crimson guard and personal attendants were privy to the Emperor's training. Vader was the boogieman. The Marvel Comics have done a tremendous job of showing how widespread Vader's legend was and that it was suicide or worse to question the Emperor's relationship with Vader. As far as Gideon knows, Luke "officially" killed Vader, Tarkin and anyone else on DS1, Emperor, Boba Fett, Jabba, and the Royal Guard. Anyone who could refute that died on the DS2. Obviously he'll take Fett off that list. If you were on the Rebels most wanted list, Luke could end you.

Pretty good theory and I'll accept it. In fact I quite like the idea of Mof Gideon being afraid of Luke. He'd been an arrogant SOB throughout the series!

I've wanted to draw a comic of this... I love the idea of what the Imperials thought as a bound prisoner entered a room with the 2 most powerful beings in the empire and then left it dragging one's broken body and the other nowhere to be found....

Props, very well thought out and makes a lot of sense. Moff Gideon might have also had some sort of history and/or interaction with Luke, which may learn in a future episode of one of these series.

Makes perfect sense for Gideon to be terrified of Luke. If I had heard the stories, I would probably be pretty terrified too.

Alison Wonderland makes some good points. Whether or not he knew of he legend of Luke from the final events in return of the Jedi, it seems Luke was hunting Gidian regardless, thus it is safe to assume there were probably some events off screen where Luke went through Gidian's underlings in an attempt to gather information on how to locate Gidian. As such, Gidian was likely aware that there was a powerful Jedi disrupting his plans, and probably realized he was at the top of his list. So at the very least whether or not he even knew who Luke was, Gidian must have known what Luke had done to his underlings, and thus realized it was the same Jedi on his ship crushing his beloved Dark Troopers like tin cans. I mean, lets be real... At this point in the universe, its not like there were many Jedi left that it could have been anyways. Probably safe to assume, if theres a Jedi on your imperial star destroyer, chances are its the same dude whose basically single handedly destoryed the imperial hirearchy. Though, it is certainly a lot cooler to think that Gidian was shaking in his boots because he watched the original trilogy like we did ;) (Thats a joke btw, meaning he was essentially privy to the same information the viewer was if they watched the OG trilogy)

Gideon was in the mess hall getting a slice of roasted Dewback, when he overheard A conversation between a couple Stormtroopers. It was mostly just ball busting about each others performance in their blaster proficiency test, but then one said "I was there man. Vader brought that mother into a room with the emperor. Next thing I know, the whole space station was trembling and that guy comes out, dragging Vader behind him. Well I hit the durasteel and hopped A pod outta there!!" And that is how the Legend of Luke Skywalker spread throughout the Empires ranks. It was a water cooler moment at the office.

You have a perfect explanation💯💪🏾

In that scene he looked as perplexed as the others on the ship. He realized it was a Jedi when watching the monitors and seeing how easily this Jedi was cutting through the Dark Troopers. I don't think he knew it was Skywalker necessarily but knew it was a Jedi from which they hadn't seen in a long time.

Great video and I totally agree with this statement. Palpatine and Vader had been the two most powerful beings for 2 decades and then Luke comes and destroys two of their Death Star's and then kills Palpatine and Vader. I thought the actor did a great job of showing fear in his face as we watched Luke destroy all those Dark Troopers.

Makes sense. Although I was anticipating some new information.

Makes sense. Great video. Thanks.

In looking at the fighting techniques while wading his way to the command deck and Grogu, Luke used both Jedi and Sith techniques, which could indicate that Luke was the physical embodiment of the Balance of the Force…thus Vader did fulfill the prophecy by fathering Luke. High ranking Sith Lords might also have figured this out…especially with Luke taking out everyone he did. So if Luke could use both the dark side and the light side of the force without being turned toward either, it would explain the ease in which he waded through the robots to reach Grogu, as well as why when he sensed that Ben Solo had a slight leaning toward the Darkside he freaked, and then Ben saw it and Kylo was created… thus leading Luke to cut himself off from the force completely. I think that would be a viable reason as to how he acts in the “Last Jedi.”

How many people knew that Palpatine was a Sith Lord? Doubtful that many did. How many knew that Vader was a Sith? Again, not many. In the original trilogy, Sith weren’t even mentioned much, if any. Vader was known by some to have the ability to us the force, but more didn’t even believe in “hokey religions and ancient weapons”. So claiming that Luke’s reputation was because he killed two powerful Siths doesn’t add up. Most people would only know that he was responsible for the destruction of the first Death Star and that he had a hand in killing the Palpatine and his henchman, Vader. The whole reaction of Moff was written to give Luke his balls back after the mouse castrated him in the final trilogy. Too bad Disney didn’t allow Luke to rise to the power that he did in legends, something that Moff would have definitely feared, instead of making him a failed, blue milk drinking, simp.

This is a perfect explanation thanks

This is the best... Reasoning Why.. The Skywalker name became a Legend. Great Video

How long does the events of Mandalorian happen after Return of the Jedi? Unfortunately for him to make this appearance just like Vader making a cameo in Rogue One, we see more advanced light saber techniques and styles. Also with someone like Moff Gideon could Luke also have know about him already not really walking in blind at all to find the young Groku.

Gideon's ego made him think that Luke was here to kill him That he was as important to the empire now as Vader or the emperor was then. Gideon is seeing Luke slow walk through his dark troopers like they are flies. Gideon may have captured , tortured and killed some of Luke's students tortured. Gideon may believe as their teacher he may be hunting Gideon for vengeance. Gideon may believe that Luke dragged a wounded and helpless Vader to Endor to be roasted alive and eaten by Ewoks. With the cruel mind set of the officers of the empire and the propaganda that the empire use. There is no telling what lies Gideon was telling himself

That is a really great take on this. I could see Luke becoming a phantom used to scare beyond his Jedi skills. And maybe he embraced using that fear?

it is a good explanation for that. it is also a nice explanation for his arc in last jedi if you think about it

Does one need a reason to be scared of Luke when you aren't on his side?

Prime-level Luke was a baby faced boogey man. Rumors are often greatly exaggerated, so hearing a Jedi powerful enough to destroy a death star on his lunch break, stop in to destroy Palpatine and Vader in a dunk contest, then seeing him decimate space terminators in person, is enough to make anyone perform dental work on themselves with their blaster.

Excellent breakdown…. I can see all of this being present in Gideon’s head and for all of the reasons you surmised.

Excellent breakdown!!!

I think maybe he’s seen the clone of Luke that Palps made in Legends. He has definitely been around the cloning facilities. There would be all kinds of imperfect versions around , just like with Snoke. He may even have seen Luuke. And Palps clone as well.

Awesome

Excellent synopsis! 👍👍👌👌👌!

He not only know about jedis from reading, history or rumors, he live at time the jedi where alive, i think that is the problem on the star wars lore is that it seems that the events of the end of the republic happened centuries or at least 50 years ago, but actually happened only 20 years ago and at the time of the mandalorian is only about 30, we know that is veeeery little time and most of the population and war veterans are alive and not too old to forget.

So.. he's NOT so much scared of Luke it's the worry that SOMEHOW he might fly his fighter and manage to one shot his Star Destroyer the way he seemingly did the Death Star... Even IF it happened to be true in the Death Stars case... Did he NOt think to check the cams in the throne room that woulda displayed similar to what we saw in the movies??

Shoot I could only imagine what the fraction of the empire thought of Luke. First the hole galaxy knew Vader as probably the most ruthless enforcer the galaxy has ever seen. Only heard stories about Sith like Vader. And the galaxy knew the emperor ruled the entire galaxy with an iron fist!! And not even the most powerful crime syndicates didn’t cross the emperor. Plus they knew Vader was there to handle any problems anyone gave the empire. So the person who controlled the most feared man/machine in the galaxy had to be something no one even wanted to have to come in front of. So like you said they seen Luke go in, in handcuffs, and come out with the emperor dead and dragging a half dead one handed Vader!!! So yeah people are going to talk. To real story alone is incredible but with the embellishments of word of mouth only made Luke bigger than life. Even tho Luke is actually bigger than life!!!

Awesome analysis!

I never gave it any thought, but your reasons are good enuff.

Clearly correct. Luke was the boogieman legend of the ex imperials. Much like Vader was that for the remaining Jedi. Word always spreads and legends are always made out of men. Those legends are always larger than the man they are based on as it is simpler for people to assign all things bad to one great figure or power that stands above all others. Clearly that is why Gideon fears Luke so much. No other explanation makes as much sense.

For me, it stands to reason that Moff Gideon, as a high-ranking official in the Empire, potentially connected to the Imperial Security Bureau (with the attachment of Death Troopers at his beck and call Season 1), would know about Luke Skywalker as a high-value target even from the post-Empire Strikes Back time where Vader ordered Luke captured alive. If his Dark Troopers were programmed with records from the ISB, and there was perhaps a left-over priority order in that database to terminate Luke (even potentially just Order 66 as a standing directive), that would explain their total abandonment of Moff Gideon's rescue and the redirection to take down Luke. And the Moff would be able to put two and two together, realizing that his rescue could only be superceded by a high-priority order to take down high-value targets like the last known Jedi Knight. And with his involvment in what we can assume to be the cloning of Palpatine, he probably feared that the Jedi had uncovered his efforts and sought to take him down.

This is exactly the train of thought I had as well I've read a lot of the comics and some books so I had an idea of Luke's reputation

Honestly sir you covered the story well. It makes perfect sense. Putting myself in this “story” I would’ve come to the same conclusion.

Remember that Luke was to bring "balance" to the Force, meaning he was a harlequin Jedi who was half light, half dark. The books in particular describe him as a terrifying figure who executed his enemies just like his father had.

Hello there

Excellent reasoning and content

I just had a thought. What if Gideon knew Palpatine had survived his encounter with Luke & had orders from him to get the kid? What if he had heard a version of the story of how Vader was killed by Luke but Palpatine escaped? Such a story might've been cause for fear. Fear of Luke & of Palpatine! He couldn't beat Luke and he couldn't face Palpatine having failed his mission. Just a thought, though.