Giancarlo Esposito teases Moff Gideon's dark plans for Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian

Moff Gideon didn't emerge until the final episode of The Mandalorian's first season, but when he did, he definitely made an impact. The character quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with as Season 2 looms, and in a recent interview Giancarlo Esposito teased exactly what Gideon is after going forward, particularly when it comes to The Child. 

Speaking to IGN about the second season of the hit Star Wars series, Esposito was understandably tight-lipped about what exactly Moff Gideon will do next, now that he's broken free of his crashed TIE Fighter with the Darksaber in hand — but he did offer a few hints. 

"I know ... Like any great leader or scientist — clue, clue, clue — with someone who is advanced in a certain way, yeah, you could want to be their best friend, or you could want to co-opt what is inside them to figure out how to make all of us a little better at humanity," Esposito said when asked what Gideon wants with the adorable alien known as "Baby Yoda" all across the internet. "So it's that power and control of a Moff leader who is trying to put the universe back together. But, how does he know everything? How does he know everything that's going on? He's a very interesting character and I'm so honored to be a part of this production."

Esposito's wording seems to suggest that the word "scientist" is a big hint in terms of Moff Gideon's motives, which would suggest some kind of genetic manipulation ahead if the Imperial warlord does get his hands on the creature, or perhaps some as-yet unrevealed attempt to capture the Child's latent Force energy, to use to enhance normal human soldiers.

We still know very little about Yoda's species within the Star Wars galaxy, so it's hard to extrapolate exactly what Gideon will try, or whether or not any kind of dark science he attempts would actually work. That said, as Esposito noted, Gideon is also equipped with seemingly vast intelligence gathering, so there's a good chance he knows many things about The Child's biology that we don't, and the presence of the Darksaber hints that he might know a thing or two about The Force too. Whatever he's planning, we've known since the beginning of the series that the Imperial warlords pursuing The Child would have been fine with getting it dead, so some dark things lie ahead if they ever get their hands on it again. 

Before he can actually do anything with The Child, though, Moff Gideon has to go through The Mandalorian himself, who's become fiercely protective of his little green son over the course of the series so far. That's not the only obstacle Esposito's character has in his way, though. In addition to Mando and his allies, the actor also has to contend with his own daughters, who fell in love with the creature and demanded Moff Gideon leave him unharmed. 

"My four daughters watch this and obviously the world is like, 'It's the Baby Yoda show,' and I'm never jealous or have any problem with that, but I have to say, two of my daughters texted me and two of them [called] me: 'Papa, please don't hurt that baby. Don't hurt that baby,'" Giancarlo said. "And I said, 'I will squash that little big-eared bastard.'"

The Mandalorian Season 2 is in production right now for a projected release later this year.