Who is Elia Kane in The Mandalorian? Is She a Friend or a Foe?

In previous seasons of The Mandalorian, we caught glimpses of Moff Gideon's right-hand (wo)man, but Katy M. O'Brian, who plays the former Imperial communications officer, takes centre stage in season 3 episode 3 of the show, which is called “The Convert.”
Before she showed up in season 3, the character from The Mandalorian would often tell Moff Gideon how his plan to catch Baby Yoda was going. She was the one who told him that a tracker had been put on Razor Crest and that the Dark Troopers were ready to catch Grogu. She also fought alongside Gideon and other Imperial soldiers when Mando broke into his ship in season 2.
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But who is Elia Kane, and what do we learn about her in the most recent season of The Mandalorian? Let us help you understand it.
Who is Elia Kane in The Mandalorian?
Kane was only known as one of Gideon's ship's communications officers before. She told Gideon a lot of news, like the fact that a tracker had been put on the Razor Crest as part of his plan to take Grogu away.
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Kane also told Gideon in season 2 that his dark troopers were ready to capture Grogu. At the time, she and Pershing knew each other, but they didn't talk much.
But in season 3, episode 3, Kane is brought into the amnesty programme and Pershing recognises him. She says she tries not to think about Gideon anymore and is happy to write for the New Republic.
During the episode, Pershing and Kane get to know each other better, and in the end, she convinces him to keep working on his research. They leave their perimeter to look for a mobile lab. But when Pershing is arrested, it's clear that Kane set a trap and wasn't being completely honest.
Pershing is hooked up to something that looks like a mind flayer, but he is told that it is only there to help him deal with his bad memories. Kane turns up the power, though, when everyone else leaves the room. What will happen to Pershing in the future can only be known with time, but it can't be anything good.
What Did Elia Do to Doctor Pershing?
She seems to help him break the rules of their amnesty by going with him into an abandoned Star Wars ship to find forbidden Imperial materials for him to use in his experiments. But when Pershing is caught and accused of working against the New Republic, it's clear that she set him up. After Pershing is caught, he is put in a mind-flayer device that is meant to change his personality and make him more loyal to the New Republic.
An officer thanks Elia for being loyal, but when they leave her alone with Pershing, she turns up the mind flayer to a level that seems unapproved and dangerous, wiping his mind clean.
Since Moff Gideon could still be out there in some form or another, it's clear that Elia's first loyalty is to the Empire, and we have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her.
Why Elia Wanted Pershing to Keep Doing What He Was Doing?
Elia's only reason for being here is probably because Moff Gideon told her to. But if you pull back the mystery a bit, it's possible, if not likely, that Pershing's research has something to do with one of the most hated lines in Star Wars history: “Somehow, Palpatine returned.”
The fact that it was all so vague made people raise their eyebrows and clench their teeth, but The Mandalorian's connections to the sequel era mean that viewers could soon get a better answer than “somehow” for Palpatine's appearance.
With Palpatine’s resurrection tied to cloning and Pershing’s research tied to cloning, connecting the dots just means drawing a straight line. Even though Grogu was the main subject of Gideon's experiments, that doesn't mean he couldn't move on to testing on humans, like the Emperor or a Sith named Snoke (Andy Serkis).
Pershing gave his speech in the same opera house where Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) asked Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) if he'd ever heard the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. This doesn't seem like a coincidence. Everything is connected to the idea of living forever, and if we had to guess, Pershing's research will pay off in a big way that will have a big effect on the galaxy as a whole.
Who is Katy M. O'Brian?
The actress O'Brian has been in many well-known sci-fi shows and movies. In addition to The Mandalorian, O'Brian has played Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Major Sara Grey in Black Lightning, and Kimball in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD.
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She has also been in movies and TV shows like “The Walking Dead” and “How to Get Away with Murder.”
The third season of The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney Plus.
READ MORE:– The Mandalorian Creators Admit the Big Problem With Grogu’s Name!
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