The Mandalorian: 4 things we learned from the preview clip

The Mandalorian. Gina Carrano. Photo credit: Lucasfilm

Timeline

Jon Favreau says The Mandalorian takes place about five years of Return of the Jedi. That means the Empire is mostly gone – other than the small remnant that survives in the Outer Rim and Unknown Regions – and the galaxy is still trying to come to unity under the New Republic.

It’s not surprising to see where The Mandalorian winds up and why he needs money. With the structure in place torn apart, laws don’t mean as much and the government is likely working on building the center before working its way out.

That puts the show at about 9 ABY in Star Wars’ timeline.

As of right now, there is nothing in the Disney canon that we know about in this year. Plenty happened in Legends, but Disney doesn’t recognize those anymore.

That means Jon Favreau gets to work with a blank slate. He has created a new character, headed to new places, and gets to show what the remnants of the Empire look like in a way that we haven’t seen before. We got a little taste of that in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath novel trilogy, but The Mandalorian is even a little further out than that.

We don’t expect too many ties to the episodic Star Wars films, but there is no way you create this series without at least mentioning what happened and why the galaxy is the way it is in the current timeline. But also, Favreau will undoubtedly give some fan service. That’s what many of his Easter eggs have been about.