The Stormtrooper opening
Let’s address the elephant in the room by talking about the opening scene. The Mandalorian silently walks past several stormtrooper helmets left in the sand as the dramatic musical score begins.
We barely see him as he walks by several more stormtrooper helmets not just resting on pikes but literally forced all the way through the armor. Each of them looks filthy with a colored rag, perhaps a symbol of some kind hanging just beneath them.
Are these the remains of defeated stormtroopers left as a warning to others? Was there a previous battle between the locals and stormtroopers during the Empire’s rule? Or are the surviving stormtroopers being rounded up by locals and killed as revenge for all of the pain and suffering they had caused?
The answers are endless.
This scene is both eerie and intriguing at the same time because it can be interpreted in multiple ways. Since The Mandalorian is taking place after the fall of the Empire but before the First Order we can assume any surviving stormtroopers are not welcome. The desert terrain could be any number of planets we’ve seen in previous films or it could be a new planet altogether.
Regardless of the location, it is very clear that without the Empire keeping them employed, these stormtroopers will have a hard time adjusting to a society ready to fight back.
We see stormtroopers later in the trailer surrounding the Mandalorian prepared for a fight but even they must sense that they are out of place during this time of uncertainty. Perhaps the Mandalorian is not the biggest threat out there…