When “The Mandalorian” debuted on Disney+ in 2019, the series gave “Star Wars” fans something new and exciting: a well-crafted live-action TV show with short episodes and simple stories, largely devoid of the franchise’s increasingly complicated mythology. In Season 1 especially, “The Mandalorian” played like an old-fashioned western, set in outer space, following the adventures of a planet-hopping bounty hunter and his adorable alien sidekick.
The show’s later seasons became more complex, revealing more about the back story of our heroes and about the state of the “Star Wars” universe after the fall of the Galactic Empire. So before the new movie “The Mandalorian and Grogu” opens this weekend, here is a brief primer on who the major players are and where we left them at the end of Season 3, which aired way back in spring 2023.
Who is the Mandalorian?
The man introduced in the first episode of “The Mandalorian” is Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), a bounty hunter commonly referred to by his colleagues and clients as the Mandalorian, or Mando. Why the nickname? Because in the “Star Wars” universe there exists a planet named Mandalore, known for its warrior culture, which evolved across generations into a kind of religious cult. Although Djarin was not born on Mandalore, he was raised as a foundling by a fundamentalist Mandalorian sect known as the Tribe, which taught him ethics and tactics — and to keep his helmet on at all times.
That armor and helmet may remind you of the gear sported by another “Star Wars” bounty hunter, Boba Fett, who was introduced in “The Star Wars Holiday Special” (1978). Boba Fett, like Djarin, was raised as a Mandalorian, although he too is not from Mandalore. The two mercenaries — who have worked together — are clad in beskar, the super-strong and much-coveted metal native to the Mandalorian worlds.
Why isn’t this movie called ‘The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda’?
If your only experience with “The Mandalorian” is via memes and online chatter, here is something that may surprise you: There is no character named Baby Yoda. In the show’s first episode, Mando took an assignment to capture and transport a mysterious bounty, which turned out to be a small green creature with big eyes and big ears, who immediately captured our hero’s heart (along with the hearts of nearly everyone watching Disney+). The Mandalorian learned in Season 2 that his tiny friend’s name was Grogu. Before then, the little one was generally known as “kid” or “the child” on the show — and as Baby Yoda by “Star Wars” fans.
The irony of the many diminutive monikers is that this cute alien critter is actually in his 50s. He spent many years living and training among the Jedi, before Darth Vader led a bloody purge of that order in the early years of the Galactic Empire. Grogu’s kind matures slowly, so relatively speaking he is still a juvenile. And, yes, he is of the same species as Yoda, the ancient Jedi master who trained Luke Skywalker in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Luke returned that favor in the TV series, helping Grogu learn how to wield his incredibly strong telekinetic Force powers.
Will anyone else from the ‘Star Wars’ movies show up?
Some of the droids and aliens puttering around in the background scenes will probably look familiar to fans of the films. But the biggest “Star Wars” name you will hear is Jabba the Hutt, the crime lord who in the original trilogy employed Boba Fett to hunt down Han Solo. After Jabba’s death, there was a scramble among his rivals and relatives to seize control of his operation. In “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the Mandalorian’s past dealings with the Hutt family land him an assignment to rescue Jabba’s son, the shrewd and physically imposing Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White).
Mando also gets help from time to time from an industrious alien species known as the Anzellans: tiny, gnomish mechanics who speak in a barely intelligible language. The last film of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy — “The Rise of Skywalker” — introduced an amusing Anzellan named Babu Frick, who worked with the Resistance as a droidsmith. The little fellas in “The Mandalorian” series are a lot like him.
Where are we at in the ‘Star Wars’ timeline?
“The Mandalorian” Season 1 began roughly five years after the events of “Return of the Jedi,” which ended with the Rebel Alliance triumphing over the Galactic Empire. As the series quickly made clear, just because the big bad guys have been defeated does not mean that peace, prosperity and freedom have come to every corner of the galaxy. On the Outer Rim planets especially — the ones where bounty hunters and crime bosses tend to ply their trades — the Empire’s fall has destabilized an already tenuous social order.
The leaders of the New Republic, born of the Rebel Alliance, have been trying to flex their muscles and prove themselves on these more lawless worlds. In the movie, one of those leaders, Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) of the Adelphi Rangers, seeks the Mandalorian’s help in tracking down Rotta the Hutt. The Rangers know that if the gangs keep controlling the Outer Rim, it becomes more likely that the scattered remnants of the Empire will reorganize and reform out there, in those places where corruption runs rampant.
Where are we at in ‘The Mandalorian’ saga?
In the last season, Din Djarin reconnected with his roots by helping the scattered Mandalorian clans reclaim Mandalore, which had been desolated by Imperial forces many years ago. In the Season 3 finale, the united Mandalorians defeated one of the Imperial remnants, which had been using the planet as a staging ground to build a powerful, Force-wielding clone army, synthesized from multiple sources — including Grogu’s genetic material. In the end, the good guys were able to restart their home world’s Great Forge, symbolic heart of their militaristic, armor-centered culture, and begin rebuilding their society.
As for Mando, he was allowed at the end of Season 3 to adopt Baby Yoda, who is now formally named Din Grogu and is officially a Mandalorian apprentice. In his new role as a father figure, Din Djarin has stopped taking money from rogues and gangsters and has switched to offering his services to the New Republic, hunting down the Empire’s most stubborn holdouts. That is the job he and his superpowered little buddy are doing when “The Mandalorian and Grogu” begins.
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