Din Djarin didn’t seem to think Order 66 was a particularly big deal in The Mandalorian. “The Jedi” proved to be the most compelling installment of The Mandalorian season 2 yet, delivering a string of stunning revelations. Baby Yoda’s name is Grogu, Grand Admiral Thrawn is lingering in the background, and Rosario Dawson made her long-awaited debut as Ahsoka Tano. However, viewers also gained a vital piece of Baby Yoda’s backstory. According to Ahsoka, the young Force user was trained on Coruscant’s Jedi temple, and narrowly avoided becoming a victim of Order 66 thanks to the heroics of a mysterious savior. Ahsoka’s story was intended to dampen Din Djarin’s enthusiasm to find other Jedi for his young companion.
Order 66 was a groundbreaking moment in Star Wars history, told through both Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. After many years of warmongering, Palpatine finally decided the time was right to establish his Sith Empire across the galaxy. Palpatine’s “Order 66” triggered the all clone troopers to turn on their Jedi partners and gun them down, effectively ending the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, a freshly-corrupted Darth Vader was sent to decimate the Jedi temple on Coruscant, and all the inhabitants within. Inquisitors would soon begin hunting down the lingering survivors. Order 66 was a dark, but historic, day for the Star Wars galaxy. For Din Djarin, however, it was just an ordinary Wednesday.
In The Mandalorian season 2’s “The Jedi,” Ahsoka Tano explains about the purge of her kind, and how Djarin’s wish for Baby Yoda is impossible due to there being hardly any Jedi left alive to take him. She informs Mando that “the Jedi Order fell a long time ago.” Rather than lamenting the fact that Grogu’s people appear to have been wiped out and showing some remorse for Ahsoka’s comrades, however, Djarin simply replies, “so did the Empire, and they’re still hunting him.” This quote acts as a surprisingly dismissive reminder of how Order 66 was never all that effective in ending the Jedi.
The line manages to make light of a very grave occasion in Star Wars mythology. Order 66 was a veritable massacre, but Din Djarin pays little heed, playing down the deaths of countless Jedi and continuing to push for Baby Yoda to be trained by his own kind. While Mando’s reply certainly could’ve been a little more tactful, he makes a sound argument nonetheless, both about the Jedi and the Empire. The fall of Palpatine in Return of the Jedi was supposed to mark the end Imperial rule, but across the past two seasons, Djarin has fought off Stormtroopers, dodged the Moff’s spies, and encountered various settlements still ruled by the Empire with an iron fist. So when Ahsoka Tano begins to tell of how the Jedi are wiped out, destroyed, no longer up and running, etc., it’s hardly surprising that Mando doesn’t take her seriously. Crucially, Djarin is right too. Ahsoka, Luke Skywalker, Leia, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Ezra Bridger – all Jedi who survived Order 66, with some still alive in the era of The Mandalorian.
Order 66 may be to Star Wars what the Time War is to Doctor Who. Taking place before the show regenerated in 2005, Doctor Who‘s Time War is a major event, and supposedly wiped out both the Time Lords and the Daleks in one intergalactic blast. Over time, The Doctor learned that both species survived, and this altered the severity with which the Time War was viewed going forward. Perhaps something similar is now happening with The Mandalorian and Order 66. The more viewers see how the Empire didn’t end and the Jedi didn’t die, the less important Order 66 and the destruction of Death Star II become.
