The showrunner of The Mandalorian has accidentally highlighted a massive plot hole after the ending of The Mandalorian season 3. As the first live-action Star Wars TV show and the first major property of the franchise set in the New Republic era, The Mandalorian has had plenty of storytelling space to work with since the beginning. One of its biggest challenges, however, has been explaining one crucial thing about the past of the Mandalorians, and it has since become a very complicated topic to tackle.
Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin is the first Mandalorian protagonist in the live-action medium, and also the first Mandalorian seen in the Star Wars galaxy after the events of the animated Star Wars Rebels series – aside from Boba Fett’s iconic armor in the original Star Wars trilogy. Din’s mere existence has seemed to hint that one major question about Mandalorians will be answered, but both The Mandalorian and Star Wars itself have had yet to do so. This question, however, needs to be answered for the sake of Star Wars’ continuity – and in speaking to this question, the showrunner has unwittingly highlighted a glaring plot hole that still remains after season 3.
Star Wars’ Mandalorian Timeline & History Explained
As the greatest warriors in the Star Wars galaxy, Mandalorians have a rich and expanding history, and this is their full timeline in canon explained.
The Mandalorians Were Supposedly Hidden During The Original Trilogy
Showrunner Jon Favreau has the chance to share his thoughts on Din’s covert of Mandalorians in a newly-shared bonus feature on The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray, entitled “Forging the Covert: Part Two.” This behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Children of the Watch provides the context for Favreau’s initial thoughts about Din’s fellow Mandalorians to be shared, including their absence during the original trilogy era. He addresses this issue head-on, providing the thoughts he and his fellow co-creators shared as a possible explanation for this unanswered question.
We were trying to fill in what that Mandalorian lore was, that underground secret community that the Mandalorian lived in. Because here we were after the original trilogy, and the only suit of Mandalorian armor we saw in live-action was on Boba Fett. Either they were someplace else, or they were operating in secret.
Favreau’s idea, then, is that Din, his covert, and other Mandalorians were either not on Mandalore during the original trilogy or they were simply operating around the galaxy in secret rather than out in the open. Given the introduction of the Great Purge of Mandalore in The Mandalorian season 1, this makes perfect sense – at least, it did at the conclusion of season 1. Now, in a post-The Mandalorian season 3 galaxy, Favreau’s words point out one glaring plot hole.
Mandalore Doesn’t Fall Until After The Original Trilogy Era
Star Wars Galactic Event | Date Occurred |
|---|---|
Bo-Katan Kryze and Sabine Wren liberate Mandalore from the Empire | 1 BBY |
Luke Skywalker blows up the first Death Star | 0 BBY |
The Galactic Civil War officially ends | 5 ABY |
The Great Purge of Mandalore takes place | Between 5 ABY and 9 ABY |
The timeline for the Great Purge of Mandalore isn’t provided throughout The Mandalorian season 1, which certainly gave Favreau and the rest of the creative team the freedom to use Mandalorians in hiding as a reasoning for why they weren’t around during the Galactic Civil War. The Mandalorian spin-off TV show Ahsoka, however, has completely contradicted this potential timeline placement. The droid Huyang confirms the fall of Mandalore took place after the Galactic Civil War, meaning the Mandalorians were still on their homeworld during the time of the original trilogy.
While some may believe this wouldn’t affect Din Djarin and his covert, the Armorer specifically says in The Mandalorian spin-off TV show The Book of Boba Fett that their covert being cloistered on the moon of Concordia during the time of the Great Purge is what ultimately saved them. This means, then, the covert was also present in the Mandalore system during the Galactic Civil War, something that makes their absence during this time even more confusing. It’s clear, then, the lore as first tackled by The Mandalorian has changed since season 1, and now the show must do the work of clarifying what exactly kept the Mandalorians from traversing the galaxy and assisting the Rebellion during the original trilogy era.
The Mandalorian
- Release Date
- November 12, 2019
- Cast
- Werner Herzog , Emily Swallow , Pedro Pascal , Nick Nolte , Omid Abtahi , Gina Carano , Carl Weathers , Giancarlo Esposito
- Genres
- Fantasy , Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 3
- Season List
- The Mandalorian – Season 1 , The Mandalorian – Season 2 , The Mandalorian – Season 3
- Story By
- Jon Favreau
- Writers
- Jon Favreau
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Directors
- Jon Favreau , Taika Waititi , Bryce Dallas Howard
- Showrunner
- Jon Favreau
