Before seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it’s very helpful to have already seen episode 7 of The Mandalorian. December has become synonymous with Star Wars since Disney took over the brand, and this year, that’s especially true thanks to the release of the final film in the Skywalker Saga as well as the continued airing of the first Disney+ Star Wars series.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sees J.J. Abrams return to direct from a script he co-wrote with Chris Terrio, picking up with Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) roughly a year after the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This time, they’re facing off against not just Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), but also the big bad from the first six Star Wars movies: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Meanwhile, The Mandalorian is the brainchild of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, taking place just five years after the Emperor’s defeat in Return of the Jedi. It follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) as he chooses to protect a child of Yoda’s species that he was initially hired to collect and return to a mysterious lot of former Imperials. The two properties are no more related to each other than any of the other many Star Wars movies, books, video games, etc., but the Disney+ series does lay some surprising groundwork for the final installment in the nine-film saga.
The Mandalorian season 1 episode 7, “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker release just days apart, and while they do not directly connect, watching The Mandalorian episode 7 first will inform viewers ahead of seeing The Rise of Skywalker. To provide more detail than that risks spoiling the movie, but suffice it say, it will be most helpful if audiences have already watched “The Reckoning” before seeing The Rise of Skywalker. And no, we aren’t talking about The Rise of Skywalker sneak peek released along with episode 7 of The Mandalorian.
Since premiering earlier this year, The Mandalorian has become a smash hit. Not only is it giving fans the Boba Fett story they’ve always wanted (just without Boba Fett), but it also gave us Baby Yoda – a character so cute that the world may never fully recover. The Mandalorian has also managed to include references to the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies, somehow bridging the gap between the disparate factions of Star Wars fans. For a franchise made for the big screen, The Mandalorian is showing just how well Star Wars works on the small screen.
Star Wars isn’t neglecting the big screen though either, and The Rise of Skywalker is nearly here. The initial reactions tease a massive conclusion to the saga while the reviews for The Rise of Skywalker are a mixed lot. Exactly how Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be received by audiences overall remains to be seen, but either way, it’s probably safe to assume Disney is about to unleash another box office blockbuster.
The Mandalorian season 1 continues Friday, December 27th with “Chapter 8” on Disney+.
Key Release Dates
Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
Release Date:2019-12-20
