As an avid Star Wars fan, I must admit that the saga can get extremely confusing at times.
The continuity is filled with so many different characters and different timelines. It’s easy to get things mixed up here and there — especially when it comes to actually placing the moments we’re all watching together on an actual canonical timeline.
All of what I just said can be used to describe how most people feel about The Mandalorian at this point. Everyone loves the show, but no one is exactly sure *when* it is in the Star Wars timeline.
Yes, we know what’s going on in the series (and if you don’t here’s a quick catch-up). And we also generally know when it takes place. But specifically? Not really. We’re not even sure if Jon Favreau — the show’s creator — actually knows. He’s just telling us as he goes along.
Bro did not communicate any of this in the actual show lmao https://t.co/x46NiYA0rE
— D🅰️hz🅰️n (@D4hz4hn) February 28, 2023
With that being said, here’s everything we know about when The Mandalorian is taking place and what it means for the series.
So when does the Mandalorian take place?
So here’s the deal. We know that the very start of The Mandalorian series takes place around 9 ABY (ABY stands for after the battle of Yavin). Here’s a quick explainer on that from Games Radar.
“Before anything else, it’s worth knowing that – like our Gregorian calendars in the painfully lightsaber-free real world – the timeline revolves around a single event. In this case, it’s the Battle of Yavin (otherwise known as the first assault on the Death Star in A New Hope). That’s referred to at 0 BBY – Before the Battle of Yavin.”
The empire fell about four years after the Battle of Yavin, so that would mean we’re about 5 years removed from the empire’s collapse. That puts the series in an extremely interesting spot.
OK, so where does that place us now?
That much is actually unclear. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni haven’t quite made that information known as we head into season 3.
Favreau did do a recent interview where he clarified that seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian do take place over “many years” on the Skytalkers Podcast. He also said that Grogu — aka Baby Yoda — trained with Luke Skywalker over the course of two years.
Jon Favreau clarifying that The Mandalorian Seasons 1-2 take place over many years, and Grogu spent 2 years training with Luke 🤯 (Credit: Skytalkers on YouTube) #StarWars #TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/M8eSCIu9v8
— Kyber (@thekyberclub) February 28, 2023
“[Grogu] is definitely somebody who has spent time in both worlds. We know he started off early in the jedi temple…and then we know that he’s been rescued and spent many years with the Mandalorian. Went back with Luke, now we’ve been two years apart from [the Mandalorian] there training.”
So we know, at the very least, this is 11 ABY and give or take a few years.
How far removed from the sequel trilogy does that make this?
The beginning of the sequel trilogies with Star Wars: The Force Awakens is still quite a ways off from here. That movie is set in 34 ABY. So we’re at least 25 years away from that at the start of The Mandalorian and potentially 23 years away from it in the time the series is currently set it.
The kicker about the sequel trilogy is that not much time passes in it at all. Rey becomes a Jedi and snuffs out another tyrannical rise from Emperor Palpatine all within about the span of a year, according to Screenrant.
“This is the shortest Star Wars trilogy in terms of in-universe time by far. The Force Awakens is set in 34 ABY, which is the same year The Last Jedi takes place. This is the only instance in The Skywalker Saga where there is no time jump between installments. That changed slightly for the final Star Wars chapter, The Rise of Skywalker, but not by much. Star Wars Episode IX is set in 35 ABY, meaning only a year took place in the entire sequel trilogy. Rey is 19 years old when she begins her journey and 20 when it ends.”
That’s pretty wild.
So what does all of this mean for Season 3 of The Mandalorian?
It means the attachment and relationship Grogu and Din Djarin have developed between one another has taken place over the course of a few years, which is why it’s so deep.
It also means this is all happening while the shadow of the empire continues to grow across the galaxy. That’s why we see holdouts like Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon still in existence and it’s why you still have remnants of the old empire pushed out into the Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy.
The First Order isn’t a thing yet, but it will be. And that could have an impact on this series as it moves forward. It’s all going to be so fascinating to watch.
There you have it. You’re all caught up now and ready to watch the new season of The Mandalorian. Hopefully, you’ll be a bit less confused.
