The One Thing You Need To Know Before The Mandalorian And Grogu
This is the way, in case you forgot.
Lucasfilm is taking a big risk with The Mandalorian and Grogu. The first Star Wars movie in seven years, it’s a spinoff of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which was the centerpiece of the streamer’s launch back in 2019. Since then, the creature known as “The Child” or, more commonly, “Baby Yoda,” gained the official name Grogu, and has undergone training both as a Jedi and as a Mandalorian. He even officially joined a clan with Din Djarin, the hero better known as “The Mandalorian.”
But what exactly do you need to know about this new movie? It doesn’t matter if you’ve been counting the days to see Grogu again or if you are just meeting him for the first time: you pretty much just need to know the status quo where the show left off.
Where Does The Mandalorian and Grogu Take Place In The Star Wars Timeline?
Grogu is now a little Mandalorian, completely with his own adorable armor.
The Mandalorian (and its various spinoffs) are set in the New Republic era, which takes place after the events of Return of the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine may have been destroyed (for now), but that doesn’t mean that everything goes back to normal. The New Republic is on unsteady legs as a new ruling body, and Empire remnants remain scattered throughout the galaxy. The Mandalorian and Grogu is specifically set after the events of The Mandalorian Season 3, which is about five years after Return of the Jedi.
At this point, Din Djarin has somewhat retired from his previous job as a bounty hunter and lives a quiet life with his adopted son Grogu, who chose to eschew Jedi training to instead embrace life as a Mandalorian foundling. He even has a little bit of Beskar armor to match.
However, when the New Republic’s Col. Ward — a new character played by Sigourney Weaver — reaches out to Mando and Grogu for help, they’ll have to take on a big mission for the galaxy as we know it.
Sigourney Weaver’s Col. Ward recruits Mando and Grogu for a special mission.
Just to be absolutely clear, while Grogu does have the ability to use the Force (usually to move snacks), he’s not actually a Jedi. He’s even been trained by Luke Skywalker himself, but just as Luke became a Jedi like his father before him, Grogu is becoming a Mandalorian like his new dad.
In case you’re still daunted by the amount of Star Wars TV that has come out since The Mandalorian Season 1, fear not: really, only the main show and one episode of The Book of Boba Fett actually feature this dynamic duo. But even if you haven’t seen a single episode of the show, as long as you know who these characters are and where they stand in the greater Star Wars timeline, you’ll be fine.
