Star Wars: 9 Unanswered Questions in The Mandalorian

The first season of The Mandalorian might be over, but we still have some questions about what happened.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian Questions

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

With the first season of The Mandalorian over and a second season coming next fall, it’s time to speculate on how the show connects to other Star Wars properties. The last episode dovetailed with several other parts of the saga, but leaves questions, too.

Here are questions raised throughout the first season that don’t have definite answers just yet:

Who is the Armorer?

The Armorer, seemingly the Mandalorian tribe’s leader, stays behind in the final episode to protect the last vestiges of her people from the Imperial Remnant, and she’s well-equipped to do it. She’s skilled in forging armor out of beskar steel, a valuable and rare ability. We also learn that she’s swift and skilled with melee weapons but no nothing about who she really is. This is a brand-new character, but some have wondered whether she might be connected to the larger saga.

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It’s hard to speculate on her age or face—we know neither. (She’s played by Emily Swallow, who is 40). The only clue to her origin might be the horns on her helmet, which are placed in a pattern we’ve seen on Zabrak characters before. Mandalorians taking in foundlings is an important (perhaps the most important) part of the show, Dyn Djarin having been adopted by the tribe as a young orphan, and Mandalorian is described as a culture, not a species. So it’s easy to see how she could be Zabrak or another species.

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Another possibility is that the horns are a reference to the era when Maul (formerly Darth Maul, the same Sith from The Phantom Menace) ruled the Mandalorians by force. One of his allies was Rook Kast, a Mandalorian with horns on her helmet. They aren’t oriented in the same way as the Armorers’, and she only appeared in the four-issue comic Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir. If the Armorer is Kast, this is a pretty deep cut reference. 

Who was the stranger teased at the end of episode 5?

After bounty hunter Fennic Shand (Ming-Na Wen) meets her demise on Tatooine in episode 5, the final scene teases a mysterious figure discovering and examining her body. This person wears noisy spurs in true Western fashion. Who is this? It’s likely the answer will come in season two.

For now, fan speculation abounds. Is this Boba Fett, the obvious choice for a cameo in a show about Mandalorians? A new bounty hunter who might become a major villain in season two? Someone affiliated with Moff Gideon? We just don’t know yet. What we do know is that the sound of spurs followed Boba’s every step in the Original Trilogy…

Where is Din Djarin originally from?

The Mandalorian himself, now revealed to have been born with the name Din Djarin, was rescued from the Separatist attack that presumably killed his parents during the Clone Wars. The season one finale gives a clearer look at his home planet, which has typical Star Wars aesthetics, with its domed-roof houses and distinct crimson robes for its people. This isn’t Mandalore: Din Djarin says himself that he isn’t Mandalorian by blood. But what planet it actually is remains unclear. The fact that Din was rescued by members of elite Mandalorian splinter group Death Watch may mean that his homeworld was at least under Mandalorian jurisdiction during the time of the attack.

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Where are the rest of the Mandalorians?

Din and his allies find Mandalorian armor stacked in the secret Mandalorian enclave, evidence of an attack by Moff Gideon’s Imperial Remnant. Narratively, this scene is treated as if the Mandalorians are dead: under no other circumstance would they give up their armor, and it’s established throughout the season that the Imperials wanted to wipe out the Mandalorian race.

But beskar is very valuable—the first three episodes of the season drove that point home. So why would the Imperials leave the armor behind? Maybe the Mandalorians were captured alive, the armor left as a sign. Or maybe they are dead, the armor left as an act of terror. Either way, it seems Din is truly alone now.

Where is Baby Yoda’s home planet?

This is one of the most long-standing mysteries of the Star Wars universe. Where does Yoda’s species come from? George Lucas declared the answer off-limits. The only clue that Yoda isn’t functionally a one-of-a-kind being comes from Yaddle, a side character in the Prequels. The Armorer instructs Din Djarin to find Baby Yoda’s people, if he can, and to act as his father in the meantime.

This presents a conundrum: will The Mandalorian be the first Star Wars property to explain where Yoda came from? If the child is a clone, does he effectively have no home world? Or will the planet of the Yodas remain a mystery forever, with Din Djarin searching for something he’s never going to find? 

What did Moff Gideon want with Baby Yoda?

With the appearance of Moff Gideon, the Client and the doctor he hired can both be seen in a slightly different light. They were just the first step on the way to the greater evil, Moff Gideon and his Imperial remnant.

We still don’t know what Dr. Pershing, who wears a symbol reminiscent of the cloners of Kamino, wanted with the Child. It’s implied that the child a clone, but is he truly a clone of Yoda?

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Moff Gideon doesn’t have an Emperor to serve anymore, but is clearly interested in acting as if the Empire never fell, and using the trappings of the Jedi along the way. Could he be part of the plan Emperor Palpatine put in place after his death, which will eventually lead to the events of The Rise of Skywalker? Maybe the baby’s creation shows that a Force-sensitive clone is possible, which opens the possibility of the Emperor living on in a clone body.

Of course, it’s unclear whether the Emperor operating in the Sequel Trilogy at all or if Palpatine kept himself alive through some other form of Sith magic. It’s possible that the Empire experimented with several methods of resurrecting its leader.

How did Moff Gideon acquire the Darksaber?

When last we saw the Darksaber, it was in the hands of Bo-Katan Kryze, anti-Imperial leader of Mandalore. Forged by a legendary Mandalorian Jedi, it’s been a symbol of power for the warring clans of Mandos for generations. Kryze wouldn’t let it go easily, so it’s possible the Empire or Imperial Remnant put down the entire Mandalorian rebellion to retrieve the weapon, like it did the beskar.

Gideon’s use of the Darksaber is a chilling example of a conquerer using a trophy weapon against the people he’s trying to destroy. But how exactly he got it, or what happened on Mandalore during the Original Trilogy era, has yet to be fully explored. 

What is Cara Dune’s history?

The finale revealed a key piece of information about former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune: she hails from the destroyed planet of Alderaan. This gives her plenty of reasons to want to fight the Empire. But parts of that history are still obscured.

When did she join the Rebellion? Why exactly did she leave? Cara Dune has become a fan favorite character, and more stories about her would be a fun way to show more aspects of the Rebellion and what it became after the fall of the Empire. 

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What is the state of the New Republic?

Fitting for a show set in and around the Star Wars underworld, the New Republic government is not a big part of The Mandalorian. The closest we get is the prison ship and its X-wing pilot security team. The rest has been detailed in some novels: we know that shortly before The Mandalorian takes place, the New Republic officially won the war at the Battle of Jakku. Much later, Leia Organa will form the Resistance in the novel Bloodline, which also sheds light on New Republic politics. But how the New Republic directly affects the lives of those living in Mando’s corner of the galaxy remains to be seen.

Megan Crouse writes about Star Wars and pop culture for StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider, and Den of Geek. Read more of her work here. Find her on Twitter @blogfullofwords.

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