When Does The Mandalorian Take Place on the Star Wars Timeline?

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.

With all of these new shows and movies continuously expanding the story of the Star Wars galaxy, it can be hard to keep up with when exactly events are taking place on the franchise’s canon (and somewhat convoluted) timeline. This is especially true of series such as The Mandalorian, which reintroduce characters like Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker from other stories and time periods. And as the Mandoverse itself expands through its own spinoffs, like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew, things could get just a tad more confusing for the general audience. Fortunately, there are some simple answers as to when the Mandoverse is set on the timeline, even if a few things are still open to interpretation.

The first season of The Mandalorian is officially set five years after Return of the Jedi or 9 ABY (nine years after the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope). There’s also a helpful visual guide to the timeline in the tweet below:

Are you about to watch the new season of The Mandalorian and wondering how it fits into the timeline of the Star Wars universe?

This is the way: https://t.co/GpjYdI7Ead pic.twitter.com/2XNjzcztp5

— USA TODAY Graphics (@usatgraphics) March 2, 2023

At this point in the timeline, the Empire has formally surrendered to the New Republic, the successor government formed by the Rebel Alliance a year after Jedi. While what’s left of the Empire is still trying to maintain its outposts and rebuild its power in the more lawless Outer Rim region of space, the New Republic is officially in charge of the galaxy and maintaining peace. We’re still about 30 years away from the Sequel Trilogy as well, which means the New Republic doesn’t have to worry about the First Order, Kylo Ren, or the return of Emperor Palpatine just yet.

As far as what’s happening with the Jedi at this point in time, we learn in The Rise of Skywalker that during the first few years after the fall of the Empire, Leia Organa trained to be a Jedi with her brother Luke before deciding to serve in the New Republic instead. After training Leia, Luke decides to open a school on the planet Ossus to teach a new generation of Jedi, and Grogu becomes the academy’s first student at the end of The Mandalorian season 2. Along the way, Luke also meets Ahsoka Tano, who is on a mission to find Grand Admiral Thrawn, a very dangerous Imperial villain who still presents a major threat to the galaxy. We assume the Ahsoka show will explore this storyline further.

How much time has passed between seasons of The Mandalorian and Grogu returning to Din in The Book of Boba Fett is a lot less clear. Showrunner Jon Favreau initially said in an interview with the Skytalkers podcast that Grogu spent “many years” with Din in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian before joining Luke’s school where he spent “two years apart [from Din] training.” Favreau then backtracked during a red carpet interview with Variety that Grogu was with Luke between 0 and 2 years. To make things even more confusing, series executive producer Dave Filoni also told TV Line, “I don’t think we’re quite to 10 ABY,” indicating that a full year hasn’t even passed since the series began.

Taking these contradictory timelines with a grain of salt, Filoni’s position on how much time has passed in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett at least seems more logical. Though it makes sense that Grogu would be training with Luke for longer than a week or even a month before Din tries to visit, Din going two whole years without finding a new ship or training with the Darksaber doesn’t really add up. It does feel like at least a year has passed between seasons 1 and 3, but that might just be because Grogu and Din have been through a lot since they met each other.

While the exact timeline of The Mandalorian seasons 2 and 3 and Book of Boba Fett may still be a little murky, the important thing is that we know where things start. In other words, you can safely assume everything you’re watching on The Mandalorian season 3 is happening at some point between five and six years after Return of the Jedi, or between 9 and 10 ABY.

The Mandalorian streams on Wednesdays on Disney+.