--- description: Here's exactly where The Mandalorian, the new Star Wars TV series on Disney+, fits into the larger timeline of the galaxy far, far away. title: How The Mandalorian Fits into the Larger Star Wars Timeline image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1af17bbc7f2124b/6989481016d88450b5c34e6a/mandalorian-disney-plus.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How _The Mandalorian_ Fits Into the Larger _Star Wars_ Timeline Updated: Jan 22, 2026 5:24 AM CUTPublished: Nov 12, 2019 3:42 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Updated: Jan 22, 2026 5:24 AM CUTPublished: Nov 12, 2019 3:42 PM CUT **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for the Disney+ _Star Wars_ series _The Mandalorian_. Thanks to the [convoluted order](https://time.com/4784685/star-wars-machete-order-rogue-one-force-awakens/ "undefined") in which the [_Star Wars_ movies](https://time.com/5045736/upcoming-star-wars-movies/ "undefined") have been released over the past 40-plus years, the timeline of events in the [galaxy far, far away](https://time.com/4594017/rogue-one-star-wars-timeline/ "undefined") can be somewhat confusing. So with the launch of [_The Mandalorian_](https://time.com/5568726/everything-we-know-star-wars-the-mandalorian/ "undefined"), Disney’s new _Star Wars_ TV series now available on the [Disney+ streaming service](https://time.com/5699832/disney-plus-movies-shows/ "undefined"), TIME is here to break down exactly how the show fits into the larger _Star Wars_ timeline. ## What is _The Mandalorian_ about? _The Mandalorian_ stars _Game of Thrones_ alum Pedro Pascal as a bounty hunter who hails from the planet Mandalor. In the tradition of his bounty hunter predecessors Jango and [Boba Fett](https://time.com/5706585/mandalorian-boba-fett-difference/ "undefined"), the unnamed Mandalorian is a helmeted [“lone gunfighter”](https://www.instagram.com/p/BofTUzhBtrZ/ "undefined") who wears the traditional armor of his homeland. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. While fan favorite Boba Fett was a clone raised by Jango who worked primarily for Jabba the Hutt during the Galactic Empire’s tyrannical rule, the Mandalorian operates in the chaotic outer reaches of the galaxy after the fall of the Empire.  “It’s like after the Roman Empire falls, or when you don’t have a centralized shogun in Japan­ — and, of course, the Old West, when there wasn’t any government in the areas that had not yet been settled,” showrunner Jon Favreau (_Iron Man_, _The_ _Lion King_) told [_Entertainment Weekly_](https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/05/inside-the-mandalorian-star-wars/ "undefined"). _The Mandalorian_ also stars Gina Carano as Rebel Shock Trooper-turned-mercenary Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as bounty hunter guild leader Greef Carga, Giancarlo Esposito as former Imperial governor Moff Gideon and Taika Waititi as the voice of assassin droid IG-11. ## When does _The Mandalorian_ take place? Favreau has said that _The Mandalorian_ is set five years after the fall of the Empire in _Episode VI:_ _Return of the Jedi_ (1983) and 25 years before the rise of the First Order, the authoritarian regime that is firmly in control of the galaxy when _Episode VII:_ _The Force Awakens_ (2015) begins. In terms of _Star Wars_ years, _Return of the Jedi_ is set in 4 ABY (after the [Battle of Yavin](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Battle%5Fof%5FYavin "undefined")) and _The Force Awakens_ is set in 34 ABY, which means _The Mandalorian_ takes place around 9 ABY. This is a period of time when the New Republic, the democratic government formed by the Rebel Alliance following their victory over the Empire, has only a tenuous hold on the galaxy — especially its lawless outskirts.  LucasFilm According to Favreau, _The Mandalorian_ will explore some of the roots of the First Order. “You come in on _Episode VII_, \[the First Order are\] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along,” he told [_EW_](https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/04/the-mandalorian-first-order/ "undefined"). “So somehow, things weren’t necessarily managed as well as they could have been if \[the galaxy\] ended up in hot water again like that.” ## How does ‘baby Yoda’ factor in? In the closing minutes of the first episode, the Mandalorian discovers that the bounty target that Werner Herzog’s unnamed character hired him to collect is a [baby of Yoda’s species](https://time.com/5725123/baby-yoda-mandalorian/ "undefined"). Well, a 50-year-old baby. Where exactly [baby Yoda](https://time.com/5731562/baby-yoda-memes-explained/ "undefined") — as fans have affectionately dubbed the big-eared, slow-aging alien — came from is still a mystery, but the fact that there are other members of Yoda’s species in the galaxy far, far away shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise. In the prequel movies, we were briefly introduced to [Yaddle](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Yaddle "undefined"), a female Yoda alien. So we know Yoda wasn’t the only one of his kind. > [](https://twitter.com/BabyYodaBaby/status/1196243723144892417) However, considering baby Yoda already has such a big target on his back, perhaps it means that he’s especially Force-sensitive compared to his fellow Yoda aliens. After all, he already managed to use the Force to save the Mandalorian from being killed by a space rhino. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/"},"headline":"How The Mandalorian Fits Into the Larger Star Wars Timeline","datePublished":"2019-11-12T15:42:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-22T05:24:16.000Z","description":"The new Star Wars TV series is now streaming on Disney+","url":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/","keywords":["Television","Star Wars topic","TV","clickmonsters","Evergreen"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/","name":"How The Mandalorian Fits Into the Larger Star Wars Timeline"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Mandalorian _ Official Trailer _ Disney+","description":"The Mandalorian _ Official Trailer _ Disney+","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/McDjoiio/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-08-24T13:30:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/McDjoiio.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5717734/mandalorian-star-wars-timeline/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```