Star Wars Already Spoiled The Ending of The Mandalorian and Grogu

Star Wars’ next movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, increasingly seems to riff on The Empire Strikes Back. Last year’s teaser trailer featured the return of the iconic AT-ATs from the Battle of Hoth, with Din Djarin showing how Mandalorians handle threats like those unforgettable Imperial Walkers. The more recent full trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu features a mysterious subplot in which Grogu settles on a swampworld (likely the Hutt homeworld of Nal Hutta), and even seems to be mentored by an unknown figure who talks about fear.

The first wave of Star Wars movies largely drew on A New Hope. The Force Awakens repeated that movie almost blow-by-blow, while anthology films like Rogue One and Solo fleshed out character backstories and revealed how the rebels got the Death Star plans. It makes sense, then, that the franchise’s (hopefully triumphant) return to the big screen is moving on to what’s generally considered the best Star Wars movie of all time, the second film in the original trilogy.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Trailer Secretly Sets Up A Major Defeat

The Mandalorian and Grogu is clearly paying homage to the Battle of Hoth and Yoda’s training of Luke. But that new trailer hints at something far darker in its very first shots, which show New Republic forces flying into action in a scene deliberately reminiscent of Apocalypse Now‘s “Ride of the Valkyries.” In the original film, the heroes are launching a dawn attack that’s deeply symbolic in that it represents hope; The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer shows the heroes flying in the sunset, symbolically representing the end of the day and the beginning of night.

The Empire Strikes Back is, famously, the movie that broke Hollywood tradition because it ended with the heroes losing. The Rebel Alliance was left scattered, Han Solo was imprisoned in carbonite, and Luke lost his duel with Darth Vader after learning the shocking truth of his parentage. It’s so easy to miss, but The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer’s opening scene is a dark warning, a hint that this too may well be a Star Wars movie where the heroes lose.

We Now Know What Din Djarin’s Mission Is In The Mandalorian and Grogu

But what exactly is Din Djarin’s mission? The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s plot has been a source of frustration for the fanbase for months now, because Lucasfilm seemed determined to keep it under wraps. This first trailer still hides a lot – we don’t quite know why Din Djarin winds up in so much trouble with the Hutts – but the Mandalorian’s mission has now become clear. He’s acting under the orders of Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward, who believes high-level Imperial targets need to be taken off the board before they trigger the next galactic war.

The New Republic believes the Empire has been defeated, and that the remaining Imperial leaders have simply become warlords in their own right. Viewers know what the New Republic does not; that these warlords are coordinating their efforts through an Imperial Shadow Council. Worse still, the Empire’s top strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned from exile in a distant galaxy, and he’s sure to begin work unifying the Empire. Colonel Ward is right to believe the galaxy is on the brink of another war, and these last-ditch efforts are the last chance to stop it.

We Already Know the New Republic Will Fail

Din Djarin, Grogu, and Colonel Ward are destined to fail. We already know that, because The Mandalorian and Grogu is essentially the launchpad for a whole new era of stories told in the so-called “Mandoverse era,” and it will be followed by Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka Season 2 later this year. Speaking at last year’s Star Wars Celebration, Filoni confirmed this will feature all-out war between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant, which appears to have unified under Thrawn’s leadership.

Speaking to Screen Rant, Filoni admitted this is largely because he wants to draw on classic Expanded Universe stories like Timothy Zahn’s iconic “Thrawn Trilogy.” In this story, now considered non-canon or “Legends,” Thrawn took command of the remaining Imperial forces and led a Blitzkrieg against the New Republic, with Admiral Ackbar serving as his main rival. “Even though a lot has been shaken up over the years, there are certain pillars that I like to stick to,” Filoni explained, noting that Ackbar and Thrawn will indeed go head-to-head in Ahsoka Season 2.

War is returning to the Star Wars galaxy. We’re about to see the kind of Empire-versus-New-Republic conflict that’s previously only been told in tie-ins; not a Galactic Civil War, but a conflict between two rival galactic powers. Given Colonel Ward, Din Djarin, and Grogu are attempting to stop this, we already know what the outcome of The Mandalorian and Grogu will be; like the heroes of The Empire Strikes Back, they’re destined to fail outright.

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