The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t quite as self-contained as it seems, serving as vital setup for Ahsoka Season 2. The latest Star Wars movie has a pretty simple pitch; it’s aimed at general viewers who’ve bought the Grogu merch but never watched Disney+, hoping to tempt them in to watch the movie. Because that’s the case, it’s rather more self-contained than most recent Star Wars stories.
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That doesn’t mean it has no setup, though. It’s simply that galactic affairs are relegated to the background; there’s no mention of Grand Admiral Thrawn, an Imperial strategist who’s returned from a distant galaxy to wage war in Ahsoka Season 2. The timeline is deliberately unclear, meaning it’s entirely possible Thrawn is yet to return, or else that these Shadow Council members have gone rogue because they didn’t want to work for him. For all that’s the case, though, it advances the overall narrative in three ways.
Rotta the Hutt is Now Part of the New Republic
The first major change is Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White. By the end of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Rotta has officially joined the New Republic (apparently Zeb has a uniform that fits him). We know Zeb will appear in Ahsoka Season 2, which is a low-key Star Wars Rebels live-action reunion. Given Zeb is based on Adelphi Base, it’s reasonable to assume we’re returning to that specific New Republic base. It seems a safe bet Rotta the Hutt will likely return.
Rotta made his debut in the 2008 Clone Wars movie, alongside Ahsoka Tano herself. That means it would be great to see Ahsoka and Rotta reunited in live-action. Meanwhile, Jedi Ezra Bridger routinely went by the ridiculous alias of Jabba the Hutt, so there’s room for real comedy when Rotta meets the man who used his father’s name. Don’t be surprised if we get all this and more in Ahsoka Season 2.
We Now Know How the Imperial Shadow Council Works
The Mandalorian Season 3 revealed the scattered Imperial warlords were secretly coordinating in a so-called Shadow Council, working closely with pirates to raid the galaxy’s trade routes. Now, thanks to The Mandalorian and Grogu, we have a full picture of their strategy; the Empire is basically running a protection racket. They promise (limited) defense to planets in return for loyalty, territory, and access to a world’s resources. If worlds do not comply, pirates are assigned to conduct raids akin to the one Gorrian Shard launched on Nevarro.
It’s a smart strategy. The Imperial Remnant presumably gets a portion of the pirates’ takings, funding the Empire’s continued militarization. Meanwhile, the full scale of Imperial activities has been hidden from the New Republic; Colonel Ward may sense a new war is brewing, but politicians in Coruscant remain ignorant of it, and the New Republic Defense Fleet has been under-funded. This is the status quo, but it’s about to change now Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned.
The New Republic Now Knows All About the Shadow Council
The capture of Commander Coin is a turning point for the galaxy, however. According to Colonel Ward, he has indeed been “singing like a yuzzem,” which means the New Republic now know about the Imperial Shadow Council. The shadow war between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant is about to move into open conflict, explaining why Dave Filoni revealed there’ll be full-scale fleet battles between Thrawn’s forces and Admiral Ackbar’s New Republic Defense Fleet in Ahsoka Season 2. Din Djarin has, ironically, triggered the very war Colonel Ward hoped to avoid.
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