If you've been watching The Mandalorian season 2 finale this weekend, you're probably wondering when The Mandalorian is set in the Star Wars timeline. The short and most useful answer is, The Mandalorian season 2 is set 5 years after Return of the Jedi, but 25 years before Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But it's hard to be more specific than that.
This was revealed around the time The Mandalorian aired in 2019, to help people figure out where it sits in the Star Wars timeline. It's not something you probably thought about that much until season 2, when the show started introducing legacy characters from the Star Wars movies, which makes you think about how all the pieces on the table in these last eight episodes (like Boba Fett) actually add up.
After that finale – which we will discuss a little below as we add context to what you just saw in Mando's last episode, so, spoilers – you're no doubt thinking about it a whole lot more. So, here's when The Mandalorian is set in Star Wars continuity.
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When The Mandalorian is set in the Star Wars timeline
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (set 32 years before A New Hope)
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (set 22 years before A New Hope)
- The Clone Wars animated movie (represents the start of the animated series)
- The Clone Wars animated series (begins 22 years before A New Hope, ends 19 years before)
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (set 19 years before A New Hope)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (set about a decade before A New Hope)
- Star Wars: Rebels animated series (set five years before A New Hope, with an epilogue set much later)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (ends moments before A New Hope)
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (set three years after A New Hope)
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (set four years after A New Hope)
- The Mandalorian (set around nine years after A New Hope)
- Star Wars: Resistance animated series (set 34 years after A New Hope onwards)
- Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (set 34 years after A New Hope)
- Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (set 34 years after A New Hope)
- Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (set 35 years after A New Hope)
The Star Wars universe uses the Battle of Yavin as a central point for all other events. On TechRadar, we've simplified the official designations of Star Wars years of 'BBY' and 'ABY' down to when each movie and TV show is set relative to Episode IV: A New Hope, to make it easier to understand.
So, The Mandalorian is set five years after Return of the Jedi, but a whole 25 years before The Force Awakens. This makes the events of the show's second season, particularly the resurgence of the Empire and the return of Luke Skywalker with his green lightsaber and black cloak, make a lot more sense. The wounds are still relatively fresh after the Battle of Endor.
The show doesn't make it clear how much time passed between The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2, but actor Pedro Pascal has been quoted as saying the show continues "very directly" from the first season, so we can assume Mando meets Cobb Vanth shortly after he downs Moff Gideon's TIE Fighter in 'Chapter 8: Redemption'.
How old is Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian season 2?
Luke Skywalker is likely 28 years old when we meet him in The Mandalorian season 2. He was born 19 years before the Battle of Yavin, during the events of Revenge of the Sith. With The Mandalorian being set 9 years after the events of the first Star Wars movie, that would appear to add up – and hey, it's not the like the visual effects from the show's final episode make him look all that older than he did after the Battle of Endor.
How old is Kylo Ren around the time of The Mandalorian season 2?
Remind yourself what happened this season in The Mandalorian season 2 episode 1, The Mandalorian season 2 episode 2, The Mandalorian season 2 episode 3, The Mandalorian season 2 episode 4, The Mandalorian season 2 episode 5, The Mandalorian season 2 episode 6 and The Mandalorian season 2 episode 7.
You might be wondering how old future Star Wars sequel villain Ben Solo is at this point in the timeline, too – he's reported to have been born around a year after Return of the Jedi, which would make him around four years old. Maybe we'll see him pop up in a future season, now that Luke Skywalker is training Grogu.
