The Mandalorian: 10 Things We Learned From Star Wars Celebration

8. It'll Touch On The History Of Mandalore

The Mandalorians are probably the most prominent faction in the expanded Star Wars canon, both before and after Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm. They were a key force during the Old Republic, but by the time the Clone Wars had come around their power and standing in the galaxy had dwindled, their warrior credo replaced by a burgeoning pacifism.

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, their circumstances had changed yet again. Darth Maul had ousted their pacifist leader before the Empire took control. Rather than suppressing the planet's history, the Empire decided to use it for their own gain, imposing a puppet government that encouraged Mandalorian citizens to enlist in the Imperial Military.

During the events of Star Wars Rebels, a Mandalorian splinter-group led by Bo-Katan managed to unify several clans against Imperial rule. Mandalore, meanwhile, would still be a shadow of its former self for years to come.

With that brief history lesson out of the way, we can now better contextualise The Mandalorian TV series. Leaked footage indicates that Pascal's character believes that Mandalore should be restored to their former glory, having signed up to a risky bounty only because payment is a sliver of Beskar, a precious Mandalorian metal. The implication here is that he's taking on the job less for monetary gain and more for pride, so it'll be interesting to see if this has any further ramifications for the Mandalorians going forward.