Aimless Stormtroopers Spotted on the Set of Star Wars 'The Mandalorian'

Jon Favreau’s live-action Star Wars television show taking place after the events of Return of the Jedi will definitely have some stormtroopers in it, based on a new set photo. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but with Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader dead at this point in the Star Wars timeline, who’s ordering them around?

MakingStarWars.net shared a photo from the set of The Mandalorian on Thursday that, despite its poor quality, definitely shows stormtroopers without their helmets on.

Announced on October 4, The Mandalorian happens “after the stories of Jango and Boba Fett,” which is to say that this new bounty hunter might be related to them in some capacity. In this era and before, all of the stormtroopers were cloned from Jango Fett’s DNA.

We know based on the Star Wars: Battlefront II video game that the Emperor put Operation: Cinder into effect after his death, causing the Galactic Civil War to continue in some capacity for a full year after Return of the Jedi. But The Mandalorian happens another two years after that.

So are all of these residual stormtroopers pushed to the Outer Rim territories, where they eke out some aimless existence?

The First Order doesn’t fully rise to power for almost 30 years after the events of The Mandalorian, and all of the stormtroopers used in the First Order army are conscripted children like Finn who were abducted through Project Resurrection. So there’s no real way that these stormtroopers on the set of The Mandalorian have any bearing on the future of Star Wars outside of that show.

So what role will they play in the show? It’s tough to say right now. Maybe the next set photo will provide a little more context.

The Mandalorian has no set release date just yet, but production has already started.