For years, The Mandalorian and Grogu have quietly evolved into the missing emotional link between two completely different Star Wars trilogies. Most people think Return of the Jedi ended the story the moment the second Death Star exploded above Endor. Yet what many fans never realised is that the real fracture inside the timeline only began after the Empire fell, because the years between the original trilogy and sequel trilogy slowly transformed into the franchise’s most unstable, dangerous, and emotionally defining era. 

And as the new galactic chapter is ready to unfold, here is exactly where The Mandalorian and Grogu sit inside the massive Star Wars timeline.

When Return of the Jedi ended in 4 ABY (“After the Battle of Yavin”), many believed the destruction of the second Death Star marked the true end of the Empire. The battle took place four years after Luke Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Yet the galaxy never shifted overnight from war into peace.

Imperial fleets, governors, stormtrooper legions, and military commanders still controlled major parts of the galaxy even after Emperor Palpatine’s death, while several surviving warlords refused to surrender to the Rebel Alliance. However, the real fracture arrived during the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY, the war that finally crushed the Empire’s remaining military backbone one year after Endor.

Although the Imperial Remnant later signed the Galactic Concordance and surrendered to the New Republic, several Imperial factions escaped into the Outer Rim, thriving within the power vacuum. That fractured post-war galaxy eventually became the setting for The Mandalorian in 9 ABY, where the Empire is politically gone, but its shadow still lingers across distant systems.

According to the official Star Wars Timelines book, nearly every major event across Seasons 1 through 3 of The Mandalorian unfolds within roughly a single year between 9 and 10 ABY. That timeline includes Din Djarin’s Outer Rim missions, Grogu’s Jedi journey, the Book of Boba Fett crossover episodes, and even Mandalore’s restoration during Season 3, revealing how rapidly the post-Empire galaxy continued evolving after the collapse.

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And while the New Republic struggled to hold the galaxy together, one masked bounty hunter quietly walked straight into the chaos waiting beyond Imperial collapse.

The Mandalorian officially begins in 9 ABY, roughly five years after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi. By this stage, the New Republic technically governs the galaxy, yet the Outer Rim still operates like a lawless frontier filled with bounty hunters, smugglers, pirates, and surviving Imperial forces. Far away from Coruscant, entire systems still survive through violence, bounty hunters, and underground deals. That dangerous environment becomes home for Din Djarin, the masked Mandalorian bounty hunter whose rigid warrior creed forbids him from removing his helmet before others.

During that short period, Grogu evolves from a hunted Force-sensitive child into Din’s adopted son, while Mandalore itself rises again under Bo-Katan Kryze. The fall of Moff Gideon, the destruction of the Darksaber, Grogu’s Jedi training, and Din’s redemption arc all occur almost back-to-back inside the same timeline window. Simultaneously, Ahsoka reveals the terrifying return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Empire’s most dangerous strategist, quietly signalling that another galactic storm may already be forming behind the New Republic’s blind optimism.

However, Din Djarin and Grogu’s journey is no longer just a side adventure, because the timeline they now occupy may secretly connect the fall of the Empire to the rise of the First Order itself.

The Mandalorian and Grogu are set to arrive on May 22, 2026, as Star Wars’ first major theatrical continuation of the Disney+ era. Set around 12 to 13 ABY, the film sits nearly twenty years before Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the rise of Kylo Ren. That timeline placement makes the movie hugely important because it occupies the exact missing era between the Empire’s fall and the First Order’s eventual emergence. 

Directed by Jon Favreau, the film reportedly follows Din Djarin and Grogu through a dangerous bounty hunting mission involving Imperial remnants, Commander Coin, and Rotta the Hutt. The cast further expands the galaxy with Pedro Pascal returning as Din Djarin alongside Sigourney Weaver making her Star Wars debut as Colonel Ward, while Jeremy Allen White voices Rotta the Hutt, joined by returning fan favourites including Zeb Orrelios, Embo, and the Anzellan droidsmiths.

The movie is also expected to connect closely with Dave Filoni’s larger New Republic storyline after Ahsoka, especially the growing threat surrounding Grand Admiral Thrawn. Several reports further suggest the project effectively replaces what would have originally become The Mandalorian Season 4, transforming the Disney+ storyline into a full theatrical continuation instead.

Thus, as The Mandalorian and Grogu prepare to open an entirely new galactic chapter, the film may finally reveal how the fragile years between the Empire’s collapse and the First Order’s rise quietly shaped the future of Star Wars forever.

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Are you excited to watch The Mandalorian and Grogu unfold inside this unexplored era of the Star Wars timeline? Let us know in the comments.