Give it enough time, and just about every new entry in the Star Wars franchise will face at least a modicum of flak from a certain group of fans. The latest in this trend involves the Disney+ smash hit, The Mandalorian, which has been available in the United States since November, and just began to stream in the United Kingdom a few weeks ago. The Mandalorian is now facing ridicule from a sect of fans that feel the series is inconsistent with Star Wars continuity == and for an awfully silly reason.
It started with a Reddit post, where a lone redditor asked these two questions: Who Moff Gideon is working for, and why does he have a stormtrooper army five years after the fall of the Galactic Empire? As fate would have it, the post inspired media outlets to write articles posing the same question, and asserting this is somehow a "massive" continuity error. It isn't of course, as there exists plenty of evidence to back up how it makes sense in The Mandalorian’s timeline.
For one, fans need to only go to the Star Wars website databank to find a subentry devoted remnant stormtroopers. The site explains that, after the fall of the Empire in the wake of the events of Return of the Jedi, some surviving stormtroopers formed ragtag mercenary armies, employed by "lawless gangsters" who were once part of the Imperial regime. That certainly makes sense in the context of The Mandalorian, which is set on far-flung worlds just outside of the reach of the Republic.
There’s real-world historical precedent for such mercenary armies, with soldiers of fortune employed for centuries by warlords, monarchs and popes. The Great Company, a group German mercenaries that flourished in Italy in the mid-14th century, is said to have boasted between 10,000 and 12,000 men at its height.
It makes sense that, facing sudden unemployment following the Battle of Endor, many stormtroopers would set off with their armor and blasters to eek out a living, and step into the power vacuum left by the overthrow of the Empire.
While the question of how Moff Gideon can afford a small army of stormtroopers is a good one, it's also rather easily resolved. Seeing that stormtroopers are just emerging from the losing end of a galactic civil war, chances are they aren’t exactly top-shelf mercenaries. Throughout the franchise, stormtroopers have demonstrated unfathomably bad aim (The Mandalorian even made fun of this in the opening of the season finale, in which two scout troopers prove hopeless at shooting an object), which is another reason why their services may be acquired for low pay. By contrast, the fearsome death troopers in Gideon's retinue, given their efficiency and firepower, no doubt demand a higher price. So how Gideon can afford their services may have to remain a mystery for now. There’s still so much to learn about his character, and Season 2 may very well reveal the source of his wealth and power.
Star Wars films, television series, novels and comics have commonly made continuity errors, and there will always be fans quick to point out apparent discrepancies. However, The Mandalorian’s depiction of a remnant stormtrooper army isn't one of them. Their inclusion could even lay the groundwork for the formation of the First Order. We’ll see next season whether the show gives any more insight into those Imperial remnants. But then again, maybe you shouldn’t count on it. Since A New Hope, stormtoopers have served one primary function: cannon fodder.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito and Emily Swallow. Season 1 is streaming now on Disney+. Season 2 is slated to arrive in October.