The Mandalorian Could Actually Take Place Before Star Wars: Rebels’ End Says Dave Filoni

WARNING: There are SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 and Star Wars: Rebels’ finale in this article.

The latest episode of The Mandalorian called Chapter 13: The Jedi, saw Ahsoka Tano’s live-action debut and people are now thinking that she could have set up an appearance from Star Wars: Rebels’ biggest baddie, Grand Admiral Thrawn.

The episode also revealed Baby Yoda’s real name – it’s Grogu by the way – and people really seemed to love Rosario Dawson’s introduction as the Jedi Ahsoka Tano. The episode was directed by Dave Filoni, and he recently did an interview with Vanity Fair.

In this interview, Filoni seemed to hint that The Mandalorian doesn’t actually take place when we thought it did. Many of us thought that the show took place after the events of Star Wars: Rebels. This is one of the reasons why so many Rebels fans were so excited because we might get to know what happened to Thrawn and Ezra Bridger following the animated show’s finale.

However, that might not be the case. We might actually be seeing events take place before the events of Star Wars: Rebels’ finale in The Mandalorian Season 2, which would be very, very strange if you ask me.

The Mandalorian could actually be set before the end of Star Wars: Rebels

Credit: Disney Plus

Read more: EXCLUSIVE: The Mandalorian Season 3 Will Feature Ezra Bridger

Here’s exactly what Filoni revealed during his recent interview with Vanity Fair:

That’s not necessarily chronological. I think the thing that people will most not understand is they want to go in a linear fashion, but as I learned as a kid, nothing in Star Wars really works in a linear fashion. You do [Episodes] Four, Five and Six and then One, Two, and Three. So in the vein of that history, when you look at the epilogue of Rebels you don’t really know how much time has passed. So, it’s possible that the story I’m telling in The Mandalorian actually takes place prior to that. Possible. I’m saying it’s possible.

This is actually a really confusing statement, as Star Wars: Rebels is known to take place five years before The Mandalorian. However, the animated series’ finale features a stinger that sees Ahsoka Tano and Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren setting off on a mission to find their missing friend, Ezra Bridger. He was last seen in the show stuck on a ship which was blasting off into hyperspace with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

What do you make of this news? When do you think The Mandalorian takes place in the Star Wars timeline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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