How The Mandalorian Could Save The Rise of Skywalker.

Ok that, was a bit click baity wasn’t it? Sorry about that. To be honest, I don’t feel that The Rise of Skywalker(TROS) needs saving. I actually quite enjoyed it. Seeing it in theaters with my son is one of my favorite Star Wars memories. But, it does have a big, glaring issue. Introducing the major twist of the trilogy, Palpatine’s return, in the opening crawl. Then, adding insult to injury the movie refuses to explore the idea any further. 

 

The novelization has attempted to correct some of this. But, much like J.K Rowling’s subsequent “revelations” outside of the Harry Potter books, this has been met with some scorn by fans. Yet, this far from the first time a Star Wars movie needed a little outside help.

 

The fall of Anakin Skywalker is something the prequel movies notably failed to properly do. Somewhat ironic given that was exactly what it was supposed to be about. But, Lucas and Dave Filoni rectified a lot of that with the superb series The Clone Wars. Rebels continued this tradition with expanding on the events leading up to the original trilogy. Could The Mandalorian do the same thing with the sequel trilogy? 

 

We’ve talked before about how the end of TROS actually does fit into canon and is a solid ending. However, much like the prequels it requires explanations from outside sources and conjecture on the part of the audience. It’s a good story marred by bad filmmaking/storytelling. Filling in the blanks could help as there are really cool concepts being explored here. 

 

So, to catch anyone who needs it up; Palpatine didn’t survive the destruction of The Death Star II. Instead he transferred his consciousness into a clone body. It makes sense really. He had started and won a war using a clone army, why wouldn’t he use that technology to attempt immortality for himself? 

 

But can you clone midichlorians? Turns out that might be a bit more difficult than Darth Sideous and his disciples first thought. According to TROS novelization there were several clones that didn’t cut the muster. One was discarded and became Rey’s father. Another set of failures were used to create the illusion of Snoke. Which creates a really cool concept. For decades Sith scientists would have been working on this problem. The idea conjures up images of Dr. Frankenstein and the putrid, real life monster, Dr. Mengela in Sith form. These scientists would do anything in order to succeed; ethics and mercy be damned. So how does The Mandalorian fit into all of this?

 

The Mandalorian takes place roughly halfway between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. The Sith Eternal’s attempts to perfect the cloning process would be in full swing. But, without unaltered force sensitive life forms to work from, how could scientists hope to replicate their biological make up? And to bring the emperor back to his true form they would need a being with similar potential. The only two beings in the Galaxy to have that much power were Yoda and Luke Skywalker. One was dead and the other in hiding (note that the Force Awakens opens with the first order actively searching for Skywalker.)

 

It would stand to reason then that if news of a child the same species as masters Yoda and Yaddle arose, the Sith Eternal would pursue it at all costs. A crate of beskar would be a meager amount in light of such genetic riches. 

 

Eagle eyed fans noted in the first episode of The Mandalorian that the scientist Dr. Pershing wore Kamino Cloning patches on his uniform. This actually makes a great deal of sense. The Emperor was still controlling the remnants of the Empire by proxy. We saw in TROS that there were some First Order officers who were aware of the Emperors’ survival.

 

Surly that means there were a select few in the Empire that knew it as well.  Perhaps this elite group of officers who ruled in the Emperor’s absence began to be known as the First Order of The Empire. These few are the ones directing the likes of Moff Gideon and Werner Herzog’s The Client   

 

The end of season 1 leads us to believe the fate of Mandalore and the discovery of Yoda’s home world would be the big reveals that lie ahead. But how great would it be to see the rise of the first order and the horrors of Sith science/sorcery were the real secrets behind the show. 

 

Its a stretch and nothing more than one fans dream. Yet, as far as Star Wars fan theories go – we think its plausible. But we may be a bit biased.