The Mandalorian has dropped some particularly lore-heavy chapters in recent weeks, including Chapter 12, “The Siege,” which officially inducted the formerly video game-exclusive Dark Trooper into official Star Wars canon while also helping to flesh out the Empire’s secret plans in this murky era. The episode also sheds critical light on Cara Dune’s past. In the process, the series might just be setting up a new spinoff focused on Cara and the heroes of the fledgling New Republic.Here’s why we think Cara’s latest appearance could be the foundation for a new spinoff series on Disney+, and what the series might be about.
The New Republic and the First Order
The Mandalorian is specifically set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, a time when the Empire has been reduced to a handful of scattered warlords and the New Republic is working to restore order to the galaxy. For most of the characters in the series, that shift in power makes little real difference. The Outer Rim exists much as it always has – a lawless frontier where opportunity and mortal danger go hand-in-hand.
But as we see in “The Siege,” some characters are well aware of the effect this shifting power balance is having on the galaxy, and even suspect a new threat may be arising to replace the Empire. New Republic pilot Captain Carson Teva senses trouble afoot in the Outer Rim. He’s beginning to suspect what Star Wars fans now know in the wake of The Rise of Skywalker – the Empire isn’t dead but merely transforming into something new. Though the events of the sequel trilogy are still nearly 30 years in the future, Emperor Palpatine is beginning the long process of gathering resources and building a new army that will become the First Order. We even catch a glimpse of one of the cloned Snoke bodies Palpatine will eventually use as a physical proxy.
Lucasfilm definitely seems to have a story in mind here. Teva’s return appearance seems to be the starting point for a new project focused on various New Republic agents investigating the rise of the First Order. From what we know about the missing period in between the two trilogies, Princess Leia is one of the few Republic politicians who recognizes the growing threat of the First Order. That’s the origin of the Resistance, with Leia privately spearheading her own army to deal with an enemy her colleagues won’t even acknowledge.
This theoretical spinoff series could show us the early origins of the Resistance while also drawing from past Expanded Universe projects like the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron books. Just as those novels did, we could see how hotshot pilots like Captain Teva fought valiantly to destroy the last remnants of the Empire. And Cara Dune may just be a key soldier in that war.
Cara Dune and the Survivors of Alderaan
The implication in “The Siege” is that this New Republic spinoff, in whatever form it takes (if it actually happens, that is), will also revolve directly around Cara Dune. As we learn during her meeting with Captain Teva, Cara is one of the few survivors of Alderaan. That’s why she fought so hard to end Palpatine’s reign. Cara was mourning her dead loved ones every step of the way. And even though Cara seems to have found some measure of peace as a sheriff on Nevarro, she clearly still feels the call to action. This spinoff could follow Cara as she settles back into the life of a soldier and discovers serving the New Republic is very different from fighting for the Rebellion.
This could also provide an opportunity for the Star Wars franchise to explore the lingering trauma of Alderaan’s destruction. Obviously, that plot point has been addressed in various Princess Leia-centric tales, but Leia isn’t the only survivor of Alderaan. That was the whole point of Marvel’s 2015 miniseries Star Wars: Princess Leia, which introduced fellow survivor and Rebel Alliance member Evaan Verlaine. That series established the Empire’s ongoing agenda of wiping out the surviving Alderaanians and erasing all memory of the dead world’s culture and history. Clearly, they failed, but is there a long-term future for Alderaan’s scattered citizens? Can Alderaan still shape the fabric of the New Republic even after its destruction? A Cara Dune-focused spinoff series could be just the vehicle to explore those questions.
Ideally, a story like that would also involve Evaan and even Leia herself. But Lucasfilm’s medium of choice would probably determine how much, if at all, Leia could appear in the series. It’s difficult to imagine the company recasting such an iconic role for a live-action series, especially if Leia is only meant to be a supporting player. Given her prior history with Leia, Evaan might be useful as a proxy for a princess who’s too busy establishing a new government to take part in the hunt for the First Order. But if this spinoff series were to be an animated project in the vein of The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, then Leia could play a more active role. After all, Rebels already featured a young Leia in one episode.
Rangers of the New Republic and Other Major Star Wars Characters
None of this is to say the spinoff series has to revolve specifically around Cara Dune. As it is, Lucasfilm may choose to downplay the character post-Season 2 in light of actress Gina Carano’s recent, controversial comments on social media.
It’s widely assumed Dave Filoni has a Star Wars Rebels follow-up in the works, one that will continue the series’ fairly open-ended conclusion and follow Ahsoka Tano and her friends in their quest to track down the missing Ezra Bridger in the post-Imperial era. With Filoni also heavily involved in the production of The Mandalorian, and with the series introducing Rebels favorites like Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano in live-action form, it’s probably safe to assume the series is aimed at setting the stage for that continuation. It’s entirely possible the New Republic/First Order subplot teased in “The Siege” will also be rolled into that Rebels continuation.
In any case, there’s plenty of room for this spinoff to take an ensemble approach and draw in other familiar movie/TV characters or even canonize popular Expanded Universe characters. Cara is surely far from the only Rebel hero now struggling to find purpose after the fall of the Empire. Why not bring back Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian or finally give ace fighter pilot Wedge Antilles a leading role?
If the spinoff is meant to include characters from Rebels, then surely there’s no better villain than Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was recently mentioned by Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka. The series wouldn’t even need to recast the Thrawn role, as voice actor Lars Mikkelsen would be equally perfect in live-action form. Ahsoka’s appearance in “The Jedi” seems intended to set up a spinoff of its own, but there’s no reason Thrawn couldn’t be the villain in more than one Star Wars series.
We could easily see Dark Forces protagonist Kyle Katarn playing a part in this new saga. The Mandalorian has already introduced the Dark Trooper into the official Star Wars canon, so why not the Rebel agent responsible for ending that threat in the EU? There’s plenty of potential for a series that explores Kyle’s fight against the Dark Troopers and his struggle to come to terms with his Jedi heritage, as seen in later games in the Dark Forces series.
Which Star Wars character would you most like to see in a New Republic spinoff? Vote in the poll and sound off in the comments below…
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.