The Mandalorian may happen before the Star Wars Rebels finale, Dave Filoni suggests

The Mandalorian season 2 episode 5 introduced Ahsoka Tano into live-action. The last time we saw the former-Jedi, played by Rosario Dawson, she was setting off with Sabine Wren to find Ezra Bridger in the Star Wars: Rebels finale. However, Dave Filoni has revealed that Chapter 13 might actually take place before this.

The scene in questions takes place at an unknown time after the events of Return of the Jedi. Sabine Wren and Ahsoka are seen blasting off again to find their missing friend, Ezra, who was last seen travelling through space with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Filoni teased: “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.”

He added: “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.”

Although this doesn’t confirm anything, it would make a lot of sense if Dawson's version of the character is an earlier Ahsoka – the Mandalorian episode revealed that she’s on the hunt for Thrawn, who vanished along with Ezra. If she locates the Imperial in The Mandalorian, then she could very well be ready to set off in search for Ezra after finding Thrawn, and not the other way round. Check out our piece on the Star Wars timeline for a basic understanding of the events in that galaxy far, far away.

Filoni also talked about how Ahsoka has changed from both Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: “She is, for lack of a term, a master, because she’s largely an independent at this point. I play her much more as a knowledgeable knight. A wandering samurai character is what she really is at this point. I’ve always made comparisons to her heading toward the Gandalf stage, where she is the one that has the knowledge of the world and can help others through it. I think she’s reached that point.”

Interestingly, the Rebels finale saw Ahsoka sporting a Gandalf the White style robe and staff – so if this is the stage she’s “heading toward,” it seems even more likely that Chapter 13 happened before Rebels ended.

The mystery of Ezra’s disappearance could be unravelled further if Baby Grogu chooses to reach out to the Jedi on the planet Tython, hopefully at some point in the final three episodes of season 2. Check out our The Mandalorian season 2 release schedule to make sure you don’t miss the next instalment of the series hitting Disney Plus.