New ‘The Mandalorian’ Trailer, Explained: Blurrgs, Battle Droids & Amban Phase-Pulse Blasters

If you’ve seen The Mandalorian trailer and you have questions, you’re in the right place. Who’s the Mandalorian? What’s a Mandalorian? When‘s the Mandalorian? These are all great asks, and some of them we can absolutely answer.

Created by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Lion King) for the streaming service Disney+, the live-action Star Wars show stars Pedro Pascal as an intergalactic gunfighter presumedly descended from the same warrior race that gave us both bounty hunters Jango and Boba Fett. It’ll arrive on November 12th along with the launch of the service itself, but don’t expect too many answers before then since press won’t be getting an early look.

The series also stars Carl Weathers, Nick Nolte, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, and Werner Herzog. Joining Favreau behind the camera as episode directors are Star Wars Rebels creator Dave Filoni, Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), and Bryce Dallas Howard (Solemates), some of whom you’ll see below in various forms.

Before we get into the trailer’s visuals, we should probably talk about the setting; you can get a deep dive into the Star Wars timeline here. Occurring after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order, The Mandalorian follows the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic. The live-action series sees the bounty hunter forced to make ends meet in some of the most corrupt and crime-infested parts of a post-Empire galaxy. However, vestiges of the defeated Empire are still around…

The history of Mandalore and the Mandalorians is thousands of years old at this point. Their people have endured wars against the Jedi, droids, and even themselves in a complex series of civil wars and faction skirmishes. Werner Herzog‘s character alludes to that in a sparse bit of dialogue in this new trailer:

“This is a world more peaceful since the revolution. It is a shame that your people suffered. But bounty hunting is a complicated profession. They said you were coming. They said you were the best in the parsec. Would you agree?

Mandalorian … look outside … they’re waiting for you.”

To which Pedro Pascal’s title character replies, in meme-worthy deliver as the first dialogue for his role: “Yeah? Good.”

Now, to the trailer. Disney trailers, and Star Wars titles in particular, are notorious for being presented out of order and sans context in order to save the surprises for the screen. So while this foreboding shot of bloodied and impaled Stormtroopers helmets in the desert sand may be the first image we see, it may actually occur later on in the story.

It wouldn’t be Star Wars without an early morning (or evening?) ride on a Blurrg. That could be Gina Carano’s character, Cara Dune, atop one since she did mention having to ride one of the sizable creatures during filming.

Our first great shot of the shiny Mandalorian sends him into battle against a pair of Trandoshans, at least one of which appears to be the subject of his bounty hunt and ultimately ends on frozen in carbonite. Infamous Trandoshan bounty hunter Bossk got an expanded story in the animated series and the comics, so perhaps he’ll pop up in The Mandalorian as well.

The weapon wielded by the Mandalorian here (or one of them, at least) is the one originally seen in the Star Wars Holiday Special, one that Favreau himself wanted to recreate for this series. As you can see, it’s pretty handy in a fight, both up close and at a distance.

Ah carbonite, our old friend. Han Solo is the most recognizable victim of this body preservation system, but it looks like the Mandalorian has a few stacked up for delivery.

And while we don’t get a great look at what we assume is the Mandalorian’s ship, it’s nice to know that the series’ action and adventure won’t be restricted to planetary surfaces.

It’s a little difficult to figure out where this sequence falls in the Mandalorian’s story, but if we start out with a fight and end with a delivery of the bounty, it would make sense to see him drop off his targets and collect his pay. The problem is that a team of Stormtroopers appear to be waiting for him. So whether Werner Herzog’s character is yet another bounty target or perhaps even the one who ordered the hit in the first place, it remains to be seen who will survive the fight between the remnants of the Empire and the lone gunfighter.

Even a Stormtrooper couldn’t miss a laser blast at point-blank range … unless he’s going up against The Mandalorian, that is.

One sequence in this trailer is out of step with the rest, likely marking it as a flashback to an earlier time. Could this be the young Mandalorian in the past?

The bit of evidence suggesting this sequence may be a flashback to roughly 30 years earlier is the arrival of B2 Super Battle Droids and the HMP droid gunship passing by overhead. Mandalore may have attempted to stay neutral during the Clone Wars, but various factions allied themselves with both the Separatists and the Sith at various points in their history. Perhaps this is an example of the fallout from such alliances…

Back to the bounty huntin’! We get to see the various tricks of the Mandalorian’s trade, this time with the wrist-mounted harpoon/snare.

Sorry, I don’t know what this creature is, but it’s the one thing that the Mandalorian apparently can’t easily wrangle and the only thing to mess up his shiny armor.

This bespectacled character, who seems on friendly terms with The Mandalorian, may be Nick Nolte’s character, as teased by recent posters.

And here’s Carl Weathers, a mysterious character known as Greef Carga. Likely a fellow bounty hunter along with his cadre, we’re expecting them to be tenuous allies of the Mandalorian. As Favreau revealed that Weathers not only sticks around into Season 2, he’ll also be taking on some directorial duties as well; look for that full interview in a bit.

Here’s a good look at Carano’s Cara Dune, a former Rebel Shock Trooper who now works as a mercenary and who fought for the Rebel Alliance in the civil war. She appears to be on good terms with The Mandalorian and knows her way around a heavy weapon or two, as you’ll soon see.

Here we get a look at Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, a former “warden of the universe”, as Esposito called the character. Though the Empire may have fallen, he still has spaceships, equipment, and personnel at his command. And while we don’t know if he aligns more with the Light or Dark side of the Force (or just general morality), this first image of him appearing before an executioner wall flanked by armed Stormtroopers isn’t a great start.

(And neither is that smirk.) Later, we get to see the briefest hint of a wrist-harpoon and jetpack as the Mandalorian clings to Gideon’s ship. Could Gideon be a high-profile target that the bounty hunter is sent to track down?

And here’s Taika Waititi’s droid character, IG-11. Why not IG-88? Well, for one thing, the assassin droid was destroyed when the Death Star II (and we won’t get into the reborn IG-88A, etc. etc.), but more importantly, Filoni wanted to create some new characters for the show.

We’re not sure if this is a family connection or a romantic one, but could this be the moment we see The Mandalorian’s face? Well, not just yet, but maybe when the show actually arrives.

We’re putting the odds on Cara Dune to come out on top of this fight, no matter how many extra guns this guy brings to the party.

And here’s the Mandalorian going after Moff Gideon. Whether it’s a bounty or a more personal vendetta, we’ll have to wait and see.

The Mandalorian arrives on Disney+ on November 12th. Get your Amban phase-pulse blasters ready!