The Mandalorian Can’t Stop Making Stormtroopers Rubbish (Is It Too Much?)

Stormtroopers were once a key part of the Empire’s dominance in Star Wars, but The Mandalorian keeps making them seem worse and worse as effective soldiers. Back in The Mandalorian season 1, episode 1, “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian,”, Din Djarin finds himself surrounded by four Imperial Stormtroopers. One reminds him that he’s outnumbered, 4 to 1, prompting the Mandalorian to coolly reply that he likes those odds. While a memorable moment in the series, the rest of seasons 1 and 2 demonstrate that Din’s boast is not particularly impressive, given the Stormtroopers’ comical incompetence. Their utter lack of proficiency as soldiers reached its illogical peak in the opening scene of The Mandalorian season 1, episode 8, “Chapter 8: Redemption,” where two Scout Troopers were unable to hit a piece of debris at fairly close range, and hasn’t improved in season 2.

The Stormtroopers seen in The Mandalorian are a far cry from the terrifyingly brutal legions seen in the original Star Wars trilogy and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In those films, the Stormtroopers are the faceless minions of a dystopian fascist regime, not unlike those seen in Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Handmaid’s Tale. They had their bumbling moments, like being defeated by Ewoks (who are far stronger than humans) or a blind man with a stick (though he is a Force user who fights with a Kyber-enhanced staff), but they were also balanced out with grim reminders that they are proficient soldiers with no qualms about reducing civilians to charred skeletons. Stormtroopers effectively kill countless well-trained, well-equipped Rebels on Scarif and the Tantive IV, and handily fight off a Partisan ambush on Jedha. The heroes of the four films can outfight them (mostly thanks to plot armor) but are still often seen retreating from Stormtroopers far more than fighting them head-on.

In The Mandalorian, Stormtroopers’ competence is inverted. While they are occasionally capable of scoring hits on Din Djarin’s blaster-proof beskar armor and, in one case, killing a major character (Kuiil at the end of season 1, episode 7, “Chapter 7: The Reckoning”), they are generally seen as ineffectual fools who can’t hit the broad side of space cruiser and wear armor that hinders them instead of protecting them from anything. This view is demonstrated in most episodes and even expressed by The Mandalorian’s characters in-universe. The unfortunate effect is that there is no longer a sense of peril when the heroes face off against Stormtroopers.

In moments where Din Djarin, Bo-Katan, or Boba Fett lay waste to squads of Stormtroopers, it feels less like they’re prevailing against formidable enemies, and more like they’re mobbing hapless weaklings. In The Mandalorian season 2, episode 7, “Chapter 15: The Believer,” one Stormtrooper stands idly by while watching Migs Mayfeld kill Valin Hess, too slow to react, and Mayfeld and Mando somehow manage to escape despite the numbers being so against them, with the various troopers proving useless again at aiming or any kind of effective strategy. In the episode before, one stands and watches as a giant boulder rolls towards (and eventually crushed) him. If The Mandalorian made Stormtroopers intimidating (as they should be), the Imperial Remnant itself would be more threatening and the heroes’ victories over them would be more impressive.

Stormtroopers in Star Wars Rebels are just as inept as they are in The Mandalorian, complete with the Ghost’s crewmembers often mocking them, and the effect is the same. The predecessor to Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, also features legions of comically incompetent enemies, but the in-universe reason for this makes far more sense. While the Empire’s Stormtroopers should be formidable and ruthless, the Separatist Alliance is a corporate oligarchy whose legions are mostly made up of B1 Battle Droids, who are mass-produced and made by the lowest bidder. On their own, a battle droid is no threat to a Clone Trooper or Jedi, but in swarms, they can and do prove capable of killing both. The Empire may be vast and well-funded, but their Stormtroopers are the recruited successors to the Republic’s Clone Troopers (among the best non-Force using warriors in the galaxy). Because of this, they should be far more competent than the way they’re portrayed in Rebels and The Mandalorian.

About The Author

David Miller
(620 Articles Published)

David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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