WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.
Disney+'s The Mandalorian episode 4 featured a hidden time jump. Star Wars' first live-action TV show is back this week with a fresh outing directed by Bryce Dallas Howard and written by Jon Favreau. In the episode, we finally meet Cara Dune - a former Rebel Shock Trooper played by Gina Carano.
After escaping the bounty hunters thanks to the help of his fellow Mandalorians led by the Favreau-voiced Paz Vizla, Pedro Pascal's Dyn Jarren flees with baby Yoda. As they find a safe place to hide, they end up on the planet Sorgan. There, they met villagers including Julia Jones' Omera and her daughter, Isla Farris' Winta. Despite initially begrudging to help the people of the fishing village, Dyn alongside Cara eventually led the people to fend off the raiders. Sometime during their time in the agrarian planet, The Mandalorian implemented a short time-jump.
The said time-jump wasn't explicitly mentioned in The Mandalorian episode titled "Sanctuary", perhaps because it wasn't very long. After they successfully defeated the Klatoonians, Dyn, baby Yoda, and Cara stayed a bit longer in the village. In the next scene following the defeat of the raiders, the bounty hunters sat down near a hut where Omera offered both of them food. During the conversation, Cara mentioned something about raising hell "a few weeks back" referring to the recent battle against the Klatoonians. This gives us the impression that they've lingered for at least two weeks in the village.
This explains a few other subplots in the episode. First, baby Yoda seemed fully acclimated in the area as he's shown playing with the kids who were equally smitten by him. The passage of time also allowed for the mysterious bounty hunter to pinpoint their exact location and follow them to the remote place in the hopes of killing the child. Finally, the time-jump gives Dyn and Omera more time to know each other and it appeared like their relationship progressed quite nicely the past few weeks enough for Cara to suggest that the bounty hunter settle in the village with the widow.
Admittedly, the episode was more of a filler. The outing didn't address The Mandalorian's existing burning question with regard to the real identity of baby Yoda. And while it revealed new information about Dyn, particularly in terms of his relation to his real connection to the Mandalorians, there's still so much to learn about him. Nevertheless, it was a great character-building episode as it gave fans a better sense of who the title character is - beneath his strong veneer, he's a man of principle. And of course, it introduced Cara who can still factor in the narrative moving forward. As for what the time jump means for rest of the show's season 1, chances are that at this point, The Client (Werner Herzog) has mobilized his people to hunt Dyn and baby Yoda. So, it's safe to assume that as they leave Sorgan, the galaxy is a much more dangerous place for them.