The Mandalorian takes place three years after the events of Return of the Jedi, and that means the Star Wars TV series can show the fall of the Galactic Empire. Created by Jon Favreau (The Lion King) for Disney Plus, The Mandalorian will be the first live-action Star Wars series ever. It follows a lone gunslinger, played by Pedro Pascal, in the outer reaches of the galaxy, but it will also feature some classic Star Wars elements.
Photos from The Mandalorian set have revealed that the series will include both original trilogy Stormtroopers as well as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s Death Troopers, and that suggests the series will depict what happens to the Empire post-Return of the Jedi. Following the Battle of Endor and the destruction of the second Death Star, the Empire continued to fight on for about another year. The Galactic Empire officially came to an end after the Battle of Jakku, and the signing of the Imperial Instruments of Surrender in 5 ABY (After Battle of Yavin). This is territory Disney's Star Wars has shown a keen interest in exploring recently, most notably in Star Wars: Battlefront II’s story campaign and in the Star Wars Resistance animated series, and The Mandalorian can continue to expand upon it.
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Imperial remnants continued to cause problems across the galaxy after the Empire fell in 5 ABY, and with the New Republic hunting them down wherever they could, a select group of Imperial officers fled to the Unknown Regions and eventually worked their way to forming the First Order. However, the vast majority of Imperial soldiers/troopers weren't given that opportunity, and were instead forced to live in the Outer Rim, as close to the galaxy's edge as possible to escape prosecution. That’s where The Mandalorian comes in. Other set photos from The Mandalorian have suggested the series will visit familiar locations such as Tatooine, and it makes sense for those who served in the Empire to flee to planets in the outer rim as they attempt to escape arrest.
Indeed, Imperial remnants still held strong in some areas of the Outer Rim as of 5 ABY, including on planets such as Zhadalene, Korrus, and Belladoon. The Mandalorian, then, will be able to actually show the last of these remnants being wiped out by the New Republic. Or, at the very least, it can show the shattered remains of the Empire and how the regular, day-to-day troopers lived out their lives as members of the once-expansive Galactic Empire.
That itself would tie into the wider narrative, which has Pascal’s gunslinger attempting to avoid the authorities himself. The official synopsis for The Mandalorian revealed that Pascal's unnamed character is far from the reaches of the New Republic authorities, which would explain why the remaining Imperials go there. However, if the Imperial remnants are in the outer reaches, then it'd be easy to have the authorities catching up with them, and in turn, the titular Mandalorian himself. It's something that will certainly play into the show's first season.
However, it's unlikely that Stormtroopers and Death Troopers themselves will take up a significant part of the show, but they’re a hugely recognizable part of the Star Wars iconography, which will be important in promoting the series to potential viewers who are otherwise unfamiliar with the Star Wars timeline. Furthermore, with the fall of the Empire playing out in the background of The Mandalorian, it allows the show to enhance the broader mythology of Star Wars while still telling a character-driven story about its titular character at the same time.