‘The Mandalorian’ just reintroduced 200-year old ‘Star Wars’ lore

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian “Chapter 19: The Convert.”

Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian hasn’t just been excellent at getting in some references to the “Fall of the Jedi” or “Age of Rebellion” eras in Star Wars history, its latest episode just referenced something from “The High Republic” era. 

You might not have given it a second thought, but the rock-like object that Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian) visit is the highest mountain peak on Coruscant. The peak is called Umate, and while it was first introduced in the Special Edition of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, it was first named in the novel Star Wars – The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. 

The third season of The Mandalorian takes place around 9 ABY, while Light of the Jedi takes place during 232 BBY, nearly 250 years earlier. The area has changed so much since, for starters, people were allowed to touch Umate back then. In “The High Republic” era Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh found the place as a way to connect to the entire Republic because it was one of the only natural areas in the entirety of Coruscant. 

As many are probably aware from its depiction in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in the Prequel trilogy, Coruscant consists of many different levels, with the wealthier upper class living at the top, and the lower class living at the bottom. Umate is a mountain that starts at the very bottom of Coruscant. In Light of the Jedi, it was located in Monument Plaza, and it still seems to be located there in The Mandalorian, only missing the greenery that was planted there to make it like the base of the mountain. 

It does seem like they have rebuilt the plaza a little higher in the 240 years since Light of the Jedi, as in the book it was described as at least 20 meters tall. In “The High Republic” era you would be able to see the entire original topography of Coruscant from that peak. But, as Coruscant is ever-expanding citizens wouldn’t be able to do that anymore, especially seeing as the senatorial apartments during the “Fall of the Jedi” era seem to be touching the clouds of the planet. 

We’ve returned to Coruscant a number of times throughout the numerous movies, books, and television shows, and it’s nice that not we have gotten a look at a piece of Coruscant’s history, however cursory that look was. 

You can catch the latest episodes of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus.