The Mandalorian Season 3 Shows A Part Of Coruscant That Feels Like Disneyland, But We've Seen It Before
This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 3, "The Convert."
On the latest episode of "The Mandalorian," "Chapter 19: The Convert," we take a side-step into the story of Dr. Pershing. He was the Imperial cloning scientist from the first season of "The Mandalorian" and is now working to restore his honor and integrity, taking part in the New Republic Amnesty Program. He finds someone he knows in that same program with him: Elia Kane, the former communications officer of Moff Gideon.
He seems to distrust her to start, but they spend time together in their designated zone on Coruscant and they form a fast friendship. One of the places they go is to Monument Plaza on Coruscant, where they even see the peak of Umate, the tallest mountain on Coruscant. It has the feel of Disneyland, with children running around and playing, droids juggling on stilts, and glowing ice cream treats for sale. It's a fun location, centered around the top of Umate.
But this isn't the first time we've seen the plaza on screen in "Star Wars," and this particular plaza has played an important role in galactic history.
Return of the Jedi
The first time we got a glimpse of Monument Plaza was actually in the Special Edition of "Return of the Jedi," released in 1997. During the celebrations across the galaxy, at the end of the film, we get a glimpse of a crowd on Coruscant, tearing down a statue of Emperor Sheev Palpatine. The Senate and the Imperial Palace can be seen in the background of this riot; we're simply seeing a different angle of it on "The Mandalorian." It looks like the part of the plaza where Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane have their conversation is the reverse angle of the cheering, violent crowd we see in "Return of the Jedi."
Monument Plaza has come up in a lot of other media as well, from the era of the "High Republic" to the current era of "Star Wars" storytelling. It's always been important, but not many know what happened on the plaza in the moments after we saw it in "Return of the Jedi."
Aftermath and Riots
Chuck Wendig gave us a view of what happened on the plaza in those moments after the statue of Palpatine came down in his "Aftermath" books. While the galaxy cheered for the end of Palpatine, the Empire was not yet defeated on Coruscant and they were still in control. Stormtroopers, at the behest of the still functioning Imperial government of Coruscant, put down this demonstration, calling it a riot. They cowed the populace once more and kept them under Imperial control over the year that followed (and then some).
We haven't seen this place on the page or screen since then, making its appearance on "The Mandalorian" our first view of it in a post-Empire galaxy. It seems bright and fun — exactly the sort of place you'd want to take the kids for a visit in the former galactic capital.
"The Mandalorian" is streaming only on Disney+. New episodes premiere on Wednesdays.