A great sci-fi character needs a send-off to suit the magnitude of their character. Obi-Wan Kenobi had his epic robe-drop moment in A New Hope, Darth Vader had his mask-off farewell in Return of the Jedi, and Luke Skywalker had his astral projected swan song in The Last Jedi. It would really be a bummer if a big character met their end bc they caught a nasty bug on Hoth or accidentally tripped and fell over a cliff. (The only real exception is Yoda; he’s allowed to pass away from natural causes because he’s almost a millennium old.)
Because of this pattern, fans don’t expect heroes to be defeated in lower-stakes moments, which has led to one of the most notorious Star Wars in-jokes in its almost 50-year history: Stormtroopers have terrible aim. Our heroes may exchange blaster fire with the faceless, helmeted henchmen, but they rarely are hit by them because that wouldn’t be satisfying at all. Now, another movie is repeating this notorious yet avoidable trope on an even bigger scale.
Mando and Grogu ride a “chicken walker” in a new clip from The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm kicked off its Star Wars Day offerings by adding a brand new clip from The Mandalorian and Grogu to Disney+. (This isn’t online, but is on Disney+.) The clip features Din Djarin summoning his son Grogu onto an AT-ST while a bunch of stormtroopers in AT-AT walkers try to blast them away. Despite the fact that the stormtroopers are working with much heavier firepower and outnumber their enemies, they are still unable to hit the walker, once again perpetuating the trope that stormtroopers have terrible aim.
This is something that has long been a running joke in Star Wars, but why is it true? It may be a matter of eyesight — in A New Hope, Luke says he can’t see while disguised in a stormtrooper’s armor, and in an episode of Rebels, former clone trooper Rex is similarly disguised but finds his usually perfect aim is completely ruined by wearing the helmet.
This isn’t just a joke within the fandom, though. It’s also a known fact within the universe. In The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 8, two stormtrooper scouts pass the time by trying some target practice, only to miss their target over and over. In this scene, it seems like the aim is excused by faulty equipment, but it’s clear that this is an Empire-wide problem.
It’s just one of those things that will always exist in Star Wars: the stormtroopers have to have bad aim, because we need to see Din Djarin in danger without him actually being defeated. It’s pretty clear that this clip is from the beginning of The Mandalorian and Grogu, so it’s not like there could be a story after this if any of them hit Din mortally. That said, because of his Mandalorian armor, he could take a few blasts and remained unscathed, but little does he know he’s got the most powerful armor in all of fiction: plot armor.
The Mandalorian and Grogu premieres in theaters on May 22, 2026. Learn Something New Every Day