Sith Lords are nowhere to be found in The Mandalorian & Grogu, yet the era it's set in was still crawling with them. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu spend the film facing down the bounty hunter Embo, the Hutt twins, Imperial warlords, and Commander Coin, non-Force-using threats that leave Grogu as the story's only practitioner of the Force. Still, several dark side wielders were alive, in the shadows, during this same stretch of the New Republic era.
The Mandalorian & Grogu catch up with Din Djarin and Grogu following the events of The Mandalorian Season 3. Now working contracted jobs with the New Republic, taking out bad guys one by one, they clearly got themselves in a strong rhythm.
This leads to an action-packed adventure, taking on thugs, Hutts, droids, and other bounty hunters, while at the same time traversing from planet to planet in true Star Wars fashion.
The film only ended up getting middling reviews, with some fans hoping for more lore-driven storytelling, rather than several stitched-together adventures. That said, it did lead to one notable moment of Grogu saving Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White) by using the Force, displaying an elevated level of strength.
Grogu is the same student Luke Skywalker (de-aged Mark Hamill) once hoped would help join his new Jedi Order. He left that path to stay with Din, but plenty of fans hope he'll eventually grow into a powerful Jedi, or maybe just a strong Force-user that crosses paths with the dark side.
At the time of The Mandalorian & Grogu, years after Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are gone, and no unified evil empire has risen to replace them yet.
Even though the First Order will eventually rise from the ashes, including a controversial revival of Palpatine, there are also still dark side Force-users around during this time period.
7 Sith Lords Alive During The Mandalorian & Grogu
Tava Ren
To anyone's knowledge, Tava Ren doesn't factor into the New Republic era at all, but she was presumably alive.
The masked, samurai-armored Knight of Ren from Marvel's 2025 comic Legacy of Vader doesn't enter the galaxy (to fans) until sometime between 28 and 34 ABY, decades after Din and Grogu's story.
Considering that she's able to go head-to-head against Kylo Ren in battle, there's no doubt she's an incredibly strong villain, but this is much later after the New Republic era.
Marvel is still actively building out her story: issue #2 of the new 2026 series, The Fall of Kylo Ren, out this September, looking to take over as the leader of the Knights of Ren.
Ben Solo
Born in 5 ABY, Ben Solo would be only seven or eight years old during The Mandalorian & Grogu years away from picking up a lightsaber.
He won't begin formal Jedi training under his uncle Luke until just before his tenth birthday, around 15 ABY. But the bloodline running through him (grandson of Darth Vader) makes him the era's biggest question mark: within a couple of decades, Snoke's manipulation will turn this wildly Force-sensitive kid into Kylo Ren, a true Sith Lord.
Despite being one of the Sequel Trilogy's best characters, Ben dies during the events of The Rise of Skywalker and will not return despite real momentum behind a solo (no pun intended) project.
Shin Hati
Introduced in Ahsoka, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) is the eager apprentice of the fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll, not a Sith, but it's impossible to argue that she's not bent toward the dark side.
She's potentially the least battle-tested name on this list, having lost duels to Sabine Wren twice and been knocked out cold by Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka Season 2, set in this same stretch of time, could unlock even more powers of Shin, taking her prowess up a level and potentially deserving to rise up this list in 2027.
Knights of Ren
Neither Jedi nor Sith, the Knights of Ren are a mysterious order of dark side warriors who rose to fill the vacuum left by Vader and Palpatine's deaths.
By this point in the timeline, they're an organized force, just not yet the version fans know from the Sequel Trilogy, since their most famous master, Ben Solo, the future Kylo Ren, is still a child.
As a collective, their numbers and coordination make them more dangerous than any single lightsaber wielder at this time, but they're always in need of a leader, typically one who's more Force-sensitive than the bunch.
Baylan Skoll
Few figures on this list can match Baylan Skoll's track record. A Jedi General who survived Order 66 and the Purge, Baylan spends this era as a mercenary, proving to be powerful enough to essentially defeat Ahsoka, pushing her off a cliff.
Dedicated to his two-handed lightsaber combat, Baylan isn't a Sith by title, but decades of hardened experience make him arguably the single most dangerous dark side user alive during the time of The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Season 1 left him alone, drawn toward a power calling to him from the planet's core near a monument to the Mortis gods. Season 2 (recast with Rory McCann following Ray Stevenson's passing) picks that thread back up, with Baylan chasing that power to its source, possibly leading to an even greater internal evolution or enlightenment.
Ren
The Knights of Ren answer to a leader known simply as "Ren," a scarred, disfigured man whose dark side days stretch back to the Empire era.
By the New Republic era, he's a battle-hardened veteran recruiting new members into his order. His reign doesn't end until 28 ABY, when Ben Solo, already being groomed by Snoke, kills him in a duel and inherits both his title and his Knights.
It's safe to say the time of The Mandalorian & Grogu, however, Ren could've easily taken out Ben, but there was no reason for that.
Snoke
Grown as one of Palpatine's clones on Exegol as far back as 12 BBY, Snoke was essentially kept alive as a Force-sensitive puppet (not exactly what the fans wanted to learn after The Last Jedi).
In the decade since the Empire's fall, Snoke (through Palpatine's influence) has gathered Imperial remnants, laying groundwork for the eventual First Order.
He isn't Supreme Leader yet, but as essentially a vessel for Palpatine himself, Snoke is the most powerful dark side wielder alive during the time of The Mandalorian & Grogu.
