Here's How the Dark Troopers Sensed Luke in 'The Mandalorian'

From Men's Health

One of the tensest scenes in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian last week came when Mando had successfully retrieved Grogu from the clutches of Moff Gideon, only for him and his friends to find themselves trapped in the control room of an Imperial ship, with a horde of seemingly unstoppable Dark Troopers stationed outside the door, attempting to get in.

Photo credit: Men's Health
Photo credit: Men's Health

At that moment, just when all seemed lost, the Dark Troopers were then mowed down by a hooded figure wielding a lightsaber. He was later revealed, of course, to be Luke Skywalker, the protagonist and hero of the original Star Wars trilogy. But given the Dark Troopers are droids, not living beings, how were they able to sense the arrival of a Jedi?

A recent video on the Star Wars Theory channel posits a couple of possible explanations.

The first is that the Dark Troopers had been programmed by Gideon to somehow be able to detect Force users. If we're following the maligned prequel mythology, that might involve some kind of "midichlorian count": midichlorians, remember, are the microscopic organisms which live in the blood and connect otherwise ordinary people to the Force.

Being able to scan for midichlorians would certainly have proven useful when the Troopers were homing in on Grogu during the events of "The Tragedy" on Tython. This would then have enabled them to pick up on Luke's presence on the ship before he appeared in the corridor.

Another theory explored in the video is a simpler one: the Dark Troopers are designed to target and take out the biggest threat in sight. Once Luke Skywalker (the man who destroyed two Death Stars and killed the Galactic Emperor) showed up, he would immediately become their highest priority.

Check out the full video below, which goes into greater depth on the Dark Troopers and their history with the Jedi in the wider Star Wars lore:

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