The first full trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu confirmed something that previous rumors about the movie had suggested, that the bounty hunter Embo will play a role in the film.
We see a shot of him at night in the rain, approaching what looks like Din Djarin and Grogu’s home on Nevarro. He’s flanked by an anooba, and we see a glimpse of his large circular hat he wears around. This is all we see of him in the trailer, but it’s enough to generate some interest – raising the question about just who this mysterious figure is.
Embo is the latest bounty hunter brought back by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni for The Mandalorian universe, joining Boba Fett and Cad Bane. The character first appeared in the animated series The Clone Wars, which Filoni created and oversaw alongside George Lucas. He was active during the Clone Wars and was known to work for various bosses, including Sugi, the Hutts, Fett, Asajj Ventress, and even Darth Sidious. Known for his distinct wide-rimmed hat (which functioned not just as a fashion accessory but a weapon or a sled, as needed), his bowcaster weapon, and his pet anooba Marrok, Embo was a formidable foe for any target – even facing off against Anakin Skywalker on one occasion.
By the end of the Clone War, Embo was working with Boba Fett’s Krayt’s Claw crew of bounty hunters, but at some point it seems the group broke up. Not much is known about what Embo was up to during the Imperial era, but he was still active as a bounty hunter by the time the Empire fell. He took a job hunting down Lando Calrissian, who had a bounty on his head for blowing up the second Death Star. He cornered Calrissian aboard the Millennium Falcon, but Lando got the better of him.
As the Galactic Civil War drew to a close, Embo was hired as part of a group of bounty hunters (which also included Dengar) to hunt down Jas Emari, a former bounty hunter turned rebel sympathizer. In the course of this, however, the Battle of Jakku broke out, and Jas convinced Embo and the others to help her, promising them a full New Republic pardon if they switched allegiances. Embo did so, receiving the pardon he was promised, as well as a considerable financial windfall.
He continued to work for Emari as part of her crew, but years later his money was gone and he chose to settle down on Felucia as a farmer. He was still alive and farming on Felucia by the time of the sequel trilogy, when he was tracked down by Bazine Netal, who was looking for information.
Embo’s appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu will bring the cool-looking bounty hunter to live-action for the first time, but it does raise some timeline questions – questions that this series has played loose with before. Other stories – told through the comics and books – have pretty well established the framework of Embo’s story, with him receiving a pardon, settling down to farm, and still being alive years later. How much of this the movie will honor remains to be seen, and there are certainly ways around it. For instance, it’s possible he’s brought out of “retirement” for this mission, or it’s possible that this mission is what causes him to lose some money and decide to retire, or any number of explanations. But I’m hopeful they are at least cognizant of some of this. Furthermore, in one of the books Embo shares that Marrok, his pet anooba, had died years before the Battle of Jakku. He is seen in the trailer accompanied by an anooba, so I’m assuming this has to be a new one. That makes sense, as he got a new dog, so to speak.
His role in this movie remains to be seen, but he clearly appears to be an antagonist hunting down Djarin. It won’t be the first time Star Wars fans will have seen him, but it will be his introduction to a much wider audience.
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