The Mandalorian bridges the Star Wars original and sequel trilogies by showing the Imperial remnant factions as they transition to the First Order, but why doesn’t Kylo Ren’s army use Dark Troopers? The First Order sought to improve on the Empire in every way, and in terms of their weapons and military, they were largely successful. While First Order leaders often lack the discipline and competence of their Imperial predecessors, their technology is almost always superior. The First Order’s TIE Fighters were equipped with shields, their Stormtroopers were trained since infancy, and their superweapons outclassed the Death Stars in destructive power. With elite droid units as deadly as the Imperial third-generation Dark Troopers, it’s curious why a successor unit wasn’t used by the First Order, but there are several reasons why this might be the case.
Moff Gideon led a sizeable faction of the remaining Imperial military in 9 ABY (five years after the Battle of Endor), which included a platoon of forty Phase III Dark Troopers. Unlike their predecessors, these units were droids equipped with blasters and rocket boosters. The Dark Troopers were also extremely strong and durable, though they proved unable to damage beskar. It’s not explained what their armor is made of, but it’s impervious to armor-piercing blaster bolts and vulnerable to beskar weaponry and lightsaber blades. Any new generation (or simply re-used Imperial third-generation) models of the Dark Trooper has yet to appear as part of the First Order military.
From a real-world perspective, no First Order Dark Troopers exist yet because The Mandalorian’s version first appeared well after the sequel trilogy concluded. Given time, they may eventually show up in a future story, given their popularity in The Mandalorian. In-universe, however, The First Order may not have used Dark Troopers (or created new ones) due to the scarcity of the materials needed for their armored plating, or they simply used the materials for units other than battle droids. It’s also possible that the Dark Troopers were designed only for Moff Gideon’s faction of Imperials and the only ones in existence were destroyed during the mission to rescue Grogu.
It’s unknown what the Dark Troopers’ armor plating consists of, but its simultaneous resistance to blaster bolts and vulnerability to beskar and lightsabers means it may be similar to the body armor worn by the First Order Stormtrooper Captain Phasma. Phasma’s armor is made of the rare and durable metal chromium, which is also used as the hull of Naboo starships. The First Order isn’t lacking in funding for its military and superweapons, but whatever material is used for Dark Trooper armor may be so rare that the First Order reserves it for vessels and body armor for their most valuable combat officers, such as Phasma.
Another possibility is that the Dark Troopers seen in The Mandalorian are among the last of their kind. In the original Star Wars timeline, Legends, Dark Troopers were the creation of General Rom Mohc, who died in 1 ABY. Though production of Dark Troopers ceased upon Mohc’s death, the droids did see continued (albeit limited) use throughout the rest of the Galactic Civil War. The broad strokes of this may be part of the canon universe as well, meaning that by the time the Imperial remnant factions coalesce into The First Order, all remaining Dark Troopers (and any chance of more units being produced) have been destroyed.
