By George Bate & Josh Bate
Each season of The Mandalorian and its sibling shows are peeling back the layers of Grogu’s origins, with the incoming third season of the hit Disney+ series hinting at even more reveals. In Season 2, fans stopped called the cute, little green rascal Baby Yoda as his Force connection with Ahsoka Tano revealed his real name – Grogu. This revelation was coupled with some background on the character, indicating that he was a survivor of the Great Jedi Purge. In The Book of Boba Fett, flashbacks to Grogu’s perilous escape of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant after the declaration of Order 66 were shown, highlighting some of the trauma the young Jedi went through that eventually made him shut himself off from the Force for many years.
So much mystery surrounds Grogu’s background, with perhaps the most pertinent question being: who rescued Grogu from the Jedi Temple after Order 66? There’s a few possibilities as to the identity of this mysterious rescuer…
Mace Windu
Samuel L. Jackson’s purple lightsaber-wielding Jedi seemingly died at Palpatine’s hands in Revenge of the Sith (while losing a hand himself). But, as Anakin and Luke can attest to, Star Wars characters can survive a severed body part. Force sensitive individuals are also equipped with extraordinary abilities to leap and land safely from heights (just look at Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker on Kef Bir). The revelation that Mace Windu survived Palpatine’s attack would be jaw-dropping, although some may roll their eyes at yet another character dying and then coming back from the dead. Despite this, Samuel L. Jackson has expressed an interest in returning as the character, and the return of Mace could also make for a nice reunion with Boba Fett as he seeks justice for the murder of his father Jango.
Barriss Offee
The last we saw of Barris Offee, she was revealed to have turned to the dark side following her involvement in a plot to bomb the Jedi Temple during the Clone Wars. Presumably, she remained a prisoner, possibly even still located somewhere in the Jedi Temple, at the time Palpatine declared Order 66. Why she would rescue Grogu remains unclear, but there’s some hints that she could be the person behind his rescue. In the flashback shown in The Book of Boba Fett, a symbol associated with Barriss Offee’s can be seen.
Jocasta Nu
The resident librarian of the Jedi Temple is known to have survived Order 66, although she is eventually killed by Darth Vader in a comic. Jocasta Nu escaped the Jedi Temple with various Jedi artifacts, and could have easily fled the burning temple with Grogu at her side.
Yoda
Before fleeing Darth Sidious in the Republic Senate, Yoda tells Obi-Wan to find and defeat his former padawan. Although somewhat difficult to wrap one’s head around, it’s possible that, off screen during the events of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda managed to help some young Jedi survive. As Yoda’s species is evidently very rare, it would make sense that Yoda went out of his way to protect the youngling.
A Never Before Seen Jedi
It’s entirely possible that Grogu was rescued from the Jedi Temple by a character who has yet to be introduced in canon. Various Jedi, including Cal Kestis and Kanan Jarrus, have been revealed as survivors of Order 66 in recent years, meaning it isn’t inconceivable to think Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni created an entirely new Jedi to rescue Grogu.
R2-D2
Last but not least, perhaps the most likely candidate to have reached Grogu is R2-D2. When R2 appeared in the finale of The Mandalorian Season 2, it seemed as if there was a shared history between the droid and Grogu. They appeared to recognize one another, implying that they have had prior contact. Similar to Yoda’s inclusion on this list, R2 rescuing Grogu requires a bit of mental gymnastics given the droid’s prominent presence in Revenge of the Sith. Despite this, it’s possible that R2 played some role in Grogu’s rescue.
The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres March 1 on Disney+.