The third season of The Mandalorian is only days away and the hype is really starting to mount. The cast and crew are on the publicity tour and there are some wild fan theories about what we could expect to see but there is one question in particular that has everybody speculating: Who saved Grogu from the Jedi Temple during the purge of Order 66? There have been some really interesting theories over the year ever since the story notion was first teased back in Mando’s season 2 episode; ‘The Jedi.’ This was further built upon in The Book of Boba Fett with Luke helping Grogu remember his clearly upsetting past and the trailers have really been hyping up this plot point.
Here we’re going to take a look at seven of the most plausible rescuers of our little green friend and of course, these are only theories but this is part of the fun in anticipation. Before we get going there is one honourable mention that was really popular up until a few months ago and that was Jedi Master Yaddle. I loved this theory, alas, we now know that she sadly perished at the hands of Count Dooku in one of the stand-out episodes from last October’s brilliant Tales of the Jedi.
So…who could it be?
JEDI MASTER YODA
This one is the most obvious and does seem a little on the nose for obvious reasons but we include him here for the simple reason that we know his whereabouts in the timeline of Order 66. Though Yoda was on Kashyyyk when the purge was executed, the wise Master headed to Coruscant and then to the Jedi Temple. He was seen walking through the mess that the newly anointed Darth Vader had left and it’s not too much of a stretch to think of the Jedi Master quietly stashing the youngling on board his pod and getting Grogu to much needed safety. The obvious question here then lies; is there a blood connection between Yoda and Grogu and if then will this be explored in future storytelling? For me, part of the love and adoration for the character of Yoda has always been the mystery but could this all be about to change? Knowing Yoda’s timeline in Revenge of the Sith now brings us neatly onto our next potential saviour.
OBI-WAN KENOBI
This one really is a fun theory and it’s included here for the simple fact of Ewan McGregor’s rediscovered passion for his character and the franchise. Here me out; it’s not too much to ask to imagine McGregor arriving on the set of The Volume for an afternoon’s work to film a scene or two involving a cute little green puppet. One can imagine social media already! Ewan and Baby Yoda together at last! Aside from the fan-pleasing aspect of this, the character also fits the timeline and could make logical sense. Yoda asked Obi-Wan to quickly go and find Grogu before they head to the security outlet to change the distress signal.
Were the Masters of the Jedi Council the only ones to know of Grogu? If this is true then this could set-up some really interesting storytelling possibilities about the mystery of Grogu’s past.
JOCASTA NU
A fan-favourite among many in the community for her no-nonsense tone with Obi-Wan during his investigation in Attack of the Clones, Jedi Master Nu sadly did meet her fate by Vader’s hand as she entered the temple to try and retrieve a Holocron containing the names of Force-sensitive children across the galaxy. But, there is a small period of time in canon where Jocasta could have helped Grogu escape from the slaughter that was taking place.
Perhaps she heard a cry for help and then stashed the youngling out of harm’s way? Perhaps as she entered the archives she found a terrified Grogu in the corner and passed him onto a trusted friend or fellow Jedi to save one more life from the terrifying new order of Darth Sidious and his new apprentice.
QUINLAN VOS
This character’s chances of being there for Grogu really took off after last year thanks to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Vos has long since been a fan-favourite thanks to his brief mention in Revenge of the Sith, his fleshed out character in The Clone Wars and the brilliant novel ‘Dark Disciple’, and for toy collectors he even got his own figure in The Vintage Collection on a The Phantom Menace cardback. Excitement around Quinlan was once again brought back to the forefront after Chapter 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi aired. If you’ll remember, Ben discovers an inscribing (‘Only when the eyes are closed can you truly see’) by Quinlan on the walls of a sanctuary on Mapuzo and Tala reveals that Quinlan is very much alive and ‘’helps out from time to time.’’ By this, of course, she means that Quinlan helps lost Jedi and younglings get to safety during the tyrannical reign of the Empire. Could Quinlan simply be carrying on a tradition he started when he saved little Grogu? I think he just might be.
DARTH MAUL
A bit of a wild card on this list but one that could still make canonical sense. During the final arc of season 7 of The Clone Wars, Maul engages in a duel with Ahsoka Tano and after much tension and drama, we know that he eventually escapes. If we take this at face value then those episodes pretty much take place in ‘real time’ as it crosses into the events of Revenge of the Sith. We can pretty much rule Ahsoka out but it could potentially fit that Maul knew what was taking place at the Jedi Temple and quickly darted it over there to see what he could recover that could serve his own agenda. After all, Maul is operating as a lone wolf at this point. He has no allegiance to anyone other than himself. He’d have no reason to kill Grogu out of cold blood. Perhaps he took the youngling in order to start his training as his own apprentice? Did he eventually sell Grogu to a crime syndicate? Could Qi’ra become involved? Only time will tell.
MACE WINDU
This one has been exploding on the internet even before the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian aired. Mace Windu was touted as one of the names that could have come to Grogu’s aid after he reached out for a Jedi in the episode titled; ‘The Tragedy.’ This name keeps popping up again and again in fandom for many reasons; 1) Samuel L. Jackson himself has stated he thinks the character is alive and would be happy to come back, 2) Jackson has supposedly asked Lucas himself about the character’s fate and Lucas replied nonchalantly ‘he could be’ and 3) characters who fall a long way down in Star Wars have a habit of not really dying as per Maul, The Emperor and even Boba Fett. If it was Mace Windu who saved Grogu then the big question would be…why only Grogu? Why not save as many younglings as he could? If Windu was alive then surely at some point in the canon someone would have mentioned it to The Emperor or did Windu go straight into hiding? That doesn’t really fit his character all that much which is why this theory opens up more questions than answers.
R2-D2
Last and by no means least…my favourite theory! R2-D2 himself as the hero who saved youngling Grogu! R2 is the real hero of the saga for many and after being criminally cast aside in the sequel trilogy our favourite astromech did more in three minutes of screen time in The Mandolorian than he did in the three films of the sequels. I believed right from the start that R2 and Grogu knew each other. Cast your mind back to that last episode of season 2. Luke Skywalker has entered, quite literally just saved the day, and has come to take Grogu to begin his Jedi training. Here, I believe, Grogu is still hesitant to leave Din Djarin behind but watch the moment R2 rolls into action and Grogu suddenly becomes a bit more animated and a lot more comfortable about the situation. There is clearly a connection here. Could this be because Grogu remembers R2 from his time rolling around the Jedi Temple or even more exciting…perhaps R2 was once charged with keeping young Grogu safe and hidden? After all, from the dialogue Ahsoka had with Grogu in season 2, she clearly did not know about him. They never crossed paths despite their being roughly the same age. We can also pinpoint R2-D2 on Coruscant at the time of Anakin’s betrayal and what if Jedi Master Yoda had secretly commissioned the ever-loyal droid to go and find Grogu if any tragedy should strike the temple. We all know R2 has a mind of his own and trusts his own instinct so perhaps R2 simple just tried to save as many children as he could? He does, after all, have a better conscience than some of the human characters in the galaxy far, far away. Having R2 as Grogu’s saviour would bring R2 back into the main fold of the story once more and take his rightful place as the saga’s most trusted hero.
Whoever Grogu’s rescuer is, we may or may not find out when The Mandalorian returns to Disney Plus for its much anticipated third season on Wednesday March 1st.