The Jedi, also known as Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian, overfilled my basket with all of the canonical easter eggs. I expected as much though, once I found at that Dave Filoni wrote and directed it. From the mention of Tython (for only the second time in new canon, by the way) to the Convor (who I still say is the avatar of the Daughter), this one episode tied four eras of Star Wars together. Not to mention, fans of Rebels are getting excited about a hinted possibility.
It seems like Filoni and Co. are using this season to revive the storyline that was started in Rebels. That was made crystal clear on The Jedi. However, this was something that Star Wars fans should have seen coming on Season 1’s finale, Redemption.
Pause. This is the part where I implore “movie-only” fans, you know, the ones who are still bitching about Disney “ruining Star Wars,” to dig deeper into all of the canon. The nine movies only tell a small portion of the story. You’ll get a much better understanding of what’s going on if you dig deeper into the comics, books, and animated shows. Then you won’t saying things like:
“How the hell is Maul still alive at the end of Solo?”
“Rosario Dawson is playing Ahsoka Tano, a new Star Wars character.”
and, the one that relates to this article, “When did they make a black lightsaber?”
I promise you, if you really get into Star Wars canon, you’ll really understand why we are so giddy about this season of The Mandalorian. Who know, maybe you’ll even start to appreciate The Last Jedi.
Resume Play. We should have known Rebels lore was going to factor heavily into season two after we saw Moff Gideon use the Darksaber to slice his way out of his downed TIE Fighter. The last time we saw the Darksaber, Sabine gave it to Bo-Katan. I wasn’t surprised to see it, because after all, the name of the show is The Mandalorian. However, the first thing I wondered was how Moff Gideon got his hands on it. I hope they tell that story in a series of flashbacks, but knowing how Star Wars works, they will probably save that golden piece of canon to tie into another storyline in the future.
Back to The Jedi. Tython was actually brought back into canon last year in the Doctor Aphra comic when she was running with Darth Vader (yet again, thanks to Palpatine pardoning her “sins” basically). Chelli lied to Vader and told him that the rebel base was located on Tython, when it was actually located on Hoth. Ahsoka made it clear that there is a powerful Force connection on Tython, which means it will be similar to the Tython of the Expanded Universe. She also said that Grogu would have to make a choice:
“If he reaches out through the Force, there’s a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him. Then again, there aren’t many Jedi left.” – Ahsoka Tano
After this statement, Luke Skywalker immediately began to trend on Twitter. He was the first thought of thousands of Star Wars fans after Ahsoka’s statement. Not saying that it won’t be Luke, but I’m skeptical. Star Wars never makes reveals that obvious. Also, at this time, it would be six more years before Luke officially restored the Jedi Order and a new Jedi Academy. It’s not a fact…yet, but I don’t think that Luke was a Jedi Master yet.
At this time, Luke was still scouring the galaxy for Jedi artifacts and knowledge. Thanks to Battlefront II, we know that by this time, Luke had already obtained the Star Compass from Pillio. Therefore, he had the means to find Ahch-To., but, whether he had actually went there yet, isn’t made clear in canon. But, there is a possibility that he did. If that’s so, then I’m sure that Tython was mentioned in the trove of Jedi texts there. If that was the case, then it’s possible that Luke may have already been in the Tython system at the same time as Grogu or Din. In that case, it makes perfect sense for Luke to be the Jedi who senses Grogu’s presence…
…but as I said, I’m skeptical.
Another reason that I am skeptical is because The Mandalorian Season 3 has already been confirmed. If Luke decides to train Grogu, then Baby Yoda will be leaving Din to join Luke on his quest. The Mandalorian is a space-western that tells the story of Clan Mudhorn, which is Grogu and Din. All of the other characters that pop in and out of the story are supporting characters on their quest. We actually don’t know if title is referring to Din or Grogu at this point, because, technically, they both are Mandalorian.
In canon, we know that there was at least one Mandalorian who was also a Jedi. He was the Mandalorian who created the darksaber. Will Grogu be the next Force-Sensitive Mandalorian to wield the darksaber someday? I say Force-Sensitive, because I don’t think he will become a Jedi, much less train at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. I believe Kylo Ren’s comic showed all of the Jedi Knights at Luke’s academy before he killed them all. By that time, if Grogu is trained by Luke, he would have been a Jedi Knight, and he wasn’t in that comic.
There are five other possibilities of Force-Sensitives who may sense Grogu’s presence:
1. Ezra Bridger
Ezra is the best bet if they want to bring everyone to a central location (Tython) for a battle royale, then Ezra would make sense. Ahsoka was searching for Corvus’ magistrate’s boss, which was Thrawn. That means that at some point, either Thrawn turned the tables on Ezra, Thrawn escaped Ezra, or vice-versa. This also makes sense, because if Ezra had the Purgill transport them far away from Lothal to Wild Space or the Unknown Regions.
Thrawn would be at home in the Unknown Regions, because that’s where his native Chiss are from. Hopefully, Ezra didn’t lead himself into the hornet’s nest, because the Unknown Regions are also where Palpatine began rebuilding the Empire again, as we found out in Empire’s End. After the Empire lost at the Battle of Jakku, we learned that Palpatine had a contingency plan to rebuild the Empire, in case the first one failed. This plan involved probes that he had been sending into the Unknown Regions to map safe hyperspace routes, and also to find the origin of the Sith/Dark Force, which he believed came from the Unknown Regions (and he was right, as we found out in Rise of Skywalker, with the Sith Homeworld Exegol). So, the Empire was already building an unstoppable force outside of the Republic’s view before they finally fell at the Battle of Jakku.
Palpatine’s contingency plan was only known by two other people: Brendol Hux and Gallius Rax. Grand Admiral Rae Sloane killed Gallius Rax and took control of his escape ship and rendezvoused with the remnants of the Empire in the Unknown Regions. She forced Brendol to take her to the awaiting fleet in the Unknown Regions and took control of the Empire, which was rebuilt outside of the New Republic’s eyes for decades.
But, if Ezra escaped Thrawn, or vice-versa, then either Ezra would still be after Thrawn (doubtful, because Ahsoka is looking for Thrawn). Therefore, Ahsoka is assuming that Thrawn is holding Ezra prisoner, because she questions Corvus’ magistrate to find out where Thrawn is. That indicates that Thrawn, and probably the Empire, still has a lot of power in this region of the galaxy. But, maybe Ezra does heed the call, and Thrawn follows him there. Or, Palpatine sends Thrawn there, because he would sense it in the Force too. That’s an exciting thought, because that would mean an episode with: Ahsoka, Thrawn, Ezra, possibly Sabine, Hera Syndulla, and Bo Katan.
2. Palpatine
As we now know, Palpatine is still alive at this time. But, he is doing what he does best, operating from the shadows. I doubt if anyone at a rank lower than Grand Admiral knows that he is alive. Meaning that Moff Gideon probably doesn’t know either. But, I guarantee you that Thrawn would, But, no way that he shows his face on Tython. If he did, then the New Republic would have known that he was still alive way before ROS. He was busy preparing for the First/Final Order.
3. An Unknown Jedi
It could be an Unknown Jedi. The Darth Vader comic created two ways for Jedi to exist after Order 66 and the Jedi Purge. One is called The Barash Vow, which an oath taken by Jedi who disconnected themselves from all Jedi activity, but stayed connected to the Force. But, Vader got hold of a databank with a list of those Jedi who had taken that vow and began killing them, beginning with Master Kirak Infila. The other way unknown Jedi could exist were the databank that Vader destroyed after obtaining it from Jocasta Nu before he killed her. That databank contained the names of all of the known Force-Sensitive children in the galaxy. Vader destroyed it so Palpatine couldn’t find a new apprentice. But, we also know that there was another Jedi Holocron containing the names of the Force-Sensitive children in the galaxy. That leads to…
4. Cal Kestis
We don’t know if the protagonist from Fallen Order is still alive at this time. At the end of the game, the Galactic Civil War hadn’t even started yet. But, he would fit the theory much better than Luke or Ezra. As I stated above, I don’t see Luke taking a break from his quest of Jedi knowledge to train Grogu, and travel the galaxy with Clan Mudhorn. Also, I suspect that the Lucasfilm Group is setting up a spinoff for Ahsoka, which will begin its focus on her quest to rescue Ezra. This would be a great setup to introduce Cal, and he already has been established in Star Wars canon. If he was a part of the main cast in Season 3, it would be a perfect setup for the release of Fallen Order 2, which should release in 2022. This would be shortly after the conclusion of season 3, and I’m sure that fans would want to know more about Cal’s backstory.
5. Yaddle
We haven’t seen Yaddle in live-action since Phantom Menace. But, Star Wars never specified if she died in Order 66. We did see her once again in the the second run of the Darth Vader comic, when Vader killed her in a series of illusions that he had in the last issue. But, those were illusions, we don’t know Yaddle’s actual fate. However, it is interesting that Yaddle stepped down from the council and “away from Jedi affairs” after Phantom Menace. That sounds like she took the Barash Vow to me. If that’s the case, Vader may have found her location in the Brighthome Outpost’s archives, along with Kirak Infil’a and the other 14,000 Jedi who took the vow. In the illusion mentioned in the comic. As Vader sliced through Yaddle, he said, “Let the past be the past.” Does that mean that he actually killed Yaddle in the past?
It would be interesting if Yaddle was the Jedi who sensed Grogu’s presence. She would probably take an interest in training The Child, because they are members of the same species. Also, while nobody else seems to know the location of their home planet,Yaddle would. That would be a huge, because part of the mission is to find Grogu’s home planet, remember?
My Prediction
I don’t really have one. All I have are halfway theories, which Lucasfilm does an excellent job of proving me wrong most of the time. So, I have learned to just sit back, and enhoy Star Wars. But, I do thing the last three episodes of this season are going to complete the story of the Darksaber. I think they are going to bring Moff Gideon back into the fold soon, and hopefully tell the story of how he obtained the Darksaber from Bo-Katan in flashbacks. That’s the reason why they brought Bo-Katan and her group of Mandalorians into the story in the first place, they have to get back to this storyline before moving on to the next stage in Grogu’s story. There definitely will be a confrontation, since Bo-Katan figured out where Moff Gideon is. As Titus Welliver’s character said to her, “If you are asking, then you already know.” I think the biggest reveal is coming on the season finale, when we find out who is going to sense Grogu’s presence. Then again, maybe Grogu will decide to keep his Force abilities hidden.
Or, in my favorite outcome, he could go to the Darkside. After all, I am a Sith Lord!
BIG Shout-Out to Brittany Newson and her YouTube squad! Their discussion on The Jedi inspired this blog post, which actually began as a video comment. Subscribe to her channel and check out all of the awesome content there!
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