Grogu, or as he's affectionately known, "Baby Yoda," has been through a lot even
though he's only fifty years old. The former Padawan and now surrogate son to
everyone's favorite Mandalorian has had quite the adventures across the galaxy far far away.
The entire "Star Wars" universe takes place in a galaxy far, far away, so it has its own
way of measuring history. Since it's one of the most important events in the galaxy's history,
"Star Wars" uses BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin) to mark time.
The Battle of Yavin takes place in "Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope."
It's when Luke Skywalker joins a group of courageous Rebel Alliance fighters
to attack the Death Star. While this is a smaller battle by "Star Wars" standards,
it holds significant weight — Luke blasts the planet-destroying would-be omega weapon into
space dust, and the loss of the Death Star stands as a major setback for the Empire.
"The Mandalorian" begins in 9 ABY. That's 25 years before "The Force Awakens" and
five years after the events of "Return of the Jedi." Now that the Empire has been defeated,
the Rebel Alliance is trying to rebuild the galaxy peacefully. Meanwhile, the Mandalorians are still
spread out and without a home. Din Djarin is saved by a group of religious Mandalorians
who train him in their ways as a bounty hunter. However, his entire life changes when he accepts
a mission to collect a mysterious package for the now-fallen members of the Empire. He discovers the
package is baby Grogu and decides to save him rather than let the Empire experiment on him.
Grogu was likely born in the same year as Anakin Skywalker, 41 BBY, making him 50 years old by the
time "The Mandalorian" begins. This tracks, as Din is initially told that he must retrieve a
50-year-old asset and deliver him to his client. However, when he finds Grogu, he sees that he
looks and acts like a baby. There's a reason for this — Grogu is the same species as Yoda.
In the show, Mando is told that this species ages differently,
and could live for centuries. But that's about all we know about them.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas admitted to MovieFone that when he created Yoda,
the Jedi Master was designed to fill the void left by Obi-Wan Kenobi's death in "A New Hope."
"I'm looking for a Jedi Master."
"Oh, a Jedi Master. Yoda. You seek Yoda."
Lucas knew that he needed someone to train Luke,
so he made Yoda without much thought to any background for his species. However,
he quite liked how the ambiguity gives Yoda an aura of mystery.
In keeping that mystery alive, "The Mandalorian" showrunners Dave Filoni
and Jon Favreau decided to honor Lucas' original idea of Yoda's past being a mystery.
Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" gives audiences more information regarding Grogu's enigmatic
past. As it's established that he's 50 years old and a Jedi,
it stands to reason that Grogu would be around during the Clone Wars as a Padawan. Luckily,
the show does not disappoint when detailing Grogu's timeline.
Grogu shares with Ahsoka Tano that he was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and in 19 BBY,
he witnessed and survived Order 66. Ahsoka deduces that someone protected him and took him out of
the Temple, but everything after that is murky as Grogu has seemingly blocked those memories.
Order 66 is a dark moment in "Star Wars" history. It's when the Empire enacts
inhibitor chips that have been installed in every clone trooper's brain. They were
put in the clones to prevent them from being too aggressive given that their
genetic source material came from Jango Fett. However, the Empire uses the chips to dictate
the clones' behavior patterns, and in the words of clone trooper Fives, the chips are,
"Built into our genetic code to make us do whatever someone wants…. Even kill the Jedi."
Across various "Star Wars" properties, audiences have witnessed the brutality of Order 66,
from "Revenge of the Sith," "The Clone Wars," and even in video games like "Star Wars Jedi:
Fallen Order." And we can add "The Mandalorian" to that list, as poor Grogu saw it all go down.
With the Empire hunting down the remaining Jedi after Order 66,
Grogu has an excellent reason to keep his head down during those years. Perhaps as a result,
not much is known about his time before meeting Mando. One thing is clear, though,
once the rebels take down the Empire, the remainder of the evil government begins
looking for Grogu so they can experiment with his midi-chlorians. At some point,
they successfully capture him before he's taken by Nikto mercenaries. This is when the Imperials
commission Mando to retrieve Grogu and return him to their scientists for further testing. Luckily,
Djarin chooses to save Grogu instead, and the two have been on the run ever since.
How the Nikto mercenaries manage to capture Grogu from the Imperials is unclear, but once word
spreads that they have him, it becomes an all-out battle for Mando to safely retrieve the Child.
However, there is an internet theory out there that suggests the Nikto mercenaries are actually
the good guys. After all, they rescue Grogu from the Imperials and fight to protect him
against the bounty hunters looking to collect. Perhaps the mercenaries could be prisoners or
former slaves of the Empire laying down their lives to protect an innocent child
from being delivered the same fate they experienced at the hands of the Imperials.
Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" really ties together the "Star Wars" universe. Not only does it pull
on events from the films, but it also brings in characters from "The Clone Wars" with live-action
actors. In Episode 3, "The Heiress," Mando meets Bo-Katan Kryze from "The Clone Wars."
She teaches Mando more about Mandalorian culture and eventually shares her knowledge of the Jedi,
as she fought with them once upon a time. She points him in the direction of Ahsoka Tano,
which results in her long overdue live-action debut.
Once Mando brings Grogu to Ahsoka, she ultimately decides not to train the little one to become
a Jedi. Shocked, Mando questions why, as his entire goal at this point is reuniting Grogu
with his people, the Jedi. She tells him that Grogu has grown too attached to Mando and that
a Jedi with a strong attachment is dangerous. She saw firsthand how Anakin's unhealthy relationship
and attachment to Padmé brings about his downfall, and she vows not to let Grogu down that road.
Interestingly, Ahsoka sees this attachment in Grogu immediately, as she knows that his
destiny is not to become a Jedi. However, it takes Luke time to come to this realization,
as he takes Grogu to train him at the end of Season 2. Ultimately,
Luke discovers that Grogu's heart isn't in it, and lets him decide which path he
wants to follow: training to be a Jedi or to be with his father, Din Djarin.
Once Ahsoka refuses to train Grogu, she leaves Mando with some hope, telling him to take the
Child to meditate at the seeing stone on the planet Tython. She shares that the stone has a
strong connection to the Force and that Grogu can use it to reach out to any other Jedi close by.
Mando and Grogu travel to Tython where he's ambushed by Imperials looking to
capture Grogu. Luckily, Mando manages to partner with Boba Fett and fellow
bounty hunter Fennec Shand to fight against the soldiers. Unfortunately,
Grogu is successfully captured, resulting in Mando planning a daring rescue of his little friend.
"Soon. He will be back with me."
"He means more to me than you will ever know."
And while the two are eventually reunited, the team is trapped by
Moff Gideon's Dark Troopers. Luckily, Grogu managed to connect with a Jedi after all,
as Luke comes to rescue the team. He tells Grogu that he will take him away to train,
which results in an emotional farewell between Grogu and Mando.
As Mando is part of an extremely religious sect of Mandalorians, he isn't supposed to remove his
helmet in the presence of others. However, he chooses to remove it so that he can look
Grogu in the eye to say goodbye. This act of love between pseudo-father and son holds significant
weight for Mando, as once his helmet has been removed, his role as a Mandalorian within his
sect is now void. However, he doesn't care. In this case, a proper goodbye is more important.
Once Grogu makes his decision to leave Luke and his Jedi training behind,
he is reunited with Mando. Together, the two form their own little clan. At this point,
it looks like Mando is gearing up to restore the Mandalorians
and get them back to their home world of Mandalore in "The Mandalorian" Season 3.
"My people are scattered, like stars in the galaxy."
Both Mando and Grogu make conscious decisions to pick each other over everything else,
regardless of the ramifications. They see each other as family,
which gives "The Mandalorian" a thematic link to the broader "Star Wars" universe. Right from
the beginning, the bonds of family, especially father-son relationships,
are one of the franchise's most prominent themes. As far as the films go, the broken
connections of the Skywalker family unit are the primary force pushing the story forward.
"The Mandalorian" is telling a new tale about the bonds of a father-son relationship between
Mando and Grogu. Much like Luke is willing to sacrifice himself for his father in "Return of the
Jedi," Grogu and Mando are willing to sacrifice everything they know for each other. Grogu takes
a pass on becoming a Jedi, and Mando removes his helmet and forfeits his position as a Mandalorian.
Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" ends with the triumphant return of Luke Skywalker.
And while a much older version of Luke appears in 2015's "The Force Awakens" and its sequels,
seeing Luke during his prime in the days following the events of "Return of the Jedi"
was a treat for some fans. However, at the time, it was pretty disappointing how Luke didn't meet
Ahsoka. She was Anakin's apprentice, and likely never knew that he turned back to the light
side right before he met his end. Luckily, "The Book of Boba Fett" fixes all of this.
Just when everyone is settling into Boba Fett's series on the sandy hills of Tatooine, Mando
arrives to tie up loose ends in preparation for his next season. For audiences, a Mando-centric
episode in the middle of Boba Fett's show felt a little unusual, but who are we to argue?
That being said, audiences finally got to watch a conversation between Luke and
Ahsoka where she reminisces on how much he reminds her of his father, to which he
responds with a knowing look. She offers him words of wisdom as Luke wonders what he should
do next. She cautions Luke about the strong bond between Grogu and Mando before leaving,
as fans are left to wonder if the two will ever share the screen again in her upcoming series.
As "The Mandalorian" continues, we predict more of Grogu's story will be uncovered. However,
one thing will likely stay the same: the mystery surrounding his species. As mentioned previously,
Grogu is a member of the same species as Jedi Master Yoda. Yoda is an incredibly powerful,
extremely wise Jedi in "Star Wars" lore. However, most people don't realize that aside
from Yoda and Grogu, there's another member of their species featured in the timeline.
Initially shown in "The Phantom Menace," Yaddle is a Jedi council member and is present during
the evaluation of a young Anakin Skywalker. However, by "Attack of the Clones," she has
disappeared. Luckily, Yaddle's disappearance is expanded upon in "Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi."
In the Disney+ series, she steps down from her position on the Jedi High Council following
the events of the Battle of Naboo in the year 32 BBY. After learning that Count Dooku won't attend
the funeral of his old Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn she grows suspicious of his actions. Yaddle follows
Dooku and learns that he's turned to the dark side of the Force. When she confronts him,
she offers Dooku compassion, which makes it all the sadder when Dooku kills her,
thus solidifying his place next to his Master, Darth Sidious, also known as…Emperor Palpatine.