- Today's video is brought to you by Hello Fresh.
This video will contain spoilers
for "The Mandalorian", chapters 1 through 14.
Hey brother, guys,
one of my favorite things about "The Mandalorian" is
how each week it feels like you're playing through
the next level of a video game.
Mando lands on a planet, meets up with some new allies,
completes a mission, collects a little info,
parts ways, and we're onto the next week.
He has the very loose goal of return Grogu to the Jedi
to lightly drive forward the plot,
but rarely is it the absolute focus of any given episode.
And sure, occasionally there are recurring characters
and places, but for the most part,
each episode just feels like its own little one-off,
which can make it very easy to forget
to ask the big question
which is where are they going with all of this?
And guys, I think I've figured it out.
I think I have figured out the overarching story
they are trying to tell
and how Mando and Grogu fit into
the greater Star Wars story.
And more specifically,
how Grogu is very closely connected to Rey.
Let's do this.
(energetic music)
- [J and Ben] Hey brother.
- Dive on in, we need to give a huge thank you
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Guys, for years one of our favorite guessing games
on this channel was trying to guess Rey's lineage,
and we took a lotta stabs at it.
It was the mystery I was most keen to get answers for
heading into the ninth
and final film "The Rise of Skywalker".
And lo and behold, the movie delivered us an answer
that Rey was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine.
What?
Craziness right, but as nice as it was
to finally have an answer,
it also seemed like it opened up
a whole bunch of new questions too,
also somewhat a little bit of confirmation
that sometimes it's more fun to wonder than actually know.
But like, did that mean Emperor Palpatine
had like physical relations with someone
because that just feels unlikely and wrong on many levels.
(Palpatine laughs) (person laughs)
I was like, how in space
would his child not have force powers,
and like does the timing even line up for that to work out,
and how would that child ever escape his reach?
Well, it turns out that
despite what we saw in "Rise of Skywalker",
it's not that cut and dry.
There are actually a few more layers to Rey's parents,
specifically her father who was supposedly Palpatine's son.
As revealed in the novelization of the movie
"The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition",
Palpatine's son is not really his son
in the traditional biological sense,
but, but, not, not in the Star Wars sense of the word.
Which is to say, Palpatine did not procreate
with another human being,
which like thank the maker, am I right?
I think we can all sleep a little easier at night
knowing that that never happened.
Instead, his son is what is known as a strand-cast.
A strand-cast is an artificial life form
constructed through various scientific methods,
such as bioengineering, cloning and genetic experimentation.
The genetic structure of a strand-cast
could be significantly altered through genetic engineering
resulting in a non-identical clone of the original source.
Essentially, it's just a different way to clone someone.
Unlike the Clone Army or Jango and Boba Fett however,
they are not always identical,
and there is no need to age them up.
They can just be created as full adults
and may also contain some genetic alterations.
So basically, after "Return of the Jedi",
Palpatine's essence, if you will, is trapped
in the decaying form we see him as
at the start of "Rise of Skywalker".
As such, his little Sith eternal underlings
are trying to create a more stable host for him,
and to do this, they use Palpatine's genetic profile
and eventually ended up with his son, AKA Rey's dad.
But if that all sounds confusing, don't worry.
There's actually a much better example.
The most well-known strand-cast
is actually Supreme Leader Snoke,
yet another character who remained shrouded in mystery
for most of the sequel trilogy.
He appears ancient, like way older even than the Clone Wars
and also super powerful,
which left a lot of people wondering like
where was he during the prequel and main trilogy
if he's this big and bad?
The answer, however, was provided to us
in "Rise of Skywalker" when Kylo Ren walks past a bacta tank
full of what looks like failed Snoke clones,
or else just failed attempts
to make Snoke in the first place,
and Palpatine reveals that he is the one who made Snoke.
So despite looking super old,
it turns out that he merely believes himself
to be really old and is in fact created
as a giant old looking gross dude from the beginning.
Speaking of that bacta tank though,
I was having extreme flashbacks to it
a couple of weeks ago watching "The Mandalorian"
when Mando and crew break into an Imperial base
and discover all of these failed experiments
also floating in bacta tanks.
This discovery is also accompanied by
a brief holorecording from Doctor Pershing,
who reveals some very important information about
how he's been using the blood he extracted
from Grogu back in season one.
He says, "We replicated the results of the subsequent trials
which also resulted in catastrophic failure.
There were promising effects for an entire fortnight,
but then sadly, the body rejected the blood.
I highly doubt we'll find a donor
with a higher M-count though.
Unfortunately, we have exhausted
our initial supply of blood.
The child is small, and I was only able to harvest
a limited amount without killing him.
If these experiments are to continue as requested,
we would again require access to the donor."
So with that memo and all of the failed experiments
you see in the bacta tanks,
here's what it sounds like is happening.
The Empire is trying to create a strand-cast of somebody
who requires blood with a high M-count.
The M stands for midi-chlorian,
which the show is appropriately avoiding trying to say
because everyone hates that word.
But just in case you don't know,
a higher midi-chlorian count equals
a more powerful Force user.
- The reading is off the chart, over 20,000.
Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midi-chlorian count
that high, over 20,000,, 20,000.
- So first of all, the Empire,
as of the most recent episode, just rekidnapped Grogu,
so they definitely have access to his blood again.
And "The Mandalorian" takes place five years
after "Return of the Jedi" and the fall of the Empire.
So who could they be trying to create a strand-cast of
that requires blood with a high M-count?
Hmm, uh yeah, it's Palpatine.
Although actually, my first thought was oh my God,
Grogu's blood is gonna be used to create Snoke (groans).
But I don't think that really works.
Snoke is what they eventually succeed with in this endeavor.
Before that though, they fail by creating,
dun dun dun, Rey's father.
And although Rey's father is a successful strand-cast
in terms of looking like a normal human,
he is a failure in terms of he can't use the Force.
And as such, he is cast aside by Palpatine
who wants nothing to do with someone with his blood
who can't use the Force.
However, he is still allowed to live
so that he can further the Palpatine line
through regular conventional means,
which we know he does when he eventually has Rey.
So if you're following along, here's the theory.
The Empire is trying to use Grogu's blood
and combine it with the Emperor's genetic profile
to create a strand-cast.
The end result of which is Rey's father,
who sadly possesses none of the Emperor's powers.
However, he will then go on to meet Rey's mother
and produce Rey who does possess the Emperor's powers
and some of Grogu's.
Grogu is going to lead to the creation of Rey.
And don't you worry, I have a lot more.
J you might be thinking, this sounds great,
but even just the term strand-cast
is kind of a niche expanded universe term, isn't it?
Do you really think they're gonna rely on that
for such an extremely major plot point?
Well, believe it or not, the phrase strand-cast
actually has been on screen before in "The Mandalorian".
- It hasn't grown much.
- [Mando] I think it might be a strand-cast.
- I have spoken.
I Have more to say like, let's see, uh, what else?
Hey, remember in "Rise of Skywalker"
when Rey suddenly displays the never before seen power
to Force heal somebody's wound?
Well, check yourself again
because guess who did it first three days earlier?
That's right, Grogu.
Seriously though, I feel like that's kind of a big one.
Like we had never seen this power on screen before,
and then over the course of three days,
two characters suddenly do it.
And when I say three days, all I mean is that
that episode of "The Mandalorian" came out three days
before "Rise of Skywalker" came out in theaters,
not three in-universe days.
But don't worry, We'll talk about the timeline.
Hey, speaking of the timeline, even the timing works out,
which is always kinda tricky in the Star Wars universe.
All right, stick with me here.
"The Mandalorian" takes place in 9 ABY,
that's nine years after the Battle of Yavin.
"The Force Awakens" takes place in 34 ABY,
and in that movie, Rey is 19
meaning that Rey was born in 15 ABY
which leaves six full years
between the timeline in "The Mandalorian" and Rey's birth
for her father to meet her mother and have her.
Uh wait though, you might be thinking,
six years isn't long enough for her father
to grow up and have a kid.
And you would be right except remember,
he is a strand-cast and does not need to be born as a child,
is simply cloned as an adult.
And as such, we do not need to account for him aging up
as long as he has enough time to meet Rey's mom,
which he totally does.
Look at the end of the day,
it comes down to this.
In "The Mandalorian",
we know the Empire is trying to create a strand-cast
with Grogu's blood.
And there are really only two super important strand-casts
that we know of.
One of them is Snoke, and one of them has a daughter
who shares an extremely unique power with Grogu.
Plus just, oh, how amazing would it be
if little Grogu is connected to Rey?
Like, what a much more satisfying answer
than that she's just the granddaughter of Palpatine.
But there you go guys,
that is our theory for how Mando and Grogu
will contribute in a huge way
to the greater Star Wars story.
Either way, I cannot wait to see how it all plays out.
But Ben, my question for you and everyone else is
what do you think?
Will Grogu be connected to Rey?
I am so convinced this is what they are going for,
but let me know your thoughts
in the towel section down below.
Also, have you adopted the name Grogu yet,
or are you still just saying Baby Yoda?
I'm fine with either,
but they're both so adorable I don't even care.
Guys, thanks as always for watching today's video.
Don't forget to leave a like on it
if you haven't already and subscribe
so you don't miss any future Star Wars action from us.
If you want to see why Mando
is totally getting his own lightsaber,
you can check out this video right here.
But Ben, until next time,
I will see you in another life brother.
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