'Mandalorian' Episode 3 may have teased the return of a famous Jedi

What happens next on The Mandalorian might be nothing compared to what has happened before this whole caper got rolling. Now that Baby Yoda has completely flipped everyone’s notions of what this show is about, it’s time to consider that the Mando’s affection for the “the Child,” might be deeper than the fact that the little guy is adorable as hell. In fact, some very familiar Jedi might be part of the backstory of the rescue of Mando when he was a young one himself.

The Mandalorian speculation and tweet-inferring ahead.

The son of George Lucas may have revealed a huge ‘Mandalorian’ spoiler

Back in August, Jett Lucas, the son of George Lucas, tweeted out enthusiastic support of The Mandalorian, but also, cryptically, mad a mention of the old days of the prequels when Ewan McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels.

So, on the one hand, this is just an innocuous reference to Ewan McGregor playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a celebration of the fact that the upcoming Obi-Wan show was made official at D23. After all, Jett Lucas appeared in Revenge of the Sith with Ewan McGregor in 2005; he’s the young Jedi Padawan who is fighting off clones as Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) looks on in horror. (Remember the scene where Jimmy Smits says “And so it is”? That’s the part.)

Also, somewhat apocryphally, Jett Lucas supposedly suggested the name for Jar Jar Binks when he was a very small child. Meaning, any way you slice it, Jett Lucas is a legit Star Wars insider, he names Jar Jar and he knows things. Could he have accidentally implied that Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi will appear in The Mandalorian? If he did, and Obi-Wan does show up, it kind of makes sense.

Obi-Wan could have rescued the young Mandalorian during the Clone Wars

In both “Chapter 1” and now, in “Chapter 3,” there’s a fairly big tip-off as to when Mando lost his parents as a young boy; during the height of the Clone Wars. In “Chapter 3,” we very clearly see, once again, a Battle Droid; the same exact kind that worked for the Separatists in Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, and Revenge of the Sith.

So far, the flashback ends with Mando’s parents putting him in some kind of bunker for safety, but, clearly, someone rescued him. Because the Separatists were fighting the Clone Army of the Republic, it’s not crazy to think that Mando was rescued by… a Jedi general, in charge of a battalion of Clone Troopers!

And, as every good Star Wars fan knows, Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of those Jedi generals.

How Yoda and Baby Yoda fit in

If we go with the theory that Mando was rescued by Jedi — specifically Obi-Wan — during the Clone Wars, then it’s possible he met Yoda. If Obi-Wan brought Mando back to Courscant, it’s totally reasonable that Mando could have see what Yoda was all about it. None of this is crazy. Obi-Wan was freaking in love with the ruler of Mandalore — Duchess Satine — so who knows, he could be the guy who hooked up Mando with the Mandalorians to begin with. Unless, Yoda was mixed up in all of this.

Mando’s loyalty to Baby Yoda could be directly tied to a memory he has of regular Yoda back in the day. If the Jedi helped young Mando, then perhaps Yoda really helped him. Or, in a twist, what if young Mando let Yoda down. Then, perhaps, he feels guilty. Which means, he’ll do anything to help baby Yoda, to correct some kind of mistake of the past.

Historically speaking, the Jedi and the Mandalorians have been enemies in the distant past, allies during the Clone Wars, and essentially, in the same boat during the time of the Empire. If Mando feels any connection to what happened to the Jedi when he was growing up, it may go along way to explain why he’s willing to die for Baby Yoda.

Then again, apparently we’re all willing to die for Baby Yoda.

New episodes of The Mandalorian stream Fridays on Disney+.