Mandalorian Season 3 could explain the trippiest part of Empire Strikes Back

The Mandalorian Season 2 ended with a bang and a whimper. While Grogu is now in the care of Luke Skywalker, he's separated from Din Djarin, his adoptive father. It's totally unknown what is next for these two Force users.

However, if the plot of Season 3 follows the Star Wars novel that just so happens to encompass the same time period, Grogu may be traveling to a very familiar planet. Here's why that possibility is such an interesting one for the future of the franchise as a whole.

The Mandalorian takes place about five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. In the non-canon "Legends" timeline, that's right around the same time as the events of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. These three iconic books — Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command — follow Luke, Leia, and Han as they encounter what remains of the Empire.

The setting of The Mandalorian isn't all that different, especially now Thrawn and Luke are now part of the narrative. The Thrawn trilogy is probably the closest thing The Mandalorian Season 3 will have to source material.

It's handy that the first book in the trilogy, Heir to the Empire, followed Luke back to Dagobah. This location is a no-brainer for The Mandalorian. If you were Luke and had just seen your master die on a planet where he's lived for decades, then stumbled upon another powerful Jedi padawan of the same species, you'd want to take him to the same place.

Part of Dagobah that Heir to the Empire dwells on is the Cave of Evil, a cave full of Dark Side energy that Yoda used to neutralize his Jedi disturbance in the Force in order to hide him. It famously served as the cause of Luke's vision of fighting Vader in Empire Strikes Back. While on Dagobah, Luke entered the cave and had a vision involving Mara Jade and the Sarlacc pit. He also found a strange beacon.

While Mara Jade's inclusion in The Mandalorian may still be a pipe dream, this beacon could be the key to more non-canon characters being brought into the fold. The beacon was placed there by Jorj Car'das, a Corellian smuggler who was brought to Dagobah years earlier. Car'das was just going about his smuggling business when a Dark Jedi — the Legends term for Sith — hijacked his ship and set them down on Dagobah, where the Dark Jedi was defeated by Yoda.

Car'das had quite the journey throughout the events of the Legends novels. He was captured by Thrawn, helmed a gigantic crime organization, and even disappeared for years to study with monks. Any of those storylines could add to how The Mandalorian is expanding in its storyline.

The inclusion of Dagobah and this mysterious beacon would not only flesh out the background of the cave itself and Yoda's past in exile, it would also provide a new character for the show. The joy of The Mandalorian is in part how its protagonist wasn't Force-sensitive. With another Jedi on board, another "normie" character would bring back the balance.

The Mandalorian Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+.