The Mandalorian May Have Just Proved an Intriguing Baby Yoda Theory
Grogu finally has the ability to do stuff, and he uses that ability to harken back to a classic Legends novel.
Season 3 Episode 7 of The Mandalorian included some huge reveals, including the live-action debut of Captain Pellaeon, the return of Moff Gideon, and the introduction of his Beskar armor. But for fans of Grogu, there was one standout moment: they gave Grogu a mech suit!
But this new toy for Grogu isn’t just another method to get into hijinks — one of his first uses for it echoes a classic code of the Jedi and an iconic Legends moment.
Greef Karga gifts Mando with IG-12, an adapted droid with room for one Anzellan or one, to quote said Anzellan “Bad Baby.” Grogu climbs inside and is immediately thrilled by the freedom, including the ability to hit a button and say “yes” or “no.”
Grogu in his new IG-12 mech suit.
One of the first times he uses this new mode of communication is on the Mandalorian ship when Paz Viszla and Axe Woves get into a dispute over a game of chess of all things. Din is about to intervene, but Bo-Katan says “Neither side can step in. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
But suddenly, Grogu gets between the two, hitting his “no” button repeatedly. Bo-Katan remarks “You taught your apprentice well,” to which Din replies “He didn’t learn that from me.”
Grogu gets between Axe and Paz.
But if Grogu didn’t learn that from Din, where did he learn it? The answer lies in non-canon novel Dark Force Rising, the sequel to Heir to the Empire, which nabbed a name drop in the Ahsoka trailer. In that book, Luke Skywalker stumbles on a dispute on the planet of New Cov and gets called to mediate because he is a Jedi.
The Jedi’s peacekeeping services have slipped through the cracks of Star Wars canon, but this brings it back to the forefront. Though Luke Skywalker clearly taught Grogu how to use his Force powers, he also taught him how to stop a situation from warranting those powers at all. Din Djarin may be great at finishing fights, but Luke taught this youngling that stopping them is just as valuable.
This proves that the Jedi training Grogu received was more than just the supernatural elements of the Jedi, but the moral ones as well. That means that he will remember that as he continues on his path to be a Mandalorian. While he chose the Beskar when offered a choice by Luke, there’s nothing saying he can’t be both a Jedi and a Mandalorian. Maybe, when Grogu inevitably outlives his dad, he could join a rebuilt Jedi order in about 50 years — when we’ll next see Rey in her upcoming movie.
