While an epic episode, what with Luke Skywalker and R2-D2, it was still pretty heartbreaking to see Grogu leave with the iconic Jedi in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale. In a way, it felt like the perfect ending - after all, from the get-go, the premise and formula of The Mandalorian has hinged entirely on the titular bounty hunter caring for a child. But less than a year on, and Grogu is already back in his care, having seemingly been sent back by Luke after deciding not to choose to devote his life to training. Was this a smart move, or a cheap one? Despite the fact we adore Grogu, the decision to bring him back before The Mandalorian Season 3 even begins feels like a huge copout. Think about it - Grogu hasn’t even been gone! He left right at the end of The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, and will presumably be with Din Djarin in The Mandalorian Season 3 pilot. We hadn’t really had time to miss him, yet The Book of Boba Fett’s two final episodes treated his place in the show the same way they treated Luke - like nostalgia royalty. So why was the decision made to bring Grogu back so soon? Were Disney and Lucasfilm terrified that losing Grogu would affect toy sales? Unlikely, seeing as Grogu merchandise will continue to sell like hotcakes for years to come, regardless of whether he’s on the screen or not - the popularity of Star Wars merchandise has never really waned. Or did they simply identify some new merchandising potential with Mando’s new N-1 Starfighter. You know, his Naboo-mandated ship with the empty Astromech pod at the back? We knew the minute Peli Motto unveiled the starfighter that Grogu would be making a return - that empty pod has brand-new toy written all over it, whether it’s Hasbro or LEGO, or both. And as predicated, the final scene in The Book of Boba Fett shows Grogu misbehaving in said-pod, pestering Din Djarin to go faster. Like the last three episodes of The Book of Boba Fett with the finale included, a commercial for The Mandalorian Season 3. But is that Astromech pod really for Grogu? Or is his time with the Mandalorian temporary? Why would Disney and Lucasfilm go to the effort of bringing Grogu if his reunion with Din Djarin is only temporary? Well, you can also ask why they would go to the effort of sending him off with Luke Skywalker in the first place. Is there a grand plan in place, where, say, Grogu does indeed return to new Jedi Training Academy to learn how to wield both a lightsaber and the Force with the most powerful Jedi ever? Or, do they have no idea what they’re doing, and that the writing is going absolutely nowhere? While it’s something we refuse to believe, on the other hand, neither The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett screenplays are the work of genius. It’s entirely possible then, that Grogu is here to stay, because having it any other way would be too big a risk for Disney and Lucasfilm, and we all know how they like to play it safe when it comes to Star Wars. This direction would of course completely undermine the entire Luke Skywalker storyline, rendering it pointless and meaningless, and without any sort of conclusion. But if the show’s creators know what they’re doing, then it’s also entirely possible that Grogu won’t hang around forever, and that he’s simply having one last ride with the Mandalorian. In The Book of Boba Fett’s penultimate episode, Luke presents Grogu with a choice: choose Din Djarin’s gift - chainmail beskar armor - and he will return to the Mandalorian, unable to become a Jedi; or choose Yoda’s lightsaber, and commit to his training, with the possibility of never seeing his friend ever again. As we know, Grogu did pick the armor, as he’s wearing it in The Book of Boba Fett finale, so this suggests that he’s chosen Din Djarin. However, seeing as only the Sith deal with absolutes, perhaps Luke has agreed that Grogu can return to say goodbye (although he already said goodbye in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale). Assuming that Grogu will be leaving (again), could Din Djarin end up with another child in his care? It might seem totally derivative, but as we said, the show has been built around this premise and formula. In a way, we hope that a new child will emerge because as much as we, like everyone else, love seeing Mando and Grogu on screen together, quite frankly, it will probably get boring. But then who’s to say that there can’t be two children in the picture? It has long been rumored that The Mandalorian will, at some point, do a major time jump. Other rumors suggest that the show is leaning into the sequel trilogy, which may very well be the case, now that Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Training Academy has been introduced. Could Rey be the next “child”? While there are around 25 years between the show and the sequel trilogy, aging Din Djarin wouldn’t be impossible, not only because he wears a helmet most of the time, but the de-aging technology performed on Mark Hamill in The Book of Boba Fett is astounding. And seeing as Grogu ages around ten times slower than humans, he wouldn’t really need to look all that different. Besides, there are other ways of moving forward through time, whether it’s being frozen in carbonite, or actual time travel… Time-travel is something that has long been debated among Star Wars fans, ever since it was introduced in the canon animated show Star Wars: Rebels, in which Ezra Bridger and Ahsoka Tano find themselves in a mystical realm known as the World Between Worlds. While the live-action Ahsoka series is shaping up to be a sequel to Rebels, we’ll just have to wait and see whether it will reintroduce this galaxy-changing device, and whether it’s something that will reshape The Mandalorian as we know it. As of now, it has been officially confirmed by the Star Wars official Twitter account that The Mandalorian Season 3 will be premiering on February 2023.
