Order 66 was a mess. When Emperor Palpatine ordered the clone army to turn on their generals and sent Darth Vader to lightsaber up the Jedi Temple, the goal was to murder all the Jedi in one fell swoop. However, nearly everything that’s happened in Star Wars since then has revealed a ton of holes in Palpatine’s plan. The survivors of Order 66 are numerous, but the most popular, and most mysterious is clearly “Baby Yoda” himself, the child known as Grogu.
Here’s how The Mandalorian Season 3 is poised to answer the biggest question about Baby Yoda: Who saved him from Order 66?
Order 66 flashback in Mandalorian Season 3 trailer
The new trailer for Mandalorian Season 3 reveals quite a bit. But one of the most pointed moments in the trailer depicts at least four Jedi, standing in front of a doorway, as someone — or something — is cutting through.
Because the primary setting of Mando takes place about nine years after Return of the Jedi, the idea of numerous adult Jedi all hanging out doesn’t make sense. So what are we looking at here? While it’s possible this is some kind of group of new Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker, the likely bet is that we’re seeing yet another flashback to Order 66.
In addition to the fact that The Clone Wars Season 7 and the beginning of The Bad Batch literally happen during and right after Order 66, we’ve also seen quite a bit of Order 66 retcon from the live-action shows, too. The Book of Boba Fett gave us our first glimpse of Grogu’s memories of Order 66 but stopped short of showing how he survived. Obi-Wan Kenobi also opened with Order 66 and made the revelation about the origin of Reva directly connected to that moment.
So Star Wars canon has dug in its heels. More information from the raid on the Jedi Temple during Order 66 is coming. Which can only mean one thing: We will finally see Baby Yoda’s rescuer.
Who saved Baby Yoda from Order 66?
Ever since Baby Yoda was revealed in the first episode of The Mandalorian, fans have wondered: How can a tiny Yoda-ish Force-sensitive creature exist at all? In Mando Season 2, we learned from Ahsoka that yes, Grogu was in the Jedi Temple at some point, which could imply he is the direct offspring of Yoda himself.
Since Season 2, we’ve had a lot of fan theories about which Jedi could have saved Baby Yoda, ranging from the over-the-top (Anakin Skywalker himself) to the obscure (Barriss Offee). In The Book of Boba Fett, Grogu rejected the Jedi path, which seems to mean he won’t be acting more like a Jedi going forward even if he continues to use the Force (as he does boldly in the new trailer.)
If Mandalorian Season 3 will explore more Jedi-ish action, it stands to reason that kind of lightsaber-wielding will happen in the past, rather than the present. This seems to mean we’ll get an ever babier Yoda in Season 3, along with some kind of explanation of who saved him from Order 66.
Did a legacy Star Wars character save Baby Yoda?
Because Disney+ and Lucasfilm put this Jedi scene in the trailer and released an official photo of this moment, it feels like this revelation could be a bigger deal than previously assumed. Why bother showing it in the trailer unless there’s more to this scene? The Order 66 flashback in The Book of Boba Fett was a huge tease, which hopefully means The Mandalorian Season 3 will give us more than just another vague flashback.
And because it seems very likely we’ll see more of this flashback, it also stands to reason that the identity of this savior will be someone we already know. But who? Did Mace Windu survive that fall, and then climb back up just in time to save Baby Yoda? What about Bail Organa? Heck, even Mon Mothma was around at this time. Could she have put Baby Yoda into a little space basket and pushed him out into the world?
The potential of this reveal is obviously huge. If Baby Yoda’s protector during Order 66 is a previously established character, that revelation could all the live-action and animated Star Wars shows in a way we never thought was possible.
The Mandalorian Season 3 will hit Disney+ on March 1, 2023.
