Will We See Baby Yoda In The Mandalorian Season 3?
The season 2 finale of The Mandalorian just dropped, and its emotional final moments had Star Wars fans everywhere wondering if someone was chopping space onions. After Grogu, the artist formerly known as Baby Yoda, was kidnapped by the ruthless Empire fanatic Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) put together a formidable crew to launch a rescue mission. He succeeded and was able to free Grogu from the infant-sized handcuffs Gideon was keeping him in. Just when it seemed like the reunited twosome were getting ready to blast off on another adventure together, something truly remarkable happened.
The group spied a cloaked figure battling their way to the deck of the ship on the security cameras. When the figure arrived, it revealed itself to be none other than Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, de-aged with some admittedly janky CGI). For the majority of The Mandalorian, Din has been searching for someone to hand Grogu off to, and it looks like Luke is just that person.
Although neither Din nor Grogu want to part, eventually the little green mischief maker waddles off toward Luke and the beginning of his Jedi training, while Din and his crew watch him go with tears in their eyes.
There's no doubt that many fans of the series were similarly emotional watching the little guy make his exit. But now that those tears have dried, there's a huge lingering question we have (other than what's going on with The Book of Boba Fett): is that the end of Grogu's time on The Mandalorian?
It's hard to imagine Disney+ doing a season 3 of The Mandalorian without Grogu...
Before we start spiralling into despair, let's put the brakes on for a moment and think about this logically. Yes, Grogu leaving with Luke Skywalker felt like a pretty climactic moment for the little guy's storyline on The Mandalorian. But we don't actually know what's in store for Grogu, as he's a character that is brand new to Star Wars fans, and furthermore, so is Din Djarin. It looks like the show wrapped up Din and Grogu's adventure, but that doesn't mean the two will never meet again.
Something that's important to keep in mind when trying to game out what might happen next is that Grogu's relationship with Din has been the defining feature of The Mandalorian. Yes, the series has introduced lots of cool new characters, brought fan-favorites into the live-action Star Wars world for the first time, and gave lots of insight into the timeline of the franchise. But Din's journey with Grogu is at the heart of it all. It's not that the series has nowhere to go if it splits those characters up, but it would certainly require a massive retooling of the show to convince fans that a Groguless third season is an exciting prospect. Would Disney+ really be willing to split up such an important dynamic?
Unfortunately, they just might be. Beloved characters aren't the only important thing about a series, and sometimes a compelling narrative requires that a beloved character exits stage left. Even if fans have a hard time accepting it, the Disney+ brain trust may have an idea of where The Mandalorian is going to go next that doesn't involve Grogu.
...but that doesn't mean it won't happen
Even though we don't want to lose hope, there are a few good reasons to believe that the worst case scenario is true and that The Mandalorian's season 2 finale was Grogu's swan song on the series.
First, that heartbreaking goodbye felt like a genuine goodbye. The tears, Din removing his helmet to let Grogu caress his face, the appearance of Luke Skywalker, it all had serious weight behind it that made it feel like a massive moment that isn't going to be easily undone.
Furthermore, while Din and Grogu's journey has been the driving force behind the first two seasons, the show is called The Mandalorian, not The Mandalorian and Child. While it might be hard to imagine what a season without Grogu will look like, the show laid some pretty significant groundwork for just that in the finale. After he defeats Moff Gideon, Din takes possession of the legendary Darksaber, which puts him in quite the conundrum. Fellow Mandalore native Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) only agreed to help him in order to get her own hands on the weapon. However, it's something that can only be won in combat, not gifted.
In defeating Moff Gideon, Din unknowingly put himself between Bo-Katan and the thing she covets the most. That seems like something that will probably need to be dealt with in season 3. Unfortunately, a Mandalorian v Mandalorian showdown between Din and Bo-Katan is a storyline that doesn't require the presence of Grogu.
Don't get too down, though. Even if Grogu is absent in season 3 of The Mandalorian, he could still appear in one of the other recently announced Star Wars spin-off series. We're looking at you, Ahsoka.