Why has Grogu, Baby Yoda, returned in The Mandalorian season 3?

Fans of Star Wars and television have been eagerly awaiting the return of Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian character, Din Djarin, for some time. The Chilean-American actor has never had higher stock, after smash hits like The Last of Us and previous series of The Mandalorian, and fans of him and Star Wars are greatly anticipating what showrunenr Jon Favreau has in store for series 3.

If you have managed to miss any of the promotional images for the new series then it will come as a surprise that Grogu, Mando’s green alien friend, has returned. This is because the 18 months between series 2 and 3 of The Mandalorian have played host to key plot developments involving another Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett, which have major ramifications for one of Disney’s flagship shows.

Warning: spoilers ahead for The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian

What happened in the The Book of Boba Fett series?

Despite receiving middling reviews from fans and critics, The Book of Boba Fett (BOBF) had three key episodes which are integral to the story of the third series of The Mandalorian.

Near the end of BOBF, the series inexplicably becomes series 2.5 of The Mandalorian. Episodes 5 and 6 completely ditch the Boba Fett storyline and pick up where The Mandalorian series 2 left off. Din Djarin is back to his bounty hunter ways, darksaber in hand, and still without Grogu. After the Armourer melts Djarin’s spear down into a new suit of beskar armour for Grogu, Mando sets off to find his little, green friend.

The next episode has Djarin team up with Ashoka Tano once again but he does not meet Grogu. There is an emotional scene where Djarin can see Luke Skywalker training with Grogu but decides it is wrong for him to disrupt his friend’s training, offering the armour as a gift. Luke gives Grogu the choice of Yoda’s lightsaber or the armour in the episode’s climax.

In the final episode of BOBF, Grogu’s choice is revealed as he returns to Djarin. While the ending does feel rushed, and Djarin’s storyline nearly completely detached from that of Fett, episodes 5 and 6 of BOBF offer fans some of the best quasi-Mandalorian seen episodes so far.

Episode 1 of The Mandalorian series 3 is out now on Disney+.

Who is Grogu?

Grogu is the name of the character fondly known as ‘Baby Yoda’. It is thought the character is 50 years old as the species of alien ages at a different rate to humans. Yoda was nearly 900 years old at the time of his death in universe.

At this stage it is not thought that there is any relation between Yoda and Grogu.