Could Palpatine Or His Cult Be The Next Villain(s) To Go After Grogu?

The Next Adversary For 'The Mandalorian' Season 3?

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 3 min read

The last two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett saw the surprising but most welcomed return of Grogu, showcasing his Jedi training under Luke Skywalker and his heart-warming return to Din Djarin's arms as his Mandalorian foundling. Apart from delving into Grogu's story in the prequel era in which he witnessed fellow Jedi being massacred during Order 66, fans also witnessed his exponential growth in the Force, such as in calming Boba Fett's Rancor in order to protect Din towards the end of the series finale. However, such exemplary displays of Force powers also beg a sinister question: has the rise of Grogu's powers and connection with the Force attracted none other than Emperor Palpatine?

Palpatine, a.k.a. Darth Sidious, is notoriously known for his ability to sense disturbances or awakenings in the Force, as he did with both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the prequel and original trilogies. This was also indirectly demonstrated in the sequel trilogy through Snoke, Palpatine's bio-engineered puppet that turned the budding Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. Contemporary Star Wars productions are bridging the gap between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order in which we see Palpatine's return. This makes it likely, that Palpatine will have sensed Grogu's immense strength in the Force. Having seen multiple occasions of Grogu's Force feats, such as activating the seeing stone on Tython, it is possible that Grogu would become a more tangible target of Palpatine for his devious plans.

Such a theory also ties closely with the storylines of The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, which explored Palpatine's interest in “Force-infused cloning.” The ending scene of The Bad Batch featured Mount Tantiss, which houses Palpatine’s secret cloning facility in Star Wars Legends. The Empire appeared to have “big plans” for Nala Se, Kamino's Chief Medical Scientist during the Clone Wars era. Season 2 of The Mandalorian also included detailed exposition in the Imperial Remnant's purpose for capturing Grogu, which among other things included Moff Gideon drawing blood samples from him.

This creates the possibility of Palpatine wanting to form a Force-sensitive army, which is not unprecedented. In The Clone Wars animated series episode “Children of the Force” Palpatine hired Cad Bane to kidnap Force-sensitive children for his plans of creating an army of Sith spies to overwhelm the Jedi.

It is without dispute that Grogu would continue to play an instrumental role in contemporary Star Wars productions with the upcoming Season 3 of The Mandalorian being a promising candidate. Since the sequel trilogy made no mention of Grogu, especially in relation to the destruction of Luke Skywalker's rebuilt Jedi Order, there are numerous opportunities for Grogu and Luke to occupy the new Star Wars timeline in a separate, interconnecting space within the new Star Wars shows, bridging explainable connections with the sequels’ storyline while maintaining a safe distance from the already established canon.

This could, for example, play out as Palpatine's cult going after Grogu and the Mandalorian through an early incarnation of the Knights of Ren from the Unknown Regions. This would create a highly-intriguing storyline for Season 3, providing much adventure and challenges to Din Djarin in the face of unprecedentedly dangerous foes. More importantly, it paves a natural path for Luke Skywalker to get involved following his appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, raising the stakes even further and delving into Palpatine's evil ambitions in galactic domination once again.

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