What started out as a bond between Mando and Baby Yoda, and is now known as the kinship of Din Djarin and Grogu, is coming back into our lives and hearts starting in March.
When season two of The Mandalorian wrapped up, the relationship between the Disney duo was no more. Mando had decided that, in the best interest of Grogu, the latter should go, train, and hone his skills with a fellow Jedi —namely, Luke Skywalker.
If The Mandalorian didn’t lead you to watch the spinoff involving another Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, then there are some happenings that would leave you a bit perplexed when the third season of the series picks back up again starting March 1. The spinoff starring Boba Fett, the most well-known one in Star Wars lore (and the legend that led to The Mandalorian being a show in the first place), didn’t capture hearts or viewership quite like The Mandalorian, and for a lot of reasons. So even if you tuned into the beginning of the series, you may have checked out before things actually got interesting later on.
As you might have concluded by the title of this article, perhaps the biggest thing that went down during the latter episodes of The Book of Boba Fett was an appearance—OK, an entire episode takeover—by Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal). So, let’s feed your brain with some juicy bits of information the way Mando would nurture Grogu.
How did Grogu and Din Djarin leave things in the season 2 finale?
It’s a bit astonishing to look back and realize that season two of The Mandalorian wrapped up more than two full years ago now—the season finale debuted on Disney Plus on Dec. 18, 2020.
Leading up to the finale, Grogu was sadly captured by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and his sinister forces during the third-to-last episode, despite valiant attempts to keep him safe by both Din Djarin and Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). Gideon and company escape with Grogu to Gideon’s ship, where Gideon tries to connect with the little yodito and even reveals the Dark Saber to him before subduing the one originally known as The Child.
After enlisting Migs Mayfield (Bill Burr) to help infiltrate a hidden Imperial refinery base and bypass security, Mando is able to access the system’s security system and procure the coordinates to Gideon’s ship. Eventually, they flee with the help of Fett, and Mando sends Gideon a message that vows he will return to rescue Grogu.
In the finale, Mando and Cara Dune (Gina Carano) break into an Imperial ship to capture the villainous scientist, Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi), who is hell-bent on trying to sap Grogu of his blood and powers for the dark side to use. With plenty of help, eventually Mando is able to get to Gideon, who is still guarding Grogu, leading to a battle between Mandalorian and a Dark Saber wielding Gideon. Mando defeats Gideon and rescues Grogu, but, things are still not safe, as Dark Troopers descend on them and slowly start to break through the walls and bridge defenses.
This is when an X-wing ship with a mystery pilot lands, and this single individual goes through and destroys every single Dark Trooper. Mando lets this stranger in through the blast doors, when its revealed that the stranger is Luke Skywalker (a de-aged Mark Hamill). After a quick monologue convinces Mando that Grogu belongs with the Jedi, they share a tender and emotional face-to-face moment for the first time, with Mando removing his helmet, and Grogu flies out of Mando’s life, seemingly forever.
How did they reunite during The Book of Boba Fett?
In episode five of The Book of Boba Fett, titled “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian,” we get a standalone Din Djarin episode with no Boba Fett in sight for the large majority of the episode. During the episode, we learn that indeed, Mando now owns and wields the Dark Saber after winning it in battle from Gideon, the way its ownership is meant to be transferred, and while plenty else happens here, we’re focused on Grogu, so we’ll move on to the next episode, which starts to blend the two storylines of both shows a bit more. Oh, it’s important to note that Mando has The Armorer (Emily Swallow) meld a Beskar chain mail for Grogu.
In the sixth episode, we see Mando on a densely forested planet, longingly looking on from afar as we see Grogu training with Luke Skywalker. Mando wants to deliver the Beskar chain mail to Grogu, but he’s stopped by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and R2-D2, who tell him that his mere presence will distract and interrupt Grogu’s training.
After Mando leaves, we get a training sequence and montage between Luke and Grogu, but by the end of the episode, Luke learns that he must give the still distracted Grogu a choice between the path of the Jedi, or returning to Mando, by placing in front of him the chain mail and Yoda’s light saber.
In the finale of The Book of Boba Fett, the episode starts off with what everyone wanted—Grogu chose the chain mail and a life with Mando, and he’s being returned to him by way of Motto (Amy Sedaris), the mechanic who befriended both Grogu and Mando throughout The Mandalorian. Motto comes to try and deliver Grogu to Mando, but of course danger is lurking everywhere. Motto reveals Grogu to Mando as they are racing through town, and after amazing voice acting by Pacal that shows just how shocked and joyous he is to see him again, Mando scoops Grogu up into his arms and lets him know, like any proud papa would, that everything is going to be OK.
Grogu arrives just in time to help an ensuing battle that is raging across town, helping defeat two monstrously large enemies—one mechanical, another a beast—to help save the day before retiring for a nap of exhaustion.
As the episode concludes, Mando and Grogu are flying away in Mando’s N-1 Starfighter, with Grogu pestering Mando to throw the ship into hyperdrive one more time, which he begrudgingly (and lovingly) gives in to and they zoom off to resume their adventures together.
That episode came more than a year ago, on Feb. 9, 2022, and now the wait to see them both on-screen together is coming to an end with the eight-episode third season airing every Wednesday from March 1 through April 19.