I've Figured Out Who REALLY Saved Grogu From Order 66 – & The Answer's Been Hiding In Plain Sight

One of the biggest mysteries in The Mandalorian was solved in season 3, when the person who had saved Grogu from Order 66 was revealed. The way it was answered, however, offered viewers an even deeper question: who was behind it all? As it turns out, the answer might have been hidden in plain sight this entire time.

In The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4 “Chapter 20: The Foundling,” it’s finally revealed that it was Kelleran Beq who saved Grogu from the 501st clone troopers at the Coruscant Jedi Temple during Order 66. Beq, the “Sabered Hand” Jedi Master played by Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best, takes Grogu to a group of Naboo guards, where they escape on a Nubian Yacht. One theory suggests that Beq’s rescue mission could have been an elaborately planned escape.

The Jedi Clearly Seemed To Have An Escape Route Planned For An Attack On The Temple

Was Grogu Saved On Purpose?

During Grogu’s now-iconic flashback to the night that he was saved from the Jedi Temple, it really seems like the Jedi are following a specific procedure in escorting the youngling. The young alien’s Jedi protectors continually exclaim that they need to get him to Kelleran, as if Beq is distinctly in place to save someone in the case of an attack on the temple. This would indeed make sense, considering Beq’s status as a teacher and protector of younglings.

Grogu is escorted through the 501st clones to an elevator, where he is sent to Kelleran outside the temple. D espite not having been told about Grogu at any point on screen, Kelleran greets him at the elevator’s door with reassurance that everything will be alright. It all feels very intentional, that Grogu, such a special youngling, was saved in this manner. It gets even more intentional when Kelleran reaches the Naboo.

The Royal Guards Hint The Naboo Were Involved

The People Of Naboo Rescued Grogu & Kelleran Beq

The two escape to a landing platform occupied by a Nubian yacht, where they meet a group of guards in recognizable outfits from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. If all of this was planned, and the Naboo were involved, it makes complete sense that this contingency could involve the Naboo at its core. Dialogue from this sequence only makes the connection even stronger.

Kelleran knew exactly where he and Grogu were going, even if things didn’t go as planned. On their journey, Beq tells Grogu “Don’t worry. We’re going to meet up with some friends of mine,” making their connection obvious. Upon reaching the guards, one asks “What about the others?“, implying Kelleran was supposed to come with more Jedi, or even younglings, than just Grogu.

Most of all, however, these two pieces of dialogue confirm that Kelleran was absolutely in league with the Naboo in order to rescue Jedi from any potential attack on the Jedi Temple. Was this a Jedi operation, or was it organized by somebody else? As it turns out, the very ship the two Jedi escape on could very well hold the answer to that question.

The Naboo Nubian Suggests It Was Queen Apailana Herself

The Current Queen Of Naboo Wanted To Save Jedi

While being ambushed by clone troopers, Kelleran and Grogu escape on a Nubian yacht that’s very similar to Padmé’s in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. This makes sense, as the Naboo are behind this escape. This, however, isn’t just a normal yacht for them; this is a royal starship. On top of that, Star Wars sources have confirmed that Nubian yachts were also used by Naboo royalty after Padmé.

According to the magazine issue Build The Millennium Falcon #47, there were only two of these specific Nubian yachts, the first of which had been custom-built over a decade before The Phantom Menace by King of Naboo Ars Veruna. Years later, the second yacht was built at the queen’s order. “When Amidala became a senator,” the issue reads, “the ship was replaced by another handcrafted starship to be used by her successor, Queen Jamillia.” That starship was then used by Jamillia’s successor, Neeyutnee, and then passed along again to the latter’s successor, Apailana.

These yachts, then, were very much in royal hands, as the royal Naboo guards had hinted at earlier. With all of this evidence, it seems likely that Apailana, the Queen of Naboo at the time of Order 66, hatched this plan to save some Jedi from Coruscant. Though the young Queen Apailana only makes a brief appearance in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith at Padmé’s funeral, her actions may have set in motion the events of The Mandalorian, and more in the Star Wars galaxy.