Explained: Who saved Grogu in The Mandalorian?

The latest episode 4 of The Mandalorian season 3 recently premiered online, leaving fans over the moon. The episode witnessed Grogu getting into serious trouble when Order 66 was issued to him but he was miraculously saved by a Jedi. The name of the Jedi is Kelleran Beq, played by celebrated voice actor Ahmed Best.

Fans were made aware in the show's premiere that Grogu was a survivor of Order 66. A mysterious group of mercenaries on the remote planet Arvala-7 kept the child but there were a dozen questions about his survival.

Fans wanted to know how Grogu had survived Order 66 and how the Empire had obtained his chain code. Even though the Empire had fallen years ago, nobody knew who was paying mercenaries to keep the child.

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Kelleran Beq saved Grogu and is played by Ahmed Best

In the episode, viewers saw Kelleran Beq appear at the bottom of an elevator after the other Jedis were killed by troopers. He picked Grogu on his speeder and took flight while he was being chased by enemy forces. He tricked a ship into a collision and crash-landed. He then took Grogu onto another ship and jumped into hyperspace.

Kelleran Beq served as a Jedi Master who supervised Padawans for the children's game show Star Wars: Jedi Challenge, during their training. Due to his prowess with a lightsaber, he became known as the “Sabered Hand.” Since Kelleran knows his way around a lightsaber, it makes sense that he survived Order 66. He was proficient in all seven lightsaber forms, including Shien.

Ahmed Best was given the liberty to shape Kelleran Beq in his own way. He was even allowed a purple lightsaber in honor of Samuel Jackson's Mace Windu.

Best told Screenrant:

"This is the first Jedi that we’ve seen that is dedicated to just teaching. And I wanted to pay homage to some Jedi of the past. There’s a mentorship that Obi-Wan Kenobi has and that Yoda has that are very much a nurturing kind of mentorship and I wanted to see if I could capture that nurturing sense."

Like many other key figures, Kelleran Beq worked closely with droids. He was often assisted by the protocol droid AD-3 and an astromech droid called LX-R5. Even though Beq survived, the fate of these two droids is unknown.

Best spoke about his character and as per the Star Wars website, said:

"I think what’s the most important about the representation of someone like Kelleran Beq as far as being a person of color and the leader of this Temple – kind of like the Dean of Jedi – is it breaks down what’s possible. It breaks down what you can do, and creates just a brand new world of possibilities out there."

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What is The Mandalorian about?

The Star Wars spin-off is set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and the fall of the Galactic Empire. The remaining Imperial forces hired a lone bounty hunter named Din Djarin to retrieve the child, Grogu, but he instead went on the run to protect the infant.

The official synopsis of the show reads:

"After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. 'The Mandalorian' is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic."

The latest season of the show sees Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Amy Sedaris, and Christopher Lloyd in pivotal roles. Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Favreau, and Colin Wilson are some of the show's executive producers.

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Season 3 of The Mandalorian, is currently streaming on Disney+.