Summary

• Grogu's full origins may be revealed in The Bad Batch season 3, potentially answering questions about his history following Order 66.
• Grogu's story and Clone Force 99's adventures could intersect during the Dark Times, making a crossover between the two narratives possible.
• The Bad Batch has already laid the groundwork for cloning and Grogu's future value to the Empire, suggesting a connection between the two storylines in season 3.

An exciting new Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3.

The Mandalorian season 3 reveals that Grogu was rescued from the Jedi Temple by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq during the events of Order 66, the two of them evading the murderous Republic clone troopers and fleeing Coruscant in a Naboo starcruiser. However, there are still some burning questions regarding who sent the cruiser, where the duo went, and what happened to Beq himself. Keeping that in mind, Kelleran actor Ahmed Best recently posted an exciting tease on Instagram about the aforementioned flashback:

While it's exciting that Best is eagerly awaiting the answers just as much as fans, it could also be a key tease that Star Wars will reveal Grogu and Beq's history very soon. As such, it's worth noting that one of Best's hashtags in his post was for none other than the animated Bad Batch series. While it could just be for the sake of getting more eyes from Star Wars fans, here's why a potential Grogu appearance in The Bad Batch season 3 actually makes a lot of sense.

Grogu's Story Is Taking Place At The Same Time As Clone Force 99's

Will The Narratives Intersect?

Firstly, it's important to that Grogu lived through the entirety of the Dark Times and the Galactic Civil War, having been found by Din Djarin when he was 50 years old. This would put Grogu at about age 22 during the events of Order 66, meaning that there's closer to three entire decades of the child's history that are unknown and have yet to be revealed. As such, it's quite a significant stretch of time in which stories regarding Grogu's experiences prior to meeting Din Djarin can be shown.

This means that Grogu's first days as a Jedi survivor are taking place at the same time as the adventures of Clone Force 99 once they became defectors, refusing to fall in line with the new Imperial regime. However, the squad of unique clones and their various genetic modifications has made all of them priority targets in the eyes of the Empire's Advanced Science Division. As such, an intersection of Grogu and The Bad Batch's stories could certainly be possible where the Star Wars timeline and canon is concerned.

Grogu Is Tied To Mount Tantiss & Cloning Too

Hemlock, Nala Se, and Pershing

Even without the possibility of an animated Grogu appearance in The Bad Batch season 3, the Clone Wars spin-off show has laid a lot of groundwork for the future of cloning in Star Wars as well as Grogu's future value to the Empire due to his high midichlorian count. It's been implied and teased that the studies on the child were likely the key to unlocking the experiments which led to Supreme Leader Snoke's creation and the eventual resurrection of Emperor Palpatine himself in The Rise of Skywalker via a cloned Force-sensitive host body.

To that end, The Bad Batch has revealed that the Empire's Advanced Science Division and its top-secret cloning experiments are located within the planet Wayland's Mount Tantiss run by Doctor Hemlock. The facility features a collection of engineers bearing the Kaminoan insignia connected to Nala Se, the very same sigil worn by the clone engineer Doctor Pershing who was in charge of studying Grogu as seen in The Mandalorian.

Clone Force 99's Omega has recently been captured by Hemlock's agents as seen at the end of The Bad Batch season 2, suggesting that she too holds a key to unlocking the Empire's cloning goals, not unlike Grogu himself. To that end, The Bad Batch season 3 could easily feature an appearance from Grogu considering Clone Force 99's goal to infiltrate and rescue Omega from Mount Tantiss in the new season. After all, there have been hints pointing to the Empire having had Grogu in their custody for a significant period of time before the events of The Mandalorian.

Is Bad Batch Season 3's Palpatine Scene About Grogu?

Securing The Empire's Future

As seen in the trailer for The Bad Batch season 3, Emperor Palpatine is featured giving Doctor Hemlock his full , granting him all the resources he might need to succeed in his important work for the Empire. To that end, a key line from the Emperor could very well be connected to Grogu in the series:

"There is nothing of greater importance to secure the future of this Empire...Whatever is needed to accomplish this goal, you will have it."

While the full details and specifics of Hemlock's work are still shrouded beyond his need for a vast number of clone troopers to use as test subjects, Grogu could very well be connected. However, Omega is likely the stronger and more immediate possibility. That said, perhaps Grogu will become the focus when and if the Empire fails to secure Omega following either her escape or rescue from Mount Tantiss as hinted by the trailer. Either way, the end goal of successfully cloning a body capable of wielding the Force is almost certainly what Palpatine means by "securing the Empire's future".

An Animated Grogu Scene Makes More Sense Now

Grogu and Din Djarin Are Leading The Star Wars Franchise

An animated appearance by Grogu in The Bad Batch or any other project may have been viewed as odd a few months ago. However, it's not so strange now that Grogu is getting his own movie with Din Djarin. With The Mandalorian & Grogu heralding Star Wars' return to the big-screen, it's become even more evident that Djarin and his newly adopted son have been positioned by Lucasfilm as the biggest faces of the Star Wars franchise in the modern era.

Keeping that in mind, seeing Grogu in animation feels like a no-brainer, offering a major draw for The Bad Batch season 3 while also serving as some major connective tissue across eras of the Star Wars galaxy. Although it's just conjecture, there does seem to be good odds that more of Grogu's past will finally be revealed sooner rather than later.

The Bad Batch season 3 will begin streaming February 21st on Disney+.

Source: Instagram/Ahmed Best