The Mandalorian season 3 just revealed Star Wars’ newest Order 66 survivor. After years of theories regarding who saved Grogu from Order 66, The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4 “The Foundling” confirmed that it was a Jedi who took Grogu out of the Temple. Kelleran Beq, played by Ahmed Best, saved Grogu and escaped with the child through hyperspace, adding another name to the list of Jedi who survived Order 66.
From Kanan Jarrus putting together a lightsaber in Star Wars Rebels’ first episode to Cal Kestis returning in Jedi: Survivor, Star Wars continues to make Luke Skywalker’s role in the original trilogy a bit less special. Several Jedi were alive between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and while most of them could be dead by the events of The Empire Strikes Back, those are still Order 66 retcons. Kelleran Beq’s fate is a mystery, but he undoubtedly escaped Order 66.
Order 66 Was Supposed To Wipe The Jedi Out
Revenge of the Sith’s Order 66 sequence is one of the most memorable moments in the entire Star Wars saga – one that elevated Episode III and helped the prequels end on a high note after several problems. However, what truly made Revenge of the Sith’s Order 66 scene so impactful was how definitive it felt. Even though most of those Jedi did not have a significant role in the movies, seeing that many heroes getting killed by clones after three films could not have been more shocking. Essentially, Order 66 was supposed to explain how Luke eventually became the “last of the Jedi” by wiping the Jedi Order out.
Obviously, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi had to survive Order 66, given their roles in the original Star Wars trilogy. However, other than Luke’s two Jedi teachers, any other Jedi who survived Order 66 is a Star Wars retcon. In addition to lessening the impact of Order 66 itself, every time Star Wars adds a Jedi to the list of Order 66 survivors, the original trilogy era is also impacted. Luke Skywalker was supposed to be the “new hope” after 20 years, yet there were multiple trained Jedi or Padawans that could have made the difference before Luke thanks to the many Order 66 changes.
Has Star Wars Revealed Too Many Jedi Survivors?
No matter how large the Star Wars universe is, the franchise works better when Jedi are involved. As such, when Star Wars Rebels replaced The Clone Wars as the main 3D-animated Star Wars series, the show saw itself with a difficult challenge: it was set close to Luke’s story, yet it needed to be more interesting than just rebels. Enter Kanan Jarrus, Disney’s Star Wars canon’s first major Order 66 retcon. From then on, it became the norm for Star Wars to establish that a Padawan or a young Jedi had survived the Purge so that there could be a Force-sensitive character carrying a lightsaber during the age of the Empire.
While it makes sense for Star Wars to seek Jedi characters for its most important releases – a Star Wars video game can be much more fun when lightsabers are involved – that many canon Order 66 survivors play against the very concept of the Jedi Purge. In addition, those Order 66 retcons created only to bring Jedi characters for the age of the Empire period reveal a lack of creativity and innovation when it comes to the Star Wars timeline. The Empire days may just not be the most interesting when it comes to Force-sensitive characters, but the solution should be exploring different periods, rather than retconning Order 66.