It feels like it's taken an eternity for The Mandalorian Season 3 to arrive even though in reality, it's only been three years (and only a little over a year since fans saw Din Djarin and Grogu on The Book of Boba Fett). What's more is that it can be a bit disorienting to keep up with this expansive mythology, which is also known to throw surprises our way. On that note, we've just been hit with another curveball. Jon Favreau casually dropped a shocking Grogu reveal regarding the exact length of his time with Din and others over the course of the franchise. And I can't quite believe it myself.
Jon Favreau and others participated in a roundtable discussion for The Mandalorian Season 3, and he just happened to drop a wild reveal about how many "years" Grogu has spent with the titular bounty hunter and remained in training with Luke Skywalker. Take a look at this bit of Favreau's response to a question about the diminutive character's connection to both Mandalorians and the Jedi (via Skytalkers):
He is definitely somebody who has spent time in both worlds. We know that he started off earlier in the Jedi Temple. We've seen flashbacks to that speak to that. And then we know that he's been rescued and spent many years with the Mandalorian. [He] went back with Luke, and now we've been two years apart from him, there, training...
According to the EP, Grogu spent "many years" traveling with Din Djarin during Seasons 1 and 2 and was then away for two years with Luke Skywalker before returning to Din in The Book of Boba Fett. Am I the only one blindsided by this reveal? Because I feel like Mandalorian and its spinoff have not made this passage of time evident in the slightest.
I won't doubt Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni on the timeline, especially given Filoni's extensive knowledge of Star Wars, but I don't think I would've ever come to this conclusion without hearing it directly from Favreau. For instance, Boba Fett killed Bib Fortuna and became the majordomo of Jabba's former domain in a scene shown at the end of Season 2. I guess it's feasible that the scene took place a while after Fett teamed up with everyone to bring Moff Gideon to justice and Luke left with Grogu.
At the same time, the bit about Grogu traveling "many years" with Din throughout Seasons 1 and 2 feels a bit murkier. The idea of Din gradually warming up to Grogu as they evaded bounty hunters and remnants of the Empire is somewhat weakened if several months passed between each episode. I thought maybe Season 1 transpired over the span of six months -- maybe a year at the max. The passage of multiple years throughout the first two seasons feels like a stretch, but I suppose this is canon now.
I'm also wondering what Grogu's age was at the start of The Mandalorian. The "many years" part of Jon Favreau's quote doesn't give us a clear answer, but we at least know it's been two years plus an undisclosed figure that's seemingly greater than two. That could be anywhere between five years and a decade in my mind, and I'm dying to know what that exact number is.
This all becomes even more interesting when you consider Din, Bo-Katan, Moff Gideon, and other humanoid characters haven't seemed to age all that much. Now, I'm expecting everyone to start having gray hair and wrinkles but, again, there's no true marker in the show to point out how much time has passed.
The upside to this news, however, is that with two years of training, Grogu should be much stronger in the Force than when we last saw him and possibly that much closer to being a major player in the Star Wars universe. After all, it only took Luke a month on Dagobah to up his game, so imagine what Grogu can do after two years!
Even if I'm still unsure of exactly how the time passed in prior seasons and spinoffs, I'm still amped to tune into The Mandalorian's third season, which debuts on March 1 and can be streamed using a Disney+ subscription. And before you tune in, read up on the things you'll want to know ahead of Season 3.
