In the season three opener of The Mandalorian, we see Mando and his little buddy, Grogu, traveling through hyperspace in his sleek, new spacecraft. As Grogu looks out from the ship, he spots a shadowy figure moving alongside him and reaches out to it. Most likely, it is a purrgil.
Let’s start speculating.
What is a purrgil?
Space whales who were said to have inspired hyperspace travel, which they themselves can do.
How are they connected to The Mandalorian or Star Wars in general?
The purrgil were first introduced in the Star Wars: Rebels series. Force-sensitive Jedi padawan, Ezra Bridger, forms a connection with them and they help each other out of a tough jam.
In the series finale of Rebels, Ezra summons the purrgil by proxy to capture the Empire’s Grand Admiral Thrawn, the dark presence on Bridger’s home planet, Lothal. Ezra sacrifices himself to capture Thrawn and the purrgil carry them off into some unknown location in space. Although we do not know what happened to him, we are given the impression that he is still alive.
Given his deep connection to them, one has to wonder if the purrgil sighting means Bridger is not far behind.
What does that have to do with The Mandalorian?
The immediate connection is Ahsoka Tano, who plays various roles in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Book of Boba Fett. In the Boba Fett series, she works with Mando to help train Grogu and locate Luke Skywalker to bring Grogu to the Jedi.
So, there’s a direct connection to Mando; Tano also worked with other Mandalorians like Bo Katan, who is also in The Mandalorian series, etc.
Sabine Wren, another Mandalorian, narrated the epilogue to the Rebels series. She mentions events as far out as the Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. So, we know their presence was still a part of the rebellion stretching throughout the original series and The Mandalorian.
No mention of Bridger is made, though. All we know is that Wren and Tano teamed up to find him.
Does that mean we are going to see Bridger in The Mandalorian?
I doubt it. From Wren’s epilogue she states noting about finding hi,
What does it mean, then?
Wren and Tano are on the hunt for Bridger. They know he is out there somewhere and the window for the search falls directly within the period between the end of Rebels and the end of the initial trilogy.
I believe that Tano and Wren will weave their way through The Mandalorian’s realm.
There is also the rare spotting of a bird making a brief appearance through the episode. Though I was unable to get a good luck at it, I wonder if it is Morai, the creature that travels with Ahsoka Tano, to which she owes her life. If so, then either Tano is nearby or she is in some sort of trouble.
Mando has one primary mission for this season so far but he always has his fair share of adventures. It would not surprise me if helping locate Ezra Bridger became one of those missions.
