This Mandalorian Theory Suggests Darth Vader Is The One Who Hid Baby Yoda

The Mandalorian Chapter 13 finally revealed the backstory of Baby Yoda — whose real name is actually Groku. But there are still some mysteries about his past. Namely, who hid Baby Yoda — er, Grogu — when the rest of his Jedi classmates were slaughtered during the execution of Order 66.

In case you're unfamiliar with Star Wars lore, Order 66 was part of Sheev Palpatine's plan to rise to power in the prequel films. The order was a secret command to kill all the Jedi planted in the brain chips of the Republic's clone troopers, and when Palpatine gave the order, the clone troopers began murdering every benevolent Force user in sight. Only a few Jedi survived the order and the subsequent Jedi purge, most notably Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker, who was an embryo at the time. Now, we know that Grogu survived, too. But how did the relatively helpless baby manage to escape when so few far more capable Jedi did not?

As Ahsoka Tano revealed in Chapter 13, Grogu was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. But when the temple was sacked by Anakin Skywalker — aka Darth Vader — during the execution of Order 66, someone hid the Child. That someone remains a mystery, but there are some theories about who it could be. One Redditor suggested that Mace Windu sensed a disturbance in the Force prior to Order 66 and hid the powerful baby prior to confronting Palpatine and meeting his demise. Other versions of this theory suggest that Mace Windu didn't actually die in Revenge of the Sith, and instead survived and subsequently hid Grogu. Another theory, presented on the YouTube channel Star Wars Theory, suggests that Anakin Skywalker himself saved Baby Yoda during his massacre at the Jedi Temple. Star Wars Theory postulates that Vader did this because Yaddle, who they believe to be Grogu's mother, saved Anakin's life in a 2003 Star Wars novel called The Shadow Trap. That novel, like all of the pre-Disney Star Wars books, is no longer considered canon, so the Yaddle part of the theory seems like a bit of a reach. But the idea of Anakin deciding to spare Grogu with the last remaining bit of his humanity and decency does seem consistent with what we know about Darth Vader... not to mention what we know about Baby's Yoda's effect on scum and villainy, e.g. Mando.

The other chief suspects are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, but as both were on other planets at the time, neither seem likely candidates. There's also the possibility that a previously unknown Jedi will emerge as the one who hid Grogu, but this wouldn't really align with The Mandalorian Season 2, which has thus far been more interested in fitting its characters into existing Star Wars lore.

Whoever it was that hid Baby Yoda — and fingers crossed it was Vader — we're probably going to find out their identity eventually, otherwise there would have been no point in Ahsoka revealing that bit of information. And while we can't say for sure when we'll find out, it seems pretty likely we'll get the rest of Grogu's story when Mando takes the little fella to the Jedi ruins on Tython — assuming they make it that far without running into Moff Gideon's fancy new army, that is.