- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "The Mandalorian" season three, episode four.
- Fans finally received some of Grogu's backstory in a flashback to the infamous Order 66 moment.
Anakin Skywalker was briefly considered to show up in a recent episode of "The Mandalorian."
Season three's fourth episode of the Disney+ series flashed back to Emperor Palpatine's infamous "Order 66" — aka plan to eliminate the Jedi — to show how it all went down from Grogu's point of view.
Since Grogu's (Baby Yoda) flashback took fans back inside the Jedi Temple, there may have been a moment where viewers thought a young Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) may show up.
After all, fans watched Anakin march right into that very same temple in 2005's "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" to cut down younglings like Grogu.
There was even a moment where a door was getting cut open and you may have thought Anakin was going to be on the other side.
It wasn't unrealistic to think we could see Anakin and Grogu share the screen.
"The Mandalorian" creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni considered an Anakin appearance in the episode.
"I discussed it with Jon briefly and I said, you know, there were some opportunities there. We always have to kind of look at every possibility," Filoni told Insider on "The Mandalorian" red carpet at PaleyFest LA, a TV festival taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California from March 31 through April 4.
"At the end of the day though, a character like Anakin, one of George's characters, we have to be very careful how we utilize those characters. It's very special when we do," Filoni said of a reason we didn't see Skywalker pop up on "The Mandalorian," referencing "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. "So, I think we quickly moved away from that."
Filoni added: "We wanted Grogu to have his own story and tell it a slightly different way."
This is fair.
An Anakin cameo likely would've overshadowed Grogu's flashback, an important backstory moment we've been waiting more than two seasons to learn. (Though, we would've understood if Grogu experienced PTSD and memory loss from a close encounter with a young Vader.)
"It's interesting to think that they were that close to each other," Filoni said of Grogu and Anakin's proximity to one another on "The Mandalorian" episode. "And interesting to think that even when Anakin was a little boy, that he was there at the temple at the same time as Grogu. So there's all kinds of weird things to melt your brain and wrap your head around, but, in a fun way."
Is that a possible tease that we could see further Grogu flashbacks?
We hope so.
Instead of a run-in with Anakin, Filoni and Favreau used the opportunity to re-introduce another familiar face to a galaxy far, far away.
Grogu shockingly met and was saved by Jedi Kelleran Beq (Ahmed Best), a character some may be familiar with from Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge" game show.
"Star Wars" fans will also recognize Best as the actor who brought Jar Jar Binks to life in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy.
In "The Mandalorian," Best showed off his skills as the badass Jedi warrior using two sabers as he risked his life to get Grogu to safety.
"I think it was important for us to sort of really establish Kelleran Bek as the one who would be that person to save Grogu," "The Mandalorian" executive producer and director Rick Famuyiwa told Insider on the PaleyFest red carpet.
"As the idea of who this person could be started to emerge, Ahmed's name came up and it became something that felt right for a lot of us," Famuyiwa added. "We knew that Kelleran Bek was a part of our canon and really wanted to sort of use that as a way to solidify the story and connect it to a lot of storytelling in 'Star Wars' that isn't always just about the movies and television."
That gives hope that we could start to see more "Star Wars" characters plucked from other areas of the expanded universe adapted for live action.
When Insider asked Filoni if there's a chance we could see another Order 66 survivor, Cal Kestis of video game series "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" and the upcoming "Jedi: Survivor" sequel game, show up in "The Mandalorian" or another live-action "Star Wars" project, he gave a small chuckle before saying, "You never know. You never know. I mean, anything's possible at this point."
"We have so many different stories and shows," Filoni added. "I think the question there is you always want to keep it special for the people."
Currently in its third season, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff) are currently attempting to unite all the people of Mandalore, something which may lead them to an imminent showdown with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito).
When asked whether or not there's an endgame in sight for "The Mandalorian," Famuyiwa, who directed the season's upcoming seventh episode, said of the show's creator, "I don't think Jon has an end in sight so far."
During a PaleyFest Q&A session hosted by Entertainment Tonight's Ash Crossan, Filoni added that there are "always long-term, arching goals" for the series, but acknowledged there are so many "Star Wars" stories you could tell, that they'll continue long after he's gone.
In response, a fan yelled out that Filoni should clone himself, which received a hearty laugh from the Dolby Theatre.
"We're so excited about telling this story," Famuyiwa told Insider of the series. "And I think as long as the stories continue to flow and it feels like we're all having an incredible time together and the fans are receptive, then I really feel like the story can continue however long it feels like Jon's brain can keep [laughter] churning out the story."
New episodes of "The Mandalorian" air Wednesdays on Disney+.