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The Book of Boba Fett episode 6 didn’t just bring back Luke Skywalker, Grogu (better known as Baby Yoda), and Ahsoka Tano – it also dredged up an old Jedi teaching, one that has only led to disaster in the Star Wars saga before: a Jedi can have no attachments.
In the final moments of the episode, Luke sits his young, green charge down and presents him with two objects – some Beskar chain mail, a gift from Din Djarin, and Yoda’s lightsaber. While Grogu looks delighted, Luke tells the Padawan that he can only pick one: choose the chain mail and return to Mando but forsake the Jedi way; accept the lightsaber and become a Jedi but potentially never see the Mandalorian again. That’s one tough choice, and the episode ends before the Child’s decision is revealed. It’s also a moment that, on the surface, does not make a whole lot of sense.
Cast your mind back to Return of the Jedi, when Luke defeated the Emperor with the help of his father, Darth Vader. Only because of their familial bond did Anakin Skywalker rise up to help Luke take on the Emperor and (apparently) kill the villain. If that’s not an attatchment saving the galaxy, then what is? It’s strange, then, that Luke would now tell Grogu he must sever his relationship with his own father figure to become a Jedi.
But there’s some crucial context from earlier in the episode that clears up the scene and hints at an exciting future for Grogu. While Luke and Ahsoka are watching him training, Luke says that, sometimes, he wonders if the Child’s heart is in it – and asks Ahsoka what he should do. It’s no surprise that Luke would be wary of training a Padawan who is uncertain about what they really want, because without a steadfast dedication to the Jedi way, such a student seems primed for an accidental slip to the dark side. Presenting Grogu with this choice means Luke can understand what the little guy truly wants, and judge if becoming a Jedi is really the right path for him.
Ahsoka’s comment that “sometimes, the student guides the master” is also significant. Up until that point, Luke has been parroting what he was taught by his own teachers, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. When Luke tells Grogu “don’t try, do,” that’s a reworking of “do or do not, there is no try.” Luke running around with the Child on his back is an obvious callback to his time training with Yoda, and the targeting device that zaps Grogu is the one Obi-Wan used on Luke back in A New Hope. So far, Luke hasn’t found his own Jedi way – he’s merely repeating the past. Considering how he’s carrying the weight of rebuilding the ancient Jedi Order pretty much alone, it’s natural that he might fall back on the safety of tradition. And if there’s one thing the Jedi of old were big on, it’s the rule against attachment.
It’s clear that Luke needs to strike out and find his own way, just as it’s clear that Grogu can’t make such an impossible, binary choice. Instead, Grogu is primed to break tradition and lead Luke’s fledgling Jedi Order in a new direction.
In The Book of Boba Fett episode 5, the Armorer told Din that the forger of the Darksaber was a Mandalorian and a Jedi. If Grogu chooses both the lightsaber and the chainmail in episode 7, he can revive that tradition himself, and be both Padawan and foundling. Then, just as Ahsoka said, the master can learn from the student, and Luke can come to understand that attachments needn’t always spell doom.
That realization could completely transform Luke’s Jedi teachings and finally allow him to forge his own path away from the strict, old way. While we know that, eventually, Luke will become disillusioned with the Order and exile himself, there’s no reason he can’t try something new first.
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The Mandalorian is shaping up to be the galaxy’s greatest dad
Both Luke and Din are practically the last of their kind, and both are trapped in rigid rules that are holding them back: Luke with his ban on attachments and Din with the instruction against removing his helmet. In The Mandalorian season 3, we could see both of them finally shrug off these restrictive dogmas.
For now, though, we’ll have to wait and see how Baby Yoda’s big choice plays out: but all signs seem to point to a new dawn for both the Mandalorian and the Jedi way. That’s a big responsibility to rest on such tiny shoulders, but as we’ve already seen, this is no ordinary Child.
The Book of Boba Fett releases weekly on Disney Plus. If you’re all caught up, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows coming soon.
