We’ve spoken a lot about The Mandalorian Chapter 20: The Foundling over the last 24 hours. While it is excellent to see Ahmed Best back in Star Wars, the Wookieeleaks aftershow on New Rockstars posed an interesting theory; could Grogu’s rescuer, Kelleran Beq, be part of The Path?
Erik Vos was the first to bring this up, given how structured it seemed when the group protecting Grogu had to get him to Kelleran. This was noticeable if you listen to the dialogue. Also, it was discovered that the Jedi guarding the doors were seasoned fighters and not apprentices, though it didn’t stop them from getting killed.
For those who aren’t aware, The Path was a network that hid Force sensitives from the Empire. It was first introduced in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, where the group was led by Roken, whose wife was Force-sensitive. After she died at the hand of the Inquisitiorius, he decided to give back and help others like her. He eventually became the leader of The Path, despite not being Force-sensitive himself.
We’re mentioning this due to the comment Kelleran makes to Grogu. He says he has “friends” who can help. It appears that Kelleran may have been the leader of some group who had set up an evac in case of an emergency. Think of it as a reverse of the beacon idea that Kanan Jarrus had when he was Caleb Dume and what he told Obi-Wan in the prologue of the novel A New Dawn.
Kanan Jarrus And The Idea That Could Have Triggered The Path
Kanan knew the beacon could call Jedi back to Coruscant, so his logic was that it could be used to tell them to stay away. Obi-Wan thought this was a great idea. He reroutes it though it did little good. About 90% of the Jedi Order was wiped out during Order 66.
During Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Jedi who was involved in the Path that was still living was Quinlan Vos. Obi-Wan notices his name carved into the wall of the safe house he and Leia are occupying with Tala.
Could The Path Have Housed Grogu?
A question we have that stems from Erik Vos’ theory is whether Grogu could’ve been one of the Force-sensitives who went through The Path. Given how much time passed between Kalleran getting Grogu off Coruscant and Din finding him thirty-fiveish years later, it’s possible. Also, we don’t know whether The Path was still functioning after 9BBY, the year Obi-Wan Kenobi took place.
Given that Grogu was the only youngling recovered by Kelleran that we saw, it’s possible that he was a high-profile target. Or, depending on where Beq was when the order went out, he could’ve gotten to the other younglings too late.
Perhaps it was Kelleran that started The Path, and it grew. By the time Obi-Wan learned of it, at least three locations were linked to it. Ahsoka Tano mentions when she communes with Grogu in ‘The Jedi’, he has faint memories of Order 66 and how someone (Kelleran Beq) smuggled him out of the Jedi Temple. Then everything goes dark.
Finally, Luke Skywalker goes further in The Book of Boba Fett, where he accesses the memory that Ahsoka references. We don’t believe Tano saw the memory.
