Warning: This Article Contains HEAVY Spoilers for Star Wars Rebels
With Disney+'s The Mandalorian causing buzzing fan theories in nearly every corner of the internet, it's no wonder that there's new interest in the cast of Star Wars Rebels. The Jedi Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus, who hail from the animated Rebels series, are a particularly juicy topic concerning fan-favorite, Baby Yoda; as in one of the latest Mandalorian episodes, Ahsoka Tano reveals that little Grogu must reach out with the force in order to come in contact with a Jedi who can properly train and care for him. Understandably, this is what caused the latest theory flurries; just who will be the Jedi who comes to Grogu's aid? More importantly, how did Kanan Jarrus's legacy influence these very theories, as well as the future of the Star Wars galaxy?
2014's Rebels sees the introduction of an adult Kanan Jarrus on the Spectres team, while 2015's Star Wars: Kanan The Last Padawan explores Kanan's escape of Order 66, as well as his adolescence prior to joining the Rebel team. Seen as the father-figure of the Rebel's group, Kanan is shown to wield both incredible emotional intelligence and witty banter with his crew. Kanan's impatience with his team is often overcome by his compassion, empathy, and pull toward the light side of the force. But where does his journey begin in the comics?
As mentioned above, Kanan's chronological story begins in Greg Weisman's 2015's Star Wars: Kanan The Last Padawan. Going by his real name in the comics - Caleb Dume - a young Kanan experiences the Clone Wars and Order 66 first hand. Like other Padawan, he is trained in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant and begins his force journey with a hopeful spirit. He likes to question the way of things, almost like a young Qui-Gon Jinn, which sometimes gets him into trouble. When gifted with a Holocron - an encyclopedia-like object filled with light-force knowledge and messages from Obi-Wan--Kanan is granted access to Jedi training and the locations of the Jedi in hiding following Order 66. This Holocron goes on to be one of his most valuable possessions, other than his lightsaber, with Kanan eventually passing it down to Ezra Bridger. Young Kanan is only able to escape Order 66 due to the sacrifice of his Jedi Master, Billaba, who holds off the Clones as he escapes into a nearby forest. This is where Calen first starts to mature into Kanan Jarrus.
Star Wars Kanan: The Last Padawan #4 highlights Kanan's inspirations and upbringing that lead to his smuggler status and his draw to a father-like role. His own stand-in caretaker, Janus Kasmir, saves him from the Empire's detection and teaches him how to pull-off master heists. Though the two have a rocky start, they eventually become good friends and cherish their partnership. Thus, when Kanan comes across a young Ezra Bridger as an adult, he has a hard time ignoring his soft-spot for the boy as he sees much of himself in Ezra. Instead of instructing Ezra to hide his force talents as Kasmir taught him, Kanan chooses to help Ezra embrace his force-abilities and trains him in the Jedi ways. Just imagine if Ezra never came across Kanan's path; the Jedi knowledge would have been dangerously close to fading.
Kanan's smuggling talents lead him to team up with captain Hera Syndulla after he spends time posing as a bounty hunter and pilot. He assists her small Rebel team in stealing supplies from the Empire in order to thwart the Imperial rule of the Galaxy. The two become one of the healthiest and refreshing couples in Star Wars canon, and their early details can be found in Miller and Filoni's 2014 novel, Star Wars: A New Dawn. Eventually, they come across and adopt Ezra Bridger into their group.
Kanan trains both a Jedi and a Mandalorian. He first instructs Ezra in all things force-related to the best of his knowledge, ensuring that the light side maintains its balance and that the Jedi way lives on in the next generation. Kanan also instructs Sabine Ren in the art of lightsaber combat when their team comes in possession of the famed Mandalorian Darksaber. This helps Sabine heal her fractured familial ties, and continue the legacy of Mandalorian customs. At the close of Rebels Ezra is missing from the crew. It's unclear whether he's alive or dead, and many fans believe he's in hiding, similar to Ahsoka Tano before she returned to the scene. This means that the Jedi who comes to Baby Yoda's aid could very well be Ezra, returning to maintain the Jedi way. He'd be taking a play out of Kanan's book by becoming a father-figure in force-training to young Grogu.
This return would additionally only be made possible due to the extensive lessons Kanan provided Ezra, allowing Ezra to survive if he is indeed the character who ends up being the mysterious Jedi. Likewise, Sabine could fill the role on a technicality. Kanan often notes that everyone can access the force with enough discipline, and having the skills to wield a lightsaber makes Sabine a Jedi candidate by proxy; she knew Kanan and Ezra well enough to have some knowledge of Jedi ways. Perhaps she'll be the Mandalorian-Jedi hybrid that unites ancient enemies, as hinted in the episode with Ahsoka and Din working together against the magistrate.
Better still, maybe it's Kanan himself who will appear to Baby Yoda in the form of a force-ghost, just as Yoda did to Luke in Episode VIII. After all, Star Wars Kanan #7 shows that one of his first masters was Yoda himself; perhaps there are more force tricks hidden up Kanan's sleeve that readers and viewers have yet to enjoy? Additionally, in Rebels Kanan does return to help Ezra in the form of a Loth Wolf after his death, showing that he is known to reach out from beyond the grave to help future Jedi. It makes sense that Kanan would be the one to help Grogu, as the two are shown to be incredibly skilled at telekinetic force abilities. It would allow Kanan to continue his patient, empathetic, and father-like role in the Star Wars universe, even if it was as small as Ezra gifting Kanan's Holocron to Baby Yoda. Fans will just have to tune in to The Mandalorian to see which Jedi the writers end up choosing, but it would be perfect if either Kanan Jarrus or his legacy, were the one to fit the bill.
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