The first episode of The Mandalorian Season 3 already has viewers on the edge of their seats — and it even has Grogu gawking, too. As Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu travel through hyperspace en route to Nevarro, the Mandalorian foundling peers out the window of the starfighter, and sees something strange. The usual blur of white-blue starlight that Star Wars fans are accustomed to is punctuated by something shadowy, flying in the distance.
The enormous, tentacled beasts swim through deep space, and, although they are far away, Grogu is left awestruck. However, fans of The Mandalorian, especially those who haven’t watched Star Wars Rebels, were left wondering about the glimpse they got of the space whales. So, what are these Star Wars space whales, and what does their appearance mean for Mando and Grogu’s journey in Season 3?
What Were The Space Whales In The Mandalorian Season 3?
The so-called space whales in The Mandalorian have actually appeared in Star Wars media before, though their materialization in "Chapter 17: The Apostate” marks the live-action debut of these hyperspace whales. Known as purrgil, the semi-sentient species resembles massive bluish-purple whales with hind tentacles in lieu of tails. Despite being about the size of a starship on average — though some are about half the length of an Imperial Star Destroyer — the purrgil are able to move with poise through deep space.
How Can Purrgil Travel Through Hyperspace?
By creating hyper tunnels — or simi-tunnels — pods of purrgil are able to traverse hyperspace, and, like human pilots, hop between star systems. In Star Wars lore, it’s even said that the purrgil’s natural ability inspired the development of hyperdrive technology. Many viewers were wondering how, exactly, the purrgil are able to breathe in space — a fair question. The creatures inhale stores of a gas, called Clouzon-36, and metabolize it into fuel that allows them to jump into hyperspace.
In the universe of Star Wars, hyperspace is an alternate dimension that one can reach by moving at the speed of light (or faster); a starship’s hyperdrive allows travelers to access hyperspace lanes and cross great distances. Put simply, the purrgil naturally devised a way to make intergalactic travel easier, inspiring the hyperspace travel that’s so commonplace in Star Wars media.
The Purrgil Also Appear In Star Wars Rebels…
Although the purrgil are new to live-action Star Wars stories, the so-called space whales have been woven into the galaxy’s lore in other media, including Star Wars Rebels. The animated series, which is set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, follows a rebel cell led by pilot Hera Syndulla.
The Ghost’s captain also has a formidable crew by her side: Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi who survived Order 66; series protagonist Ezra Bridger, who’s taken in by Kanan and trained as a Jedi; Sabine Wren, an art-loving Mandalorian expat; Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, a rebel who wants the Empire to pay for massacring his people, the Lasat; and Hera’s salty astromech droid, Chopper.
Viewers learn much of what’s known about the purrgil from Rebels. “When I was young, I was told amazing stories of creatures that lived in the stars, traveled between the worlds,” Hera tells Ezra of the purrgil. “Old pilots said it was the purrgil who inspired us to jump from system to system.” But she explains that purrgil are dangerous, and viewed as pests by many pilots. The main reason? Despite being intelligent beings, these Star Wars space whales are known to fly into hyperspace lanes and crash into ships, killing passengers.
Star Wars Rebels: Purrgil Episodes, Explored
On a mission to steal fuel from the Mining Guild, the Ghost crew encounter the purrgil for the first time. The guild, which has been at war with the space whales for some time, is preventing the pod from accessing the Clouzon-36 gas they need to breathe and travel through hyperspace. Hera considers the purrgil menaces, having lost several friends to deadly purrgil-starship crashes, but Kanan and Ezra convince her to hold fire. At one point, the shaky alliance between the space whales and the rebel cell is solidified when the Purrgil King saves Ezra. Using the Force, Ezra creates a bond with the hyperspace-traveling whale.
That bond helps the crew defeat the Mining Guild, but it also saves the day in the series’ finale. Ezra, who’s from the planet Lothal, has wanted nothing more than to liberate his homeworld from Imperial control. During the liberation of Lothal, the rebels need help taking out Grand Admiral Thrawn’s blockade, so they send a transmission to the purrgil, asking for their help. The space whales answer the call, decimating Thrawn’s forces. Using the Force, Ezra controls several purrgil, persuading them to wrap their tentacles around Thrawn’s flagship. With Thrawn ensnared, Ezra and the purrgil jump to hyperspace, saving Lothal from the Empire. But that’s also the last viewers see of Ezra Bridger.
Eman Esfandi was recently cast as the live-action Ezra Bridger in the upcoming Ahsoka series. As fans may recall, Sabine Wren joined Ahsoka Tano at the end of Rebels to search for Ezra. (That’s after the Battle of Endor and the destruction of the second Death Star in Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi.) So, will a live-action Ezra Bridger appear in The Mandalorian alongside the space whales before his Ahsoka debut? It’s anyone’s guess.
What Does Grogu Seeing Space Whales Mean? The Mandalorian Fan Theories, Explained
Still, the bond between Force-user Ezra Bridger and the purrgil could hint at what might unfold for Grogu in The Mandalorian Season 3 and beyond. In this first episode, Grogu is in awe of hyperspace travel; that sense of wonder is only augmented when the Force-sensitive foundling spots the purrgil. While hyperspace is something of a mystery (to both viewers and characters alike), it has been speculated by fans that the alternate dimension, accessible by lightspeed travel and rife with travel lanes, is related to the Force.
In Star Wars Rebels, viewers learn of what Ahsoka Tano dubs the “World Between Worlds” when she and Ezra end up on the mystical plane. In an attempt to access this plane that exists within the Force for his own selfish gain, Darth Sidious sends troops to the Jedi Temple on Lothal, Ezra’s homeworld. Ezra notices that the Loth-wolves, creatives native to the planet, seem to have a connection to the temple. It becomes clear that the Loth-wolves move between the known realm on Lothal and the World Between Worlds in a manner akin to hyperspace travel.
Although esoteric, the World Between Worlds is actually quite straightforward in its mechanics. The plane is made up of paths and doors, all of which exist between time and space. As a result, the Force plane links all moments in time. So, is the alternate plane used in hyperspace travel another manifestation of a Force realm? After all, creatures with connections to the Force — Loth-wolves and the purrgil, for starters — seem to tap into hyperspace(-like) travel and bond with Force-sensitives. Jedi were some of the galaxy’s first-known wayfinders, who explored the stars — and traveled hyperspace — using their Force-enhanced instincts.
A Mandalorian foundling and a Force-sensitive, Grogu occupies a unique space. The youngling is also traveling with Din Djarin, the current owner of the Darksaber, which is a relic created by the first Mandalorian Jedi, Tarre Vizsla. And the duo might end up traveling to the living waters of Mandalore — a possible Force vergence (that is, an unusual concentration of Force energy that’s localized around a place, object, or person). That’s not totally unlike the World Between Worlds, which, in Star Wars lore, is also referred to as a Vergence Scatter, a phrase that conjures the look of hyperspace travel.
Will Grogu become the next Tarre Vizsla — the bridge between Mandalorian and Jedi? Will he tame a pod of purrgil like Ezra Bridger? Do his impressive Force abilities have anything to do with hyperspace travel? Viewers will have to keep watching The Mandalorian to find out. But, clearly, these Star Wars space whales made some interesting ripples in fan theories.
New episodes from The Mandalorian Season 3 release every Wednesday through April 19 on Disney Plus.