The third season of The Mandalorian revealed that Grogu – a.k.a. “Baby Yoda” – was once a youngling at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He was there when Anakin Skywalker attacked the Temple, with the clones following Order 66 and wiping out thousands of Jedi Knights. And with not even the younglings spared, how did Grogu escape?
Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, known as the “sabered hand” because of his lightsaber skills, rescued Grogu and killed the clones in pursuit of him. Beq and Grogu raced through the skies of Coruscant, pursued by clone troopers, to a landing pad where a Naboo ship waits. The Naboo pilots and officers fight off the clones long enough for Beq and Grogu to take off, fleeing into the unknown of a rapidly changing galaxy.
A recent Star Wars comic seems to all but confirm that this ship belonged to the junior representative from Naboo, Jar Jar Binks.
In Jar Jar #1, written by Ahmed Best and Marc Guggenheim, Best’s two characters unite together on a mission, as Kelleran Beq and Jar Jar Binks secretly agree to form a communications network in defiance of Chancellor Palpatine. Their goal is to protect the “unseen” across the galaxy, looking out for the people unnoticed and mistreated. In order for this to happen, Beq must travel the galaxy in search of them, and he agrees to this on one condition: that he be allowed to use Binks’s ship, the Heyblibber Duck, whenever he needs it. Binks readily agrees to this.
Though this doesn’t explicitly confirm that the ship Beq and Grogu flee on is the Duck, it certainly implies it. This is something I actually speculated about right after the episode of The Mandalorian released that showed it, and it makes so much sense. Padmé Amidala obviously has a whole lot on her mind as Order 66 is unfolding, and before long will use her own ship to travel to Mustafar. So it was unlikely that the Naboo cruiser belonged to her, and as such, having it be Jar Jar’s fits well. It’s really cool out of universe, since both of these characters are played by Ahmed Best, but it also works really well in-universe. Binks was the one who proposed giving emergency powers to Palpatine, having been manipulated and deceived into the move that accelerated the destruction of the Republic and the rise of Darth Sidious. As Jar Jar comes to realize his mistake, he is overcome by grief and guilt, becoming determined to do whatever he can to atone for his sin. Having him play a part in saving Grogu – whether by direct involvement or by his letting Beq use his ship – allows him to play a part in a heroic rescue as he makes up for playing a part in a tragic defeat.
Star Wars Thoughts 