Here’s How ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ Connects To ‘The Mandalorian’

the mandalorian

Disney


I don’t know if you’ve heard, but this plucky little movie studio called Disney has been releasing a bunch of content from this underdog franchise called Star Wars recently. Maybe you’ve heard of it? And apparently — and stick with me here — all of these various TV and movie properties are apparently connected. You know, like them Marvel folks have been doing? Shared cinematic universe, all that good stuff.

Warning: massive spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker AND The Mandalorian will follow.

All jokes aside, though, while on the red carpet at the premiere of The Rise of Skywalker, director J.J. Abrams confirmed that the potential world peace inspiring entity that is Baby Yoda would, unfortunately, not be appearing in the film.

However, just because the character itself doesn’t appear does not mean that it isn’t referenced at all. Given that The Mandalorian takes place approximately 25 years prior to the events of The Force Awakens unless something drastically dark happens to Baby Yoda in the coming years, the character certainly exists within the universe. And as revealed in The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo and Rey share the same Force-healing powers that the adorable Mini-Yodes debut 24 hours earlier.

While visiting Passanna to obtain a Sith artifact, Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO sink into a below-ground tunnel where they encounter some sort of worm/snake creature. At first, the crew thinks the alien is going to eat them, as Star Wars worm/snakes are wont to do, but it’s actually in pain from an injury. Rey sees the wound, puts her hand on it, and uses her Force-healing powers to heal the underground dweller.

It’s the same process that helped Greef Karga recover from a winged beast attack in the latest episode of The Mandalorian, courtesy of Babu Frik’s number-one cuteness rival, Baby Yoda. Force healing, a process that helps the body quickly recover from injury, has long existed in the Star Wars expanded universe, a.k.a. “Legends,” but The Mandalorian was its canon debut. [via Uproxx]

According to Wookieepedia, “initial levels [of Force-healing] required meditation, but greater aptitude usually granted faster regeneration, without the need of meditation.”  Additionally, “greater levels of attainment were also able to mend far more severe injuries, even major damage to flesh and bone and even going as far as to mend internal damage, such as damage to the heart and lungs; even to the point of sustaining functions of lost organs.”

You may roll your eyes at the suggestion that being a legitimate connection between the two properties, but this is fucking Disney we’re talking about here — you really think it’s a coincidence that the episode where Baby Yoda unveils Force-healing just so happened to be released the day before the premiere of The Rise of Skywalker? Exactly.

[h/t Uproxx]

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or email him eric@brobible.com.