The Mandalorian & Grogu’s Empire Strikes Back Theory Confirmed By Star Wars Legend

Published Aug 30, 2026, 10:06 AM EDT Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. A popular The Mandalorian and Grogu theory has been confirmed. In the film, after Din Djarin is poisoned by the Hutt Twins' dragonsnake, Grogu builds a mud hut to help his recovering father figure stay hidden. Given how reminiscent it is of the hut Yoda lives in on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back, this led to a popular theory that building huts is instinctual for Grogu and Yoda's unnamed species, and that the similarities between the structures is not a coincidence. In an interview with Polygon, visual effects supervisor John Knoll confirmed that the theory is true, as Grogu building the mud hut for Din is instinctual and part of his genetic memory. Knoll also broke down the thematic significance of Grogu doing this for Din and why it is so pivotal to the overarching story. Check out his comments below: The ability to build those huts is something that’s genetic memory, and it’s his instinct to do that. Part of the message of the story is: The old protect the young, and then the young protect the old. So in the same way that Mando has been protecting and caring for Grogu while he is more defenseless, when Mando succumbed to this poison, and he's disabled and vulnerable, Grogu is doing what he can to protect him from the elements and from predators. While there is lore behind many of the smallest details in Star Wars, Yoda and Grogu's species remains one of the franchise's biggest mysteries. This is partly due to how few of them are, with Yaddle being the only other one to appear so far. The revelation of building mud huts being instinctual and part of the species' genetic memory is therefore quite significant, shedding further light on their secrets while also serving as a fun connection to The Empire Strikes Back and continuing to honor Yoda's enduring legacy. Prior to The Mandalorian and Grogu, Knoll was already a Star Wars legend after working as the visual effects supervisor on the original trilogy special editions, the entire prequel trilogy, Rogue One, The Mandalorian series, The Book of Boba Fett, and Skeleton Crew. In 2013, he became the Chief Creative Officer/Senior Visual Effects Supervisor of Industrial Light & Magic and has served in that position since, continuing to shape the franchise's visual designs and innovations. Credit: Lucasfilm via MovieStillsDB In terms of what comes next for Grogu and potentially learning more about his species, that is unclear after the movie's theatrical performance. At the box office, it grossed $345.7 million worldwide after being made on a reported production budget of $165 million. This means it fell short of the box office rule of thumb that a film needs to make two and a half times its budget to be considered financially successful. With a 60% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, The Mandalorian and Grogu's reviews were mixed, but it did receive an 86% score from audiences. At 87%, Rogue One is the only theatrical release of the Disney era to have a higher audience score. The movie comes to Disney+ on September 2 and is expected to perform well there, just as the original series has since the streaming service was first launched in November 2019. The question now is whether Din and Grogu's journey continues in another movie, The Mandalorian season 4, or in another way moving forward. As these decisions are made, in the meantime, fans can revisit or watch The Mandalorian and Grogu for the first time knowing that the mud hut is no accident and is integral to the mysterious species that includes Yoda, Grogu, and Yaddle. The Mandalorian and Grogu comes to Disney+ on September 2. Release Date May 20, 2026 Runtime 132 minutes Director Jon Favreau Writers Noah Kloor Producers Ian Bryce, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Karen Gilchrist, John Bartnicki Prequel(s) The Mandalorian Sequel(s) Dave Filoni's Untitled Mandalorian Movie Franchise(s) Star Wars