Who is Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in Star Wars? We explain who the Sabered Hand is in Star Wars, which will contain spoilers for The Mandalorian Season Three.
Ever since fans learned in Season Two of The Mandalorian that someone rescued Grogu from the Jedi Temple, there’s been constant speculation about who saved him. Would it be Barriss Offee, last seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Would Mace Windu somehow survive a long fall and electrocution to save the baby? Or would it be a new Jedi?
Well, it turns out that none of these theories were right. In The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 4, “The Foundling,” audiences were treated to an extended flashback of Grogu’s escape and the revealing of his savior as none other than Kelleran Beq. While it might appear he is a new character, he’s actually got a history in Star Wars already.
Who is Kelleran Beq in Star Wars?
Kelleran Beq is a Jedi Master that served the Order during the time of the Galactic Republic. He first appeared in Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, a YouTube gameshow challenge developed by Lucasfilm where kids vie to become a Jedi Knight.
The game was semi-canonical, as in-universe Beq was one of the Jedi who helped to oversee the training of young Jedi. He was accompanied by the protocol droid AD-3 and an astromech droid LX-R5.
Beq was an accomplished swordsman, having a purple lightsaber, and was nicknamed The “Sabered Hand” to reflect his mastery of lightsaber combat. He was particularly good in the Jar’Kai style, which is dual-wielding lightsabers.
Why does he appear in The Mandalorian Season 3?
When the Armorer talks to Grogu in the Mandalorian forge and makes him a piece of armor, he has flashbacks to Order 66 and how he escaped the Jedi Temple. We see the same shots that were in The Book of Boba Fett, but the scene keeps going, and the doors open to the Jedi who saves Grogu, Kelleran Beq.
Beq then proceeds to defeat several clones of the 501st Legion while dual-wielding blue and green lightsabers. He steals a speeder bike and is chased through the Coruscant ship lanes by a Republic Gunship.
He manages to beat the gunship chasing him by crashing a train into it and arriving at a landing pad. This pad has a Nubian starship on it and several members of the Naboo Royal Guard, likely a reference to Jar Jar’s home planet of Naboo. Another gunship lands, deploying both 501st clones but also red shock trooper clones, part of the Coruscant Guard.
Grogu and Beq flee in the Nubian ship while the Naboo guards hold off the clones. As Beq leaves Coruscant, a V-Wing Republic starfighter tries to stop him, but he jumps to hyperspace, where the flashback ends.
As Beq already has a strong connection to the next generation of Jedi in the Jedi Temple Challenge, it makes perfect sense that he would be the one to save Grogu.
Who plays Kelleran Beq?
Beq is played by none other than Ahmed Best, who makes his triumphant return to Star Wars. He is most well known for playing Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan introduced in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and someone who would appear in the other two Star Wars prequel films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
The actor also cameoed as Achk Med-Beq in Attack of the Clones, appearing in the club where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi capture bounty hunter Zam Wesell. While it hasn’t been confirmed by an official source that he is related to Kelleran, Best says that he considers the pair to be relatives.
Best received a lot of abuse for playing Jar Jar Binks, as many fans hated the character. It took a heavy toll on him, as he was only 25 when The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, and it nearly drove him to suicide.
It’s heart-warming to see Best get to return to the franchise in a major way, and as a Jedi, no less. Fans have welcomed him back with open arms, with many praising him for coming back, even after all the undeserved hatred he got.
