**Spoilers for Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 3 “Time to Fly”, now streaming on Disney+**
Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 3 “Time to Fly” confirmed a long-held theory among many Star Wars fans. That is, the key to finding Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) would be tied to mystical hyperspace-traveling space whales known as Purrgil. The latest episode of the Disney+ show revealed that villain Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) was building her “Eye of Scion” ship in the Denab System, where heroines Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) come face-to-face with a herd of the mythic alien creatures.
Of course, hard core Star Wars fans won’t be surprised by the Purrgils’ arrival in Ahsoka. After all, they were not only an important part of the ending of Star Wars Rebels — Ezra Bridger actually harnessed their power to spirit Thrawn far away from Lothal in the finale, which is why both are missing — but Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, communed with them in an episode of The Mandalorian Season 3.
But let’s say you’re not a diehard Star Wars fan and you don’t necessarily know what Purrgil are and why they’re important? Here’s everything you need to know about Purrgil without sacrificing days of your life to binge-watching all of Star Wars Rebels…
Purrgil are, yes, mythic space whales with the ability to naturally travel via hyperspace in Star Wars. They were first introduced in Dave Filoni’s animated series Star Wars Rebels, where Ezra Bridger befriended them and used their power to move himself and Grand Admiral Thrawn to parts unknown, far, far away from the Rebellion. By doing so, Ezra sacrificed himself to save the people of Lothal.
Of course, you don’t have to have seen the animated Star Wars series for these magical beings to ring a bell. Purrgil were briefly glimpsed in The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere. While Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu traveled through hyperspace, the little Force sensitive scamp was transfixed by the sight of a whole pod of Purrgil traveling along side them.
Purrgil have long thought to be the key to finding Thrawn and Ezra Bridger. However, they could also be the key to explaining how the characters in Star Wars can travel quickly between the stars in the first place. As Huyang (David Tennant) explains, there were archives in the Jedi Temple that suggested a correlation between the Purrgil and the hyperspace lanes of yore. The Purrgil may have created them.
Our friend Ryan Arey at Screencrush has also pointed out that Purrgil appear in runic form on the mysterious map structure that Morgan Elsbeth uses in Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 2. They could be connected to the ancient people in an alternate galaxy who built the star map everyone’s using to find Thrawn. (He also theorizes that these people could be related to the Nightsisters of Dathomir. It’s a cool theory video!)
Either way, the Purrgil are here, they’re real, and they’re amazing. And they are probably going to have an important part to play in the rest of Star Wars: Ahsoka.