Warning: The article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode three.
Honestly, after the action-packed, fast-paced first two episodes, “Time to Fly” proved to be a bit underwhelming… that is until the “purrgil” made their majestic appearance in Ahoska and not only teased the impending arrival of Star Wars’ favorite but also doubled down on an intriguing theory teased as a myth seven years ago.
Time to know the mysterious purrgil giving us mini-heart attacks whenever they appeared in the Star Wars universe
Technically, purrgil are space whales — one of the many unique creatures in the Star Wars universe. But anyone who has been following their appearance and mentions across the galaxy far, far away knows how they are so much more than simple star beasts.
The purrgil made their first appearance in Rebels whose finale episode saw the whales whisking Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger away from the original galaxy. The creatures were next seen during The Mandalorian, sparking hopes that the missing Jedi Padawan was alive as well as triggering fresh fears that the same held true for the villainous Thrawn. Ahsoka marks the first time we have seen the purrgil in live-action and also confirms the “amazing stories” Hera talked about in Rebels of “creatures that lived in the stars, traveled between the worlds.”
If there was ever any doubt about purrgils’ ability to travel between galaxies, Morgan Elsbeth building the hyperspace ring using the creatures’ knowledge in Ahsoka (to reach Thrawn) erases it all. It confirms that yes, the purrgil can travel between galaxies and they were probably the inspiration (Hera found unbelievable back in 2016) behind the perfected technique to “jump from system to system” in the galaxy.
But of course, in terms of importance, given the manner in which purrgil became tragically memorable in Star Wars history, for the foreseeable future, they will be always seen as a ray of hope by Ezra’s well-wishers and friends who are hoping to see him alive. Finding the purrgil almost instantly means the ones looking for him and/or Thrawn are on the right path and are closer to finding them.