I’ll be honest, I didn’t question it at first. Grogu shows up in Mando’s lap when he needs to, and that was good enough for me – until I saw people pointing it out.
Now I can’t not think about it. If there’s no visible way for him to move between sections, then how does he do it? Well, the answer is actually built into the ship itself.
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The N-1 Starfighter Was Already Designed for Internal Access
One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that the astromech droid slot in the N-1 isn’t just a sealed-off bubble.
In official schematics for similar ships (Naboo N-1 Starfighter), astromech droids (like R2) don’t just sit in an open pit – they extend downward into the ship, connecting to various systems.
That means there’s already an open internal space beneath the droid socket, which was designed for droid access and maintenance.
Now, in Mando’s modified N-1, the astromech slot was cleared out and replaced with Grogu’s dome, but that internal passage didn’t just disappear.
Instead, it likely became an accessible crawlspace, allowing Grogu to move freely between his compartment and the cockpit.
And given his size—just over a foot tall—it’s easy to see how he could fit through the remaining space without any issue.
Peli Motto’s Modifications Probably Made It Even Easier
We all know Peli Motto loves modifying ships, and this N-1 went through some serious changes before Mando took it.
She had to remove a lot of unnecessary systems to make space for Grogu’s dome in the first place, so it wouldn’t be surprising if she cleared out even more space between the droid socket and the cockpit.
It actually makes a lot of sense. Why would Mando settle for a ship where he has to constantly lift Grogu out of a separate section?
Peli was already making a ton of changes – she probably added a crawlspace or left an open tunnel intact, making it an easy route for Grogu to get in and out of the cockpit whenever he wants.
Even Real-World Fighter Jets Have Crawl Spaces
Here’s where things get interesting—this isn’t just a Star Wars thing. Real-world fighter jets also have internal crawl spaces designed for maintenance.
Engineers use these tight tunnels to access essential components like fuel lines, electrical wiring, and hydraulic systems without dismantling the entire plane.
This same concept applies to Star Wars ships. In the N-1 Starfighter, the space left over from the astromech droid slot isn’t just wasted—it’s part of the ship’s internal structure, which could easily be used as a pathway.
And it’s not just theoretical. We’ve already seen small droids like mouse droids and BD units move through ships’ internal tunnels in Star Wars canon.
So, if real-life fighter planes can have these kinds of crawl spaces, and small droids in Star Wars can use similar paths, it’s not a stretch at all to imagine Grogu crawling through an existing maintenance space to get from his dome to the cockpit.