There's a pair of words that are circling the internet right now and are causing a lot
of people to react to it every time it's brought up.
Those words...are Baby Yoda.
Join me as we explore what Baby Yoda is, and how it fits into the larger Star Wars timeline.
8.
Who or What Is Baby Yoda?
So, when you think of the words "Baby Yoda", you're likely thinking of the legendary Jedi
Master who has been a part of all three Star Wars trilogies (originals, prequels, and sequel
series).
But in fact, it's not, or rather, this creature is not Yoda, and it's honestly really easy
to prove based on where the creature shows up.
You see, Baby Yoda was one of the biggest surprises to come from the first-ever live-action
Star Wars series known as The Mandalorian, which takes place between Return of the Jedi
and The Force Awakens.
We won't go too deep into spoilers, but needless to say, it focuses on a Mandalorian bounty
hunter who in the very first episode of the series is tasked with killing a certain target.
Which is standard fare for bounty hunters if we're being honest.
The Mandalorian (who doesn't have a name himself at present) is given a location for the target,
and is only told that the target is 50 years old.
Wanting to collect the bounty, he does indeed go to do the mission, and after going into
a fortress and fighting off some thugs and droids, he finds the target.
The plot twist is that it's Baby Yoda.
But not a baby of Yoda (more than likely...) or one that's Yoda de-aged (as that isn't
possible in the Star Wars universe).
But rather, it's a child of Yoda's species.
Yoda's race is able to live to about 900 years barring injury or disease.
So to their race, 50 years old means they're still only a baby.
And because this baby is the same race as Yoda, everyone started calling it "Baby Yoda".
Now, as a good twist would do, The Mandalorian did NOT kill Baby Yoda (thank goodness!) and
thus the creature has become an instant part of pop culture.
Which is hilarious, because we don't know much about the race of Yoda and Baby Yoda.
7.
Species Unknown If I was to ask you to give me a background
on certain Star Wars characters, you'd be able to give me a somewhat detailed description
depending on who they are.
Such as if I gave you the Skywalker family, you'd note Tatooine, them meeting the Jedi
and getting off the planet, etc.
But, when it comes to Yoda...we know precious little, which was actually by design of the
creator of Star wars: George Lucas.
“He's a mystery character,” Lucas said in an interview with Moviefone once.
“He's a magical character.
He has no background.
He comes and he goes.
He's the subversive secret mysterious stranger that enters the film and then exits at the
end."
Mysterious indeed, when we first meet Yoda in Empire Strikes Back, he seems to be a crazed
hermit living in the swamps of the Planet Dagobah.
But once he drops his act to Luke and R2-D2, the Jedi Master returns.
This version of the master is shown in Prequel films to much greater effect, as well as the
Clone Wars animated series (both of them).
He's the head of the Jedi Council, able to go toe to toe with the Emperor himself (who
was a very powerful Sith) and fight off legions of droids on his own.
But where did he come from?
Why was he so adept at The Force and more?
We honestly don't know, and Lucas won't elaborate.
So much so that if you go to the various Wiki pages for Yoda, you'll find that he's listed
as "Species Unknown".
In fact, the only character that we've met that's named in Star Wars canon from Yoda's
species is Yaddle.
The "Female Yoda" if you will.
She was on the Jedi Council during The Phantom Menace, and was noted in expanded lore to
be kind, compassion, and yet deadly when it came to The Force.
Which brought on the next question about Baby Yoda...
6.
Force-Sensitive?
So let's break this down the only way we know how, ok?
We've met Yoda and Yaddle, who were both Jedi, both on the Jedi Council, and were confirmed
to have a very strong connection with The Force.
So we're literally 2/2 in terms of this species being Force wielders.
Does that mean that Baby Yoda is a Force-wielder?
Technically...no, we can't say that just because Baby Yoda was part of the species that it's
Force-sensitive...but...in episode 2 of The Mandalorian, we get teased that it's Force-sensitive,
and then on its own, it uses The Force to lift up a Mud Horn monster that was charging
at him and The Mandalorian.
Certainly giving our bounty hunter the shock of his life.
Though it was shown right afterward that this task was too much for the baby.
But the fact that it did it at all shows that not only can Baby Yoda use the Force, but
at such a "young" age for the species, already has a grasp upon it.
Which brings us back to the question of whether the entire species is Force Sensitive.
After all, we've now met THREE beings from this species, and ALL of them have used The
Force is some way shape or form.
So wouldn't that mean that the entire race is sensitive with The Force?
Technically...yes, that would be a fair estimation.
Though again, we can't prove it definitively because we've only met two of them before
via Yoda and Yaddle, and as any scientist will tell you, having a large sample size
is required for proving a theory about something.
That being said, IF this species is all Force-Sensitive...where are they?
Why weren't there more of them in the series?
Why weren't there more of them in the Jedi Council?
Or even just a part of the Jedi Knights?
Doesn't it seem odd that these three all have incredible powers, yet the rest of their species
apparently don't?
Which begs another question... ...but before we answer that, be sure to like
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5.
Baby Yoda's Parents?
So Baby Yoda has been around for 50 years, that's canon as stated in The Mandolorian,
but that begs the question of who the parents are.
Mainly...could it be that Yoda and Yaddle are the parents to Baby Yoda?
Timeline-wise, it could be the case, as the 50 years would put it before the Clone Wars
(remember this takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi which were a few decades
after the Clone Wars), and as we saw in Phantom Menace, Yaddle and Yoda did indeed known each
other, and thus were likely to talk a lot because they were of the same species.
Here's the problem, the code of the Jedi prohibit them from falling in love and having children.
As they see that as a way of deviating from the code of protecting the piece, and luring
them to the Dark Side, as "passion" is a part of the Sith code.
And if you remember, marrying Padme and having a child with her was one of the reasons that
Anakin got lured to the Dark Side, because he couldn't stand to be alone anymore and
lose anyone else.
Yoda was not only one of the head's of the Jedi Council, but one of the main teachers
at the Jedi Academy.
So to that end, it would be wrong for him on many counts to be with Yaddle, and for
Yaddle to be with Yoda.
It would break everything they believed in, and given Yoda's balance with the Force, it
would corrupt him from within.
So based on what we know about the characters, it wouldn't add up that they're the parents,
but that doesn't mean we're out of answers...
4.
Cloning?
Say what you will about the Star Wars Prequels (and I'm sure many of you have VERY strong
feelings on them), there's little doubt that they were the ones that really helped expand
the universe.
They showed us more races, brought more big battles, and taught us some very interesting
things that we thought we knew about in the original trilogy.
For example, the Storm Troopers were originally born as Clone Troopers...yes, like actual
clones.
On the planet known as Kamino, there were a race of beings who were hired by a "Jedi"
(who it turned out to be Darth Sidious in disguise) to clone the bounty hunter Jango
Fett (father of Boba) into an army for the then Galactic Republic.
The result was an army like no one had ever seen before, and after Order 66 was turned
on, and the Empire was born, they were rebranded, and even re-cloned at points, to be the Stormtroopers.
Why does that matter for Baby Yoda?
Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the doctor that was hired by the man who wanted Baby
Yoda dead (who then examined Baby Yoda in episode 3 of the series) wore an emblem that
seemed to resemble the Kamino.
What's more, in episode 3 it was clear that the doctor was trying to run experiments on
Baby Yoda, but why?
Perhaps to see whether the clone was holding up?
To see if it was Force Sensitive?
Maybe to see if it was strong enough to clone again?
IF this is the case, it might explain a lot.
After all, all you would need to clone someone is DNA, which they proved with Jango Fett.
The Kaminoans were in contact with Yoda a lot during the Clone Wars.
If one was crafty enough, they could've gotten DNA off of Yoda and cloned it.
Then, not unlike Jango, they aged the clone until it was about 50 years old.
Why that age?
It's hard to say, like they didn't want it to be too old to think for itself.
Thus making judgments on its own.
Or, maybe the youth was a way of seeing if not only the process worked, but if the Force
abilities were genetic.
Which has been teased via the Skywalker line.
If this is the case, it could mean that someone made Baby Yoda, then lost them because of
someone finding out the truth, and then the mission is to get it back so that they can
have a full arm of Yoda's with Force powers that can change the balance of power in the
system.
3.
The Mystery Of Reproduction In The Yoda Species The problem with all of these theories is
that we honestly can't say which one is true.
Not just because The Mandolorian is only a few episodes into its first season, but because
we still know so little about the Yoda species a whole.
As we outlined, outside of Baby Yoda, we've only met one male and one female of the species.
So we don't know how reproduction works here.
Some have even theorized that the Yoda species could reproduce asexually, which is a whole
other kettle of fish which can bring forth new theories about Baby Yoda and the species
as a whole.
In truth, there are many different ways that Baby Yoda could've been created.
The fun in thinking of all the ways is what is keeping the fanbase going.
And given the creative team behind The Mandolorian, you can bet that they're planning a long-game
scenario here to ensure that fans are shocked when the truth comes out.
2.
What's Next For Baby Yoda?
The mission of The Mandolorian in episode one was to get Baby Yoda, but then, in episode
3, after delivering "The Child" to the client, he takes the bounty, and Baby Yoda and betrays
the client.
Breaking the "Bounty Hunter Code" and becoming one of the most wanted men in the entire galaxy.
At present, the Mandolorian is trying to figure out how to keep "The Child" safe, and yet
is meeting people who want to claim the reward for both his head, and Baby Yoda.
Throughout these episodes, people are falling in love with Baby Yoda because of its mannerisms,
quirks, and interactions with the bounty hunter.
What happens as the season goes on can only be found by watching the series on Disney+...or
just waiting for spoilers on the Internet I suppose, either way works!
1.
The Baby Yoda Boom But at this point you might just be wondering,
"Why is pop culture so obsessed with Baby Yoda?"
Part of it is because it was a major twist that no one saw coming.
The trailers for The Mandolorian focused on the Bounty Hunter in action, showing him meeting
"The Client" and so on and so forth.
There wasn't even a hint of this being Baby Yoda's arrival.
Which brings us to Baby Yoda himself.
There was a bit of a debate as to whether to do a puppet version of Baby Yoda (reminiscent
of the original films), or to do CGI (which they did in the prequels).
At first, it was determined to do CGI, but the creative team knew a puppet would be better,
and sure enough, Baby Yoda looks real, adorable, and...really adorable.
So much so that once it was "unveiled" to the world, social media exploded.
Memes of Baby Yoda were made by the hundreds.
Artists started making Baby Yoda stuff because they knew people would want it, and on and
on it went.
New episodes bring forth more scenes of cuteness from Baby Yoda, and it creates even more memes
and art and stuff.
Writer Shawna Benson made a "joke tweet" about Baby Yoda holding a cup, and she got over
250 thousand likes on it.
From one tweet about Baby Yoda.
That's the power of fandom, taking something that wasn't there before, and then making
it the biggest thing ever.
And as long as Baby Yoda lives, it's going to continue to grow in popularity.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What do you think of Baby Yoda?
Do you like all the theories and mysteries that we unearthed in this breakdown of the
loveable character?
Do you hope that through Baby Yoda we'll finally get answers on his race?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time!