The Mandalorian might be barely halfway through its inaugural season — but that hasn't stopped
Baby Yoda from becoming the subject of intense internet speculation.
We've run across a couple of theories that have us contemplatively stroking our chins
and saying, "Hmmm... fascinating, this is.
Something to this, there could be."
These are the most intriguing of them all.
If there's one thing we can say with reasonable certainty about Yoda's species — which George
Lucas famously insisted not be named — it's that they're pretty rare.
Other than Yoda, and now the so-called Baby Yoda, we've only ever seen one: Yaddle, a
female of the species who was shown to be a member of the Jedi High Council in Star
Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
The fact that all three of these critters are Force users is provocative in and of itself,
which we'll discuss more in a moment.
But many fans have quite reasonably wondered if Baby Yoda could actually be Yoda's son,
an idea which we find to be unlikely.
The thing about the Yoda's Secret Love Child Theory — which is a combination of words
we never thought we'd say — is that it would take a serious leap of logic to make it fit
with the events of the original trilogy.
Sure, Baby Yoda is 50 years old, and therefore would have been around when Yoda was alive;
The Mandalorian, remember, takes place five years after the events of those films.
It's conceivable that Yoda could have sent his wee offspring away to protect him, as
was done with the infants Luke and Leia, before the original trilogy's events — but it's
a bit of a stretch to buy that the Jedi Master would never mention the tot to Luke, not even
on his deathbed.
No, we find it more likely that there's a different, though just as direct, connection
to Yoda: that Baby Yoda is a clone of the late Jedi Master.
This theory is lent credence by the fact that in The Mandalorian's third episode, the Client's
employee Doctor Pershing was seen to be wearing a patch with an insignia suspiciously similar
to that worn by the many, many clones of Jango Fett seen in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
It sure seems like that fact has to be setting up something — but if Baby Yoda himself
isn't a clone, perhaps it's setting up something else.
"This is what was causing all the fuss?"
Other than the fact that there aren't a whole lot of them, there's something else we feel
comfortable inferring about Yoda's species: they appear to be natural Force users.
In The Mandalorian's second episode, Baby Yoda levitated a ferocious Mudhorn the size
of a bus; sure, it took a lot out of him, but the point is that we're pretty sure he
wasn't taught this ability.
The question, then, is: just how rare is this species?
Hey, here's another one: if they were so rare as to be, say, on the verge of extinction,
doesn't it seem likely that several parties on both sides of the Light Side/Dark Side
divide would have an interest in preserving them?
One fan theory states that Baby Yoda is, in fact, the last of his kind — and that he's
not a clone, but rather, the Client's interest in the little guy is to clone him.
This theory is bolstered by a line the Client spits at the hapless Doctor Pershing in The
Mandalorian's third episode, as Mando eavesdrops on the conversation in advance of his daring
rescue of Baby Yoda: " … extract the necessary material and be done with it."
Pershing then replies that someone, it's not crystal-clear who, quote, "explicitly ordered
us to bring it back alive," which, of course, raises a whole new set of questions — the
most obvious being, who is he referring to?
Unless that conversation is a total red herring, we find the clone theory to be pretty credible
— but there might also be something else going on here.
Stay with us here, because this theory is a bit silly — even if it sounds pretty Star
Wars-y on paper.
"Good chair, good chair.
nice lumbar support.
Great view of… utter blackness."
If Baby Yoda isn't a clone, then what kind of "material" would the Client be extracting,
and for what purpose?
Well, we know that Yoda had an insanely high midi-chlorian count — so its stands to reason
that even if Baby Yoda is only loosely related to the late Jedi Master, the little guy's
count is probably in the same range.
His "genetic material" then — perhaps even his blood — might be of use to a Force-sensitive
being whose connection to the Force has been lost or diminished, or who is very near death,
or both.
Okay, so you probably know who we're talking about.
Is it possible that the unknown party who ordered the Client to bring Baby Yoda back
alive is none other than Emperor Palpatine?
The very same Big Bad who is going to be returning to vex our heroes in Rise of Skywalker?
Could the little tyke, in fact, be the key to his big comeback?
It sure is a compelling theory, but frankly, we'll be shocked if it's true.
Not because it doesn't make narrative sense; it'd be awesome for The Mandalorian to tie
in to Rise of Skywalker in such a crazy fashion.
We just don't think there's any way that the two productions could have synced up well
enough to make any crossover possible, let alone one that would be so important to the
movie's narrative.
Having said that, it's not outside the realm of possibility.
We know, thanks to director Colin Trevorrow that J.J. Abrams had the idea to bring Palpatine
back into the Skywalker Saga sometime after September 2017, which is when Trevorrow departed
the project.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that The Mandalorian was in development in November of that year,
and Jon Favreau was introduced as the series' writer and showrunner in March 2018.
Favreau didn't waste any time getting to work; by May of that year, he told multiple outlets
that half of the scripts for the first season of The Mandalorian had been completed.
This means that sometime between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, Favreau and
Abrams would have to have gotten together and hammered out all of the shared story elements
of their respective projects.
Then, they would have needed to remain in contact, making sure that neither of them
was stepping on the others' toes — all while keeping the whole thing a total secret.
Again, this wouldn't have been impossible, but it sure would have been difficult — and
nobody would know this better than Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man movies
and has appeared as Happy Hogan in the films of the intricately connected Marvel Cinematic
Universe ever since.
We're going to go ahead and say that Baby Yoda is not likely to factor into the story
of Rise of Skywalker at all.
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