The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+ in November 2019 as the very first live-action Star Wars TV show, and pop culture hasn’t been the same since thanks to the introduction of The Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda. The adorable little green alien stole the show almost as soon as he peeked out of his bassinet, and The Mandalorian Season 2 is set to follow Mando on his mission to find a permanent home for Baby Yoda. That said, Baby Yoda presents some potential problems for Season 2.
With The Mandalorian Season 2 on the way as the next major Star Wars project, it’s never too soon to look ahead to what’s in store, what it means for Mando, and the problems that could turn up thanks to Baby Yoda. Read on for five problems that may pop up when The Mandalorian returns!
Baby Yoda Is A Baby
Is Baby Yoda’s status as a baby just about the most obvious thing about him, second only to how adorable he is? Sure. But it’s also the biggest potential issue that could crop up in The Mandalorian Season 2 and beyond. At the ripe old age of 50, Baby Yoda is seemingly still in the toddler stage of development. His species is apparently one that ages slowly, and that means that some of the challenges Mando ran into with him in Season 1 probably won’t go away.
The little guy can’t understand the nuances of Mando’s life, as proven when he Force-choked Cara Dune while all she was doing was arm-wrestling Mando. Baby Yoda also doesn’t seem to fully understand speech, and is happy to wander as far as his little legs will carry him. That’s all well and good when he and Mando are on the ship, but Baby Yoda’s inability to understand the world around him and the unlikelihood that he’ll mature short of The Mandalorian time-jumping itself into the sequel trilogy could be dangerous.
Baby Yoda Is Very Powerful
The Mandalorian hasn’t really shown the extent of Baby Yoda’s powers. Sometimes Baby Yoda will use his power to do something impressive like save Mando’s life, heal Greef Karga, and yes, even Force-choke Cara Dune. Other times, he doesn’t do anything at all despite very real danger, but that could change. If Baby Yoda becomes too powerful and comfortable with using the Force, then The Mandalorian might come to rely too heavily on him saving the day.
Season 1 did a good job of using Baby Yoda’s powers sparingly, but that was before Baby Yoda mania swept across the globe. His powers could present problems both in-universe and from viewers’ perspectives. If Baby Yoda continues to misuse his formidable powers in the Star Wars universe, like with choking Cara Dune, without Mando handy to stop him, he could become a danger. And, if The Mandalorian continues to escalate Baby Yoda’s powers, the show could begin to feel more like a superhero series than a groundbreaking Star Wars series.
The Mandalorian Doesn’t Know Anything About Him
For as endearing as the Mando/Baby Yoda duo became right off the bat, their situation really isn’t practical. I for one have been wondering ever since the second episode how exactly Mando feeds and cares for the kiddo’s needs. Surely Baby Yoda needs more than bone broth and the occasional frog, right? Also, although I know that The Mandalorian isn’t going to tragically end Baby Yoda’s story because Mando let him play with a choking hazard, the point stands: Mando seemingly doesn’t know anything about raising a child beyond bare necessities
Mando also doesn’t know anything about Baby Yoda’s species or even for sure why people were willing to pay so much for him or where he came from. At this point, Mando is basically winging it. He does so very heroically and with every intent of protecting his young charge, but he could be taken by surprise at any moment. With the dynamic duo heading into the stars as fugitives who will always need to be on the lookout for enemies, Mando being caught off guard by anything would be bad.
Baby Yoda Leads To A Race Of Enemy Sorcerers
Mando received his marching orders for Season 2 courtesy of the Armorer at the end of Season 1, when she stated that he had to return the child to his people or take responsibility for raising the child himself. The Armorer name-dropped the Jedi when she described their powers and revealed they were long enemies of the Mandalorians, which resulted in Mando skeptically wondering if his mission should really be to deliver cute little Baby Yoda to a “race of enemy sorcerers.”
Even diehard Star Wars fans don’t canonically know much more about Baby Yoda’s species than Mando does. If The Mandalorian reveals that Baby Yoda’s species is made up entirely of Force-sensitive individuals, Mando could be in trouble and the show could lose its way as a space western and become the latest Star Wars project to fall back on the Force. Baby Yoda is all well and good as one character; Baby Yoda leading to a “race of enemy sorcerers” using the Force could become a big problem for Mando's show.
Baby Yoda Is Too Lovable
Baby Yoda is is the most talked-about aspect of The Mandalorian Season 1, and the result is Baby Yoda merch ranging from dolls to Chia Pets to even a breakfast cereal. Memes of Baby Yoda are so prevalent that even non-Mandalorian viewers on social media knew that he had made his Disney+ debut. This could be a problem down the line for two reasons: the show is called The Mandalorian and not The Adventures of Mando and Baby Yoda, and Mando’s current goal is to hand Baby Yoda over.
Baby Yoda might be too endearing and too much of a focus that The Mandalorian could run out of non-Baby Yoda plots, or delay Mando finding Baby Yoda’s home for too long just to keep him around. Honestly, he might even be too lovable for Mando to bring himself to give him up. As much as I love the little guy, Baby Yoda just isn’t a practical traveling companion for Mando, and he won’t be growing up to become a member of the crew any time soon. Baby Yoda just can’t stay, and he may be too beloved for The Mandalorian to easily move on from him.
Of course, The Mandalorian Season 1 was so solid that it ruined my expectations for Star Wars movies, so perhaps The Mandalorian’s second season will address or avoid these problems altogether. The good news is that The Mandalorian Season 2 premiere on Disney+ is scheduled for October.
