WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian, now streaming on Disney+.
Before Disney+ launched, The Mandalorian appeared to be a window into the Star Wars criminal underworld. However, the first few episodes have revealed a story more along the lines of Lone Wolf and Cub, as the titular Mandalorian isn't just on a bounty hunt -- he's protecting an infant, and that infant may just be one of the most important, most elusive and cutest beings in the Star Wars universe. Not only does Baby Yoda have audiences captivated, but it has fans asking questions that Star Wars has never properly addressed before.
The Mandalorian is protecting an unnamed infant that is the same species as Yoda. As there isn't much anyone knows for certain about Yoda's species, the tiny creature is even more intriguing to fans: Where did it come from and why does everyone want this baby so badly? Let's break down what we know so far about Baby Yoda and take a look at the various theories about the origins of this mystery child.
For starters, the Mandalorian is tasked with returning the baby to a man credited only as "The Client," played by Werner Herzog. The Client appears to be an Imperial holdout, wearing the Empire's sigil and surrounding himself with stormtroopers. It's safe to say he has evil intentions, especially since he is prepared to pay for the bounty dead or alive. Why exactly does he want it? Perhaps it's precisely because Yoda's species is so elusive.
There are only three canon appearances of this kind of creature: Yoda himself, a character named Yaddle, who was an extra in The Phantom Menace, and the baby from The Mandalorian known only as the Child. Aside from the physical similarities of the species, fans know very little about them -- specifically because Star Wars has never explained any of it. The second episode of The Mandalorian reveals that the Child is actually Force-sensitive, lifting a large alien off the ground with a wave of its little hand. This suggests that all members of the species could be Force-sensitive at birth, which provides some insight into the Client's motivation.
Throughout the Star Wars films, the Empire is fixated on Force-sensitive beings. Once the Empire turns on the Jedi, Force-sensitive people all over the galaxy are hunted down, captured and killed. Now, while The Mandalorian takes place after Return of the Jedi (and after the Empire is destroyed), could the Client still want to kill baby Yoda? It's possible, but what is more likely is that he wants to experiment on it. A possible explanation is that the Imperial remnants want to know how and why this baby is so strong in the Force. Maybe its powers can be extracted and applied to others, which brings us to another major theory: Unless its Yoda and Yaddle's secret lovechild, baby Yoda could be a clone.
In the episode, "Chapter 3: The Sin," the Mandalorian finds the Child in the laboratory of the Client's associate, Dr. Pershing. Pershing is a scientist who sports a Kamino emblem on his jacket. Fans might remember this emblem, as it is the same that one that the clones wear in Attack of the Clones. This explains a fair bit about the bounty: perhaps Pershing and the Client want to clone the Child, or maybe the kid is already a clone, and they want to get it back in Imperial hands for shady scientific purposes. Of course, this leads to another major question. If it is a clone, who is it a clone of? Yoda, or someone else?
Another theory -- one that sounds insane but is quite possible -- is that the Child is actually Yoda himself. It could be a clone and, sure, that technically makes it Yoda, but we're being quite literal here. It could actually be a baby Yoda through... time travel. Wait, before you roll your eyes and click away, there is actual, definitive evidence of time travel in Star Wars. The animated series, Star Wars Rebels does quite a bit to flesh out the universe, but the Season 4 episode, "A World Between Worlds," features some next-level changes to the franchise. Spoilers for that episode ahead: Protagonist Ezra Bridger discovers another dimension that connects different points in time and space using the Force. Yes, really.
People can enter this dimension at one point in time and exit at another. This is exactly what happens to fan-favorite character, Ahsoka Tano, as Ezra pulls her out of a losing fight with Darth Vader to the present day when Ezra first enters the World Between Worlds. More casual Star Wars fans have no idea that this exists and it probably won't show up in The Mandalorian. That said, Rebels is official Star Wars canon, which means that it is perfectly possible for time travel to factor into baby Yoda's origins, however much if a long-shot it is.
Of course, the simplest explanation is that the Child might just be an infant within the same species, but that somehow explains even less about it. Does this species have a home planet? Do they even reproduce? There's even a precedent in Star Wars for the Force to create life, like Anakin Skywalker's mysterious force "conception." So, could Yodas just be manifested into existence?
While it's fun to ask all of these questions and speculate endlessly, it's worth noting that the fun of all this might lie in the mystery. After all, not everything needs to be revealed; not every aspect of Star Wars (or any fiction, for that matter) requires an explanation, definition... or an entire prequel trilogy. In a way, one of the most satisfying routes that showrunner Jon Favreau can take is to explain nothing at all. One thing is for certain though, by introducing the Child, The Mandalorian is confronting fans with Star Wars' long-unanswered questions.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode arrives each Friday.