What you need to know
- Yoda is long gone at this point in the timeline of Star Wars, nixing any possibility that this could actually be Yoda.
- The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau won't comment on speculation of Baby Yoda's actual origins.
- Season 2 of The Mandalorian will reveal more, but that won't be available until Fall 2020.
Curious minds have been wondering about the origins of Baby Yoda ever since the character was introduced in The Mandalorian TV series on Disney Plus. Given that Baby Yoda has quickly become one of the most iconic Star Wars characters of all time, you might be surprised to learn that the name "Baby Yoda" is more of a false pretense than anything. In fact, the name Baby Yoda isn't even mentioned in The Mandalorian at all. In the show, it is simply referred to as "The Child."
Jon Favreau, the creator of The Mandalorian, spoke with USA Today in the lead-up to the Golden Globes 2020 about Baby Yoda and confirms exactly what we thought all along: Baby Yoda isn't Yoda at all. There's a reason the show just calls it "The Child", and that's partly because there's no name for Yoda's species. As of this point in time, we've only ever seen one other member of Yoda's species in any Star Wars movie or television show.
Yaddle was one of the members of the Jedi Council during the time frame of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. As the only other known member of Yoda's species, and a female one at that, plenty of fans have speculated that this child could be the offspring between the two, and the math certainly adds up in that theory. The Phantom Menace takes place approximately 42 years before the events in The Mandalorian, and we know from the show that The Child is 50 years old.
What's obvious is that Baby Yoda isn't a baby version of the lovable 900-year-old green Jedi master. After all, the Mandalorian doesn't take place 850 years before the original Star Wars theatrical trilogy (Episodes 4-6).
Per Jon Favreau:
The series timeline takes place after 'Return of the Jedi, and fans of the original trilogy will remember that Yoda not only passes away but actually disappears. So Yoda exists as a Force Ghost.
At this moment, Jon Favreau remains pretty hush on the details for Baby Yoda and its origins. Was it, indeed, the offspring of Yoda and Yaddle? Is it a clone of Yoda as the Kaminoan clothing worn by an Empire agent in the show might suggest? Maybe it's the link between what happens at the end of Rise of Skywalker? In any case, we'll have to wait for The Mandalorian Season 2 in Fall 2020 to begin to find out. In the meantime, maybe season 7 of The Clone Wars will hint at something for us to speculate on more.
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