Spoilers ahead for The Mandalorian Episode 2. Baby Yoda's presence and what it means for the future of Star Wars is still a major mystery on Disney+'s The Mandalorian. But the second episode, "The Child," did reveal that Baby Yoda has the force on The Mandalorian. Baby Yoda isn't the Yoda that was featured in the Star Wars films. Instead, he/she is the 50-year-old child of the same unspecified species as Yaddle from The Phantom Menace and Yoda, so perhaps it is more appropriate to call Baby Yoda "the Child" as the episode does. But regardless of the appropriate title or name, Baby Yoda can harness the Force just like the others in their species — and that may be the reason for the bounty on this baby.
Most of "The Child" is dominated by Mando attempting to get off the planet Arvala-7 with his bounty in tow. In order to fix his ship, he has to trade parts with the Jawas, who demand an egg as payment. He must battle a giant furry beast with a rhinoceros-like horn to obtain the egg. And when it appears that the beast will best Mando, Baby Yoda helps out from their floating cradle. The Child uses the Force to stop the rhino from attacking Mando by levitating the creature. Mando is able to kill the rhino, but the adorable Baby Yoda enters an adorably deep sleep after the exertion of the incident and awakes while traveling from Arvala-7.
The Child's Force abilities were hinted at earlier in the episode when Baby Yoda tried to heal Mando after a fight with three other bounty hunters. But Mando didn't understand at the time what Baby Yoda was trying to do and that's because it's later revealed that the Mandalorian doesn't even know what the Force is. He tries to explain how the Child had saved him to Nick Nolte's Kuiil. The Ugnaught wonders if the baby is injured and asks Mando to detail what the Child had done again. "I still don't understand what happened," Kuiil says. "Neither do I," replies Mando.
While viewers know all about Jedis and the Force, not many characters within the Star Wars universe know that the legends are real. As Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, Jedis and their ability to harness the Force kept the peace for over 1,000 generations. But they were nearly extinct back then. Years later, in The Force Awakens, Jedis are still considered a fable. But Han Solo tells Rey when they meet, "I thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is, it's true. The Force, the Jedi — all of it. It's all true."
Creator Jon Favreau had previously told Dan Casey of Nerdist that Mando's story takes place seven years after the events of original trilogy's final film, The Return of the Jedi. And the Force is even more the stuff of fantasy 30 years later in The Force Awakens. So it's understandable that Mando wouldn't comprehend the powers that Baby Yoda has. Yet, by the Child showing their abilities, Mando has gained some insight into why this bounty is so sought after and secretive.
While Mando is not a warm and fuzzy man, he does already seem to care for the Child. And how could he not? Even when Baby Yoda is disobeying and gulping down frog-like creatures, the Child is absurdly endearing. So if Mando perceives that the intentions of Werner Herzog's the Client and Omid Abtahi's Dr. Pershing aren't good, he may not want to turn over Baby Yoda. Beyond the Child's cuteness quotient, Mando may want to protect the magnificent power Baby Yoda has.
"Ultimately he wants to do the right thing," star Pedro Pascal told Entertainment Weekly of his character before The Mandalorian premiered. "But his duties could very much be in conflict with his destiny and doing the right thing has many faces. It can be a very windy road."
The road will continue to be challenging as Mando escorts this magical little one. Especially since Kuiil's parting words to Mando are rather ominous: "Good luck with the child. May it survive and bring you a handsome reward." But thankfully, Baby Yoda has the Force and perhaps will even age quick enough to be able to use this power to protect themself and the Mandalorian.
