The Mandalorian May Have Just Revealed Baby Yoda’s Connection To A Major Star Wars Villain

Baby Yoda might be connected to one of Star Wars' most important villains.

By Drew Dietsch | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

mandalorian baby yoda

Baby Yoda – or the Child as he is officially known – was always going to be one of the key mysteries in the larger story of The Mandalorian. His mere existence has had fans coming up with any number of theories regarding his origins. While we are still in the dark about where he came from, the newest episode of The Mandalorian might have just revealed why the Empire is trying to get him back. And it has to do with the origins of a major villain.

In the twelfth episode of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin comes across an Imperial laboratory with a number of dead clones floating around in tanks (see below). A recording from Dr. Pershing reveals that Baby Yoda was used as the basis for these particular clones. Specifically, Pershing references the Child’s “M-count”, a reference to Midichlorians. It would seem that the Empire was using the Child’s blood to create Force-imbued clones. And thanks to Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, we know that there was a Force-powered clone at the center of the First Order: Supreme Leader Snoke.

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The failed clone from Episode 12 of The Mandalorian looks an awful lot like Snoke.
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Another one of the dead clones.

For comparison, here is what Snoke looked like in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi:

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snoke star wars last jedi

Yes, it definitely looks like Baby Yoda is the basis for Snoke. It was revealed in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker that Snoke was a clone created by Emperor Palpatine. Exactly how Snoke came to be was always fuzzy. It was assumed he was a clone of the Emperor himself. Instead, it looks like his DNA was sourced from the Child. That is why the little critter is such a valuable asset to the flailing Empire. The Child is going to give them a new Force-powered leader in the wake of Palpatine’s supposed death.

This is a huge bit of information for The Mandalorian to drop on viewers. It also showcases what the larger story of the show will be focused on when it comes to the universe of Star Wars. It looks like the series will be giving us an inside peek into how the Empire began to transition into the First Order. Part of that will obviously be how Snoke came into the picture and consolidated power. From what this new episode shows, it seems pretty clear that Baby Yoda is… well, you could say that Baby Yoda is Snoke’s father.

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A vat of Snoke clones from Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

We still need to discover where Baby Yoda came from, but this new knowledge has an enormous impact on the Star Wars universe, especially when it comes to how the world of the sequel trilogy came to be. We know that we can expect other big canon explorations from The Mandalorian – we are anxiously awaiting that Boba Fett series – but this is the first real bomb that the show has dropped. And with next week’s episode titled “The Jedi”, it looks like things are about to ramp up in a big way for Din Djarin and Baby Yoda.

We will have to wait and see what the response to this big reveal will be. In the meantime, we leave you with this photo of The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson, because it’s just too funny not to bring up considering the circumstances.

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