Spoilers below for the latest episode of The Mandalorian, so be warned!
With "The Siege," The Mandalorian brought back old friends like Gina Carano's Cara Dune and Carl Weathers' Greef Karga for a rip-roaring adventure on Nevarro that finally brought Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon back into the fold. (And thumbs up for Omid Abtahi's Dr. Pershing making a holographic return, too.) The episode featured blaster fights, some physical fisticuffs and more than a few narrative details that speak to where this series is taking Star Wars canon. Most adorable, though, was Baby Yoda once again showing off his Force-related powers.
But here's the thing... As much as I wholeheartedly adore Baby Yoda from certain perspectives, I'm not quite as on board from other perspectives, and it mostly comes down to all the mysteries embedded in the tiny character's existence. And for me, the most interesting and inevitably frustrating mystery of the bunch involves his sporadic use of the Force. So let's go through my main issues with Baby Yoda's Force powers.
Baby Yoda Doesn't Use The Force Enough
I know this isn't called The Force Show, so it's not like anyone started watching The Mandalorian with distinct needs to peep out midi-chlorian-filled creatures moving things around telepathically. However, after the rampant use of Force techniques on display throughout the Skywalker saga, it's kind of aggravating to have a character who could technically be one of the most powerful beings in the known universe, and we're only seeing his power used after every twelve bowls of soup or so. I get that The Child's abilities are part of why he's being sought out by Moff Gideon and others, but when the creative team uses it so sporadically, it only makes me question why Baby Yoda isn't constantly tiring himself out by trying new things.
Baby Yoda's Hasn't Used The Force For Anything Important In Season 2 Yet
Remember it was back in Chapter 2 when The Mandalorian audiences got our most incredible look yet at what Baby Yoda could do with his powers. At that time, The Child managed to save Mando from being crushed by a Mudhorn, which definitely exhausted the creature. Beyond that in Season 1, Baby Yoda's biggest Force moments came when he healed Greef Karga's wounds and Force-choked Cara Dune. But viewers haven't seen anything comparable yet in Season 2. Case in point: we're already on the fourth episode, in which Baby Yoda's big accomplishment involved stealing a kid's blue macarons. Not exactly the most impressive effort – although certainly a step up in the munchies dept. from Frog Lady's eggs – and he couldn't even use the Force to avoid throwing up on himself. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
It's Weird That Baby Yoda Can Use His Powers While So Young
While exceptions exist, the Star Wars franchise rarely focuses on younger characters; especially non-speaking non-humans who are fluent in Force abilities. In any case, fans have watched multiple characters realize their oneness with the Force upon reaching adulthood, and thus tend to have the kind of wavering emotional maturity that makes one privy to bouncing between the Light and the Dark. But despite having already lived many years, The Child is just that, and it's not even always clear that he understands what his Force powers are doing. We know he definitely doesn't understand a lot of English yet, considering he electrocuted himself while trying to swap wires for Mando, but does he grasp what the Force actually is? The fact that we don't even know that bugs me.
In the overall scheme of things, I understand what The Mandalorian is doing with Baby Yoda, and that it's the kind of slow-burning show that takes pride in building up its universe brick by brick without showing audiences the blueprints. It appears as if Moff Gideon was injecting subjects with Baby Yoda's blood in order to transfer powers, which is a wild idea, and so the kid's inherent Force-ness is definitely important. Still, though, its current Force utilization is the equivalent of only having The Flash run fast every four or five episodes, or an America's Got Talent episode where everyone is just eating blue macarons without having to steal them first. Okay, wait, I think I lost my metaphor somewhere along the way there, but still. We need answers, and we need the Force to be more strong with this one. (And also for Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan to come back soon.)
New episodes of The Mandalorian drop on Disney+ on Fridays at 3:01 a.m. ET. While waiting to see what Moff Gideon has up his evil sleeves, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule and our Winter and Spring 2021 guide for all the new and returning shows that are on the way.
