'The Mandalorian' "Asset" theory involves a shocking Palpatine connection

By now, you may know all about the shocking twist at the end of The Mandalorian’s first episode on Disney+ involving the “Asset” that Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter is hired to track down, but this striking theory about why it’s so important could have lasting implications on the very nature of the Force, the entire Skywalker Saga, and potentially even Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Huge spoilers follow for The Mandalorian’s biggest twist, and potentially so much more.

The first episode of The Mandalorian was released with the launch of Disney+ on Tuesday. In it, Werner Herzog plays some leader from the remnants of the Empire who hires the Mandalorian to track down a 50 year-old person referred to as “The Asset” by rival bounty hunter droid IG-11. The big reveal at the end of the episode, however, confirms leaks that this asset isn’t a mature adult at all. The final scene of Episode 1 shows the Mandalorian looking down at a little green baby that is absolutely the same species as Yoda, confirming previous leaks about the episode’s big spoiler.

We know that Yoda lived to be around 900 years old, so it makes sense that a 50-year-old from the same alien species would still in its infancy, but if this creature is precisely 50 years old, then it shares a birth year — 41 Before the Battle of Yavin — with one of the most important Star Wars characters ever: Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader.

This cannot be a coincidence, but what does it mean?

Force-sensitive people in Star Wars stories are always talking about disturbances in the Force. There’s also the Chosen One prophesy that predicts Anakin will be the one who brings balance to the Force by eliminating the Sith. But if The Last Jedi taught us anything about these ancient religious teachings, it’s that the Jedi need to change. They’re too stuck in their ways, and they probably didn’t even know about the huge disturbance in the Force that was Anakin’s unnatural immaculate conception.

Anakin’s mother, Shmi Skywalker, claims in Attack of the Clones that Anakin has no father. A 2018 Star Wars comic shows how Emperor Palpatine uses a twisted Force power to impregnate Shmi through non-sexual means, making Anakin a child of the Force itself. (That’s presumably why he has so many midi-chlorians.)

Now, let’s also consider something that Snoke said in The Last Jedi: “Darkness rises, and light to meet it.” There’s also: “I warned my young apprentice that as he grew stronger, his equal in the light would rise.” These ideas sound an awful lot like Isaac Newton’s real-life third law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” As beings strong in the Force are born or die, that power is redistributed accordingly. Now that Snoke and Luke have both died, Kylo Ren and Rey should also increase in power for The Rise of Skywalker.

The Force is a natural force of nature, infused into all living things, but we also know that it can be manipulated. It would seem that despite the chaotic nature of life, the Force is always seeking a balance. 

If a Sith lord like Palpatine artificially created someone with the Force to be his future apprentice, wouldn’t the Force also create some parallel to achieve balance? Logic would say yes.

So what if Anakin Skywalker and “The Asset” are essentially twins in the Force meant to balance each other out in a way that transcends time and space? Anakin, a conflicted soul dragged into darkness; the Asset, a pure child of light.

We’re meant to see some kind of connection between this baby creature and Anakin Skywalker, even if Darth Vader is long dead by the time The Mandalorian begins. Given that we know virtually nothing about this alien species, all of this feels least possible.

There’s Yoda, one of the most powerful Jedi Masters of all time, and then there’s Yaddle, another member of the species who appears as a member of the Jedi Council in the prequel trilogy. It stands to reason that their entire race would be immensely powerful in the Force and exceedingly rare, which explains why the remnants of the Empire would want a living specimen to experiment on. For all we know, maybe all members of this green species are created directly from the Force in response to some oncoming evil being born? That would, at least, explain their rarity and power.

There’s also the possibility that Emperor Palpatine never died in Return of the Jedi, and that he seeks to drain the life force of a creature just like this so he can regain his power. If the Mandalorian spends the entire Disney+ series protecting this baby and preventing this from happening, it could have huge implications for The Rise of Skywalker 26 years later when Palpatine finally returns to threaten the galaxy once again.

What role do the Mandalorian and the Asset have to play in the grand scope of it all? The Mandalorian could wind up feeling even more important to Star Wars than we thought.

The Mandalorian’s first episode is now available to stream on Disney+, with new episodes arriving on a regular basis through the end of the year.