6 reasons why Baby Yoda's father is probably Yoda in Mandalorian Season 2

For an agonizing four years, Star Wars fans tried to figure out who Rey's parents were. Collectively, nobody is thrilled with the outcome there, but the funny thing is, there's been comparatively little theorizing about who Baby Yoda's parents are in The Mandalorian. I think there's a reason for that: subliminally, we all probably think we know the answer, and it's right there in the nickname "Baby Yoda."

If you ask yourself "Who is Baby Yoda's father?" one answer becomes clear very quickly. Come on. It's Yoda. Here's why Baby Yoda's father could very well be Yoda.

Wild speculation for The Mandalorian Season 2 ahead.

6. We know Baby Yoda isn't a Clone

In Season 1 of The Mandalorian, Kuiil says he really doesn't think Baby Yoda is a clone, which seems to have put a lid on the fan theories that said Doctor Pershing was rocking the same symbol as the cloners from Kamino in Attack of the Clones. Pershing did not clone Baby Yoda. He may have been trying to clone Baby Yoda, but Yoda himself was almost certainly born.

5. Yoda's dying words may have been designed to protect his "Child"

When Yoda dies in Return of the Jedi, he says Luke is the "last of the Jedi." If Yoda knew he had an offspring, he may have actively wanted to keep that fact a secret. Also, it's pretty clear that in the 50 years that Baby Yoda has been alive, the child has not been trained as a Jedi. So, if Yoda was only referring to people who have been trained as Jedi, he could have intentionally been excluding Baby Yoda.

Also, keep in mind, Yoda was planning on becoming a Force ghost, so there's no reason to believe he wasn't planning on training Baby Yoda as a Jedi after his own death. Considering Yoda has only been a Force Ghost for about five years during The Mandalorian, if Yoda is Baby Yoda's dad, why do we think he's not going to shimmer into view? He totally could!

4. The timeline works

We don't know how old Baby Yoda is in "Yoda years," but we do know he's 50-years-old in "regular" years. 50 years prior to the events of The Mandalorian is 41 BBY, which is also the same year Anakin Skywalker was born. At that point, Yoda was probably on the Jedi Council, and there's no reason to believe he wasn't in the position to become a parent. Did Yoda have a secret baby the exact same year Anakin showed-up to be tested by the Jedi Council? Why not. It's totally possible.

3. It would be better for the plot

This isn't exactly an in-universe justification, but imagine how the plot of The Mandalorian would go if Baby Yoda's parents were people we've never heard of and... alive? I mean, if Mando finds a colony of Yoda-aliens, and Baby Yoda's parents are just there, and they're like "Oh, much thanks we give for returning our child to us, we do," then the show is over.

Baby Yoda's parents can't be alive for The Mandalorian to work because as soon as said parents are located, the show ends. This means that Disney, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni have already decided that Baby Yoda's parents are dead. If that's true, then it stands to reason that at least one of Baby Yoda's dead parents is a Yoda-looking thing we've heard of, I.E. Yoda.

2. What is Disney even doing if this isn't the case?

The character's name as far as the internet is concerned is "Baby Yoda." Disney and Lucasfilm barely try to convince you that we should really call him "the Child." His name is Baby Yoda. Yoda is in the name. What kind of game is this if his dad isn't Yoda?

1. Even if the show never establishes this outright, it can still be true in our minds

The best part of this theory is that The Mandalorian never has to ever tell us that Baby Yoda's dad is Yoda. The parentage of Baby Yoda can remain a mystery forever, and this theory still can work. The strength of The Mandalorian is that the point-of-view distorts the history of the Jedi and the Republic a little bit. We're seeing the Star Wars galaxy from a very specific set of characters, meaning even if they learned who Baby Yoda's dad was, it might not mean anything to them. Someone could tell Mando off-screen, "Hey, this kid's dad was Yoda," and Mando could forget that detail because it's irrelevant to him. Yoda is famous to us. That doesn't mean the galaxy knows or cares about him.

This means Baby Yoda's dad can be Yoda in our own headcanon forever. And we can use Jedi mind tricks to convince other people it is true. Search your feelings. You know Yoda is Baby Yoda's dad. And yeah, Yaddle is probably his mom, too.

The Mandalorian Season 2 premieres October 30 on Disney+.