'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Episode 5: Is Grogu aka Baby Yoda already succumbing to the Dark Side?
Spoilers for 'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Episode 5 'The Jedi'
"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." These words were so important for Yoda to communicate that he even took pains to say them in the correct order. From the very beginning, Force-wielders have been told to block off their emotions, to eschew all emotional attachment. The most infamous Jedi Apprentice to ignore these warnings and form attachments became one of the most dangerous Sith Lords ever known - Darth Vader. Now, there may be another who could take his dark and evil place – the adorable tot, formerly known as Baby Yoda.
This episode finally revealed the Child's name – Grogu – but that's not all it revealed. Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) was able to connect to Grogu, using the Force, and told Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) about Grogu's origins. Grogu is actually a lot more cognizant than we've been led to believe. We all knew that he was 50 years old and that he was a lot more intelligent than he let on, but Ahsoka reveals that he's already been trained, for years, in the ways of the Force. The only reason he hides his abilities now is to keep safe from those who have been hunting Jedi down since the end of the Clone Wars.
We were joking, at first, when we pointed out how evil Baby Yoda really was, but now it looks like there's a real chance that he could become the next Anakin Skywalker. At his young age, he may be the most powerful Force wielder in the galaxy...and he's already begun to form attachments. Ahsoka Tano senses great fear in him, and she believes that that is because of the child's attachment to Din. One of Grogu's very first acts of wielding the Force was to help Din, which to the child's mind must have immediately put a target on his back. Grogu's fears of his own power and his attachment to Din are intertwined and could spell trouble down the line.
The signs may have always been there. This season saw the controversial moment when Grogu ate the eggs of a frog-woman, assumed by many to be a joke that went too far, but it may be indicative of Grogu's vast appetites and his lack of empathy for life. It's cute now, but as he grows older and more powerful, the only way for that power to not corrupt him absolutely may be for Grogu to cut himself off emotionally - but with Din Djarin by his side, Grogu's emotional attachment for his father figure is only going to grow stronger.
The hope now is that Din can find Grogu a Jedi Master to train Grogu in not just usage of the Force, but how to resist the call of its Dark Side. If that doesn't happen, and soon, then the galaxy might face a greater threat than Emperor Palpatine ever posed to it.
The next episode of 'The Mandalorian' airs on December 4, on Disney+.