'The Mandalorian' Season 2: Is Baby Yoda dead? His absence from 'The Force Awakens' might be a bad sign
Season 2 of 'The Mandalorian' has one simple mission, keep the Child (known more popularly as Baby Yoda) safe, and return him to his people. Despite the Child's widespread popularity, however, his safety is no guarantee, as his absence from the future of the 'Star Wars' universe throws some doubt as to whether or not the Child survives his travels with the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal). The future seems bereft of Jedi, so what happened to the Child and the rest of his people?
In 'The Force Awakens', Rey (Daisy Ridley) needs Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to confirm that the Jedi were even real before she can set out to eventually become one herself. Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) attempts to restore the Jedi Order after he failed Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) as a child, and he apparently never tried again - leaving the universe's Force-sensitive people largely left in the lurch, untrained and alone. It's a shame, because the First Order quickly took charge, and in the final battles against that evil empire, the Rebellion could have used any help they could get their hands on.
The Child would have been a powerful ally for the rebellion, even with his slow aging. Remember, though he appears to be a baby, he is in fact 50 years old - and he has displayed a cognizance of a much older child throughout the events of 'The Mandalorian'. By the time 'The Force Awakens' comes around, the Child would have been about 70 years old, old enough to have at least some ability to use the Force, and be useful in the fight against the First Order, no matter how slowly his species develop.
In none of the sequel movies, however, are the Child's race even mentioned. Even Yoda (Frank Oz) himself neglects to mention him, despite the Rebels needing every potential ally they can get. This implies one of two things, either the mysterious species that the Child belongs to are so secretive that they remain secluded even when the galaxy is being conquered, or that the Child does not survive to the year 34 ABY, which is when 'The Force Awakens' is set.
Of course, given that in the entire history of 'Star Wars', only three members of that mysterious species have appeared, there is some merit to the idea that their species maintains the heights of secrecy, which just makes them that more compelling. Why is their secrecy so important, even as the galaxy falls to tyrants? What is it that makes them appear to be more powerfully Force-sensitive than other species? These are questions that 'The Mandalorian' is hopefully all set to answer - though as far as the fans are concerned, even a poor answer would suffice if it kept their Baby Yoda alive.
'The Mandalorian' Season 2 releases on October 30, on Disney+.