Pretty much the entire internet agreed that the third season of Star Wars’ flagship show The Mandalorian wasn’t its best. Whether because the show decided to focus more on internecine squabbles between various factions of Mandalorians, because it sold out by having too-famous guest stars, or just because there wasn’t enough of Pedro Pascal’s face on our screens, the initial magic was gone.
And what was that magic? Some might say it was the Western-style setting and the lone gunslinger stories. But they’re wrong. We all know it was Baby Yoda.
Baby Yoda took the world by storm in 2020, and soon enough we were awash in Baby Yoda plushies, memes, and Halloween costumes. No one is bothered by this, because Baby Yoda is freaking adorable. Eventually he acquired a name–Grogu–but he still remained a baby Yoda.
Until season three’s “Chapter 23: The Spies” came along, that is. Because that is when Baby Yoda officially became a toddler. Greef Karga presents Mando with a rebuilt droid, IG-12, specifically for Grogu to use as a vehicle, and hilarity ensues. All of toddlerhood is there in this scene–the lurching, knocking-into-things walk; the shoplifting of whatever food at the market is within reach (my youngest once stole two candy bars from the display along the cash register aisle while sitting in one of those cars attached to the front of the shopping cart–just reached out and grabbed them from the bottom shelf–and we didn’t know it until we got out to our minivan); and, most realistically, the copious use of the word “no.”
Din Djarin’s frustration is that of every parent of a new toddler out there, and a joy to watch. In a season that may have lost its way a bit, this scene proves the old magic is still there.
