The Mandalorian's devastating Baby Yoda moment could have easily been avoided

The Mandalorian season 2, episode 6 spoilers follow.

As if 2020 couldn't get any worse, The Mandalorian's latest episode, Chapter 14, ended with Grogu Baby Yoda tortured in chains. Anyone else see his unconscious body fall to the ground every time their eyes close? No? Just us?

Whether you were mildly upset by this turn of events or traumatised beyond all measure, Mando could have easily avoided all of this suffering with one simple choice.

And honestly, it's pretty weird that things played out the way they did.

To recap, Ahsoka Tano refused to train Grogu in the ways of the Force because she feared he may turn to the Dark Side. Instead of standing by him to make sure that doesn't happen, Anakin's former apprentice sent Mando and Baby Yoda to a planet called Tython where The Child could choose his own path moving forward.

Yep, that's also a pretty weird decision. Why leave Grogu vulnerable to the very forces you fear he may succumb to? But whatever you might think of that, it's since been eclipsed by another questionable choice.

Acting on Ahsoka's advice, Mando and The Child ended up on Typhon where they encountered Boba Fett, a legendary Star Wars figure whose arrival has been hinted at for some time.

Boba confronted Din Djarin and asked him to return his Mandalorian armour, which he took on Tatooine. Mando wasn't too thrilled about this at first, especially when Grogu was sitting up on the seeing stone, all vulnerable and cute. But after exchanging some hostile words, the pair eventually decided to put their gear down.

At this point, Boba specifically asked Din to remove his jetpack, knowing that it's secretly one of his greatest weapons.

That's all fine and makes perfect sense, but the problem is what Mando does next.

Just moments later, Imperial Remnants suddenly arrive, forcing Din and Boba to team up (along with Fennec) and repel their ambush. The attack comes quickly, taking them all by surprise, but they fare pretty well still, all things considered.

That is, until Dark Troopers are sent down to kidnap Grogu and bring him back to Moff Gideon. As they swoop in and take the little muppet away, Mando races up the hill as fast as he can, but to no avail. Baby Yoda is gone, now in the clutches of an evil Jedi who holds nefarious plans for The Child.

The Mandalorian is left just as devastated as we are, even if it's a bit hard to tell with that big old helmet on. After that, Din starts gathering allies to form a rescue squad while Baby Yoda – and we, the audience – are traumatised by Moff Gideon's plan.

That's all well and good, but it's still Mando's fault that Grogu was taken in the first place.

Sure, the Imperial ambush caught him off guard, but why didn't Din just retrieve his jetpack before the fight really got going? Even if that's easier said than done, Mando's priority has always been Grogu's safety, and in this situation, grabbing his jetpack was clearly going to be the most effective way to ensure this.

Even if Dark Troopers hadn't flown down, Mando still wanted to reach Baby Yoda as fast as possible, and it was obvious from the get-go that the Imperial ground forces also wanted to snatch the muppet.

Time and time again, this jetpack has been invaluable to Mando throughout season two. Without it, he would have died fighting the Krayt dragon on Tatooine, and even at the beginning of this episode, it would have taken Mando a lot longer to reach the seeing stone. Imagine if Grogu had been forced to walk all that way with his tiny little feet?

Surely, someone that well-trained in the art of warfare would have grabbed their jetpack before it was too late, especially given how much Mando clearly adores Baby Yoda.

So was this just a bad decision, or a good excuse for the writers to finally mix up the video-game quest format that's characterised this season so far? These are questions for one far wiser than us, or you know, the writers. Let's just hope Mando can atone for his mistakes before it's too late for everyone's favourite egg-destroyer.

The Mandalorian season 1 is streaming now on Disney+. The first episode of season 2 launched globally on October 30, and new episodes follow every Friday.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

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