The Mandalorian is back, which is great news for the most important contingent of humanity: Baby Yoda fans. I also believe this to be the largest contingent of humanity, because you are a damned liar if you aren’t in love with little Grogu’s little itty-bitty face that I just wanna squeeze, lil-cutie-oh-god-I-love-him-so-much-yes-I-do.
Ahem.
There’s a lot that goes on in each installment of The Mandalorian. With all that plotty stuff, it can be hard to keep track of what Grogu got up to alongside his Daddy Mando (Pedro Pascal). Here’s what you really need to know about The Mandalorian’s third-season premiere: What was the Child up to?
While the episode opens on some combat to satisfy the whole “sci-fi action-adventure show” requirement, we get our first Grogu goodness after the opening credits. Daddy is chatting with the Armorer (Emily Swallow) about a relic he received from a traveler that suggests their home planet of Mandalore is not poisoned, as they suspected.
Grogu doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but he does understand that the relic is very green and shiny. He’s scrambling to get a better look at it as his Daddy hands it over to the Armorer, hoisting himself up to be eye level with the table it sits on. He’s so tiny! That shard is the same size as his head! But he keeps reaching out for it, only to be ignored; cut to Baby Yoda with a big, sad face, and me wishing I could grab that shard to hand to him.
Good thing he gets to go on a little ride to visit the planet of Nevarro with pop to make up for it. We get some great shots of wide-eyed Baby admiring the city here, as he floats in his little crib alongside Mando. Considering Mando has no face, and I doubt Pedro Pascal is even under that mask, Grogu is really the audience surrogate. What’s that big droid statue doing there? What are those little kids up to?
All of this leads up to the best moment of the entire episode—nay, one of the greatest in TV history. Mando and Grogu head up to the office of the High Magistrate (Carl Weathers), for papa to inquire about the help he needs to head to Mandalore. While the guys are standing around talking about old-man problems, probably, Grogu is having the time of his little life spinning in the Magistrate’s chair.
Considering Grogu is so tiny, I have to guess he’s using the Force to keep that chair spinning for half of the entire scene. He only stops when Mando puts his hand on the chair to keep it in place, because Grogu’s constant spinning is so distracting. I certainly couldn’t pay attention to anything the guys were saying because of it—he’s so cute! So happy! Spin, Baby, spin!
Bored after he’s forced to stop spinning, the budding baby Jedi then uses the Force to steal a little candy out of the Magistrate’s candy dish. That is exactly what the Force was meant to be used for; Luke Skywalker would be proud.
This is definitely the best Grogu moment of the episode, but there’s two other excellent scenes that had me clapping and laughing like a little baby myself. Mando resurrects IG-11, the droid voiced by Taika Waititi that helped Mando out in Season 1. Surely he can help him get to Mandalore this time?
Too bad IG-11 is a killing machine when he turns back on, nearly hurting a confused Grogu—until Daddy grabs him, holds him close to his chest, and then tosses him to the Magistrate. He tosses him! Who tosses a baby? It’s a great reminder that Grogu is actually a puppet and not just CGI; Pedro Pascal(’s stunt double) throwing a Baby Yoda puppet across the room is something I wish I could have seen happen on-set.
Good thing Baby doesn’t have time to be traumatized, because the crew meets some new people to help them out afterward: the Anzellans, aka the same race of creatures as my beloved Babu Frik from Rise of the Skywalker. That’s a cutie to freak out about in another post, but count Grogu among us Anzellan-lovers. He grabs one of the tiny, furry mechanics and squeezes it like it’s a doll. Mando has to tell Grogu that no, it’s not a pet—but you cannot convince Grogu that this yappy thing tinier than he is isn’t designed for his entertainment.
Watching Grogu hug the Anzellan so tightly is certainly all the entertainment I need until next week. Until then, I’ll be spinning in my desk chair and thinking fondly of my favorite Star Wars hero.
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