Here at Collider dot come we've firmly established that every single staffer would, in fact, die for Baby Yoda, and The Mandalorian episode 3 confirmed our titular bounty hunter is a hard same. "The Sin" was still a little thin on plot but it did kind've make up for it by basically being John Wick 2 in outer space starring a Batman who is super down with committing laser blaster murder. The perfect genre, basically.

Here's the gist: Pedro Pascal's masked-but-still-assumedly-hot Mandalorian successfully delivered his bounty to The Client (Werner Herzog) but then remembered he won't be able to buy Baby Yoda merch until next month. Like the rest of us, this sent him into a murderous rage, and our unnamed Mando broke every rule of the Bounty Hunter's Guild, noted sticklers for "don't shoot our customers in the face", and retrieved that adorable little green so-and-so from his captors. Trapped and staring down a blaster held by Carl Weathers, the Mandalorian looked to be a sure goner until the rest of his helmeted clan rose up from the underground to deliver jet-pack justice. Did it always make total sense, plot-wise? Ehh. Was it almost a beat-for-beat scenario I'd come up with at 14-years-old, high as balls and in-between rounds of Rogue Squadron on the Nintendo 64? Absolutely, and for that, at least, I appreciate the sweet spot Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are currently nailing.

You probably have questions. I certainly have questions. Let's get into it, starting with what I know is on everyone's mind...

Just WHAT Is a Twi'Lek Healing Bath?

Well, Twi'Leks are the tail-headed race of aliens who constantly pop up throughout the Stars Wars galaxy. Notable examples include the poor green dancer, Oola, that Jabba the Hutt drops into the Rancor pit for not twirling hard enough for his standards. Or Bib Fortuna, the beady-eyed homie that served as Jabba's majordomo, the one who Luke Skywalker mind-tricked like an absolute dunce in Return of the Jedi.

As for their healing baths, I can't say for sure, but jeez, look at my dude Greef Karga's face up there. That's the face of a man who has seen some stuff at a Twi'Lek healing bath, and now all I can wonder about is whether Mandalorians have to keep their helmets on for everything. I mean, everything, everything. But no, this is a mature discussion space and I'm afraid I can't sanction such buffoonery.

Do Mandalorians Keep Their Helmets on When They Bone?

I said we're not sanctioning that.

Is Baby Yoda a Clone?

Unfortunately, I think it's time to accept that The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda is not the product of an 800-year-old frog alien slamming down in-between Jedi council meetings. As some eagle-eyed viewers noticed all the way back in episode 1, while Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahl) himself is clearly not a Kaminoan—they look more like a cross between an ostrich and the things from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—he is rocking their emblem. Kaminoans are cloners, and are best known for creating the Grand Army of the Republic, made up of 10 million clones of a dude who got beheaded by Mace Windu in like, 5 seconds. (Also a Mandalorian, worth noting.) Baby Yoda is 50 years old, born around 40 BBY, one year before a Jedi named Sifo-Dyas secretly commissioned the Clone Army.

So while it remains unclear whether Baby Yoda himself is a clone, it is obvious that The Client wants a whole lot more of him. “Extract the necessary material and be done with it," he tells Pershing, who, intriguingly, responds by saying they have explicit orders to bring in Baby Yoda alive. The little tike is clearly Force-sensitive, and you imagine why the fallen Empire would be interested considering they were basically taken down by one (1) Jedi. There's also precedent for a Slow-Grown Clone™. While the clone army was created to rapidly age into adulthood, the Kaminoans provided Jango Fett with one real boy, a son named Boba Fett, who followed in his dad's footsteps all the way up to a similar, hilariously abrupt death.

 

What Is Dr. Pershing's Agenda?

Peep the ominous basketball-looking droid floating above Dr. Pershing and Baby Yoda at The Client's hangout. That's an IT-O Interrogator, and they are what you'd call a Bad Freakin' Time. The little mechanical nasties first popped up in A New Hope, as Darth Vader looked to torture the location of the Rebel Alliance out of Princess Leia. But also, you know, it's got a little syringe thing sticking out of it, and you're just never gonna' want to encounter a droid with a little syringe thing sticking out of it.

The presence of an IT-O Interrogator in the room is pretty damning for Pershing's intentions, but one of the biggest confirmations of "The Sin" is that the doctor is pretty clearly Team Baby Yoda. "Don't hurt him, it's only a child," he yells as The Mandorian blasts his way into the medical room, followed up by, "I protected him. If it wasn't for me, he'd already be dead."

Now, just speaking for myself, I'd probably say some pretty freaking huge lies to avoid getting laser-gunned to death by the crazed armored maniac who just kicked open my door. But based on the fact Pershing was also decidedly not chill about The Client accepting "dead or alive" terms, it's safe to assume my dude is more pro-science than pro-Empire in this situation.

Am I Going to Have to Watch Baby Yoda Die With My Own Two Eyes?

This is all I've been thinking about since I thought for more than two seconds about when The Mandalorian takes place in the Star Wars timeline. A few years before the show starts, the Empire fell, the second Death Star got blownt to smithereens, and Luke Skywalker started thinking real hard about a new class of Jedi. In the following years, the remnants of the Empire grew into the First Order and we get to the New Trilogy timeline; Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren became a new Sith duo, a Force-sensitive nobody named Rey emerges, and Luke Skywalker Force-pushes his way out of existence.

My point being: Where's Baby Yoda at? Wouldn't another Force-sensitive member of whatever pickled-ass species Yoda is have been super helpful during all that turmoil? Wouldn't someone as in-tune with the Force as Snoke have noticed a lil' Yoda child floating around out there? Basically, why didn't Baby Yoda play any part in The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi? Yes, I'm aware the real answer is "those movies were written first." But we're talking in-universe here, people, which leaves only three options in my head:

1. We're going to have to watch Baby Yoda die. Let that soak in. Breathe. Imagine the property damage the ensuing riots are going to cause.
2. The Mandalorian takes off his mask—a rule this show has been hammering in too much to not become a major plot-point—and settles down on the ocean dunes of Karnak with his beautiful green son.
3. Baby Yoda. Is. Snoke. (I'm still workshopping that one, will get back to you.)

How Did Our Main Mandalorian Survive the "Great Purge"

Speaking of dead children: "The Sin" gave us a few more glimpses into the past as our main character flash-backed to the attack that killed his family. Intriguingly enough, we see the child who would become The Mandalorian—or the child we're assuming becomes The Mandalorian—hiding in a hidden cellar when a droid rips the doors open, lining up its blaster at point-blank range. So the question becomes: How'd our little man survive? That's a B2 Super Battle Droid, not exactly known for mercy or missing. If it was a Stormtrooper I'd get it. A Stormtrooper would not only miss the kid but somehow the blaster bolt would rebound and hit him in his own dick. But something major happened during that attack, something The Mandalorian thinks about every time The Armorer (Emily Swallows) forges him new material.

Which, really, circles back around once again to THE main question of this show...

Who Is The Mandalorian?

With each passing episode, I grow more and more convinced that the answer isn't just "a guy who follows Mandalorian code." For one, this show really, really hits home the fact that Mandalorians can't take off the helmet and having the helmet removed for them is a great dishonor. It wants you to have that on the mind. That Mandalorian rule might as well be known as Chekhov's Helmet. And I want you to go back and watch that knife fight between Mando and his much bulkier comrade again, and not just because it's hilarious that two dudes wearing impenetrable armor are having a knife fight. There is a split-second-long but undeniable pause after The Armorer asks if The Mandalorian has ever had his helmet removed. Again, a few options:

1. We will see The Mandalorian sans mask at some point in this show. To me, that's a given, and it's going to be the significant moment of the show. Whether that's because he's breaking Mandalorian code, or going into hiding, or like, attending Baby Yoda's funeral remains to be seen.
2. The Mandalorian. Is. Snoke. (I'm still workshopping that one, will get back to you.)