The Mandalorian Reveals New Details About Yoda’s Species

The latest episode of The Mandalorian reveals new details about Yoda’s species. Yoda’s species is among the biggest mysteries in the Star Wars universe. Yoda is one of the franchise’s most iconic characters, yet little is known about Yoda’s race. Even the name of his species has never been revealed.

The cliffhanger ending of The Mandalorian series premiere offered the biggest Star Wars twist since the Darth Vader reveal in Empire Strikes Back by introducing “the Child,” who has been nicknamed “Baby Yoda” by fans. Although The Mandalorian‘s first season is already almost over, Baby Yoda’s backstory is still shrouded in secrecy. Regardless, his importance to the show — and to the remnants of the Empire — can’t be overstated.

In episode 7 of The Mandalorian, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) teamed up with Dyn Jarren and his two allies to take down the Client (Werner Herzog), whom has been sending bounty hunters after Jarren and Baby Yoda. After setting up camp, the group is seen feasting on an unidentified animal roasting over a fire. Kuiil (Nick Nolte) feeds the Child some of its meat. This is noticed by Greef Karga, who remarked that Baby Yoda must be a carnivore. This is a slightly inaccurate observation, since Yoda uses vegetables for his rootleaf stew in Empire Strikes Back. This means that Yoda’s people must be omnivores, which is a previously unknown fact about his species.

Given the peaceful, Gandhi-like nature of Yoda, it may have been assumed that the character was a vegetarian, but even if he was, this obviously doesn’t apply to his entire race. Either way, Yoda’s species eating meat does make sense, considering the sharpness of their teeth. Baby Yoda previously ate a frog in episode 2 as well.

Why is Yoda’s species such a mystery? The vast number of novels, comics, cartoons, and video games set in the world of Star Wars have provided countless tidbits of information about Wookies, Twi’leks, Gungans, and Jawas, but have so far strayed away from exploring the species of one of its most important characters. This is explained by the fact that it was always Star Wars creator George Lucas’s intention for Yoda and everything about him to remain a mystery. So while The Mandalorian may still drop a few minor details here and there, it’s likely that the series will stay true to Lucas’ Star Wars vision — at least, in this regard.

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