'The Mandalorian' Revealed Why Moff Gideon Experimented on Baby Yoda
Season Two, Episode Five of The Mandalorian, “The Siege,” is, well, more of the same. Which, again! Isn’t such a bad thing, if you keep reminding yourself that we aren’t even a year removed from the Force oopsie that almost killed Chewie. Mando teams up with friends to blow up Imperial goons, Baby Yoda makes a couple GIFs you can send to your mom afterward (feat: baby’s first day of school!), and there’s a nod to the larger storyline.
This week, that nod comes via hologram, from Dr. Pershing, the meanie who stole Baby Yoda away in Season One to run experiments on. Until this episode, we didn’t know quite what was going on there. The hologram pops up when Mando and his crew are storming an Imperial base, which—upon sight of some Baby Snoke-looking fetuses—they realize is a laboratory. Pershing addresses his message to Moff Gideon, talking about what is likely his big Baby Yoda experiment—taking his blood, injecting it in those fetuses—mentioning his M-count, i.e. the midi-chlorians that live inside Force users.
"Replicated the results of the subsequent trials, which also resulted in catastrophic failure. There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but, then, sadly, the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt we'll find a donor with a higher M-count, though. I recommend that we suspend all experimentation. I fear that the volunteer will meet the same regrettable fate if we proceed with the transfusion. Unfortunately, we have exhausted our initial supply of blood. The Child is small, and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him. If these experiments are to continue as requested, we would again require access to the donor. I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon."
First of all: Hilarious that midi-chlorians have been roasted by Star Wars fans to the point that the word is at Voldemort status. So we have to roll with M-count now. Anyway. Sounds like those experiments didn't quite work out. Plus, we see the lab explode afterward. But the episode ends with Moff Gideon in a command cruiser, looking at rows of idle Stormtrooper-supersoldier-looking baddies.
Which leads you to think: Gideon’s plan isn't quite dead. Most likely, the goal is to inject the Stormtroopers with Force serum/blood/midi-chlorian vitamins, make them Force-sensitive, and reassert Imperial control. So, we can expect Gideon—in the last four episodes—to try and kidnap Baby Yoda, take some more blood, and fire up his wrecking crew.
Now, that’s all good and well, but what happens if and when these volunteer bodies take to the blood? Because this is Baby Yoda’s blood we’re talking about. Will these supersoldiers develop a sudden and uncontrollable craving for space macaroons? Tormenting every child who won’t share food with them? Wave their hands in the air during every space fight, urping up an adorable little vom-bomb at the end?
Or, will these experiments result in a powerful and horrible-looking Force user like, say, Snoke or a Palpatine clone? As we know, Snoke is described as an artificial humanoid male of "mysterious" origins. Is The Mandalorian setting itself up to reveal the Snoke backstory that fans never got in Disney's new Skywalker trilogy movies?
Who’s to say? Moff’s gotta think of these things.
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