Mandalorian episode 4 adds to Baby Yoda’s cloning theory

The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 4, takes the series back to Nevarro, the planet where Mando first obtained the mission that led him to The Child. So it shouldn’t be surprising that our trip back there revealed more about the Empire’s plans for Baby Yoda than anything that has been so far this season.

Better yet than the Empire’s plans, this episode could also have provided a nice bridge between the Empire and the eventual rise of the First Order and its leader.

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2 episode 4, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker]

If you remember season 1 of The Mandalorian, you’ll probably remember Nevarro was the base of everyone’s least favorite scientist, Doctor Pershing, who pushed and pushed Baby Yoda on behalf of the Client and the Empire. Pershing returned this week just in time to give us some extremely useful information on the types of experiences he was having with Baby Yoda.

Image: Lucasfilm

In the end, he took blood from The Child and transfused it to test subjects – at least one of whom is willing to participate in the process. Unfortunately for the subjects, these experiments did not go well and only the latter volunteer remains. The problem is they are running out of blood, and according to Pershing it will be difficult to find replacement blood with such a high “M number”.

Yes, it’s true. The midi-chlorians have succeeded The Mandalorian. It seems Pershing is just as aware of Baby Yoda’s awesome Force powers as we are, and that is why he uses the child’s blood for his experiments. All of this certainly seems that the Empire’s plan is to give Force-insensitive beings Force powers in order to unleash them on rebellion.

In fact, this plan probably extends to clones as well. In season one, when we got a clear view of the patch on his shirt, we learned that Pershing had a connection to Kamino, the cloning planet where the Republic Army was created. Attack of the clones. In support of this in Episode 4 are the various tanks we see in the background as the Pershing explains their plan. These tanks certainly look like cloning tanks, although this is not explicitly stated in the episode.

Image: Lucasfilm

Inside the tanks are several bodies, including one that looks suspiciously like Snoke, who we learned was a clone early in Rise of Skywalker. But, since that movie offered no real explanation behind the cloning – or Palpatine’s cloned resurrection for that matter – it seems The Mandalorian could step in to provide us with answers. If Pershing is actually trying to give Force powers to those who don’t already have them, this could all be in preparation for Snoke’s eventual creation and Palpatine’s resurrection.

For now though, it appears the Empire and its emissary, Moff Gideon, have more immediate plans for these experiments. At the end of Episode 4, we see Gideon as he inspects a room filled with strange new infantry units. It’s definitely not your standard white armor grunts. Instead, these soldiers are huge and wear black armor – much like the Imperial Death Troopers Gideon employs in Season 1. They are also connected to what looks like an external breathing apparatus, and generally appear enough to remind Darth Vader himself. It’s also possible that these are simply armor that Gideon plans to give to anyone who passes Pershing’s tests in one piece, or maybe even droids.

While they don’t give us a full explanation in the episode, it certainly looks like Moff Gideon could be building a Force-sensitive stormtrooper squadron for himself. These new opponents, combined with Ahsoka Tano likely appearing in the next episode, mean that The Mandalorian may include many more Force members in the very near future.