Here's Why Star Wars Shouldn't Reveal Yoda & Grogu's Home World

In a few short weeks, Baby Yoda will become a movie star, crossing from Disney+ to the silver screen when "The Mandalorian and Grogu" premieres in theaters on May 22. It's the first theatrical Star Wars film in nearly seven years, which brings a level of anticipation, as well as pressure. Baby Yoda — real name Grogu — has been one of the best things Disney has done with Star Wars from a pure engagement angle, and the film could be the venue to properly dig into Grogu's mysterious backstory.

Yes, he's a Yoda, or rather, one of whatever Yoda is. To this day, there is no known name for the species, nor for their home world, which has never been mentioned in either the modern canon or the old Star Wars Expanded Universe. We know that Grogu was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and that he was evacuated during Order 66 by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq (Ahmed Best). We also know of only two others of his species in existence — Yoda, and Yaddle, a female member of the Jedi Council who was killed by Count Dooku following the events of "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace."

Many have theorized that Yoda and Yaddle must therefore be Grogu's parents, and a larger origin story could connect back to the as-yet-unidentified home world of the alien race. But while that might sound like an intriguing prospect for "The Mandalorian and Grogu," it's not a good idea.

Star Wars may have built a reputation for eventually explaining every nook and cranny of lore, but Yoda is one of the few longstanding parts of the franchise left unsullied by over-explaining. Plus, Grogu's story at this point isn't even that connected to Yoda. To introduce a home planet now would only bring confusing questions, like why others of the incredibly powerful species haven't shown up to help out with the many galactic crises on the Star Wars timeline.

When Yoda first popped up on Dagobah in 1980's "Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back," he was designed primarily as a fantasy analog — the shriveled wizard in the swamp, begrudgingly guiding the hero to a deeper spiritual understanding. That original version of Yoda, played to perfection by master puppeteer Frank Oz, is irritable, mischievous, and pretty hard on Luke (Mark Hamill), but he's also deeply connected to the Force. The prequels later explain the fall from grace that brought him there, but they don't do anything to address his origins, or the rest of his species (if there are any).

Since 1980, most of the big mysteries of Star Wars have been answered. We know what the Clone Wars are, how the Jedi died, and why Vader's body is mostly machinery. We know about the Sith, and the Mandalorians. We know where lightsaber crystals come from. We know practically every star system by name, and what the Muun do professionally, and why Naboo Astromechs are better than the regular ones, and a million other instances of mildly fun, relatively useless lore. That's Star Wars, and it shouldn't stop being Star Wars. But why can't we have just one thing that stays a mystery?

Yoda, of all things, should be the one to remain a bit shrouded in uncertainty. He was introduced as the franchise's most mystical character to date — a tether to the Force who understood that some things aren't meant to be understood. While Dave Filoni and the rest of Lucasfilm continue to explore some of the franchise's other mythological sides, with new teases about the Mortis Gods appearing in the "Ahsoka" show, it would be nice if Yoda could just be left in peace.

In addition to Yoda being better off left as an enigma, his origins and overall story have very little to do with Grogu at this point. The little guy's journey has been more about the Mandalorians, and breaking free of the Jedi dogma he was likely raised under to choose a material connection with his adoptive father, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal).

Yes, he has immense Force power, and yes, his early years at the Jedi Temple suggest a larger Yoda connection. But that's all pretty ancillary to his story now. Finding a secret world full of tiny green people with off-the-chart midi-chlorian counts wouldn't really be a satisfying conclusion to Grogu's arc, which has taken him in a totally different direction.

To be clear, it would make sense to put some sort of clean wrap-up on Grogu's backstory. But that doesn't have to come with the introduction of a whole planet of Yodas.

At the end of the day, what Disney does with Grogu's story and how they handle the longstanding mystery of Yoda are more subjective matters. Certainly, some fans would like to learn more. But there's another, arguably larger issue, which is that the reveal of a Yoda home world wouldn't really make sense with where we are in Star Wars these days.

To this point, every member of the species we have met has been unbelievably strong in the Force. And, given that Yoda's race can live to be nearly 1,000 years old, it stands to reason that this is a common trait. So if there is in fact some secret Yoda planet out there, why haven't any of its denizens come to help against the Empire, or the Separatists, or the First Order? Why didn't Yoda call for aid? Why hasn't Palpatine tried to find them for his dark Force experiments? And why are only a couple known to have ever been Jedi?

It starts to fall apart the second you think about it too hard. Yoda makes way more sense as a spiritual mystery — a being delivered to the Jedi by galactic providence (or malice, depending on your view of the guy). Given that Grogu is basically an infant for decades, it stands to reason that Yoda and Yaddle similarly wouldn't remember the exact circumstances of their births. 

Of course, there must be some sort of definitive answer, but do we really need to know it? It's doubtful that George Lucas had one. Why do we need one now? Would seeing the Yoda home world make Star Wars better? Or would it just further pollute an already crowded mythos with one more heavy-handed lore dump, erasing the elegant simplicity that made Lucas' films so compelling in the first place?

What's wrong with letting the little frog men be a mystery? Where's the harm? I'm on the record praising many of the things Disney has done with Star Wars, but some things are meant to be left alone. Yoda is Yoda. You want to throw another one in the mix? Fine. But playing with macro Force lore is a dangerous space, and you're always going to make a substantial portion of the fandom angry.

Maybe there's some wild twist down the line once Grogu's old enough to talk (which could happen in the movie). Maybe these are really the Whills — the mystical beings George Lucas first envisioned as chroniclers of the Star Wars saga. Or maybe they were conceived of the Force at key moments, and we'll discover their Mortis connection in "Ahsoka" season 2.

Personally, I'd rather none of that take place, but something more mystical would still be preferable to a literal "World of Warcraft" town full of magical green carnivores. There's no point to it, other than generating a brief bit of a headline moment. And I think we can all agree that Disney Star Wars has already had enough of those.