When Jon Favreau sat down to write the second episode of The Mandalorian season 2 and decided that Baby Yoda would get a little peckish and have to be stopped on numerous occasions from chowing down on the Frog Lady’s eggs, he probably thought that it would be a humorous running gag that would capitalize on the undying love that the fanbase has for Mando’s tiny sidekick.
That’s exactly what it was, but he also underestimated both the instant popularity of the Frog Lady herself, as well as the internet’s ability to find even the most trivial of things offensive. Indeed, almost as soon as “The Passenger” hit Disney Plus, there was uproar about Baby Yoda’s feeding frenzy, with some folks even going so far as to label him as a genocidal maniac and cold-blooded murderer.
Luckily, the fans swiftly forgave the show’s breakout star when he went back to his usual antics of being the cutest thing in the Star Wars universe, but not before Lucasfilm staff had been forced to wade into the argument to defend the creative decision that took on a life of its own on social media. Daisy Ridley has now commented on the mini-backlash as well, and the franchise’s former female lead has definitively sided with Baby Yoda, saying she saw no issue with his pangs of hunger.
“Look, Mando’s gotta eat, Yoda’s got to get strong. That’s just that. No, I’m like, ‘Yoda, do your thing’. The creature got to be where she needed to be with the eggs. It’s all good. It was beautiful.”
Not only did Baby Yoda atone for his sins the following week, but the Frog Lady’s emotional reunion with her husband also captured the public’s imagination and saw the amphibious couple become fan favorites in their own right. Based on the initial reactions, though, The Mandalorian‘s writing team will no doubt be more careful next time when it comes to addressing The Child’s eating habits.
