The new Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian has been hailed for a strong pro-life plotline centring around the new Baby Yoda character.
The new character in Disney+’s flagship series has already cemented the show’s legacy, dominating pop culture and social media, appearing in tens of thousands of memes despite only being available to watch in a limited number of countries.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
We get our first glimpse of Baby Yoda towards the end of episode one after the shows unnamed title character and bounty hunter, “The Mandalorian”, refuses to “terminate” baby Yoda and prevents bounty droid, IG-11, played by kiwi star Taika Waititi, from doing the same.
The Mandalorian encounters the IG-11 droid soon after he receives his mission to retrieve a mysterious asset, which turns out to be baby Yoda.
With the help of the bounty droid, the Mandalorian is able to infiltrate the basecamp holding baby Yoda but he soon learns that IG-11’s orders are to ‘terminate the asset’.
As he raises his arm to blast and ‘terminate’ baby Yoda, IG-11 is interrupted by the Mandalorian who says, “No. We’ll bring it in alive”.
Yet, IG-11 responds “the commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated”.
The droid raises his arm again but is prevented from terminating baby Yoda by the Mandalorian who blasts IG-11 instead of the Baby Yoda.
Subsequent episodes show that as a result of rescuing baby Yoda the bounty hunter will now become the hunted.
One commentator has picked up on the pro-life themes in the series. In his review for episode three, Jon Del Arroz likens baby Yoda to unborn babies – completely helpless and unable to survive on their own.
He states this is particularly the case when baby Yoda ends up in the hands of those who want to cause him harm
He adds: “We are only a civilization if we protect the innocent. We are only honourable if we protect the innocent, we have to do everything to protect the innocent.”
This is not the first time that pro-life themes in Star Wars have been highlighted by fans of the franchise.
The original Yoda character which first appeared in Return of The Jedi has said “judge me by my size do you, and well you should not,” which has been frequently used by pro-lifers to highlight that the size of a baby, whether born or unborn, does not determine a baby’s value.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said:
“Intentionally or not, the theme of the intrinsic right to life of all pervades The Mandalorian wonderfully with its strong pro-life plotline executed around the captivating Baby Yoda.
“Unfortunately, such pro-life messaging in mainstream series is rare despite them resonating so well with many audiences.
“Abortion activists are always trying to use TV to normalise abortion as “basic healthcare,” wouldn’t it be wonderful if these storylines inspired lawmakers and wider society to push for better healthcare for unborn babies?”
