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ooops-i-arted · 1 year

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I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the Season 3 premiere from your child development POV!

And I am excited to write them! I will try to get them out in a timely manner during the season. As always, there will be spoilers in this post.

For me, the biggest takeaway from the episode as a whole is what I already touched on in my previous post: Grogu is acting like a happy, healthy, normal child. He is happy to interact with familiar people and even with strangers, provided a trusted adult is nearby. He's peeking out of his pod, engaged in whatever's going on. He's friendly and waves greetings. Even when Din is talking to the Armorer or Greef, we see him playing like a kid or even paying attention to what's going on and adding his own "commentary" of cooes and babbling. Compare that to season 1 when he hides in his pod and is very quiet most of the time! (Not to mention acting ashamed of stealing the ball in The Sin, and now he's known in the fandom for Baby Crimes lol.)

Regarding the ball, it doesn't make an appearance yet but I hope it does. (The necklace too.) I assume Din is carrying it safely in his belt pouch or perhaps Grogu has a special compartment in his pod, but I would guess Din makes sure it's safe and sound. My own parents certainly went to great lengths to make sure my blankie was safe and accounted for when I was a kid, because they knew the upset should it be lost!

Speaking of my own experience, I also loved Grogu entertaining himself in Greef's office with the chair and candy. It just felt so authentic and natural because it's exactly what I did as a kid in my dad's office! (My dad even said the same thing when I made him watch the clip.) Children engage in their environment and learn through play. This is another way Grogu is acting like a normal child - we saw much less casual play and it was usually involving other children (Sorgan) or a familiar item (the ball). Here he is exploring the motion of the chair, the sensation of spinning and how fun it is, using his Force skills to nab himself his candy. He also minds when Din makes the chair stop spinning. He no longer has to misbehave to get Din's attention. He knows that one noise, and Dad will be right there. Din is the safe, secure caretaker he needs and he knows he will be cared for the moment he needs it. We also see this when IG-11 activates - notably, Grogu isn't particularly perturbed (and we know the puppet + sound engineers can make him be so) as he's tossed between Greef and Din. He knows he's with safe people and they will protect him. It may also be some misplaced trust in IG-11 - a childlike innocence and belief that IG won't really hurt him, this is a friend. Luckily we didn't find out.

Din is really stepping up as a parent and fully embracing the role. We see him talking to and educating Grogu, involving him in things like it's second nature. (Because it's good in general, and how else are you gonna entertain a kid on those long flights?) Din is really comfortable with the role and it shows. Grogu instantly using Din's bandolier as a seatbelt, and crawling into Din's lap when he wants for cuddles, also seems familiar and a regular habit for them. This suggests Din is teaching Grogu to be safe as well as welcoming affection from Grogu so much it's become natural and comfortable for them both. (Side note but I am SO RELIEVED Grogu's bubble and the pilot compartment are connected. What if Grogu had choked on something when they were in hyperspace and Din couldn't get to him????)

Of course we gotta address the big Cute Baby Yoda Moment of the episode: No squeezie! It was really cute that Grogu was so excited his droid friend could be fixed and I'm sure he meant well, but this here is what we call "a teachable moment" in the education field. Grogu is old enough to learn about consent. When one of my students goes in for a hug that isn't wanted, I stop them and remind them they need to ask first. Their friend may not want a hug. I always assure them it's nice they asked, but their friend can say no thank you. Sometimes people want space, and that's okay. It's good Din stopped Grogu and I hope that offscreen he took the next step of teaching Grogu to ask first - and, of course, offering Grogu a hug himself if Grogu still needed one.

(TEACH HIM SIGN LANGUAGE, DIN, SO HE CAN ASK FOR THINGS. OR AT LEAST TAKE HIM TO A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST.)

The only other child in the episode is the Mandalorian one at the beginning. (Fun fact: he's the actor who was Boba's Tusken kid friend!) In Legends Mandalorians were considered "of age" at 13 so I wonder if they're keeping this aspect. Obviously a 13-year-old is not anywhere near an adult irl. (With apologies to any 13-year-olds following me: I know you don't wanna hear it, but I promise you'll get it when you're older.) But like I've said before, it's just A Thing in Star Wars to have kids doing grown-up stuff and it's what makes it so enduring for all ages, so it doesn't really bother me in this context.

We do see the adult Mandalorians protect and look out for the kid still, and his helmet has a wider visor than anyone else's and is sized for a kid, perhaps suggesting it's a "training" version and not a full one. These seem to imply that Mandalorian youths aren't thrown to the wolves as soon as they swear the Creed but it's part of their culture's rituals and a coming-of-age thing. I guess the closest comparison I have is going through confirmation through my family's church when I was maybe 13 or 14ish. I'm not going to touch on religious/cultural headgear or apparel because I was raised Methodist Christian, am now atheist, and neither require anything like that and I don't feel knowledgeable enough to have an informative commentary on it.

We are definitely off to a good start with the child development aspect! I could go on for days about how lovely Grogu's behavior as a regular, curious child and his warm and loving relationship with Din is, and I hope I get to do so for every episode!

(FYI these posts are tagged "baby yoda meta" if you want to search them on my blog.)

#mandalorian spoilers #baby yoda meta #the mandalorian #grogu #baby yoda

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