Will Yoda (Or Maybe Even Baby Yodas) Be A Part Of 'Star Wars: The High Republic'?

Earlier this week, Lucasfilm announced Star Wars: The High Republic, a new publishing program featuring interconnected stories told across multiple platforms and set 200 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga. The company released a trailer that gave us a behind-the-scenes look at story sessions with various writers involved the program, and now some concept art in that video has fans wondering if Yoda is going to play a role in these stories. Take a look at the screenshots and judge for yourselves below.

It's fascinating to see all the things written on the white boards during the brainstorming sessions, and some of them may give us clues about what to expect when The High Republic publishing era begins later this year. There are essentials like "space battles," "lightsaber battles," and "good vs. evil," but look closer and you may spot a couple of other hints.

LRMOnline points out that in the section of the video featuring Iain McCaig, the artist who designed Darth Maul, you can see a few drawings of characters who appear to be from Yoda's (still unnamed) species, including what may be teenaged versions on the right side of this first photo.

So is this confirmation that Yoda (or a member of his species) will actually play a role in these interconnected stories? Not necessarily. This could just have been McCaig sketching some things for fun. The High Republic is supposed to revolve around a set of heroes and villains that we've never seen before – but since Yoda is one of the few legacy characters whose age allows him to potentially fit into these stories, I wouldn't be remotely surprised to see him pop up at some point. I suspect the temptation is probably too strong for these storytellers (or those who are handing down notes) to be able to show enough restraint to refrain from checking in on 700-year-old Yoda.

I also noticed that the words "Baby Yodas" were circled on the bottom of the whiteboard in one of the shots:

Remember, The Mandalorian takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi, placing it squarely inside the Skywalker Saga on the timeline, so we won't be seeing the Baby Yoda (aka "The Child") appear in these stories. But I would not be surprised to read about a character visiting Yoda's home planet and stumbling across a bustling city or village filled with young Yodas running around.

We'll find out more when The High Republic officially gets underway in August 2020.