The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5, "The Jedi" explains why the adorable Baby Yoda has demonstrated a few evil tendencies. As the Disney+ show enters the latter half of its second season, it is starting to answer persisting questions regarding its narrative. That includes additional information about the mysterious Child, whose real name has now been revealed: Grogu.
As Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) continues his mission to reunite Baby Yoda with his people, his quest led him to an encounter with Ahsoka Tano on the planet Corvus. This marked the live-action debut of the fan-favorite Star Wars character played by Rosario Dawson. While Ahsoka is technically no longer a Jedi after she left the Order following an incident where she was wrongfully accused of a crime, she's still able to shed some light on Grogu's past. Aside from revealing Baby Yoda's real name, she also shared some pertinent details about his past before Din found him in The Mandalorian premiere.
According to Ahsoka, Grogu grew up in the Jedi Temple in Coruscant and was actually trained to be a Jedi by many masters. When Order 66 was given and the Jedi younglings were slaughtered by Anakin Skywalker, someone saved Baby Yoda from sharing their fate. Unfortunately, his memory became dark after that, so he doesn't know who took him and what happened to him until he was rescued by Din. Ahsoka also revealed that due to this horrifying experience, there's a great deal of fear in Baby Yoda, who has come to rely on his attachment to Mando. As said by Jedi Master Yoda himself, "fear is the path to the dark side." This provides an explanation for why Baby Yoda has evil tendencies — when his fear takes over, he's lured to the dark side of the Force.
For the most part, Baby Yoda has been nothing but an adorable infant who typically appears to be helpless. Mando's allies are as enamored by him as those watching The Mandalorian. But while he's cute, he isn't exactly all good. Through the course of the show, he has shown that he is susceptible to being tempted by the dark side. In The Mandalorian season 1, episode 7, "The Reckoning," Grogu used his powers to Force choke Cara Dune (Gina Carano) as he watched the former Rebel shock trooper engaged in an arm wrestle with Din. Despite being nothing more than a friendly competition, when neither backed down Baby Yoda took it upon himself to help Mando. Given Ahsoka's revelation that the Child has developed a strong attachment to Din, him tapping into the dark side of the Force to ensure his safety now makes better sense.
Baby Yoda once again gave in to the temptation, albeit in a less violent manner, when he went for the Frog Lady's eggs in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 2 titled "Chapter 10: The Passenger." After Din caught him munching on them, he reprimanded Grogu and told him not to do it again. Still, Baby Yoda continued to eat the eggs. A similar thing happened when he was left to attend class in Nevarro in episode 4 of the same season titled "Chapter 12: The Siege;" Baby Yoda used the Force to grab his seatmate's cookies, which may have looked adorable but is technically still stealing. Both these instances may not have anything to do with his attachment to Din, but these can be chalked up to Grogu's fear of starvation, which he may have very well experienced after he was left to fend off for himself.
Whether or not Baby Yoda gets fully lured by the dark side is unknown at this point with Ahsoka refusing to take him in to train. Instead, she sent Din to a new mission — bring Grogu to Tython and let him choose his path. This means The Mandalorian still has a long way to go before the mystery of Baby Yoda is finally resolved.