Oddly enough we have Werner Herzog of all people to partially thank for that:
https://uproxx.com/tv/werner-herzog-baby-yoda-cowards/ They were preparing to shoot a blank slate of the sequence as a backup in case they decided during postproduction that the puppet wasn’t convincing enough and a digital version had to be substituted.
Herzog, known for films about pushing the limits of human ability and endurance, could not hide his contempt.
“You are cowards,” he declared. “Leave it.”
also this is hilarious:
“I was directing Werner with the puppet, and Werner had just fallen in love with the baby. Werner, I think, had forgotten it wasn’t actually a live creature, and started sort of… directing the baby.”
It’s as charming, but no less surreal. “Werner is talking to the baby as if it was a real thing. And I’m trying to direct Werner,” Chow said. “And I’m just like, How did I get here? How did my life end up like this?”