Mandalorian Chapter 13: Biggest Reveal For Baby Yoda

Spoilers ahead, tread carefully.

It’s been about a year since The Child unexpectedly came into our lives and united the internet in adoration of his large green ears and giant round eyes. He’s scientifically adorable.

With no name to call him, he became known as “Baby Yoda,” in reference to the famous Jedi of his same species. His official title, “The Child,” simply wasn’t as catchy. But now, one and a half seasons later, we’ve finally learned his name: Grogu.

The last few episodes of The Mandalorian have been revealing intriguing tidbits about the Mandalorians, whatever Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) is up to, and now about Baby Yoda — er, Grogu — himself. In the episode “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” Din (Pedro Pascal) arrives on the planet Corvus in search of Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson).

The town’s oppressive magistrate (Diana Lee Inosanto) tasks him with killing Ahsoka in exchange for a spear made of pure beskar. After a brief, but exciting, scuffle between the two of them, Mando reveals to Ahsoka that he was actually there because of The Child. She quietly communicates with The Child, using The Force to probe his thoughts, and reveals his name.

Grogu’s name shows the bond between him and Mando

It’s long been hard to tell how much Grogu understands of the world around him and especially what people are saying to him. Last episode saw Mando trying to get him to fix some wires, but the kid was unable or unwilling to follow instructions. Then he used The Force to steal space macarons after being told he couldn’t have them (although, those were certainly his least controversial snack). All that aside, in this episode he very clearly understands his own name.

Mando was just as surprised as viewers to learn The Child’s name. When he said “Grogu,” the kid had an immediate response every time: Quickly turning to face Mando, brightening, almost smiling, and cooing. It clearly showed that, as Ahsoka pointed out, Grogu is attached to Mando and sees him as a father figure.

Of course, that attachment is exactly why Ahsoka is unwilling to train Grogu. It reminds her of her own mentor-gone-evil, Anakin Skywalker. Like Yoda once told Anakin, Ahsoka tells Grogu that she senses much fear in him.

At the end of the episode, Ahsoka tells Mando that he could take Grogu to an ancient temple, where the child can choose his own path and potentially invite another Jedi to come find him. If Grogu does undergo Jedi training in this way, then maybe he’ll prove that attachments to people don’t necessarily turn one to the Dark Side.