The Mandalorian revealed a big Baby Yoda secret and sent the internet into meltdown
We finally know the Child’s real name, and it’s not Baby Yoda
Warning: this is the way towards major spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5 – so stop here if you haven't seen the latest episode!
Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian practically knocked us over with reveal after reveal, from a Grand Admiral Thrawn namedrop, a reference to Anakin Skywalker, and – of course – the first-ever live-action appearance of Ahsoka Tano. But the one thing the internet is obsessed over now is the surprise of Baby Yoda’s real name – the mysterious little creature is in fact called Grogu.
While it’s absolutely going to be hard to break the habit of calling him Baby Yoda, it’s also nice to finally have a name for the Child – although, admittedly, it is kind of weird that it doesn’t start with a "Y".
We also discovered that Grogu escaped Order 66, the infamous order that lead to most of the Jedi being killed. It turns out Grogu was trained in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, presumably as a youngling (despite being 50 years old, the same age as Darth Vader) – which means he was rescued from Anakin’s murderous fall to the Dark side.
Of course, the reaction on Twitter to Baby Yoda’s past has been huge – and as much as some people seem to love the name, there are still some who insist Baby Yoda is the only term for them, and some who just aren’t keen on his real moniker.
Scroll on for a look at the internet’s thoughts.
mando spoilers // #TheMandalorian din saying grogu's real name is like when your parents use your full name on you. nervous and full attention lmao pic.twitter.com/JWTkdN1WdXNovember 27, 2020
We are witnessing the rise of Grogu pic.twitter.com/EtLPU6gHVGNovember 27, 2020
grogu who? i only know baby yoda#TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/GXDlOlar0KNovember 27, 2020
Grogu??? Are we serious rn? THATS his name!? May as well have named him Gogurt... #TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/6xVbJFW3uwNovember 27, 2020
GROGU?! #TheMandalorian #TheChild pic.twitter.com/SjebkpL4OsNovember 27, 2020
There were also jokes about Grogu making it off of Coruscant, as well as him travelling to the planet Tython to try and contact other Jedi:
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cal, ezra, luke and leia when they hear grogu call through the force pic.twitter.com/lIVpMuMBURNovember 27, 2020
"All right, if the Chancellor insists Anakin be on the council, let's not tell him about Grogu. Just in case..."#TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/bG63QL89xvNovember 27, 2020
Overall, it’s safe to say the internet loved Chapter 13:
#TheMandalorian BEST. EPISODE. EVER.#InDaveWeTrust #Grogu pic.twitter.com/P7CJmt24QbNovember 27, 2020
CW: #TheMandalorian | SpoilersLadies and gentlemen, meet Din Djarin. Grogu’s single father. pic.twitter.com/oc5T2P2XifNovember 27, 2020
GROGU!! GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!!? WAT, QUEEN AHSOKA THO 😼😼😏😏😏 AGHAGHAGHAH, JEEZ, THIS EPISODE HAD NO REASON BEING THIS GOOD! 🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥺😔🥺 #TheMandalorian #AhsokaTano pic.twitter.com/Om8ftEYDKuNovember 27, 2020
We’ll have to wait to find out what happens next with Grogu’s training, or if he chooses to call out to the Jedi at all on Tython. Until then, check out our The Mandalorian season 2 release schedule so you don’t miss the next episode hitting Disney Plus.
I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.