Grogu?!? Baby Yoda’s Real Name on ‘The Mandalorian’ Revealed!

Hardcore Star Wars fans had sensed that this week’s all-new episode of The Mandalorian would be a big one, but we had no idea. Rosario Dawson made her debut as Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn got teased, and Michael Biehn showed up, but none of that was huge as the reveal of Baby Yoda’s real name. While his official “name” has been The Child, today we finally learned that Baby Yoda’s name is Grogu.

GROGU!?!? Yes, that is the tiny verdant lump of adorableness’s official name and naturally, Twitter has some thoughts…

Warring opinions on Baby Yoda’s name aside, The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 “The Jedi” gave us more information on Grogu’s backstory than ever before. The revelations gifted to us by Ahsoka Tano help explain Baby Yoda’s origin and elucidate a bit more about the overall Star Wars timeline. Here’s why Grogu’s name reveal is such a big deal and why it opens up so many storytelling opportunities for The Mandalorian…

BABY YODA’S REAL NAME IS GROGU?!? REALLY, MANDALORIAN?

Yup! It’s Grogu. Of course, we can keep calling him Baby Yoda, but as The Mandalorian showed us, he really does get a thrill out of being called Grogu. So think of Baby Yoda and try not to keep calling him, uh, Baby Yoda.

Anyway, in The Mandalorian Chapter 13, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) travels to the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus. He’s there to take wee Grogu back to his people, i.e. the Jedi. What he doesn’t perhaps realize is that Calodan is in the grips of a major face-off between former Jedi Ahsoka Tano and the local magistrate, Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). As it turns out, Ahsoka is not only trying to save Calodan from Elsbeth’s evil, but learn the location of Elsbeth’s “master,” Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Now I’m going to try to suppress my nerd hype over the Thrawn drop as best I can but — OH MY GOD GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN IS GOING TO BE IN STAR WARS!!! OFFICIALLY!! REALLY!!! IN THE FLESH!!! — what’s interesting is that when Mando and Baby Yoda finally meet Ahsoka, she flat out refuses to train Grogu.

Through the Force, Ahsoka is able to access the little guy’s memories. That’s how she’s able to know that Baby Yoda’s real name is Grogu, but there’s so much more. She explains that he was raised at the Jedi Temple by many masters, but around the time of Order 66, he was snuck out. (Probably by a Dark Side user? In the employ of Palpatine?) This is important for two reasons. It means that Baby Yoda, er, I mean Grogu, is NOT a clone of Yoda. Moreover, he’s been so traumatized by the Dark Side that he’s been not only hiding the bulk of his Force abilities, but that Ahsoka refuses to train him.

That said…she does suggest another Jedi might be up to the task…

Photo: Lucasfilm WILL LUKE SKYWALKER SHOW UP IN THE MANDALORIAN?

So Star Wars fans have been high key wondering for a while if Luke Skywalker himself might show up in The Mandalorian. That’s because at this time in the Star Wars canon, Luke was indeed in search of possible trainees (who would eventually get massacred by little Ben Solo in his quest to become Kylo Ren). Given that, and the fact that Marvel actor Sebastian Stan has already volunteered — with Mark Hamill’s seeming blessing — to slide into the role of Luke, it’s a possibility! And Ahsoka’s parting words to Mando and Grogu tease that it could happen.

Ahsoka explains that she will not train Grogu because he has too much fear in him and he’s become too emotionally attached to Din Djarin. Hardcore Star Wars fans will understand that her reluctance comes from watching her own master, Anakin Skywalker, fall from grace due to the same weaknesses. However, she does offer Mando a source of hope…

Ahsoka directs Din Djarin to take Grogu to the planet Tython where he must visit the ruins of an ancient Jedi temple. There, it seems, Grogu will either attract the attention of a Jedi searching for others…or not. (Or he could attract a Sith, which would be bad!) Given that we know for a fact Luke Skywalker was actively looking for other Force users at this time, it sounds like he might show up! Other possibilities, though, include Star Wars Rebels character Ezra Bridger or even Kal Cestis from the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

So there you have it… The Mandalorian revealed Baby Yoda’s name, set the stage for the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and teased Luke Skywalker’s arrival. All in an episode that was supposed to be all about Ahsoka Tano. (And it was!)

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