Warning: This article contains spoilers for I Am Groot season two.
This is a friendly reminder not to sleep on I Am Groot. Although it may be the shortest of Marvel’s many Disney Plus series to date by some margin, its sneaky MCU Easter eggs and cameos mean it is still not to be missed. Case in point, the final episode of season two — which just made its streaming premiere this Sep. 6 — drops the bombshell that Groot is one of the most significant heroes anywhere in the Earth-99999 universe.
In season two episode five, “Groot and the Great Prophecy,” Jeffrey Wright returns from What If…? as the Watcher, as the cosmic being observes Groot stumbling into an ancient temple on the planet Drez-Lar where his part in a mythical prophecy is about to play out. The Watcher believes Groot is destined to protect the Last Seed of Drez-Lar, which is foreseen to “usher the universe into a glorious new age.” Baby Groot is going to Baby Groot, though, and his clumsiness results in the seed, and the temple’s, destruction. The Watcher is confused by the turn of events, until Groot emerges from the rubble, confirming that he is the seed referred to in the prophecy.
It’s feasible that the prophecy applies to Groot’s role in helping defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, but it’s more likely that the Flora Colossus’ destiny is yet to play out. Clearly, Groot goes on to do something truly great and universe-changing after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Whether intended or not, I Am Groot has now given Marvel the perfect starting point for a fourth Guardians movie that could focus on Groot in the same way that the threequel did Rocket. Perhaps even tying into his Planet X origins too, just as Vin Diesel wants.
As further proof Groot is on a whole other level from most lifeforms, he is twice able to see the Watcher watching him in this short. Although played for laughs, this is a huge deal as previously the only being capable of perceiving the outer edges of reality in this way was Infinity Ultron, and that was only because he was armed with the Infinity Stones. Again, Groot — the only one of his kind, remember, something the equally ancient Collector found fascinating in Guardians 1 — has much more to him than meets the eye.
I Am Groot season two is streaming on Disney Plus now.