This week’s episode of The Mandalorian gave viewers some huge insight into The Child’s backstory via a lengthy expository spiel from Rosario Dawson’s debuting Ahsoka Tano, and the little guy even has a name now. Of course, it would be foolish to expect anyone to call Grogu anything other than Baby Yoda given how deeply he’s ingrained himself into the hearts and minds of the fanbase, but it at least unravels several layers of the mystery surrounding him.
Ahsoka revealed that Mando’s surrogate son was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he was trained by some of the finest Jedi Masters of the era, only to be hidden during the Empire’s rise to power. Of course, that ties in directly with Order 66 being executed in Revenge of the Sith, when Ahsoka’s mentor Anakin Skywalker fully embraced the Dark Side of the Force and slaughtered the Younglings.
The Mandalorian has established that Baby Yoda is around 50 years old, and with the show taking place roughly 25 years after the aforementioned movie, Grogu would have been even smaller back then. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans from accusing him of abandoning the rest of the Younglings, and you can check out some of the reactions to the reveal down below.
Wow, can't believe I missed Baby Yoda hiding from Anakin this whole time!#TheMandalorian #Grogu pic.twitter.com/R0digO4z5T
— Harri Elmer (@HarriElmer) November 27, 2020
(MANDO SPOILERS)
Anakin Skywalker: *murdering all the younglings*#Grogu: pic.twitter.com/3xTjKFagvi
— Kamino Saber Dart (@KaySabe) November 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/lilrashizzle/status/1332255227555311616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1332255227555311616%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fstarwars%2Fnews%2Fthe-mandalorian-star-wars-fans-are-accusing-baby-yoda-of-leaving-younglings-to-die%2F
Grogu leaving the Jedi temple while Anakin was killing the younglings #TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/yC9vhz1lnG
— Khadj (@GanzgangK) November 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/mcuwaititi/status/1332250743743672320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1332250743743672320%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fstarwars%2Fnews%2Fthe-mandalorian-star-wars-fans-are-accusing-baby-yoda-of-leaving-younglings-to-die%2F
Baby Yoda when Anakin came to the Jedi Temple to kill the foundlings… #Grogu #TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/9TggTj0DKt
— Aaron Carter Bates, Esq. (@acarterbates) November 27, 2020
Anakin: *walks into a room full of younglings with his lightsaber activated*
Baby Yoda (Grogu):#mandalorian pic.twitter.com/o7eww3SCuj— yes (@overratednunez9) November 27, 2020
Following a series of big revelations in “The Jedi,” The Mandalorian is clearly being positioned as a bridging point in the Star Wars mythology that ties the canon of both the animated shows and the movies together, and Baby Yoda appears to have connections to all corners of the universe, with the world surrounding Mando and his charge getting bigger on a weekly basis.