'The Mandalorian' Episode 1 twist ending confirms a huge leak

The ending of The Mandalorian’s first episode — simply called “Chapter 1” — is streaming live on Disney+, and the entire thing is great. But, the big payoff is a huge twist ending that totally changes the tone of the series. But, it turns out, if you’ve been following the scum and villainy of Star Was plot leaks, this particular plot point was spoiled a tiny bit before the show’s debut. Here’s what the twist ending could mean, and why we’re about to see a very different show than we thought.

Full spoilers ahead for The Mandalorian: Chapter 1

At the very end of the episode, after trying to find out what mysterious person he’s been tasked with apprehending, the Mando discovers a little, green, baby! Is it Yoda! No, it’s not literally Baby Yoda, but instead, a member of Yoda’s species. Because Yoda’s species ages very slowly, this little baby Yoda-ling is “only” 50-years-old. But, earlier in the episode, it’s mentioned that a bunch of “other” people are living in this little enclave, implying, in the next few episodes, we could see several members of Yoda’s species.

Last month, some fans theorized and at least one person online claimed this was all going to happen. The leak basically said that several members of Yoda’s species would appear in The Mandalorian, and that the species would finally get a name. This rumor suggested the new Yodas wouldn’t show up until the sixth episode of the series, so at least one aspect of this leak is clearly false.

Is this little creature Force-sensitive? Are they directly related to Yoda in any way? Right now, we don’t know, but so far, in terms of onscreen movie canon, we’ve only seen two members of this species: Yoda and Yaddle. If you ship Yoda/Yaddle (which, why not?) you might want to believe that this little baby is their offspring, which would suggest that it does have Jedi-potential.

But then again, because The Mandalorian takes place after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens, it’s not really clear how a baby Jedi-would change the balance of everything. Plus, if this thing was Yoda’s baby, he would probably have mentioned it at some point, right? Chances are, this creature is a member of Yoda’s species but not Force-sensitive.

Then again, why bring on a little Yoda to your new Star Wars show if it can’t use the Force? Right now, the existing rumors and leaks suggested that George Lucas helped craft some of The Mandalorian, which means, whatever happens next, will surely change what we know about this part of the Star Wars story, forever.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 is streaming now on Disney+. Chapter 2 airs on Friday, November 15.