Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow below. 

When Guardians of the Galaxy first hit theaters, fans were delighted by the new character of Groot, who only spoke the same three words over and over again: “I am Groot.” But writer/director James Gunn was quick to point out that not only does Groot have his own language (that Rocket Raccoon clearly understood), but when he writes the scripts for the Guardians movies, he translates Grootspeak into actual lines.

The same was true of Avengers: Infinity War, in which Groot had an admittedly small but vital role. For most of his screentime, Adolescent Groot cares not one bit about what’s going on in the world around him and instead is addicted to playing some kind of mobile gaming device. He does, however, spark up when Thor is in trouble, cutting off his own arm to make a handle for Thor’s new weapon.

And then, devastatingly, Groot falls prey to the Thanos Snap and is one of the many MCU characters to disappear into dust, uttering, “I am Groot” to Rocket as he fades away. Well because he’s an emotional terrorist, James Gunn took to Twitter to reveal exactly what Groot was saying with that final line and, uh, prepare yourself:

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/993265674616221696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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Image via Marvel Studios

Heartbreaking, right? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 brought Baby Groot to the forefront, and the thematic throughline of Guardians 2 was essentially a parenting story about this mismatched family looking out for this little one. So for Groot to utter, “Dad” to Rocket at the end of Infinity War is… man, it’s just a lot.

Gunn had significant input into how the Guardians were portrayed in Infinity War, and there was one major change he suggested that screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus initially rebuffed. When Thanos takes Gamora in front of the Guardians, Peter Quill reluctantly fulfills his promise of killing her so Thanos can’t take her alive. But in the original script, per Buzzfeed, Quill couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

Both Gunn and Chris Pratt argued that Quill would pull the trigger, and eventually Markus and McFeely became convinced this was the better call—and it also tied into various characters making tough choices throughout the film, like Thanos with Gamora and Wanda with Vision.

It’ll be interesting to see how all of this is resolved in Avengers 4, and one imagines the events of these two films will reverberate significantly in Gunn’s planned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which he’s writing now.

For more Avengers: Infinity War questions, theories, and speculation, check out these recent articles:

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