By George Bate, Josh Bate, and Julie Catherine
The Mandalorian created an amazing tradition of including incredible references and easter eggs to the broader Star Wars universe in its debut season and this tradition continued with the recently concluded second season. Here is a rundown of all the easter eggs, references, and trivia facts we noticed from The Mandalorian season 2 (this list is not exhaustive):
Chapter 9: The Marshal
Graffiti of Stormtroopers and C-3PO can be seen on walls at the beginning of Chapter 9.
Gor Koresh is voiced by actor John Leguizamo. Koresh is an Abyssin, a species with a single eye and green skin first seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope.
Mos Pelgo was first introduced in the Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion pack for the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In canon, Mos Pelgo was first mentioned in Aftermath.
Cobb Vanth first appeared in an interlude chapter in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath novel. Chapter 9 marks his first live-action appearance. Vanth is played by Timothy Olyphant, who has created somewhat of a reputation of playing lawmen. He played lawmen in Deadwood, Justified, The Crazies, and even an actor playing a lawman in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Timothy Olyphant and W. Earl Brown play Marshal Cobb Vanth and the Mos Pelgo bartender respectively. Olyphant plays Sheriff Bullock and Brown plays the bartender of the Gem Saloon in Deadwood, paralleling their roles in The Mandalorian.
Cobb Vanth’s speeder resembles Anakin’s podracer in The Phantom Menace.
The hologram depicting the destruction of Death Star II is footage from Return of the Jedi.
Cobb Vanth’s destruction of the raiders in Chapter 9: The Marshal of The Mandalorian resembles a similar scene in Iron Man. Both projects were directed by Jon Favreau.
Ben Kenobi does a Krayt dragon call to scare Tusken Raiders away in A New Hope. In Chapter 9, Tusken Raiders collaborate with Din Djarin and Cobb Vanth to defeat a Krayt dragon.
Din Djarin, Cobb Vanth, and the Tusken Raiders trying to defeat a Krayt dragon in The Mandalorian was inspired by a mission in Knights of the Old Republic, in which Revan and Komad team up to kill a Krayt dragon and take its pearl.
Djarin hitting Cobb Vanth’s jetpack is almost identical to Han accidentally smacking Boba Fett’s jetpack and subsequently sending him flying in the air in Return of the Jedi.
Temuera Morrison makes his first live-action appearance as Boba Fett at the end of Chapter 9, confirming in canon that the character survived his fall in the sarlacc pit.
Chapter 10: The Passenger
A mark on the wall left by Greedo’s blaster in A New Hope can be seen in concept art of the Mos Eisley Cantina in Chapter 10.
A WED-15 Treadwell droid can be seen roasting meat on a pod racer engine. At Galaxy’s Edge, an eatery called Ronto Roasters claims to cook its meat in the same way, although the burning pod racer engine is just for show.
Before appearing in season 2, the frog lady appeared in Chapter 5: The Gunslinger. She is voiced by Star Wars veteran Dee Bradley Baker and played by Misty Rosas, who played Kuiil in the first season,
This character’s name is Dr. Mandible and he too appeared in Chapter 5: The Gunslinger. Interestingly, Chapter 10 was directed by Ant-Man director Peyton Reed and this character resembles an insect.
Din Djarin, The Child, and Frog Lady in Chapter 10: The Passenger are stranded on Maldo Kreis, the same planet that Din Djarin captures the Mythrol on in Chapter 1.
The spider egg scene in Chapter 10: The Passenger of The Mandalorian is a reference to a similar sequence in Alien in which the Nostromo crew discover a nest of facehugger eggs.
The spider creatures in Chapter 10: The Passenger of The Mandalorian resemble the Krykna, creatures that appear in Star Wars Rebels, and Ralph McQuarrie’s Dagobah concept art for The Empire Strikes Back.
Chapter 11: The Heiress
The crane in the port on Trask in Chapter 11 of The Mandalorian has the same basic four-legged body plan as the AT-ATs first seen in The Empire Strikes Back.
Janina Gavankar, who played Iden Versio in Star Wars Battlefront II, puppeteered the nostrils of a Mon Calamari seen in Chapter 11
The sound of Bo-Katan’s helmet coming off in Chapter 11 of The Mandalorian resembles the sound of Vader’s helmet being placed on in Revenge of the Sith
The Gozanti-class cruiser Din Djarin, Bo-Katan Kryze, and the Mandalorians is raided in Chapter 11. This cruiser has previously been seen in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, and Rebels, amongst other Star Wars projects.
Corvus, the planet Ahsoka Tano is located on as revealed in The Mandalorian, is also the name of Inferno Squad’s ship in Star Wars Battlefront II
Chapter 12: The Siege
A statue honoring IG-11 can be seen in the background on Nevarro.
The protocol droid teacher in Chapter 12 of The Mandalorian mentions a number of notable locations, including Coruscant, Chandrila (the homeworld of Ben Solo), and Akkadese Maelstrom, which Han Solo navigated during the Kessel Run.
One of the students in the classroom on Nevarro in Chapter 12 shares the same hair style as Rey.
The cookies that Grogu eats in Chapter 12 are called Nevaroo Nummies Macarons and are on sale at williams-sonoma.com
Dr. Pershing’s message to Moff Gideon references the “M-count” of the blood of his test subject. This is a reference to midi-chlorians, the cells in blood that indicate Force sensitivity that were first introduced in The Phantom Menace.
The test subject in Dr. Pershing’s lab resembles the tanks with Snoke seen at the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker.
The traitorous mechanic who plants a tracking beacon on the Razor Crest in Chapter 12 is a Mimbanese. Mimbanese are from the planet Mimban, seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Chapter 12 gives us our first look at dark troopers. Dark troopers first appeared in the Legends video game Dark Forces.
Chapter 13: The Jedi
Not trivia from the episode per se, but it’s interesting to look back at a tweet posted by Rosario Dawson back in February of 2017 commenting on fan art depicting Dawson as Ahsoka. Three and a half years later this fan art became reality in Chapter 13.
The magistrate Morgan Elsbeth is played by Diana Lee Inosanto. Inosanto’s godfather was Bruce Lee and Inosanto has an accomplished career in the martial arts world, in addition to film, television, theatre, and writing.
The magistrate’s assassin droids in Chapter 13: The Jedi of The Mandalorian are HK-87 models. This is a reference to HK-47, the Jedi hunting assassin droid in the Knights of the Old Republic video game.
The way in which one of the soldiers in Calodan scans the Razor Crest resembles what the Rebel sentry did when the Millennium Falcon arrived on Yavin IV in A New Hope.
Several tookas can be seen roaming around Calodan. Tookas first appeared in canon in The Clone Wars, before a specific breed of tooka- the Loth Cat – appeared in Rebels. A tooka is also seen in Chapter 4: Sanctuary. Tookas are named after Dave Filoni’s deceased cat Tuuk.
Morai, the convor who watches over Ahsoka, can be seen sitting on a branch in the forest outside Calodan in Chapter 13: The Jedi of The Mandalorian.
Din’s usage of the grapple against Ahsoka resembles Jango’s move against Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones and Boba’s move against Luke in Return of the Jedi.
John Williams’ classic Yoda theme hums in the background as Ahsoka states, “I’ve only known one other being like this, a wise Jedi master named Yoda.” When Yoda’s name is stated, you can see Grogu slightly looking to Ahsoka. Did Grogu know Yoda?
Ahsoka also references her old master and dear friend Anakin when she states, “I’ve seen what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight…to the best of us.”
It’s revealed that Ahsoka is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn was first introduced in Legends, but first appeared in canon in Star Wars Rebels. Thrawn was last seen vanishing with Ezra and presumably Ahsoka is searching for the pair.
Ahsoka tells Din Djarin to bring Grogu to a Jedi Temple on Tython. Tython appeared in the Legends series Dawn of the Jedi as the birthplace of the Jedi Order and has previously appeared in canon in Doctor Aphra.
Chapter 14: The Tragedy
Grogu sitting atop the stone on Tython greatly resembles imagery from The Last Jedi in which Luke sits atop a rock on Ahch-To. This visual parallel becomes even more striking upon the shocking appearance of Luke in Chapter 16.
Boba’s line, “I’m a simple man making his way through the galaxy. Like my father before me” is an obvious callback to Jango’s line to Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones, but the last sentence also resembles Luke’s proclamation that he is a Jedi like his father before him in Return of the Jedi.
This shot of Gideon aboard his cruiser resembles Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.
Chapter 15: The Believer
Boba’s line, “Let’s just say they may recognize my face” is a reference to both Boba being a clone and his notorious collaborations with the Empire.
The explosive substance rhydonium has been seen in canon several times before, including The Clone Wars and Rebels.
The Juggernaut cargo vehicle is a version of a prisoner transport tank that has been used since the Clone wars, the HCVw A9 turbo tank.
The shoretroopers seen guarding the imperial mining hub on Morak first appeared in Rogue One.
Valin Hess shares the same first name as Legends character Valin Horn, a Jedi Knight who appeared in Specter of the Night and other projects.
To cover for Din, Mayfeld says that Din is an Imperial officer who served at Taanab. Taanab first appeared in the video game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and first appeared in canon in Smuggler’s Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure.
Mayfeld calls for a toast of Operation: Cinder. Operation: Cinder, seen in Battlefront II, was part of Palpatine’s contingency plan to destroy Imperial worlds in order to ensure that the Empire did not outlive its Emperor.
Concept art of Chapter 15: The Believer of The Mandalorian features Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron as one of the pirates.
Chapter 16: The Rescue
Cara Dune’s response, “Which one?” to the Imperial pilot’s statement, “I was on the Death Star” is an obvious jab at the fact that the Rebellion destroyed both Death Star and Death Star II.
A Gauntlet starfighter can be seen outside of the bar Bo-Katan is in. This type of ship was used by Death Watch and later the Shadow Collective in The Clone Wars. Maul had his own Gauntlet starfighter called the Nightbrother.
Koska Reeves threatens Boba by saying, “You’ll be talking through the window of a Bacta tank.” These healing tasks were seen in The Empire Strikes Back after Luke was attacked by a Wampa.
An RA-7 droid can be seen roaming the halls of Gideon’s light cruiser. This drop appeared in A New Hope and Chapter 7 of The Mandalorian.
Dank farrik has been thrown around constantly in season 2 (too many times to count!). Cara Dune drops one last dank farrik in the season finale.
Gideon says that harvesting the Child’s blood will “bring order back to the galaxy.” This line greatly resembles Vader’s statement to Luke at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, “We can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.” This scene is also the first time we’ve seen the darksaber in action since Star Wars Rebels. Howevver, it seems like the rules have changed regarding how to pass the saber on.
Luke Skywalker. Enough said.
And R2!
Bib Fortuna says “maclunkey” at the end of Chapter 16. This word, said by Greedo in a new edition of A New Hope, is a Huttese word meaning, “This will be the end of you!” Fortuna is played once again by Matthew Wood, who portrayed the character in The Phantom Menace.
The debut post-credits scene of Star Wars sees the reveal of the rumored Boba Fett series titled “The Book of Boba Fett.”
Images courtesy of Lucasfilm & Disney+