By George Bate
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Brotherhood
In many ways, Mike Chen’s Star Wars: Brotherhood is one big easter egg: a beautiful, emotional story that stems from a single line of dialogue from Revenge of the Sith about that “business on Cato Neimoidia.” In typical Star Wars fashion, everything and everyone is connected in a sprawling, lived-in, and interwoven galaxy, which makes spotting for easter eggs and references so much fun. Here is a breakdown of some of the easter eggs, trivia facts, and references in the new Star Wars novel Brotherhood:
Brotherhood takes place during a transitional period in the galaxy between Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars. This entails the militarization of the Jedi Order and Jedi Knights taking on Padawans who will be engaged in warfare. Throughout Brotherhood, Anakin shudders at the suggestion of having a Padawan. “A Padawan? For him? That sounded like the worst thing in the galaxy.” Funnily enough, despite his reservations, Anakin eventually ends up with a Padawan in training Ahsoka Tano.
In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan watches Anakin from afar interact with “Jaro Tapal and the red-haired youngling who trailed him.” This red-haired youngling is Cal Kestis, the lead character in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Tapal was Kestis’ master, who tragically died trying to protect his Padawan after Order 66.
Obi-Wan visits his old friend Dexter Jettster for information on how to navigate the political situation on Cato Neimoidia. Obi-Wan and Dex meet up again in Dex’s diner in Attack of the Clones, where Dex gives Obi-Wan valuable information regarding his investigation into Kamino.
Several times throughout Brotherhood, Satine Kryze, the Mandalorian ruler and lost love of Obi-Wan, is referenced. Dex pokes fun at Obi-Wan for his relationship with the Mandalorian royalty at one point. Satine’s neutral position for Mandalore is also mentioned several times as the inner-workings of the Clone Wars and Cato Neiomodia’s neutrality are discussed. Perhaps most interestingly, Obi-Wan and Satine’s romance comes up when Obi-Wan begins to have suspicions of Anakin’s relationship with Padme.
Anakin gifts Padme his Padawan braid as a token of his love for her, despite the Jedi Order’s stance on possessions.
While on a date night, Padme makes a remark about the High Republic era.
Sabe’s quest to free the slaves of Tatooine, depicted in E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Shadow, is referenced in Brotherhood.
The Jedi youngling Mill speaks about getting her kyber crystal from Ilum. An episode of The Clone Wars shows Jedi younglings journey to the planet to retrieve their crystals on a pilgrimage of sorts. Ilum also appeared in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and was eventually converted into Starkiller Base by the First Order.
Anakin’s relationship with Palpatine is expanded upon in Brotherhood, foreshadowing Palpatine’s manipulation of the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith.
Sister, a trans female clone trooper who first appeared in Queen’s Hope, also plays a minor role in Brotherhood.
Anakin frequently mentions his secret attempts to watch pod races behind Obi-Wan and others’ backs in Brotherhood. This is a reference to Anakin’s love for the sport in The Phantom Menace.
The classic / cringe-worthy line “I hate sand. It’s rough and coarse and irritating and gets everywhere” in Attack of the Clones plays a surprisingly sizable and interesting role in Brotherhood. Anakin is annoyed at grains of sand getting in the way of his new mechanical hand. His distaste for sand also reflects Anakin’s position on Tatooine and the trauma of the loss of his mother.
Obi-Wan telling a deathstick dealer to go home and rethink his life is referenced in Brotherhood.
Obi-Wan recalls an adventure on the planet Lenahra involving finding datachups hidden by a Jedi long ago. Lenahra is a location in the upcoming Padawan novel by Kiersten White.
Anakin recounts Mace Windu’s battle on the planet Dantooine, a location first mentioned in A New Hope. It is described, that Mace stared “down an overwhelming wave of super battle droids on Dantooine.” This is a reference to Mace’s epic slaughter of Super Battle Droids on Dantooine in the Clone Wars micro-series from 2003.
Obi-Wan recounts that a “solution presented itself” when he fell into a “nest of gundarks.” Obi-Wan and Anakin jokingly speak about this incident at the beginning of Attack of the Clones.
Obi-Wan reflects on his relationship with Anakin in Brotherhood. “Their partnership always edging toward spinning out of control but always, always finding a way to make a happy landing.” Obi-Wan says, “Another happy landing” when he, Anakin, and Palpatine crash onto the surface of Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith.
In discussing the attack on Cato Neimoidia, Ruug mentions that the blast was “too precise” for “something like the Bounty Hunters’ Guild.” The Bounty Hunters’ Guild plays a role in The Mandalorian as Greef Karga and Din Djarin, amongst others, were members.
Obi-Wan is brought out for a public trial on Cato Neimoidia in a manner very similar to the dome on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones.
An adventure depicted in Claudia Gray’s Master & Apprentice with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon is discussed in Brotherhood. “A brash young Padawan at time, so insistent on following the Jedi Code that he bristled at Qui-Gon’s hesitation regarding a treaty with the unscrupulous Czerka corporation and the planet Pijal – hesitation created by Qu-Gon’s own moral compass.”
“The last few days only reinforced Anakin’s overwhelming willingness to simply care. That caring somebody might make the difference between life and death, a right decision and a wrong decision stemming from a mere blink of emotion.” This foreshadows Anakin’s turn to the dark side following his deep attachment to Padme and the decision to stop Mace from killing Palpatine with a blink of emotion.
The theme of the “sun-dragon” to describe Anakin is frequently discussed in Brotherhood. This is a reference to Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization. Stover personified Anakin’s fear of losing Padme as a version of the dragon whispering to him, whispers that intensified following Anakin’s visions of Padme’s death.
Anakin and Obi-Wan receive their Clone Wars armor that is seen in The Clone Wars film and television series.
Obi-Wan meets Commander Cody for the first time in Brotherhood. Obi-Wan states to the clone trooper, “Thank you, Commander Cody. I look forward to working with you more.”
Star Wars: Brotherhood is available now.