By George Bate & Josh Bate
Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore saw Din Djarin continue his redemptive quest to be forgiven for showing his face to another living being, a violation of the Mandalorian creed. In typical fashion for an installment of The Mandalorian, there were plenty of neat references and easter eggs eagle-eyed fans may have spotted. Below is a breakdown of the easter eggs, references, and trivia facts in Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian.
Grogu jumps into the arms of Pelli Motto, who is essentially his space aunt at this point. Pelli remarks, “Now who taught you how to leap like a Lurmen, huh?” Lurmen were a species seen in The Clone Wars. And, to answer Pelli’s question, Grogu learned to jump from Luke Skywalker as seen in The Book of Boba Fett.
R5-D4 made his debut in the original Star Wars film. If it wasn’t for R5 sabotaging his own motivator, R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker would have never met.
Tatooine is celebrating Boonta week in Chapter 18. Anakin podraces at the Boonta Eve classic in The Phantom Menace.
Din Djarin says that he was raised on Concordia, a location that served as the homebase for Death Watch in The Clone Wars.
Much of the episode takes place in the destroyed Mandalorian capital city of Sundari. The city previously featured in various episodes of The Clone Wars, including the final season’s Siege of Mandalore arc, although the city was in much better shape then.
Din Djarin and Grogu travel through the sewers of Sundari. This is the same place that Ahsoka Tano and Maul meet one another in The Clone Wars.
Bo-Katan tells Grogu that she knows of many Jedi. She is likely speaking of Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker, all of whom she worked with in The Clone Wars. She is likely also speaking of Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus, who she met in Star Wars Rebels.
Unlike Din Djarin, Bo-Katan wields the darksaber with relative ease. This is because Bo-Katan previously wielded the darksaber, as seen in Star Wars Rebels.
Chapter 18 concludes with a jaw-dropper of an easter egg. Swimming in the living waters of Mandalore is none other than an actual Mythosaur. According to Mandalorian legend, Mythosaurs were massive creatures that once inhabited the planet and were used by Mandalorian warriors in battle. The mythosaur is reflected on the symbol of Mandalore, which dates back to 1980 with Boba Fett’s armor in The Empire Strikes Back.
