Just like The Mandalorian's inaugural season, chapters nine through 16 are peppered with
dialogue culled from deep dives into Star Wars lore.
Here are just some of the lines that mean more than you realized.
But a quick word of warning before we begin, a galaxy of spoilers are ahead.
When Cobb Vanth meets Mando in chapter nine, he's clearly hoping things won't get violent.
In fact, he almost instantly orders, quote, "two snorts of spotchka" for them.
The Weequay bartender then hands over a bottle of blue liquid and a couple of cups.
While Cobb takes a drink, Mando never gets to partake in the beverage, but it's still
an interesting allusion to the show's premiere season.
Season one's chapter four is the first time that spotchka is mentioned in the Star Wars
universe.
It's a blue drink made from tiny aquatic creatures called krill.
The krill represent the livelihood of the same village Mando and Cara Dune help protect
from nearby raiders.
The callback is likely intentional, considering Mando finds himself in a similar situation
in chapter nine by helping a small community to organize and eliminate a big threat.
Chapter nine ends with one of the most long-awaited reveals in Star Wars history: The return of
Boba Fett, and consequently, the confirmation he survived his drop into the Great Pit of
Carkoon in Return of the Jedi.
In a commentary track for the film, George Lucas said that he'd considered adding a scene
to show the bounty hunter had survived.
Also, in Star Wars books no longer considered canon, it's explained that Boba escaped and
is still alive.
While in The Mandalorian, Boba doesn't reveal how he survived the sarlacc, it's possible
an exchange between Mando and Cobb in chapter nine could give us a hint.
When Mando, Cobb, and the Tusken Raiders first arrive at the krayt dragon's lair, Mando tells
Cobb the beast lives in an abandoned sarlacc pit.
Cobb responds that he's lived on Tatooine his whole life and there's no such thing as
an abandoned sarlacc pit.
Mando quickly retorts that there is if you eat the sarlacc.
It seems unlikely the Great Pit of Carkoon is the abandoned pit we see in chapter nine.
The terrain is a lot different from the scene featuring the beast in Return of the Jedi.
Still, the revelation that there is a creature on Tatooine capable of eating sarlaccs gives
us one possible explanation for Boba's survival.
In the beginning of chapter nine's final battle with the krayt dragon, Mando utters something
that sounds like a curse.
As the beast begins to back up into his lair, Mando says, "Dank farrik, it's going back
in."
It's an expression that's repeated throughout the rest of season two by Mando and other
characters.
"Dank farrik!"
While we don't know exactly what the curse means, it's a callback to the very beginning
of The Mandalorian's first episode.
When we initially hear the phrase, it's spoken by Mando's first bounty in the series: The
blue skinned Mythrol Mando captures in a bar.
Shortly after he and his prisoner arrive at the Razorcrest, the ferry that brought them
across the ice is devoured by a monstrous ravinak and looks like Mando's ship is its
next target.
As the pair quickly board the craft, the Mythrol yells out, "Dank farrik, that was close!"
It's interesting that Mando is now repeating lines from a former bounty, though he doesn't
quite find himself in the same situation as the Mythrol.
It always seems like Mando can't take a single step forward on his journey without doing
yet another job for someone else first, and chapter 10 is no different.
After his adventures in and around Mos Pelgo, Mando returns to Mos Eisley to find another
lead on Mandalorians and a task he has to perform for the intel.
The mechanic Peli Motto introduces Mando to someone known only as "the Frog Lady" who
knows where a group of the elusive warriors live.
But she wants a trip back home in return for the information.
As she's giving Mando the low-down on what she knows, Pelli translates for him
"She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant
Kol Iben."
The names of both the moon and the gas giant are references to heroes from the Star Wars
Legends narrative.
The moon Trask is named for Trask Ulgo, a character from the 2003 role-playing video
game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Trask is an officer in the Galactic Republic as well as a native of the doomed planet Alderaan.
Kol Iben, on the other hand, is named for a character from the world of comics: Kol
Skywalker.
He's a Jedi descendant of both Anakin and Luke who appears in the Dark Horse comic Star
Wars: Legacy.
Chapter 12 sees the return of a number of characters, including Horatio Sanz reprising
his role as the Mythrol, Mando's first target in chapter one.
We also learn that it was Greef Karga who put up the bounty on the amphibious alien.
After Greef tells Mando that the Mythrol is now working for him to pay off his debt, the
bounty hunter responds that he should let him know if the alien tries to run away again.
The Mythrol has a quick comeback to this suggestion
"Let me assure you, I do not wanna spend any more time in carbonite.
Still can't see outta my left eye."
This is a callback to the finale of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi.
After being freed from carbonite in Jabba's palace, the panicked Han Solo says he can't
see, and Leia explains that blindness is a temporary side effect from being frozen in
carbonite.
We don't know exactly how long it's been since the Mythrol was freed from carbonite, but
it seems strange he would still suffer symptoms from the freezing.
It could be he's fishing for sympathy, or it could also be a ploy to put Greef off his
guard in hopes of a future escape.
After all, the Mythrol isn't known for his honesty.
Even if he is telling the truth, there's a good chance neither Greef, Cara, nor Mando
believe him about his bad eye, since they let him drive the speeder on their way to
the Imperial outpost.
As Mando and his companions are on their way out of the Nevarro Imperial outpost, they
come across a lab filled with deformed bodies floating in tanks.
In spite of their tight schedule, the heroes pause to access records to find out what the
lab is actually all about.
Mythrol plays a holo-recording of Dr. Pershing, the Imperial doctor who works on the child
in the first season.
Among other things, Pershing reports, quote, "There were promising effects for an entire
fortnight, but then, sadly, the body rejected the blood.
I highly doubt we'll find a donor with a higher M-count though."
By "higher M-count," Dr. Pershing is referring to one of the most controversial pieces of
the Star Wars mythos: midi-chlorians.
In The Phantom Menace, we learn that every Jedi's blood includes higher than average
amounts of midi-chlorians, and it's through communication with these microscopic life
forms that Jedi find their special connection to the Force.
The fact that this concept still remains so polarizing among some fans may be why Pershing
says "M-count" rather than "midi-chlorian count," allowing viewers on the thumbs-down
side of the debate to imagine "M" stands for something else.
At the same time, the presence of the lab and Pershing's recording have fed widespread
speculation that the experiments have something to do with the cloning of Palpatine and the
creation of Supreme Leader Snoke.
Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian sees the long anticipated live-action premiere of Ahsoka
Tano, played by Rosario Dawson.
The former Jedi teams up with Mando against the forces of Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth.
After some close calls, Ahsoka defeats the magistrate in a duel.
Once she has Elsbeth at her mercy, Ahsoka demands to know one thing
"Now tell me, where is your master?
Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?"
Thrawn is a villain too good to be left on the cutting room floor of Star Wars canon.
The blue-skinned Imperial first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn novel trilogy, starting
with 1991's Heir to the Empire and concluding with 1993's The Last Command.
While these novels have officially joined the list of Star Wars media no longer considered
canon, Thrawn was also featured in Star Wars Rebels.
Ahsoka's lines let us know that Thrawn is still alive and it's extremely important that
she finds him.
It could very well be that Ahsoka's hunt for the admiral will be the focus of the upcoming
Disney Ahsoka Tano series.
Chapter 15 is another great example of just how far Mando is willing to go to rescue Grogu.
With the aid of the newly appointed New Republic Marshall Cara Dune, Mando recruits former
foe Migs Mayfeld to help him infiltrate an Imperial facility in order to access a computer
that can give him the location of Moff Gideon.
Once they're inside, Mayfeld refuses to approach the computer console after spotting a former
commanding officer.
Mando decides to do it himself, and makes the surprising choice to remove a stormtrooper
helmet he's wearing as a disguise and expose his face.
When Mayfeld's old commander starts questioning Mando, he swoops in to save the day, successfully
bluffing the officer into believing they're the genuine article.
He also tries to make a quick work excuse so they can get away from him
"C'mon, let's go fill out those TPS reports so we can go recharge the power coils."
Mentioning T.P.S. reports is no doubt a reference to the 1999 cult classic Office Space.
In the comedy, Ron Livingston plays Peter, a passionless officer worker at a software
company who is being hounded by his supervisor Bill Lumbergh about his T.P.S. reports.
"Yeah, you see we're putting the cover sheets on all T.P.S. reports now before they go out."
Though decades old now, Office Space is often still referenced and quoted by a wide variety
of fans, even in a galaxy far, far away.
In Chapter 15, Mayfeld reveals himself to be a much more layered character than he originally
appears to be in the first season.
He and Mando are corralled into sharing drinks with the Imperial officer Valin Hess, the
same officer Mayfeld avoids earlier.
We soon learn Hess holds an important place in Mayfeld's history - one with such weight,
in fact, that Mayfeld allows it to overtake his emotions and blow his cover.
As Hess asks for ideas for toasts, Mayfeld suggests, "How about a toast to Operation:
Cinder?"
Initially, Hess seems impressed by Mayfeld, turning to Mando and saying, "Now there's
a man who knows his history."
We soon learn Mayfeld served under Hess during the operation, and was traumatized by what
occurred.
When you find out about Operation: Cinder, his reaction is completely understandable.
It wasn't something dreamed up specifically for The Mandalorian, but instead has been
mentioned in numerous Star Wars video games, comics, and other media.
Cinder is Palpatine's contingency plan in the case of his death, to make sure the galaxy's
civilizations don't outlive him.
Weeks after the Battle of Endor, the Empire set Operation: Cinder in motion, using satellite
arrays to cause disastrous climate changes on different planets including Naboo.
No official number has ever been given for the amount of deaths, but it was clearly significant
enough to make Mayfeld shoot Hess for his involvement.
Early in chapter 16, Mando returns to Trask with allies, hoping to enlist the help of
the Mandalorians he found there.
Bo-Katan and Koska are not happy to see Mando accompanied by Boba, whose voice they recognize
as those of the clones created on Kamino.
Koska and Boba exchange a few barbs, eventually leading to a brief altercation.
Before things get violent, Boba warns the younger Koska to calm down.
She responds by saying, "You'll be talking through the window of a bacta tank."
Bacta tanks aren't a particularly obscure part of Star Wars lore, though you don't often
hear them referred to by name.
They're cylindrical tanks filled with bacta fluid, which is known for its healing properties.
Probably the most prominent use of a bacta tank comes early in Empire Strikes Back when
Luke Skywalker is submerged in one of the tanks after being rescued on the planet Hoth
by Han Solo.
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