Episode 4 of The Mandalorian's second season, "Chapter 12:
The Siege," is once again stuffed with fun Easter eggs for fans to find.
Here are some of the more notable nods to Star Wars lore you may have missed.
In the opening moments of "The Siege," Mando and The Child make way to Nevarro so that the
Razor Crest can receive some much-needed repairs before the big trip to Corvus.
Nevarro has undergone some serious changes since the last time Mando was here, but the seedier
criminal elements that get Nevarro its reputation remain festering in the shadows. One such example
is the small band of Aqualish thieves who took up residence in the Armorer's former forge.
Nevarro's new "Marshal" Cara Dune makes quick work of the Aqualish,
a recurring species in the Star Wars universe familiar to fans of A New Hope,
especially. One particularly short-tempered Aqualish named Ponda Baba famously tried to
pick a fight with Luke Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina, before Obi-Wan intervened.
Greef Karga and Cara Dune insist that Mando leaves The Child at
the newly established school on Nevarro, but not before passing a statue of IG-11,
the assassin droid who sacrificed itself for our heroes in Season 1.
At the school, which was a cantina when we last saw it in the Season 1 finale
"I'm surprised to see this place is still standing."
The Child gets the chance to learn about the current geographic make-up of the galaxy. Or,
he would, at least, if he wasn't fixated on those macaron-like turquoise cookies.
At any rate, during the lesson, the protocol-droid instructor name-dropped some relevant locations
in the Star Wars universe. The most notable detail the droid teacher touches on is that
the New Republic capital has shifted from the iconic locale of Coruscant to Chandrila,
the birthplace of Mon Mothma and Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren.
In the same lesson, the droid also points to an important area of the galaxy called the
Akkadese Maelstrom, which hosted one of Solo: A Star Wars Story's most intense sequences.
This dangerous region houses the Maw Cluster, the home of the beast that nearly swallows the
Millennium Falcon whole during Han Solo and his crew's perilous attempt to make the famed
Kessel Run. They, of course, make it in less than 12 parsecs ... as long as you round down.
Speaking of Solo: the red-skinned alien who plants the tracker on the Razor Crest is a Mimbanese,
a species first introduced in the standalone prequel flick.
With the Child presumably safe at school and the Razor Crest in for a tune-up, Greef, Mando,
and Cara head back to Greef's office to talk business. The moment they walk in the door,
they're greeted by Mythrol, who now lives a life of servitude to make up for getting
on Greef's bad side. This is the same character Mando took the bounty on and froze in carbonite
in The Mandalorian's premiere episode. Despite having thawed some time ago,
Mythrol complains of a very familiar side effect that comes with prolonged carbon freezing.
Greef makes sure to let Mythrol know that he has no qualms about sticking him back on ice should
he not follow his directions, to which the blue alien remarks that he'd prefer not to and that
he still can't see out of his left eye. This refers back to Return of the Jedi, in which Han
Solo's release from carbonite established the existence of hibernation sickness, an ailment
that presents itself as temporary blindness depending on the length of one's imprisonment.
The team wastes little time departing Nevarro for the outlying Imperial base. On the installation's
upper level, Cara, Mando, and Greef assess their situation and review the plan, while Mythrol
stands in awe at what will become their one-way ticket off the sabotaged base: a Trexler Marauder.
This vehicle, which appears to be a variation of an Imperial Troop Transport,
has popped up in a few Star Wars projects lately,
including Star Wars Rebels. But it took over four decades to get the vehicle in live-action.
This particular people-mover's roots go way back to the toy stores of 1978, where the Imperial
Troop Transport arrived as a part of Kenner's Star Wars action figure line. So Mythrol's excitement
at finding a quote, "mint" Trexler Marauder is likely a nod to the vehicle's toy store origins.
Surprisingly, the mission to rid Nevarro of Imperial presence goes off without a hitch.
The crew manages to make a fairly clean getaway, but not before they uncover a disturbing secret
about why the Empire is so interested in The Child. By the looks of things,
the Imperial remnant is going all-in in trying to perfect a way to clone a Force-sensitive being.
A hologram message from Dr. Pershing explains the Empire's dire need for
The Child's blood if they're to keep this mysterious program going.
He also mentions The Child's "M-count," likely referring to the amount of midi-chlorians in his
body that contribute to his proficiency in the Force. Midi-chlorians have remained one
of the most controversial parts of the Star Wars universe since their debut in The Phantom Menace,
and fans haven't heard them discussed in the franchise for quite some time.
So what does this all mean? This fledgling Imperial cloning program could connect to the
miraculously alive Emperor Palpatine and his tanks full of Snoke clones.
The Rise of Skywalker established that Palpatine spent years biding his time
on Exegol in rapidly decaying bodies, attempting to find the path to immortality through cloning.
The remnant members of his Empire could have been hard at work trying to create a new,
more powerful form for their leader during the events of The Mandalorian.
Considering how strong Yoda and the Child's species is in the Force,
and the length of their natural lifespan, there's no better candidate for a Sith Lord who's trying
to rule the galaxy for all time with absolute power. But there's also another possibility.
At the very end of "The Siege," Moff Gideonadmires a whole room full of large,
black, stormtrooper-like figures. What are those supposed to be? The audio description
on Disney+ has the answer, calling them "immobilized Dark Troopers."
Dark Troopers first popped up in the 1995 first-person shooter game Star Wars:
Dark Forces, where it's implied that they're droids. And the word "immobilized" does
suggest that Gideon and his technician are tending to a fleet of powered-down bots.
But Dark Troopers have also been described as cyborgs in other Star Wars media,
meaning Gideon could be preparing exosuits for future Force-sensitive clone bodies to occupy.
Dark Troopers also appear in the Dark Empire series of comics as elite stormtroopers who
have received Force training, so this could also be the destiny Gideon has in mind for the clones.
After all, if they're just droids, why wouldn't Gideon have already deployed them?
Perhaps he's waiting for a batch of powerful Force-users to bring the suits to life,
and that's the whole point of Dr. Pershing's mysterious cloning project.
Whatever they turn out to be, they're probably bad news. Mando had better be ready.
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