The Mandalorian, season 1 episode 2: 7 callbacks, Star Wars references and Easter eggs you missed

The force is strong with this one...

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content.

Episode one of The Mandalorian gave Disney+ viewers some sense of what to expect from the long-awaited Star Wars spin-off, only to upend everything with a dramatic last-minute reveal: the adorable 50-year old gremlin known to the world as “Baby Yoda”.

Chapter Two – The Child picks up almost exactly where episode one left off, with the as-yet-unnamed Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) trekking back to his spacecraft with Baby Yoda, now officially referred to as “the Child”, in tow.

After fighting off some violent interlopers, the Mandalorian discovers his ship, the Razor Crest, has been ransacked by Jawas. Failing to apprehend the creatures, he eventually strikes a deal with them, with assistance from the kindly Ugnaught Kuiil (Nick Nolte).

The deal involves a dangerous battle with a Mudhorn – a huge, horned animal that almost kills him, if it weren’t for a Force-powered intervention from the Mandalorian’s little green ward.

Here are 7 references to past Star Wars films that you may not have spotted...

1. Trandoshans

At the start of the episode, the Mandalorian and the Child are attacked by a group of Trandoshans – the reptilian alien species most associated with the bounty hunter Bossk, who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back.

2. Force Healing

While the Mandalorian is patching himself up after the encounter with the Trandoshans, the Child totters over and reaches out his hand – seemingly trying to heal him with the Force. Force healing is an ability first seen in the live-action Star Wars films last year, when it is used by Rey in The Rise of Skywalker.

3. Jawas

Okay, there’s no way you missed these guys – the diminutive desert-dwelling creatures from the original A New Hope. Staging an action set-piece on their classic Sandcrawler vehicle was an ingenious way of repurposing classic Star Wars imagery – it’s easy to forget that the episode isn’t set on Tatooine.

Squeaky-voiced Jawas, first seen in A New Hope, make a welcome return in The Mandalorian’s second episode (LucasFilm/Disney+)

4. Wookies

Conversing with the Jawas, the Mandalorian is told that he sounds “like a Wookie”, which is a reference to Chewbacca’s gargling, fur-covered species.

5. R5 Unit

Just like in the premiere, we see an R5 droid, albeit this time a lot more clearly. The R2-D2-esque robot is kept on board the Jawas’ Sandcrawler, suggesting they might intend to sell it, or are using it as scrap.

6. The Mandalorian’s weapons

Two of the weapons used by our stoic hero in this episode have been used by bounty hunters’ in the saga before. Mando’s grappling hook and arm-mounted flamethrower are seen being used by the classic Star Wars villains Jango and Boba Fett.

7. Yoda

The close-up of the Child as he uses the Force to lift the Mudhorn into the air closely matches a scene in The Empire Strikes Back. That scene saw Jedi master Yoda use the force to lift Luke Skywalker’s X-wing from the Dagobah swamp water. Baby Yoda’s quirky frog-eating habits also seem to evoke his wizened namesake: could they have more than just a species in common?