Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are both lifelong Star Wars fans, with the latter in particular having an encyclopedic knowledge of even the most minute details across every form of media set in the franchise, so it wasn’t a surprise that when the duo teamed up for The Mandalorian, the show was packed full of subtle references and Easter Eggs to some of the deepest cuts from a galaxy far, far away.
Now that Mando and Baby Yoda have returned for season 2, fans have been dissecting the premiere and a whole host of background treasures have already been discovered including Cobb Vanth’s mode of transport being tied to The Phantom Menace and droid R5-D4 offering a connection to A New Hope.
Tatooine is one of the most famous locations in Star Wars lore, of course, and has factored heavily into all three trilogies, something that The Mandalorian is more than fully aware of. And as well as finally giving the Tusken Raiders some personality instead of depicting them as mindless savages, the Krayt Dragon also brings a landscape shot from Episode IV full circle, as you can see below.
Over 40 years since a massive skeleton was spotted in the background of A New Hope when C-3PO was traversing the dunes of the desert planet, fans have finally found out what the remains belonged to. The Krayt Dragon had never been seen or mentioned in a live-action Star Wars project up until The Mandalorian‘s season 2 premiere, and the appearance of the terrifying creature several decades after a single skeleton was glimpsed in the franchise’s very first movie just goes to show the level of detail being put into every frame of the series.