Star Wars: The Mandalorian Episode 5 “The Gunslinger” Is Packed With Easter Eggs

Star Wars: The Mandalorian marks the first live-action series in the galaxy far, far away, leaving audiences to wonder how it could connect to other corners of the franchise. Set after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the series is in a unique position to reference elements from not only the original trilogy, but also the prequel and sequel trilogies, helping unite the entire live-action universe in exciting ways. As a new episode has officially premiered on Disney+, along with it brings a number of exciting Easter eggs and cameos caught by devout Star Wars fans.

The latest episode, “The Gunslinger,” is described, “The Mandalorian helps a rookie bounty hunter who is in over his head.”

While this chapter might enlist a new bounty hunter, the pair encounters a number of familiar faces and places. Scroll down to see the Easter eggs and cameos from the new episode!

Wretched Hive

In the opening moments of the episode, the Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest, is in need of repairs, forcing the bounty hunter to make an impromptu stop on a nearby planet. The closest system is Tatooine and the closest port is Mos Eisley, last seen in Star Wars: A New Hope.

Upon arrival, the Mandalorian is greeted by Peli Motto, a mechanic who offers to repair his ship. Fans quickly noticed that the character was played by Amy Sedaris, leaving fans to wonder how she may have earned the role. Sedaris previously worked with The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, who directed her as Deb in Elf.

With no visit to Mos Eisley being complete without a visit to Chalmun’s Cantina, the Mandalorian heads to the iconic locale from A New Hope.

Yes Droids

With roughly a decade having passed in-universe since we last saw the Cantina, it’s clear that a lot of things have changed. A noticeable difference is that droids are now allowed in the facility, as they even appear to be running the joint.

Behind the bar is an EV-series droid, previously seen as an interrogator droid in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi. Also in attendance in the Cantina is who appears to be R5-D4, last seen when its motivator malfunctioned in A New Hope. The droid famously united C-3PO and R2-D2 with Luke Skywalker, as R5 was nearly purchased by Owen Lars, only for the droid to fake the malfunction to keep his newfound friends together.

As the Mandalorian leaves the Cantina and heads back to the Razor Crest, he passes a “Gonk” droid, also seen in A New Hope and a victim of torture in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi.

Legendary Locations

This week’s episode introduces a new bounty hunter, Toro Calican (Jack Cannavale), who we first see leisurely relaxing in a Cantina booth. The seat doesn’t appear to be just any booth, as it resembles the booth we first saw Han Solo and Chewbacca sitting in when we met them in A New Hope. Additionally, Calican is even leaning backward with his leg up on a table, much like the pose Solo had when he had his fateful confrontation with Greedo.

We also hear mentions of famous places found on Tatooine, like Beggar’s Canyon and the Dune Sea. The Canyon was mentioned in A New Hope, as it was a place where Luke Skywalker would shoot womp rats with his T-16, and the Dune Sea is the location of the Great Pit of Carkoon, home of the Sarlaac, as seen in Return of the Jedi.

Impressive Rides

In search of their bounty, Fennec Shan (Minga-Na Wen), the Mandalorian and Calican mount swoop bikes to head out into the desert. Swoops were first introduced in the Special Edition of A New Hope, as director George Lucas wanted to make Mos Eisley appear more bustling, using CGI to add characters riding these bikes through the city. Anakin Skywalker also rode a swoop when he returned to Tatooine in search of his mom in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones when she was a captive of the Tusken Raiders.

We also witness an encounter in this episode with Tusken Raiders, depicting them at their most diplomatic when the Mandalorian used a series of signs to communicate with them to obtain safe passage.

The Mandalorian also briefly rides a dewback, another creature from A New Hope that was given more attention in its Special Edition release. The original film depicted them as nothing more than stationary creatures, while the Special Edition animated them to bring them to life.

Boba Fett Connections

Boba Fett met his demise on Tatooine, so it only made sense to pay tribute to the character this episode.

Towards the end of the episode, the Mandalorian notes to Calican how important it is to bring in their bounty alive, noting, “She’s no good to us dead.” This ties back to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, as Boba Fett told Darth Vader, “He’s no good to me dead,” ahead of Han Solo being frozen in carbonite to bring to Jabba the Hutt. Speaking of the Hutts, they also get a name drop in this episode.

The credits of the episode, as with previous installments, showed off concept art for the series. One image, in particular, depicted the Mandalorian riding a dewback, which drew a striking similarity to Fett’s debut in The Star Wars Holiday Special, where he was depicted riding a dinosaur.

One of the biggest moments that has fans thinking about Fett is the final scene, in which we see the legs of a character with a cape, armor, and spurs, similar to Fett, walking towards Shan. The character likely isn’t Fett, but the sound of the spurs was seemingly done as an homage to the figure.

New episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian debut on Disney+ on Fridays. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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