Old Star Wars Debate Reignited By The Mandalorian Season 2 Concept Art

A just-released piece of concept art for The Mandalorian has Star Wars fans re-litigating one of the longest-running debates in the franchise’s history: who shot first? When George Lucas first reissued Star Wars in theaters and on VHS in the ’90s, the original film was given a “special edition” treatment that added characters, expanded the world, and even tweaked one or two minor plot points. One of those plot points? In the Cantina, Han Solo no longer fired his blaster first when Greedo was hassling him, and instead sat by while Greedo fired at him and missed. Fans weren’t happy.

In a piece of concept art from this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, which ran over the episode’s closing credits, there’s an homage to Han and Greedo’s fated duel. In a photo being widely shared online, you can see a mark on the Cantina wall, seemingly still there from Greedo’s missed shot.

Given the fact that many hardcore Star Wars geeks tend to dislike that change, it’s entertaining to see The Mandalorian, which has been celebrated by that same group of fans, embrace it. Of course, it may also mean nothing except that they saw an opportunity to throw in an Easter egg and see how many people noticed.

Redditor GQveracity first noticed the scorch mark in the closing credits of tonight’s episode, posting it to the social platform side by side with a frame from Star Wars.

The post has since been removed, but an archived version is still visible.

While people who worked on Star Wars have said that it was always Lucas’s intent to have Greedo shoot first, the way the moment read has long been seen as key to establishing Han Solo’s “bad boy,” antihero cred. That’s a cred that’s in full effect every week on The Mandalorian, although with a different lead, obviously.

The idea that it may have been Lucas’s “original intent” never stopped “Han Shot First” from being a slogan plastered on t-shirts and other merch, and becoming one of the internet’s original pop culture grievances, setting the stage for how fandom would address things they didn’t like for years to come.

Here, though? Again, it’s hardly a blip and really just a fun thing for fans — and writers like us — to point out and have way too much fun dissecting and poking fun at.

The Mandalorian debuts new episodes Friday mornings on Disney+.