The Acolyte Has a Star Wars: The Clone Wars Easter Egg You Probably Missed

Star Wars: The Acolyte began with the murder of a Jedi, the arrest of a former Padawan, and a crash landing on a frozen planet. Fans may have missed that the planet Carlac has a Star Wars history dating back to its original appearances in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 1 and Episode 2 follow. Star Wars: The Acolyte‘s premiere sees former Jedi Padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg) arrested on suspicion that she murdered Jedi Master Indara (Carrie Anne-Moss). The other prisoners on the prison transport ship she’s sent to stage an escape, but Osha doesn’t participate. Instead, she survives the ship’s crash onto the planet Carlac.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans may remember Carlac. It was the site of an important Ahsoka-centric episode of the animated series.

What is the planet Carlac in Star Wars?

Carlac is a snowy planet without much of what core world inhabitants would call civilization. However, a tribe of humans called the Ming Po did live there by the time of the Clone Wars. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode “A Friend in Need,” Carlac’s first appearance, Ahsoka Tano travels to Carlac with her friend, Lux Bonteri, a young senator from Onderon. Lux hoped to join the Mandalorian terrorist faction Death Watch, believing they’d help him assassinate Count Dooku, who had orchestrated the death of Lux’s mother, a leader in the movement to end the Clone Wars with a peace treaty.

However, upon arriving at Carlac, Ahsoka and Lux found that the Death Watch (whose ranks included Bo-Katan Kryze, making her first appearance) had enslaved the Ming Po people. The Mandalorians later razed a Ming Po village when the tribe attempted to resist. Ahsoka and Lux only escaped Carlac with the help of R2-D2.

Carlac in the Star Wars: The High Republic Era

Though Carlac first appeared in Star Wars canon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it was the site of a major battle of the Star Wars: The High Republic era hundreds of years earlier in the Star Wars timeline. The planet Carlac was one of the battlefields of Operation: Counterstrike, the counteroffensive launched by the combined forces of the Jedi Order and the Republic Defense Coalition against the Nihil after the latter – a group of marauders serving as the primary villains in the —  attacked the Republic Fair on Valo.

Operation: Counterstrike was successful and scattered the Nihil forces. Unfortunately for the Jedi and the Republic, this victory was turned against them. Marchion Ro the secret Eye of the Nihil who had taken full control of the group, let the Jedi and Republic believe the Nihil had been defeated, only to launch simultaneous attacks on multiple targets across Republic space, leading to the destruction of Starlight Beacon.

Star Wars: The Acolyte debuts new episodes Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is streaming now on Disney+.