The Mandalorian season 2 premiere features a major Knights of the Old Republic callback

The Mandalorian season 2 premiere certainly didn’t shy away from putting its big set-pieces out up front and early. One such moment, the tussle between Mando, the Marshal, and the Krayt dragon terrorising Mos Pelgo may be familiar to fans of the Star Wars games – as it’s almost identical to one mission in BioWare-developed classic Knights of the Old Republic.

In the game, you’re tasked late in the story with taking down a Krayt dragon on Tatooine (check) and end up felling the beast after tricking it into eating a Bantha packed with explosives (double check). You even get a Krayt pearl for your troubles, something that the Tusken Raiders made sure to pick up in this week’s Mandalorian episode.

The Krayt dragon, though, wasn't created for Knights of the Old Republic. A skeleton of one of the beasts was first seen in A New Hope, and their history was slowly built out from there. However, KOTOR played a major part in establishing the mythos of the creature, including the fact there's a pearl in their stomach. Those elements were first carried into Disney canon in the novel Aftermath and now they're influencing the Mandalorian. 

A movie set during the Knights of the Old Republic was reportedly in the works – but there has been radio silence from Disney and no new info since then. It’s looking more and more like The Mandalorian is the Way to see callbacks to everything from wider Star Wars media to the prequels, and even the original trilogy.

Not only did Chapter 9 put heavy emphasis on an alien species perhaps best known for its appearances in Return of the Jedi, there’s a podracer-shaped prequel Easter egg and, of course, that final reveal, hinting at the return of a fan-favourite character.

Waiting for next week's episode? Find out exactly when it drops with The Mandalorian season 2 release schedule.