The Mandalorian Chapter 6 - Easter Eggs, Fan Nods and Callbacks
Jon Favreau and his team have done an amazing job engaging Star Wars fans of all generations by inserting a mind-blowing number of Easter eggs, fan nods and callbacks into each and every episode of The Mandalorian. As a service to Star Wars fans everywhere, we're attempting to identify and catalog all the references in each episode. If you think we've missed something, let us know in the comments or on social media. We'll be happy to add it to the list after verification and credit you for the submission.
If you're into podcasts, then take a listen to our audio review of Chapter 6.
And don't forget to check out our Easter Eggs list for all the other episodes of The Mandalorian:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
[*** This list contains episode 6 spoilers ***]
Chapter 6 - "The Prisoner"
While this episode was subtitled "The Prisoner," it may have been more aptly subtitled "The Prisoner and the Day of a Thousand Cameos." We've seen Favreau throw in a handful of cameos in the previous five episodes but nothing close to this scale. There are at least ten guest stars and cameos in this episode alone!
Rick Boone Jr. plays an old associate of Mando's named Ranzar Malk (or "Ran" for short). He is best known for his portrayal of Bobby 'Elvis' Munson in AMC's Sons of Anarchy series.
Bill Burr plays a snarky and hot-headed mercenary named Mayfeld. He is a well known stand-up comedian, who has appeared on Chappelle's Show, played Kuby in Breaking Bad, and also created the Netflix animated series F is for Family.
Clancy Brown plays a grunt-prone Devaronian named Burg that serves as the muscle for the group. While he is probably most recognizable from his role as Captain Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption, Clancy has done a mind-boggling amount of voice acting in a plethora of Geek-oriented titles, including: The Clone Wars (Savage Opress), Rebels (Ryder Azadi), Avengers Assemble (Red Hulk & Taskmaster), Thor: Ragnarok (Surtur), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Rahzar & Dogpound), Ultimate Spider-Man (Taskmaster), Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (Red Hulk), Transformers Prime (Silas / Cylas), Thundercats (Grune), G.I. Joe: Renegades (Destro), The Spectacular Spider-Man (Rhino), The Batman (Mr. Freeze), Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Superman: The Animated Series (all three as Lex Luthor).
Richard Ayoade voices the droid named Zero. He is best known for his role in the British sitcom, The IT Crowd. As we've said before, Favreau seems to be channeling his comedy roots by placing comedians into cameo roles in the series. Richard is the fifth comedian to be cast in the series, following Horatio Sanz (the unnamed Mythrol in Chapter 1), Brian Posehn (the unnamed landspeeder pilot in Chapter 1), Amy Sedaris (Pelli Motto) and Bill Burr (Mayfeld).
Natalia Tena plays a rogue-like, Twi'lek mercenary named Xi'an. She is best known for her roles in the Harry Potter franchise, where she plays Nymphadora Tonks; and Game of Thrones, where she plays Osha, the Wildling that escorts Bran.
Matt Lanter plays a New Republic soldier named Davan that's on board the prison ship. Lanter starred as Brody Mitchum in the TV series Heroes, but he may be better known by Star Wars fans for his voice acting roles in the franchise. Lanter has voiced Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars, Rebels, Forces of Destiny, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars , Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels.
Ismael Cruz Cordova portrays the brother of Xi'an, and is the asset they're trying to recover in this episode. You may recognize him from his role as Hector Campos in Season 4 of the Showtime series, Ray Donovan.
Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow and Rick Famuyiwa all make cameos as X-wing fighter pilots at the end of the episode. While their character names aren't mentioned directly, they're credited as Trapper Wolf, Sash Ketter and Jib Dodger, respectively. We're sure these three hardly need an intro at this point, since they have all directed episodes in this series. Filoni also has a history in the Star Wars franchise as creator and producer of Rebels and Resistance series, and now as co-producer of The Mandalorian. And Chow is slated to head up the upcoming Obi-wan Kenobi live-action series on Disney+.
[04:20] "I wasn't a stormtrooper, wiseass."
A long running joke in the franchise is that stormtroopers can't hit anything with a blaster. When Ran introduces Mando to Mayfeld, he boasts that he used to be an Imperial sharpshooter, to which Mando replies, "That's not saying much." Mayfeld immediately retorts that he wasn't a stormtrooper, implying he can actually hit his targets.
[04:36] "Looks like a Canto Bright slot machine."
Mayfeld jokes that the Razor Crest looks like a Canto Bight slot machine. Canto Bight is a gambling and entertainment city on the Outer Rim planet of Cantonica, which appears in The Last Jedi.
[04:45] The Devaronian Species
As they're preparing for their mission, Mayfeld introduces Mando to a Devaronian named Burg. This species made its first appearance in the cantina scene from A New Hope, and have since appeared in several episodes of Rebels. The most notable Devaronian in canon is probably Cikatro Vizago, leader of the Broken Horn Syndicate during the time of the Galactic Empire.
[05:08] "Zero" Droid (Q9-0)
We're not entirely sure if this is meant to be an Easter egg but we're including it on the list anyway. There was a Rebel espionage droid called Zero in the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game. But other than being humanoid in design, this droid doesn't look too much like him. There's also a Q9-01 droid in the non-canon novel, The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey, but it was an astromech type droid. It's also possible that his name could be a nod to the 0-0-0 ("Triple Zero") droid depicted in the Doctor Aphra comics. Whatever the case may be, this droid is visually reminiscent of the bug-eyed RA-7 droid we saw in A New Hope. Given that RA-7 droids have subsequently appeared in The Clone Wars and Rebels, we're going to assume that was the primary inspiration until told otherwise.
[05:27] The Twi'lek Species
A Twi'lek familiar to Mando, named Xi'an, is also part of the prison breakout team. We've seen a Twi'lek in an earlier episode, although not as a prominent character. This episode actually has two Twi'leks with a fair amount of screen time - the other being Xi'an's brother Qin.
This episode may also quell a long-running Geek debate about pronunciation. Is the species' name pronounced like "twy-lek" or "twee-lek"? We heard Greef Karga say "twy-lek" in an earlier episode while Mayfeld uses the term "twee" in this episode. This may be Favreau's way of telling Star Wars fans that either pronunciation is totally acceptable.
[06:33] A Scomp Link
We see Zero use a scomp link to interface with the Razor Crest. A scomp link is an accessory equipped on various droid models that allows them to interface with other computer systems. In A New Hope, we see R2-D2 use his scomp link to interface with the Death Star computer.
[10:55] "Ask him about the job on Alzoc III."
Xi'an speaks this line to Mayfeld when he inquires if Mando is any good. Alzoc III is an icy, Outer Rim planet. Outside of canon, it has appeared or been mentioned in several Star Wars video games, including Jedi Knight II, Empire at War, Star Wars Galaxies, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and The Old Republic. Within current canon, it was first mentioned in the 2018 novel, Last Shot.
[11:25] A Gungan Reference
While on the way to the prison ship, Mayfeld harasses Mando about removing his helmet, suggesting he may look like a Gungan under there. He then proceeds to mock the verbal style of the Gungans in what feels almost like a direct dig at Jar Jar Binks. The Gungans are an aquatic species native to Naboo which first appeared in The Phantom Menace, followed later by several episodes of The Clone Wars.
[14:45] A Modified R1 Droid [Credit: Peter Telep]
Just as Mayfeld is entering the prison ship, he spots some black droids patrolling the hallway. These droids look nearly identical to the R1-series astromech droids depicted on the sandcrawler and the streets of Tatooine in A New Hope. There's one notable difference, of course - they're hovering!
[15:13] "Sub level three"
As they make their way into the prison ship, Zero mentions that he is disabling surveillance on sub level three. This could be a huge coincidence, but sub level three is also mentioned in a Star Wars Adventure Journal story titled, "No Disintegrations, Please." In that adventure, Boba Fett nearly wipes out an Imperial garrison on the Outer Rim planet of Vryssa, while trying to secure a bounty. Is this some extremely obscure, deep-Geek foreshadowing of what's to come? Since we also saw an episode 5 reference tied to Peter Schweighofe, who founded the Star Wars Adventure Journal, perhaps these obscure and highly ambiguous tie-ins are not coincidence after all.
[15:58] The Ardennian Species
While the team is stealthily moving down the halls of the prison ship, we catch glimpse of an Ardennian in one of the cells. The Ardennian species was first introduced in Solo by way of the character Rio Durrant, who was voiced by Jon Favreau himself.
[***WARNING: This may be a spoiler for future episodes ***]
[16:00] An Imperial officer, or something more?
In the next cell Mando peers into, he sees what appears to be an Imperial officer glaring back at him. There may be a lot more to this little Easter egg than meets the eye. The actor is Jamal Antar, who is also credited in the pre-episode release notes for "Chapter 8."
Is there some sort of tie-in with the obscure "sub level three" reference mentioned above? Will the Imperial garrison on planet Vryssa show up in a future episode? Does Jamal's character have a connection to Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito's character)? Does he know about Mando and the Yodalorian? Is that garrison where Mando will have his final showdown to ensure the Yodalorian's ultimate safety? If so, just remember that you heard it here first!
[*** End Possible Spoiler Alert ***]
[16:10] Is that a nod to The Goonies?
In the next cell, a deformed looking humanoid reaches out and startles Mayfeld. We don't recall seeing this alien species in the franchise before. However, it looks eerily similar to Sloth from the 1985 film The Goonies, which actually had a couple Star Wars Easter eggs in it, including a miniature R2-D2 and a Return of the Jedi arcade game. Is it possible that Favreau is offering the film a return nod some 30-odd years later? [If you recognize this alien, please let us know what it is!]
[16:57] An MSE-6 "Mouse" Droid
The MSE-6, nicknamed the "mouse droid," was a small multi-purpose delivery and maintenance droid. They made their first appearance in A New Hope, but subsequently appeared in Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars animated series.
[18:50] New Republic Fleet Trooper
A New Republic trooper by the name of Davan turns out to be the sole Human crew member aboard the prison vessel. As we already mentioned, the character is a cameo from Matt Lanter, who has voiced Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars for the last decade (among other shows and games). But the other Easter egg here is his uniform. With some minor modifications, it's basically the uniform and helmet that the Rebel Fleet Troopers wear in the original trilogy. And of course, Mayfeld makes fun of the look and calls him an egghead!
[36:50] X-Wing Starfighters (and a little something extra)
As Mando is flying out of the mercenary's station, we see three New Republic X-wings drop out of hyperspace. These ships are probably the most iconic ship from the Star Wars franchise, appearing in every single film in the original trilogy. Along with being the first X-wings we've seen in this series, they're being piloted by three directors from the series: Dave Filoni as Trapper Wolf, Deborah Chow as Sash Ketter and Rick Famuyiwa as Jib Dodger. What an epic moment!
Cameos aside, that's at least another 14 Easter eggs, fan nods and callbacks in this episode. But we've probably overlooked a few, so please let us know what we might have missed in the comments or on social media!
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