WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Season 2 premiere of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, "Chapter 9: The Marshal," streaming now on Disney+.
If The Mandalorian was going to return Din Djarin to Tatooine -- the center of the Star Wars universe, certainly -- and then partner him with a lawman clad in Boba Fett's old armor, the Disney+ series was duty-bound to include at least one nod to Return of the Jedi. Thankfully, the Season 2 premiere delivered, in hilariously appropriate fashion.
Instructed in the Season 1 finale by the Armorer to reunite The Child with "its own kind" (the Jedi), Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin sets off to find other Mandalorians, who in turn might point him in the direction of their one-time adversaries, this "race of enemy sorcerers." He follows a lead back to Tatooine, and then to a forgotten mining town, where he doesn't find a Mandalorian but instead a marshal, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), who purchased Boba Fett's scavenged armor from Jawas.
An old-fashioned Western stand-off over the armor is cut short by the timely arrival of a krayt dragon, one of the species whose skeleton in A New Hope sparked the imaginations of so many young viewers, and led to numerous franchise homages, from Jedi: Fallen Order to, well, The Mandalorian. This one, however, is alive, and has been plaguing the town, and the nearby Tusken Raiders, for years. And, so, a deal is struck: Mando will help Cobb bring down the leviathan in exchange for the armor, which can then be properly returned to the Mandalorians.
It's easier said than done, of course. Even an uneasy alliance between the townspeople and the Tusken Raiders isn't enough to stop the krayt dragon, whose species is so large, and so fierce, they're known to inhabit sarlacc pits, after devouring their original owners. This being The Mandalorian, the fight, naturally, comes down to the show's star and the monster. But first, he has to ensure The Child is safe.
Standing side by side with Cobb, still clad in Boba Fett's armor, Mando enacts a still-forming plan by telling his newfound ally to "take care of The Child." When Cobb asks, "What are you gonna do?" Mando responds, "I don't know, but wish me luck," and then strikes the marshal's jet pack with his rifle, sending him rocketing out of control through the air, and out of danger.
That, of course, evokes Boba Fett's undignified exit in 1983's Return of the Jedi, in which a temporarily blinded Han Solo turns and inadvertently strikes the bounty hunter's jet pack. That sends him flying through the air, striking the side of Jabba the Hutt's pleasure barge, and then falling into the mouth of the waiting sarlacc.
However, there may be an even deeper cut that veers away from Return of the Jedi and into Legends (née Expanded Universe) territory: Mando's plan, such that it is, involves him waiting with an explosives-laden bantha until the krayt dragon reaches its intended snack, and then, presumably, rocket to safety at the last second. But for The Mandalorian, hardly anything goes as planned.
Spooked by the prospect of its fast-approaching fate, the bantha pulls free of its tether, which requires Mando to steady the beast and its destructive cargo, until he too is swallowed by the krayt dragon. Moments pass, and then the beast reemerges, convinced by the electrical charge from the bounty hunter's Amban sniper rifle (itself a nod to Boba Fett's debut on the Star Wars Holiday Special). The shot of The Mandalorian soaring out of the krayt dragon's enormous maw evokes artist Cristi Balanescu's illustration for Star Wars: The Card Game of Boba Fett escaping the belly of the sarlacc. Surely that's no coincidence.
Unfortunately, the bantha is afforded no such escape. Free of the dragon, Mando detonates the explosives, killing the leviathan, and the beast of burden trapped inside.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, with guest stars with guest stars Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez.