WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Chapter 5, "The Gunslinger," streaming now on Disney+.

With its fifth episode, The Mandalorian pays tribute to the film that started it all, 1977's Star Wars, with not only a return to the desert planet Tatooine -- a key location in the original and prequel trilogies -- but also a prominent role for a rakish rogue who's a thinly veiled stand-in for Han Solo. Make that a young, and sort of bumbling, Han Solo.

When the Razor Crest is damaged during a pursuit by another bounty hunter, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) makes a beeline for the nearest planet, which just happens to be Tatooine, and touches down for repairs in that wretched hive of scum and villainy, Mos Eisley Spaceport. Without the funds to pay docking bay owner Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), assisted by a trio of skittish DUM-series pit droids, Mando heads off to find a job at -- where else? -- at the cantina.

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It's not just any cantina, either; it's the cantina visted by Obi-wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. However, five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the seedy tavern is a far cry from its bustling heyday. There's no live band, and the crowd of patrons is nowhere near as colorful; heck, there are barely any patrons at all. But the most glaring difference is that an establishment that once famously banned droids is now staffed by them. We might chalk up an apparent decline in business to the Bounty Hunter Guild no longer operating on Tatooine, which may (or may not) be connected to the death of Jabba the Hutt only years earlier.

Still, the cantina retains at least one familiar element: a charming gunslinger sitting at a booth, with his feet on the table, armed with a quip and a blaster. Everything about Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) is intended to exude self-confidence and worldliness, from his pose to his opening line -- "Think again, tin can," directed at the bartender -- to his Bounty Puck. However, he's anything but those things.

Despite his facade, Toro is a naive young man eager to impress the Bounty Hunter Guild in order to gain membership. To that end, he's on the trail of Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), an infamous mercenary who's worked as an assassin for the top crime syndicates, including the Hutts. Toro isn't all that interested in the bounty, and so he offers that to Mando, in exchange for his help; he only wants the reputation that accompanies bringing in someone like Fennec Shand.

If, even after his introduction, his affected swagger and his vest, there remained any doubt Toro was intended as some kind of analog for Han Solo, that would seem to be wiped away when he acquires the speeder bikes required for their journey past Tatooine's Dune Sea. When Mando appears unimpressed by their condition, Toro replies, "What'd you expect? This ain't Corellia." In the light of the planet's twin suns, viewers also get a first look at his weapon, which certainly looks like it could be a later model of Han's iconic heavy blaster pistol.

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The nods to A New Hope don't end with Mos Eisley, the cantina or this Han wannabe, however. As the newfound partners race across the sands, they spot through binoculars Tusken Raiders and their bantha mounts in an homage to Luke's own discovery in the film. Just like in that original scene, Toro is taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of Sand People right beside him. Not Mando, though, who uses a sign language to negotiate safe passage, subverting expectations of a fierce fight.

The episode also includes a dewback, a large, reptilian beast of burden introduced in A New Hope, but what cinches Toro an intended Han Solo analog is that he (yes) shoots first -- although it isn't in self-defense.

Pinned down by Fennec Shand, Mando and Toro wait until nightfall to stage a daring attack on her position. They ultimately apprehend her but lose one of their speeder bikes in the process, leading Mando to set off to find the dewback they encountered earlier. That leaves Toro alone with Fennec, who knows precisely who Mando is, and what he's worth, even if her young captor doesn't. When revealing that his Beskar armor is worth more than her bounty doesn't sway Toro, she informs him that Mando shot up the Bounty Hunters Guild on Nevarro, and that apprehending him would make the young rogue "legendary."

Unfortunately for Fennec, though, she goes a little too far to convince Toro. Asked for proof that this Mandalorian is the one who's wanted, Fennec divulges that he still has his "high-value target" with him: "Some say it's a child." Toro, who saw Baby Yoda at the docking bay, is smart enough to put two and two together,

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But just when it appears as if Toro is going to take Fennec's offer to free her and take on Mando together, he pulls his blaster and shoots the handcuffed assassin at point-blank range. It's murder, but, as Toro tells her lifeless body, is he removed those binder, he would be dead. Instead he races off back to Mos Eisley, intending to make off with Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian, and secure his reputation as a legend. Obviously, that doesn't turn out as he planned.

It no doubt will be tempting for some viewers to view Toro Calican as a takedown of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the divisive (to say the least) 2018 film which starred Alden Ehrenreich as a young, brash Han clawing his way from Corellia's criminal underworld to the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. But it's difficult to imagine that's the intention. Instead, The Mandalorian is merely leaning into its Western influences once again.

The episode's title, "The Gunslinger," isn't a reference to Mando or to Fennec; it's to Toro. He's the young upstart from any number of classic Western films and television series who sets off, gun in hand, to take down a legend, and make a name for himself, despite rarely having the skills to do so. Generally referred to as the "Gunfighter Wannabe," that character has played a pivotal role in Westerns ranging from The Shootist to The Unforgiven to The Gunfighter.

But, then, why would Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni, who wrote and directed the episode, fall back on all of those Han Solo flourishes? It's difficult to know for sure, at least until Filoni or series creator Jon Favreau talks. Still, we can say that, beyond the beloved character himself being based on a classic archetype, who could pass up a chance to pair up "Han Solo" and "Boba Fett" on Tatooine? No one, that's who.

Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode arrives each Friday on Disney+.

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