The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 2, "Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore," streaming now on Disney+.
After a slow, table-setting opener, the second episode of The Mandalorian Season 3 was on-point. As the episode's title hinted, "The Mines of Mandalore" showed Din Djarin making his way to the sacred waters below Mandalore and absolving his sins therein. But fans didn't expect that his path would be so fraught with trouble. He was attacked by Alamites and a one-eyed, cyborg spider creature, and there was a Mythosaur involved.
The revelation of a live Mythosaur had fans ecstatic, and it could lead to Bo-Katan giving up her self-imposed exile. However, the most interesting thing in the episode was the cyborg-spider monster. While the episode never defined what the creature was, there is one attractive theory, and it goes back to A New Hope.
The Mandalorian's One-Eyed, Cyborg Spider Could be a Dianoga
Beneath Mandalore's surface, Mando had to fend off some Alamites, and they were no problem. But he was taken off guard by a giant, mechanical monster that trapped him in a cage and drugged him before he could do anything. The monster was a mechanical spider, but when it arrived at its destination, a smaller, four-armed cyborg emerged.
Without a way to fight the creature, Grogu went to get help from Bo-Katan. She arrived and fought the monster, and she appeared to have killed the four-armed cyborg. However, in a weird twist, the creature's head (which was a giant eye housed in a globe) separated from the body. It scurried back to the spider and put itself inside, so Bo-Katan also had to fight and defeated the larger monster.
The whole thing was pretty weird. Star Wars doesn't have a creature that's only an eye. Yet the creature's use of cybernetics indicates that it used to be more than that. One theory is that the creature was a Dianoga, the same type of creature that nearly drowned Luke Skywalker inside the Death Star's trash compactor. They had one, big eye, and seven tentacle-like legs. If those legs had somehow been cut off, it would have necessitated cybernetics, which would explain the monster's multi-legged designs. Dianogas were sentient, and some of them were even Force-sensitive. So, it's certainly possible that the creature in "The Mines of Mandalore" was a cybernetic Dianoga.
Star Wars Has a Long History of Freaky Monsters
Star Wars has always been known for its large and intimidating creatures. A New Hope started by showing the skeleton of a Krayt Dragon, and it later introduced the Dianoga. The Empire Strikes Back had the Wampa and the Exogorth worm, while Return of the Jedi had the Sarlacc. It's one of the best parts of the franchise, and any time a new property comes out, fans can't wait to see what giant monster debuts.
Dave Filoni and John Favreau have done a great job of keeping that trend in Star Wars television. The Book of Boba Fett showed a six-limbed Sand beast. The Mandalorian has also had its fair share of monsters. There was a massive, ice spider in Season 2, along with the famed Krayt Dragon. There was even a large sea monster and a pod of purrgil in "The Apostate." So far, the Krayt Dragon has probably been the best monster on Disney+ and the best reference to previous Star Wars projects. But if the one-eyed cyborg spider creature ends up being a Dianoga, it just might take the prize.
New episodes of The Mandalorian Season 3 air Wednesdays on Disney+.