The Mandalorian has so far succeeded in telling one of the most engaging live-action Star Wars stories in years, but a fair part of what keeps fans coming back to the misadventures of Din Djarin and Baby Yoda are the references to other parts of the franchise. The Disney+ series hasn’t shied away from offering up plenty of fanservice, and that continues with the latest episode’s nod to another beloved piece of Star Wars media, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
More than just being remembered for being incredibly solid RPGs, the 2003 BioWare game and its sequel The Sith Lords opened up Star Wars in a big way by letting players explore its galaxy thousands of years before the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance. In the process, the games also introduced some of the franchise’s most memorable characters, one of which was indirectly referenced in this week’s Mandalorian episode, “Chapter 13: The Jedi.” MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR BOTH THE EPISODE AND KOTOR.
Following The Mandalorian’s other reference to Knights of the Old Republic from earlier this season, Chapter 13 sees Din Djarin come across fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano on the planet Corvus. It’s there that he learns that the local magistrate, Morgan Elsbeth, is out to kill Ahsoka, and in the process, it’s revealed that Elsbeth is guarded by a pair of HK-87 assassin droids.
These will be very familiar to KOTOR fans, as the HK (“Hunter-Killer”) designation made its first appearance in the game with HK-47, an ill-tempered droid and one of the characters players could recruit to their party. HK-47 has gone down as one of KOTOR’s most memorable characters for his personality and connection to the player character’s backstory, landing him multiple appearances in subsequent Old Republic games.
While the HK-87 droids are hardly The Mandalorian’s most blatant Easter egg, they are still both a nice callback to the KOTOR games and a reminder of just how fondly-remembered BioWare’s original RPGs are. To this day, fans continue to hope that Knights of the Old Republic 3 will happen someday, while others have petitioned BioWare and EA to remake the original game.
Either of these happening is probably a longshot in the best case, but it can’t hurt to keep hoping. If nothing else, in the meantime there’s at least a good chance the KOTOR references in The Mandalorian could continue throughout the remainder of Season 2 and the third season coming in 2021.
The Mandalorian is streaming on Disney+.
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