The Mandalorian spiders share surprising connection to Yoda's story in Empire Strikes Back

The Mandalorian season 2, episode 2 spoilers follow.

Fans who were horrified that Boba Fett didn't appear in the latest episode of The Mandalorian soon had plenty more to freak out over in 'The Passenger'.

Following last week's krayt dragon reveal, season two has continued to up the beastie count by throwing hundreds of spiders our way, reawakening the arachnophobe in us all.

Chapter 10 starts off innocently enough, setting the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda off on a new mission to escort the "Frog Lady" and her offspring to a new world. Along the way, trouble ensues when their ship crashes, leaving them all stranded on a frozen planet.

At first, the naughty "Child" finds sustenance by eating the eggs they're supposed to protect. Not so cute now, eh? But then Baby Yoda causes even more trouble when he expands his palate with some delicious spider eggs instead. Cue a tidal wave of monstrous ice spiders who will do anything they can to protect their children with all their gross little spindly legs.

When the biggest spider of all makes its grand entrance, a number of other fantasy universes come to mind, including Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but actually, these disgusting arachnids are inspired by a key chapter in Star Wars history.

Diehard fans might recall that The Mandalorian spiders match a concept drawing Star Wars artist Ralph McQuarrie first created for The Empire Strikes Back. These "knobby white spiders", as they came to be known, would have appeared on the Outer Rim planet of Dagobah, which is where Yoda lived during his exile in the 1980 film.

While they didn't make the cut, this design later evolved into a new alien creature called the Krykna, which showed up in several episodes of Star Wars Rebels.

So are these new spiders Krykna, the live-action debut of the "knobby white spider", or something else completely? Well, right after the episode aired, a fan immediately reached out to Phil Szostak for answers.

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As the Lucasfilm creative art manager and author of numerous tie-in art books, Phil was able to confirm that these Mandalorian spiders are actually something new entirely. However, just like the Krykna, it turns out that they're also inspired by Ralph McQuarrie's original design.

That's a shame, because the original notes that accompanied this concept are nuts. As detailed in James Luceno's book, Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy, the "knobby white spider" is actually a mobile tree root made of calcified wood which can grow up to the size of a landspeeder.

In this part of the gnarltree's life cycle, the spider-like root detaches itself from the parent tree and roams the swamp to find animals it can devour. Once enough nutrients are gathered, the spider then anchors its legs and eventually grows into a new tree.

Apologies for the nightmares that you're now sure to have.

Smaller versions of this spider fought Luke Skywalker as part of his training in the Gamecube video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. And although the "knobby white spider" didn't actually appear in any of the original Star Wars films, it seems almost certain that Yoda would have battled some too during his many years in exile.

It's rather fitting then that Baby Yoda took this ongoing feud between these two species into his own hands. And we mean that literally. He literally took one of the baby spiders and ate it. Sick little bugger.

The Mandalorian season 1 is streaming now on Disney+. The first episode of season 2 launched globally on October 30, and new episodes will follow every Friday.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the entire Skywalker Saga are available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K now, as well as on Disney+, while Rise of Skywalker is also on Sky Cinema Premiere and NOW TV.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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