The Solo: A Star Wars Story Callback You Missed In The Mandalorian Chapter 11

Star Wars. For decades, it's been the go-to franchise for operatic space hijinks. Nine main-series motion picture entries, a pair of anthology films, and a towering pile of animated programs, comics, novels, and video games have provided fans with all the laser swords, space wizards, and rakish smugglers they could handle. Along the way, the canon has offered up in-universe explanations for how its sci-fi accoutrements actually work. Anyone curious and nerdy enough could easily find blueprints for their own lightsaber. The schematics for a TIE fighter? Just a Google search away. The inner workings of a wookiee's digestive system, while not explicitly spelled out, are at least hinted at in a Chewbacca-themed edition of Operation.

But too often, fans of Star Wars have been left in the cold when wondering about how urban infrastructure is built and maintained in a galaxy far, far away. In that regard, recent additions to the franchise have really stepped up their collective game. In 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, viewers got their first glimpse at the OI-CT, a piece of heavy construction equipment being used on the Core World of Corellia, home to Han and his outfit of interstellar scamps. Even better, Solo wouldn't be the last time that this impressive tool would rear its head.

That's right — The Mandalorian brought back the OI-CT, putting fan minds at ease. The crane used in Solo wasn't retired, and still had a place in the Trask dockyards, even if it's gone through some refits over the years. If you squint, you can just make it out in the episode's first act — it's the four-story crane with legs lifting the Razor Crest out of the ocean like a leaky, multi-ton tuna.

The OI-CT, according to Wookieepedia, wasn't given a designation in its first outing, remaining nameless until a since-deleted Star Wars Kids YouTube video attached a moniker to it in 2019. It was originally pitched by art director James Clyne, who has worked on every Star Wars movie (minus Rogue One) since The Force Awakens, having also provided designs for other classics like Avatar and Galaxy Quest.

While including an obscure piece of work equipment from Solo might seem like a weird nerd flex, the OI-CT isn't necessarily the strangest Star Wars Easter egg spotted on The Mandalorian to date. Chapter 10, by way of example, included a ronto roaster from the Disney theme park Galaxy's Edge attraction. Chapter 9 contained a nod to nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker that nobody saw coming. There's no telling what's to come in the second season's remaining five episodes. With any luck, it'll involve that weird droid football game from Attack of the Clones.