The Mandalorian Chapter 12 revealed a surprising connection to Episode IX

The Mandalorian ties to the Skywalker Saga deepen in Chapter 12.

On the first viewing of The Mandalorian, it may have seemed the series was a standalone story not connected to the Skywalker Saga. Just a slice of life of things happening in the galaxy around the same time.

As each new episode aired, it turned out there are a number of connections to the Skywalker Saga – including some blink-and-you-miss-it moments.

In Chapter 12, Mando, Cara Dune and Greef Karga head to a local Imperial facility in order to destroy it and get rid of Imperial rule on the planet. They discover it is a science facility and there are what seemed to be creatures in adult-sized tanks.

Star Wars fans have seen these types of tanks before. In The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren walks through the hall on Exegol, passing different vats containing clones, including Snoke.

Seeing the same type of tanks in The Mandalorian, many fans immediately went to this imagery and for good reason. If you listen closely, it seems as though Snoke’s music, created by John Williams, was playing in the background.

Don’t believe it? Take a look at this video shared on r/StarWarsLeaks juxtaposing scenes from The Mandalorian and The Last Jedi. It’s the same. Plus, the theme for Snoke is also apparently playing during the scene in The Mandalorian — as you can hear in the video clip from Reddit. You can also see a concept art photo of the scene down below.

What do the tanks mean in The Mandalorian?

Does this mean a Snoke clone is in that tank? Not necessarily. Clones have always been discussed since the beginning of The Mandalorian as one of the reasons The Child is so highly sought after. Doctor Pershing has a patch on his arm that indicates the clone facility on Kimino. This could be the very early stages of the cloning process as a way to keep Palpatine’s consciousness going.

Din stumbling on this new facility doesn’t change much in the outcome of what happens with the cloning program, but at least there seem to be more answers to some of the questions that popped up in The Rise of Skywalker like, “How did Palpatine survive?”

Maybe Din just makes it a little harder for the Empire to work on their sinister plans.

Of course, we can’t forget that we are going to see Ahsoka Tano next week. She was Anakin’s padawan that we saw her throughout The Clone Wars and Rebels, adding another connection to the Skywalker Saga.

Watch new episodes of The Mandalorian on Disney+ on Fridays.