‘The Mandalorian’ threw out a heavy reference to Anakin Skywalker you might have missed

Warning: Spoilers for “The Mandalorian” season 2’s fifth episode, ‘The Jedi’

The most recent episode of “The Mandalorian” referenced “Star Wars” legend Anakin Skywalker, and you might have missed it.

What happened?

The fifth episode of “The Mandalorian,” Season 2 — titled “The Jedi” — showed Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu (Baby Yoda) traveling to Corvus, where they discovered Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), a Jedi from the Clone Wars-era who had been in hiding.

• Din asks Ahsoka to train Grogu in the ways of the Force since he’s already vaguely familiar and needs a trainer.
• Ahsoka denies the request, though. She said she could sense fear in Grogu, and that makes him hard to train — which is the first reference to Anakin Skywalker.

The Anakin Skywalker reference:

When Ahsoka denies Din’s request to train Grogu, she makes a reference to Anakin Skywalker that goes a little under the radar.

• “I’ve seen what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight,” she said. “To the best of us.”

Anakin Skywalker — who was Ahsoka’s master during the Clone Wars — fell to the dark side due to his undying love for Padme Amidala. The attachment to Padme led him to seek a way to keep her alive through the dark side, which pushed him into becoming Darth Vader.

Anakin Skywalker Easter egg:

There was a slight nod to Anakin Skywalker in the first episode of “The Mandalorian,” Season 2, as well. The episode included a marshal named Cobb Vanth, who used a podracer engine to travel near his town of Mos Pelgo. The podracer appeared to be the same one used by Anakin Skywalker in “The Phantom Menace,” which I wrote about for the Deseret News.