Krayt Dragons Explained: Mandalorian Season 2's Star Wars OT Monster
The Mandalorian season 2 premiere unveiled a classic Star Wars monster, the krayt dragon. Star Wars has always been science-fantasy rather than science-fiction, with George Lucas' films featuring monstrous creatures such as dianogas, exogorths, rancorrs, and of course Jabba's beloved sarlacc. The prequel trilogy even dropped Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala into an arena, where they were attacked by numerous wild beasts.
The Mandalorian season 2 honors this tradition in an unexpected plot that sees Din Djarin team up with Marshal Cobb Vanth, Tatooine's first lawman, in a desperate mission to destroy a gigantic krayt dragon. The creature had been tormenting one remote area of Tatooine for years, with Tusken Raiders unsuccessfully attempting to placate it with offerings. Apparently the krayt dragon lived in an abandoned sarlacc pit, much to the Marshal's surprise; he insisted there's no such thing as an abandoned sarlacc pit. "There is if you eat the sarlacc," Din Djarin deadpanned in response.
Although they've never appeared on-screen before, the krayt dragons are actually an established part of Star Wars lore. In fact, their history runs all the way back to the very first Star Wars movie, which released in 1977.
Two scenes in the first Star Wars movie allude to krayt dragons, the apex predators of Tatooine. In the first, Threepio passes the massive skeleton of what is supposed to be a krayt dragon as he wanders Tatooine's desert. Later, Luke Skywalker pursues Artoo-Detoo into the desert wastes, and he is attacked by a group of Tusken Raiders. Fortunately Obi-Wan Kenobi is near at hand, and he terrifies the Tuskens by issuing a strange, animal cry. "I imitated the hunting cry of a krayt dragon," Obi-Wan explains in the radio version. "Their imaginations did the rest and they took to their heels." Amusingly, George Lucas didn't like the sound effect, and tried several different versions with the Special Editions.
Star Wars reference books have gradually fleshed out the krayt dragon, revealing there are two species; the smaller and more common canyon krayt, and the rarer greater krayt. According to 2017's Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia, their bodies produced a toxin called krayt venom, which they spray upon a living creature in order to prepare it for digestion. Their bodies secrete precious pearls, which are a much-sought-after valuable commodity.
The Mandalorian season 2 explains why the Tuskens were so terrified of the krayt dragons. It's easy to see why they are the apex predators of Tatooine; they are basically the desert's equivalent of sharks, making their way through the shifting sands and only rising to the surface in order to devour their prey. Although they have eyes, it's reasonable to assume the krayt dragons navigate by sound, with their strange cries serving as a sort of sonar. That would also explain why they can be easily disturbed by sounds; the Tusken Raiders in the first Star Wars movie let out a loud war-cry when they captured Luke, and they clearly feared that yell of triumph had caused a krayt dragon to stir.
George Mann's book Star Wars: Myths & Fables contains a Tatooine legend in which a mysterious stranger - clearly supposed to be Obi-Wan Kenobi - confronts a krayt dragon. This is supposed to be a local myth, but one with an element of truth to it, and as such it explains how Obi-Wan knew the sound of a krayt dragon. Mann's account of the krayt's habits matches fairly well with The Mandalorian season 2, although the live-action beast is clearly larger.
Krayt dragons appeared quite a few times in the old Expanded Universe, although they were quite different to those of the modern canon. They were more common, and during the mating season the canyons of Tatooine were supposed to echo with their howls. What's more, although the creatures are divided into the same categories of canyon and greater krayt, neither species appears to have been quite as formidable as the one seen in The Mandalorian season 2. Krayts in the EU didn't breathe venom, but instead secreted it upon their spines.
While the Tuskens feared a krayt dragon on the prowl, their warriors were tasked to hunt one for themselves as part of an initiation rite. In the Star Wars: Legacy comics, set 100 years after the original trilogy, a Tusken Sith Lord called himself Darth Krayt in order to evoke fear in his enemies, essentially portraying himself as the galaxy's apex predator.
The closing scenes of The Mandalorian season 2, episode 1 see one of the Tusken Raiders discover a pearl inside the carcass of the greater krayt. The dragon's pearls were established in the Expanded Universe, and the beautiful colored stones were used by the krayt as part of its digestive process, helping to crush the food they had eaten. They've already been referenced several times in Star Wars tie-ins, with a big game hunter in the mobile strategy game Star Wars Commander bragging she had killed a krayt dragon and taken its pearl. Interestingly, in the EU the pearl of a krayt dragon possesses similar refractive properties to a kyber crystal, and can be used to power a lightsaber. Given The Mandalorian season 2 will see Din Djarin encounter at least one ex-Jedi, it's possible this idea will be developed further down the road.
The Mandalorian season 1 visited Tatooine briefly, but this one episode in season 2 really helps the planet feel like a real place. It hints at an entire ecosystem, with savage predators evolving to take advantage of the desert sands. Interestingly, the ecosystem appears to be dominated by the sarlacc and the greater krayt, both of which seem to be quite territorial. The sarlacc settles in a pit, emerging to consume creatures that come too close, while the krayt chooses a cave - or an abandoned sarlacc pit - as its base of operations, scouting a wider area for prey.
The Mandalorian season 2 may explain how Boba Fett survived being consumed by the sarlacc. According to Chuck Wendig's novel Aftermath: Empire's End, the sarlacc was critically injured by the explosion of Jabba the Hutt's sail barge - but is it also possible Boba Fett escaped by detonating explosives inside its maw, the same method used by Mando in this episode? Certainly that would make Boba's survival a matter of skill and endurance rather than simply dumb luck that the sarlacc died before it could digest him. No doubt the truth will be revealed later in The Mandalorian season 2.