The original story premise for the episode likened Ezra getting used to his jetpack to Cliff Secord doing the same in the 1991 movie The Rocketeer. In a fitting bit of connectivity, The Rocketeer was directed by Joe Johnston, the ILM artists most responsible for designing Boba Fett and his jetpack for The Empire Strikes Back.

Andrew Kishino provides the voice of the Imperial Mandalorian Captain Hark. Kishino voiced the original animated incarnation of the young Saw Gerrera in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Continuing a growing tradition, an actor who was a veteran of the series Rome plays a Mandalorian leader. This time it’s Tobias Menzies (who played Marcus Junius Brutus) as Tiber Saxon. Other Rome alumni include Kevin McKidd (who played Lucius Vorenus) as Fenn Rau, and Ray Stevenson (who played Titus Pullo) as Gar Saxon.

The chase to save Alrich Wren from the inside of a troop transport was inspired by both the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the tank chase in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

This episode marks the return of Katie Sackhoff to the role of Bo-Katan Kryze from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The character model has been redesigned to match the look of Star Wars Rebels and advance the character’s age by 18 years or so.

The design for Sundari, the Mandalorian capital, stems from George Lucas’ suggestion of using a trackball mouse as a starting point during the city’s development in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The weapon’s nickname, the Duchess, is a reference to Satine Kryze, the Duchess of Mandalore. Given her pacifist ideals, it is an ironic usage of the name, in the same way a weapon in our world may be called the Peacemaker.

This episode was first publicly shown at Star Wars Celebration Orlando on April 15, 2017, a full six months before its television debut.

An earlier iteration of the story had Sabine “knighting” her Mandalorian soldiers with the darksaber, creating a scorch mark on their armor.

The armor of the Mandalorian warriors is, for the first time, referred to as beskar on screen. This is a term introduced in Star Wars Legends Republic Commando novels by Karen Traviss, giving a name to the concept of “Mandalorian iron” first introduced in the Tales of the Jedi comics by Tom Veitch.

That Sabine had developed weapons for the Empire was an idea that stretched back to her original character conception, as her bio in the earliest story bible describes: “Sabine’s work was directly responsible for a terrible event perpetrated by the Empire.” The specific details were left undefined until this story arc, where it could be most impactful.

Earlier drafts of the story had Bo-Katan eager to use the weapon against the Empire. When faced with the choice, however, she ultimately opts to destroy it, proving herself worthy of leadership. As the story evolved, this conflict was moved to Sabine’s fiery temperament, with Bo-Katan becoming the voice of reason.

This episode expands the number of known Mandalorian clans and houses, and diversifies their look by showcasing different ancestral roots than the Kryze and Vizsla families featured so prominently in The Clone Wars.