Space cereal, lots of familiar voices, and how Ventress’ arc begins that way. Here are the hidden details and references I found in Tales of the Underworld.
In my Tales of the Underworld review you will find my thoughts and analysis of each arc. I recommend that you either read the review or watch the episodes first before jumping to the easter eggs below.
The Good
Cad Bane’s episodes all have the word “Good” in the title. This is a reference to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, a classic western movie.
Duro
Cad Bane or Colby, and Niro are from the Duros species. I think it’s safe to assume that the planet shown in the episode is Duro. Duro is one of the founding planets of the Republic and part of the Core Worlds.
Space Cereal
After Colby and Niro get money from Lazlo, they buy Crunchies. This is the equivalent of cereal in Star Wars. We got to see it first in Season 1 of Andor and more recently in Skeleton Crew.
Shady business
We learn of a guy running a different business in the back of his shop. Since he is wishing luck to one customer, I can only imagine that he’s having illegal Sabacc tournaments. Very similar to what we got in Star Wars Outlaws.
It’s a trap!
Niro is voiced by Artt Butler. He also gives his voice to Admiral Ackbar in Clone Wars.
Lawman
Lazlo is taken out by someone who Bane and his colleagues refer to as “Lawman”. This is a reference to the 1971 Western film Lawman. Its story revolves around a skilled marshal facing all sorts of scum and villainy.
Police headquarters
Niro and Cad Bane have their duel outside the Police station. It was implied that these are the Police headquarters. The spelling of the word Police in Aurebesh confirms it.
Killing the past
Right before Bane heads to the Police headquarters, he shoots a window where he sees the reflection of his old self. To me, he’s killing any trace of Colby and any remnant of his old life, including the friendship with Niro.
What happened to Ventress’ red lightsabers
Ventress lost her lightsabers after Barriss Offee stole them from her. This was an intricate plan to frame Ahsoka as the bomber of the Jedi Temple when in reality, it was all Offee’s plan.
Barriss was arrested and imprisoned, as shown in Tales of the Empire. Ahsoka left the order, but Ventress never recovered her blades.
She would later buy a yellow saber on the black market, which is what we see on the cover of Dark Disciple (Amazon affiliate link to the book) and the one sold in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney.
However, her current lightsaber is a little different. While keeping the yellow color, it also has the curved hilt that her old sabers had, mixing both her past and present in a brand new blade. The first appearance of this lightsaber was in Season 3 of The Bad Batch.
The Hidden Path
Ventress helps Lyco find something called The Path. This is the Hidden Path that was mentioned multiple times in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. It is also part of the story of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
It’s basically a small group of people spread around the galaxy helping relocate Force-sensitive people to a safe place away from the Empire and the Inquisitors.
Imperial officer Tala, Roken, Jedi Master Cere Junda, Cal Kestis, Nightsister Merrin, and Quinlan Vos are some of the most important members.
An old acquaintance
Ventress finds Latts Razzi and C-21 Highsinger, two bounty hunters whom she worked with back in Quarzite. In this mission, Ventress also teamed up with a young Boba Fett, Dengar, and Bossk.
A dangerous prey
The species that Highsinger and Latts are fighting is a Besalisk. They are massive creatures with an equivalent strength. Their four arms make them very dangerous foes in melee combat. The two most well-known Besalisks are Obi-Wan’s friend Dexter and Jedi Master Pong Krell.
Shield Relay units
After convincing Ventress to help them in exchange for information about the Path. The group attempts to steal a Shield Relay unit. These are the two spheres located at the sides of Imperial Star Destroyers.
Stormtroopers and a LAAT
In the second episode, we get Stormtroopers, an LAAT, and even a Venator is mentioned. This indicates that these episodes happen when the Empire is phasing out the Clone Troopers in favor of the Stormtroopers. Aligning with the events of Season 2 and 3 of The Bad Batch.
Jedi Master Cordova
The separatist survivor is voiced by Tony Amendola, who previously played Jedi Master Eno Cordova in Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor.
Inquisitor…Duck?
The unnamed Inquisitor is voiced by Daniel Ross, the official voice actor for Donald Duck.
Communication is a powerful ally
Lyco claims that he’s able to talk with the “raiders” because he’s a Jedi. Understanding their language is useful, but conveying emotions is an entirely different thing. Many Jedi have been able to communicate with different animals or creatures thanks to their connection to the Force. There might be some of this involved in Lyco’s interaction.
I’ve heard that voice before
The Stormtroopers that are looking for Lyco are voiced by Steve Blum. While he has voiced Stormtroopers on several occasions, he’s most known as playing Zeb in Star Wars Rebels.
Dark Disciple *Spoiler alert*
This spoils the Dark Disciple book, but also explains why the series begins in such a strange way.
Ventress’ arc begins with the ending of Dark Disciple. In this story, Quinlan Vos is sent to exterminate Count Dooku. In order to do this, he teams up with Asajj Ventress, Dooku’s former apprentice.
The two end up falling for each other, but near the end, Quinlan also falls to the dark side. To save his life, Ventress sacrifices herself. Quinlan brings Ventress’ body to Dathomir, where she’s brought back to life by the remaining power of the Nightsisters.
