The Mandalorian season 2 delivered many nail-biting scenes which include a Speeder bike that bears a striking resemblance to Anakin’s podracer – was it built with some parts of it?
The Mandalorian Season 2 saw, Cobb Vanth riding a bike that survives a striking resemblance to an engine from Anakin’s Podracer, arising a question that was that bike built from its spare parts? The Mandalorian season 2 introduced a new character of Cobb Vanth, portrayed by Timothy Olyphant, but he is not new to Star Wars canon. Vanth is marshal of a mining town of Tatooine who wears amour of Boba Fett, he was first appeared in the aftermath novel and featured in both the movie and the Disney+ show.
The Mandalorian season 2 shows Din Djarin crossing path with Vanth when he was on the search of other Mandalorians. This is not the first when the Disney+ show featured that famous desert planet, the second installment of Mandalorian takes all the advantage of what the audience already knows about the planet. This episode features Tusken Raiders, Djarin ganging up with Vanth to encounter a Krayt Dragon and also mentions the Womp Rats. Even Peli Moto’s (Amy Sedaris) pit droids reappear, working as a callback not just to a previous Mandalorian episode, but to the Tatooine seen in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
In the first episode of Mandalorian season 2, Din Djarin and Vanth can be seen riding a speed bike. Djarin’s bike is that one seen across Star Wars Media, while Vanth’s ride appears to be built of a podracer engine and specifically of that one engine that was flown by Anakin Skywalker during The Phantom Menace. The film shows Anakin competes in a podrace at Mos Espa, flying a podracer containing two cylindrical engines quite similar to what Vanth rides. Every fan knows what happened to Anakin’s podracer after he won that race, so somewhere it’s is possible that some parts of the podracer are still on Tatooine and its engine can be reused into a speeder.
In addition to the shape of the engine, the intake fan is similar as is the yellow plating – though neither are the same as those on the engines of Anakin’s podracer. There’s also some red plating covering more of the engine, not to mention the seat now affixed to the side. However, these are modifications that could have been made to the original engine, altering its design so that it now only bears a passing resemblance to the engines that powered Anakin’s victory in the Boonta Eve Classic. By the time of The Mandalorian season 2, it’s been 40 years since Anakin’s podrace, so were the engines still in use, they’d have surely required a few new parts to keep them running.
