In 2019, Paul Blake, the actor who physically embodied Greedo in “Star Wars: A New Hope,” gave various interpretations for what “Maclunkey” could mean, joking (via Empire) that it could be as simple as “Ouch!” or as deep as an ancient Rodian tradition that Greedo’s following when he gives his last gasp. Twenty years earlier, however, in “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” the word “Maclunkey” also slipped by as the bullying podracer, Selbuba (voiced by Lewis MacLeod), threatened his young rival, Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), on the streets of Mos Espa.
According to CBR, “Maclunkey” is Huttese for “This will be the end of you,” which matches up with the subtitles, where Selbuba tells Anakin, “Next time we race, boy, it will be the end of you.”
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have Mando say “This will be the end of you” in Huttese as he leaves Gor Koresh to be devoured by wild dogs in the darkness in “The Mandalorian.” Yet given the bad association many fans have with the word — what with its random insertion into “A New Hope” over 40 years after its theatrical release — it’s probably for the best that “The Mandalorian” avoided getting dragged into the whole “Maclunkey” debate.
“A New Hope” has been through so many edits over the years, with George Lucas retconning the film so that Greedo shot first, then retconning his retcon so that Greedo and Han Solo shot at the same time, that it wouldn’t be surprising if the comparatively recent addition of “Maclunkey” disappeared from future edits altogether.
Until then, we’ll always have the “Maclunkey!” memes and the behind-the-scenes brainstorming sessions of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni in “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian” on Disney+.