The Child (or baby Yoda) is a practical effect and not CGI, carrying on with the original saga of Star Wars. Animatronics are used to give a more authentic performance. However, there are exceptions. For example, it's CGI when The Child chases and eats the frog creature.
About sixty percent of this episode is told without any dialogue. The first line is spoken eleven minutes into the 31-minute episode.
The Jawas' eyes on the planet Arvala-7 glow red rather than yellow as they do on Tatooine.
The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal)is ambushed by a group of Trandoshans, the same reptilian species as Bossk from El imperio contraataca (1980). In their own language, Trandoshans refer to themselves as T'doshok.
Often mentioned in the Star Wars book and comics, this is the first live-action appearance of a Vibro-knife. Vibro-knives or Vibro-blades have internal generators that make the blade vibrate to cause more damage.