The Mandalorian is nearing the end of Season 2, and there's a lot to be excited about. The series finally revealed its first Jedi by bringing in Ahsoka Tano, and after she declined the chance to train Grogu (a.k.a. Baby Yoda), more Jedi could be on the way. Given the time period the show takes place in there's a short list of known Jedi that could appear, and I think it's a no-brainer that Luke Skywalker needs to be one of the few featured.
The hero of the original trilogy is an obvious choice for a mega cameo for The Mandalorian, though I can understand the apprehension by some to include such a prominent character. Make no mistake that Luke is a necessary piece to The Mandalorian's story, and I believe the show would be smarter to have his character in the mix than not.
Luke And Din Are On Similar Paths In This Era
Din Djarin's mission in The Mandalorian Season 2 is to find Jedi familiar with the Force capable of training Grogu. Ultimately, Din's belief is that Grogu will be safe with a Jedi, and able to more effectively hide from Moff Gideon and others from the Empire who wish to capture him. Din will protect The Child in the interim, and I'm not so sure he won't continue to even if a teacher is found.
Luke Skywalker spent years following Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi searching out relics and other artifacts related to the Jedi Order. Eventually, he'd go on to train a new generation of Jedi, in hopes of creating a new Jedi Order. We all know that didn't pan out quite the way he hoped, though in the timeline of The Mandalorian, Luke's failure as the master to his nephew Ben Solo is years away.
Obviously, we're not entirely sure where Luke is in The Mandalorian's timeline. With that said, if he's in search of interesting things relevant to the Jedi Order, or young Padawans with promise, it seems Grogu would be someone he'd be interested in seeing. Even in the case that Luke wouldn't be available to train Grogu, he'd potentially know where someone capable could be found. Either way you slice it, it seems Din Djarin and Luke Skywalker are on a collision course before this series ends.
Luke Is One Of A Few Living Characters Who Knew Yoda
It seems like if The Mandalorian went to the trouble of including a character of Yoda's species in the show, then a goal of the series may be to give some background on one of Star Wars' most mysterious species. There needs to be someone with some level of expertise to tell that story, so who better to go to than the source? Unfortunately, Yoda is dead, and the whereabouts of the only other known Jedi of that species, Yaddle, are unknown.
As previously mentioned, Luke Skywalker did some digging on the Jedi Order, so it's not crazy to believe he knows something about Grogu's species. Additionally, he spent an unclear amount of time with Yoda while he was still living, and may have learned something about him in the process. Oh yeah, he also had Yoda appear to him as a Force ghost, so one would think that he can communicate with Yoda and get some answers if need be.
And, while I shouldn't speculate too heavily on Luke Skywalker's discovery skills, we do know he gained possession of Jedi texts and quite a few other interesting things related to the Force in this time period. I would think that if Yaddle is still alive, Luke would be the best source for a lead on where to find her. Of course, I'm of the opinion that Luke shouldn't be passing off Grogu to Yaddle, even if she may be the better candidate to train him, but if that's what it would take to bring him into this series then so be it.
Luke's Appearance In The Mandalorian Could Lay The Groundwork For A Spinoff
2020's Disney Investor Day showed that the House of Mouse is not at all afraid to pull the trigger on more Star Wars shows, and if the first massive batch of offerings is a success, we could see many more on the way. With stories largely restricted to its shared universe, it could be only a matter of time before a series about Luke Skywalker is introduced into the conversation. Hey, we're living in a world where Ahsoka Tano is getting a live-action spinoff; is it really hard to believe he won't get one?
I definitely think it's possible, and the era between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens is a time when a Luke story that hasn't already been seen can unfold. Obviously, there would need to be a recasting from Mark Hamill to create a younger Luke in live-action, but Donald Glover playing Lando Calrissian in Solo has me confident Disney isn't afraid to do that. With that in place, I don't think there's really any move left to make other than to re-introduce Luke to the franchise via The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian is already the flagship show to two upcoming spinoffs directly tied to its events, so it wouldn't be weird to throw in one more. The best kind of backdoor pilot for a spinoff is one that doesn't feel like it was tacked on solely for that purpose, and I think there's ample enough reason to bring Luke Skywalker into the story for that not to be the case.
Plus, it's going to start to get weird if Grogu and Din Djarin go on this whole quest for Jedi and somehow don't cross paths with one of the most prominent ones out there, so let's just throw out the notion of a Luke introduction being excessive fan service and cross our fingers that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are already working on something.
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