MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW for The Mandalorian's Season 2 finale, and not even The Force can take things back if you don't heed the warning.
Holy [Star Wars-specific expletive], people. The Mandalorian fully immersed itself in all levels of Star Wars storytelling with its Season 2 finale, "The Rescue," and managed to set up yet another new spinoff with its final scene. And while that was all fine and Boba-dandy, the episode's most bewildering and palpitation-inducing moment came when a hooded Jedi wielding a green lightsaber showed up and completely obliterated Moff Gideon's Dark Trooper army. And yes, that Jedi now destined to train Baby Yoda was indeed Luke Skywalker, because WTF.
And yes, it was actually Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. Albeit a digitally manipulated Mark Hamill that looked like he stepped out of the most magnificent Star Wars video game that could ever be created, and not necessarily the Mark Hamill whose face measurably reflected light in the original trilogy. Still, Luke's arrival and robe-uncovering made for one of the biggest thrills of The Mandalorian Season 2. And that's saying something, considering all of the major characters that factored into these eight episodes, such as Ahsoka Tano's live-action debut and the finale's returning hero Bo-Katan. (Not everyone loves such things, but so be it.)
Luke's arrival and subsequent decimation of Moff Gideon's droid army was reminiscent of Darth Vader totally wrecking shop in Rogue One, and I was definitely here for it. Like father, like son, after all. And we'll be seeing that father again in Obi-Wan Kenobi whenever that limited series arrives on Disney+, so does that mean Baby Yoda is going to factor into that story now?
And once that question train starts rolling, it's hard to stop it. I can't imagine The Mandalorian will make a point of bringing Luke Skywalker back into the narrative on a weekly basis, since it was likely expensive as hell to deliver his...erm...unique presence. But this absolutely isn't going to be the last time we'll see li'l Grogu, so could Luke return to this story or another one day after the training is complete? And is someone going to go back into The Last Jedi and digitally add a framed 5x7 of Baby Yoda on the wall of Luke's hut? I might actually be into that one.
Not that Luke Skywalker was the only classic character to return. Everybody's favorite short-stack droid R2D2 also showed up and had a cute little connection with Baby Yoda. And as weird and slightly stilted as the scene was – made no less awkward by an emotional Mando having recently taken off his mask for the third time in this series – this final image was an undeniably excellent visual tethering of this franchise's past and present. And beep-beep-boop-boop, I was all about that shit.
Let us know in the poll below what you thought about Luke Skywalker's debut in episodic television. (Which doesn't count the holiday special.)
The Mandalorian has now wrapped Season 2 and set up a very interesting set of paths for Star Wars' future on Disney+. As always, you can rewatch every episode streaming now, and while waiting to hear about where Season 3 is going, head to our Fall TV 2020 premiere schedule and our Winter and Spring 2021 premiere guide to see everything else coming to the small screen in the near future.
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