If there’s been one big trend in this season of “The Mandalorian,” is that every obvious theory fans dismiss because there’s no way the show will do that… is exactly what the show ends up doing. Whether it’s Ahsoka showing up at the beginning of her episode, or name-dropping Thrawn, it has become clear this show isn’t afraid to go big. This is to say, that Luke Skywalker showing up was something we kind of should have seen coming.
But before that, Chapter 16, “The Rescue,” really brings home how different this season of “The Mandalorian” is from the first. Rather than a series of loosely connected set pieces united with the bare minimum of plots, it really felt like this season had a specific purpose in mind — making us believe Din Djarin cared about Grogu.
Even in its biggest moments of fan service, the show ties it all back to the galaxy’s best father-son duo. Though Din has spent a large chunk of the season being mad at people who disrespect the Mandalorian creed, he has zero interest in helping reclaim Mandalore because his only mission is to save Baby Yoda. Meeting Ahsoka, one of the last remaining Jedi was a fantastic moment for fans of the animated shows, but it was in service of that moment when Grogu and Din’s bond allowed Grogu to tap into his dormant Force powers. Boba Fett showing up in full armor? Nothing next to seeing Din react to Grogu being kidnapped by Dark Troopers.
Of course, the show has done no bigger cameo than the one it did this episode, as Master Jedi Luke Skywalker shows up in a moment of perfect buildup and payoff. After gathering a team to go save Grogu, battling Moff Gideon, taking his Darksaber, and then getting surrounded by the aptly named Dark Troopers, a single X-Wing shows up to help. There’s no attempt to communicate with the ship, and no clue as to who pilots it. Even if fans have some idea of who it could be, the show focuses on Grogu’s reaction and how his ears perk up in of a Jedi approaching. The moment matters to fans, sure, but it also matters to Grogu. When a singular GREEN lightsaber ignites, and the camera closes in on a familiar black glove and an even more familiar lightsaber, we realize it is not Ahsoka or even Ezra who showed up.
Again, “Star Wars” shows that lightsaber-users and hallways go together like peanut butter and jelly, and seeing Luke channel Darth Vader in “Rogue One” while cutting through the Dark Troopers like butter is a moment fans have been waiting decades for. It helps that this moment was accompanied by phenomenal action choreography that looks straight out of a Genndy Tartakovsky cartoon, with a bigger focus on long and steady sequences. It also doesn’t hurt that Ludwig Göransson is one of the best things to happen to the franchise, as he not only gives us a phenomenal beat drop when the Dark Troopers are activated, but a pretty good audition to score the next main “Star Wars” film with a John Williams-like orchestral piece once Luke appears on screen.
But the excitement of seeing a familiar character quickly dissipates. For one, no matter how advanced digital de-aging technology has become, it still feels too close to the uncanny valley. From afar, body double Max Lloyd Jones looks exactly like a younger Mark Hamill, but the moment the camera closes in and we see him speak, the young Jedi looks like he belongs in “The Polar Express,” and no one wants to belong there. It is especially disappointing to see this technology used again after seeing how little it worked in both “Rogue One” and “Rise of Skywalker,” and given that fans (and even Hamill himself) have pointed out how closely Sebastian Stan resembles him and how the show so clearly listened to fan casting when Rosario Dawson was tapped to play Ahsoka.
But the main reason it is sad to see Luke show up is that it means the end of the road for Din and Grogu, as Luke is here to take The Child away and train him. It’s without a doubt the most emotional moment “The Mandalorian” has done, and Peyton Reed does a great job reminding us of what’s at stake. When Din tells Luke that The Child doesn’t want to go with him, Luke quickly points out that Grogu does, but he wants Din’s permission to leave.
The entire season has built up to this moment. We knew from Season 1 that Din was only in it to find Grogu a home, but this season has really shown us that the two have formed an unbreakable bond, and seeing Grogu — not Din — accept that it is time for them to part ways is a heartbreaking moment. At the same time, Din spent much of the season confronting his assumptions about the Mandalorian creed, and seeing him revealing his face for Grogu with everyone in the room speaks volumes about his character development without speaking a single world. Grogu’s reaction is not unlike a baby seeing their dad without facial hair for the first time, and it will both melt your heart and make Din’s heart grow three sizes.
More importantly, this scene seems to show a very different side of the Jedi story we know. Ahsoka may have been afraid that Grogu’s bond with Din was dangerous and it was better for him to let his powers fade away than feed them. And we did see how being separated from his mother turned out for Anakin Skywalker, but that it was The Child who let go of Mando first and decided to leave on his own makes all the difference. If anything, the attachment is shown to be more on Din’s side than Grogu’s, showing how he grew to love his 50-year-old son, and promising a healthier separation that hopefully won’t turn Grogu into a homicidal maniac. At the same time, why does he have to leave by himself? Can’t Jedi training happen during the day, like an actual school?
This leaves “The Mandalorian” at a crossroads of sorts. Would Disney really let their biggest character cash cow go for an entire season to attend Jedi pre-school? How long will it take before Grogu and Din are reunited? Sure, the episode now heavily hints that Din will go on to help Bo-Katan reclaim Mandalore, especially now that Din has the Darksaber and a good claim to a throne he doesn’t seem to want. If they go this route, “The Mandalorian” risks destroying what it’s built up all season long, that the true story of the show was the story of Din and Grogu. Separating them to explore fan service stories like Luke building a Jedi Temple or yet another Siege of Mandalore may please some fans, but disappoint those interested in keeping this a self-contained story of a Mandalorian and a baby. Seeing Luke show up is great, but it gives the impression that the franchise is not interested in growing beyond the Skywalker Saga, despite all the spin-off shows Disney announced recently.
Outside of the tearful goodbyes, this episode did a great job of continuing the season’s exploration of how common people viewed the Galactic Civil War of the original movies, and even the Clone Wars. Just as we’ve seen how the New Republic may not be as good as we’d hope, and how some worlds are indifferent to who governs them, so did this episode show us an Imperial soldier with as big a reason to resent our heroes for killing millions of his comrades, as our heroes have to resent the Empire for — you know — all the genocide.
Whatever the future holds, it is clear that fan service will continue to be the main driving force behind the “Star Wars” TV output. Let’s just hope that they remember to bring “The Mandalorian” back to what made it such a pleasure to watch all season long — the story of a lone wolf and his cub.