When Ahsoka told Mando that a Jedi would come for Grogu if he called out it was very clear that we would be seeing another Jedi by the end of the season.
The theories ran rampant. People started speculating that Mace Windu might make his long-awaited return, I started freaking out when I began to spectate Cal Kestis’ live-action debut, and so on and so forth. But no, they didn’t do that. They did what made the most sense but we thought was impossible.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
They brought Luke Skywalker to The Mandalorian.
I’m still in a state of shock if I’m being honest. And yeah, since everyone’s been arguing about Luke’s appearances in The Mandalorian and The Last Jedi here are my thoughts on the situation.
Rian Johnson’s take on Luke Skywalker was…unexpected and not what most fans wanted but I feel that his choice for Skywalker as a character was different and well thought out. To see one of the greatest cinematic heroes of all time beat down and left as a husk of himself was disheartening and a bit depressing but sometimes things don’t always go the way we imagine.
The Luke Skywalker we see in The Mandalorian hasn’t begun to raise a new generation of Jedi only to have his very own nephew destroy it as he descends into the dark side. This Luke is the one who still believes in the goodness of the galaxy and is excited for his journey as a Jedi Master for the coming decades.
And even Ludwig Goransson makes sure to nod his head towards John William’s score for Luke in The Last Jedi by including notes and sounds for his theme in The Mandalorian reminiscent to The Last Jedi. And even his outfit looks similar to the one in The Last Jedi.
So no, those who believe that Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian is somehow different to the one in The Last Jedi are wrong. In fact, I feel that Johnson understood the character way better than Abrams version in The Rise of Skywalker who is, for some reason, pleased that he can now lift his X-Wing out of the water, as if he couldn’t do it before then.
The Luke Skywalker who rescued Baby Grogu seems like the type of person who doesn’t need self-validation in lifting an X-Wing out of some water. So…now whenever I see that scene in The Rise of Skywalker (which I already deemed the corniest moment in Star Wars) I’m going to be even more peeved.
All in all, it’s nice to see different layers of Luke Skywalker and I am very, very happy with how he was utilized in The Mandalorian‘s season finale.
Now…we need one more answer Jon Favreau. Did Grogu die at the hands of Kylo Ren, because if he did…I don’t know how I’m going to feel about that.
Annlyel Online 
My personal opinion is that Grogu will not be at the Temple when Kylo burns it down. It’s 25 years in the future. I think Grogu will finish his training and go back to Din long before that. But who knows? I also accepted and loved grumpy Luke in The Last Jedi. No, it’s not what we expected, but that’s life. It can chew you up and spit you out, lol. Including heroes like Luke. He’s human, like the rest of us. Anyway, I was so happy to see Luke in The Mandalorian. This show never fails to surprise.
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It’s true, it never does. Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking as well. I just feel like Grogu and Mando have to be together; they’re the clan of two after all. 🙂
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Me, too. I can’t imagine the series without Grogu, so I’m hoping he’ll at least make an appearance or two in Season 3.
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Definitely. But that’s the point of Mando’s final words to him right. “I’ll see you again. I promise.” Those lines were to reassure us, the audience, that they will be together again (to prevent a riot. Lol.)
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Hee hee. I don’t know if you thought of it before I did (although it occurred to me as soon as I finished it at like 1 AM Pacific last Friday morning, I just didn’t write it down until the next morning), but the fridge logic is clearly there. 😜
Here’s my issue with the “he finishes his training and gets back to Din long before Kylo Ren burns down the temple”… I think it’s in question as to whether Grogu is even going to be an *adult* by then. He’s 50 years old and still can’t even talk. The temple is gonna burn in another 25. There’s a decent chance Din won’t even be alive by the time Grogu is ready to go from being Baby Yoda to actual Yoda… assuming Grogu lives that long either.
Now, in contradiction to that… in Yoda’s initial pushback when Luke wants to be trained as a Jedi in Empire Strikes Back, the response is “Ready, are you? What know you of ‘ready?!’ For 800 years have I trained Jedi! My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained!” However, it’s established that Yoda is “only” roughly 900 years old. Which means that Yoda had to be adult enough to be able to teach others by roughly age 100.
So… maybe the species goes from barely infant to adulthood rather rapidly? Or perhaps Grogu is stunted a bit from trauma? I don’t know. The age and timeline math is really wonky, and Favreau took a lot of license extrapolating that he’d still be a non verbal toddler at 50. He may not have thought through all the implications here. Either way… Grogu is on the clock here.
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From a marketing standpoint they can’t write out Baby Yoda. The series might be decent without him, but he is just to cute to not keep in the show.
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I agree. There won’t be too much time without the little fella, I would think. We’ll see.
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