The consternation that the sequel trilogy caused with Luke Skywalker made his heroic appearance in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian all the more important to fans of the Star Wars legacy character. With that said, it was important to keep Luke’s appearance a surprise to almost everyone involved, and the lengths to which Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau went are almost comical.
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 2, “Making of the Season 2 Finale,” shows that the name “Luke Skywalker” was not even used in the script. Due to the likelihood of leaks, Filoni and Favreau wrote in another awesome Jedi to cameo so that Luke’s appearance would be a secret to as many people as possible -- including the cast. They were told that Plo Koon from the prequel trilogy would appear and take Grogu with him.
After the penultimate episode in Season 2, the internet was ablaze with theories about the Jedi coming to Grogu’s rescue. Theories included: Cal Kestis, Ezra Bridger, Master Windu and Luke Skywalker -- pretty much any Jedi who was still alive (or theorized to still be alive.) Luke almost seemed too obvious, so many people thought that the finale would be a great way to bring Cal or Ezra into live-action for the first time. However, The Mandalorian cast thought that it had everyone fooled because it was actually going to be the thought-dead Plo Koon coming to the rescue.
The problems with Plo Koon appearing are obvious to even casual Star Wars fans because, by the time of The Mandalorian, Plo Koon was good and dead. In fact, he died on-screen at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He was flying above the planet of Cato Neimoidia when Palpatine gave the command to execute Order 66, and his wingmate, Captain Jag, shot him down. He crashed in a blaze of fire, and there was no way he survived.
Nevertheless, Filoni and Favreau put all of their dejarik cards on the table and went full-in on the subterfuge. They had concept art and CGI work created to make everyone think that the impossible would happen. After all, if Darth Maul could survive a lightsaber bisection, Koon could have theoretically got out of his ship’s cockpit before it exploded or used the Force to shield himself from the flames. Fans also know how much Filoni likes Plo Koon as a character, so it would have been believable if a leak of Koon’s appearance got out.
Earlier in the documentary, Filoni noted that they would have figured out something else if either thought the Luke cameo might not work because of his relationship with Favreau. That raises the real possibility that they would have come up with a way to resurrect Plo Koon. So, maybe creating concept art was as much of a contingency plan as a way to hide Luke’s appearance.
As cool as it would have been to see the Kel Dorian Jedi Master in The Mandalorian, it was much more meaningful to see Luke redeemed in the fans' eyes. That appearance will likely go down as the true persona of Luke Skywalker rather than the curmudgeon in The Last Jedi.
To see more reveals about the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, watch “Making of the Season 2 Finale,” which is streaming now on Disney+ as part of Disney Gallery.