WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, "Chapter 16: The Rescue," streaming now on Disney+.
When Star Wars: The Mandalorian came to a close, it left with Luke Skywalker walking off with Grogu, ready to train the Child in the Jedi Arts. While this leaves the open mystery of where Din Djarin and the others will go in Season 3, a bigger question might be where Luke's story in the greater Star Wars mythos goes from this point. Since the show takes place around 9 ABY, fans may have a vague idea of what Luke does before he meets Grogu and what he does after taking the Child.
What Does Luke Do During The Mandalorian?
Around the time The Mandalorian takes place, Luke was doing a deep investigation into the origins of the Jedi Order. He traveled to Moraband, found the ancient texts seen during The Last Jedi and uncovered records to learn the history of the Jedi, dating back centuries. His journeys would also lead him to Ahch-To, the place Luke believed housed the first Jedi Temple. Most importantly, he discovered the cache of Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu, which uncovered key details surrounding how the Jedi rose and fell.
This means that, at the time Luke found Grogu, he was already well on his way to researching the Jedi Order's history; although, he had yet to form his own Order. However, Grogu reached out to Luke through the Force. Just like Grogu needed a mentor, Luke might have needed Grogu to complete his own journey and start his order.
What Happens to Luke After The Mandalorian?
As many Star Wars fans who watched the sequel trilogy know, after The Mandalorian, Luke found a new Jedi Order in 15 ABY, only to lose it years later when Ben Solo and the Knights of Ren burned it down in 28 ABY. While audiences are led to believe Ben is Luke's first student, they later learn in The Rise of Skywalker that Luke trained Leia first, and as The Mandalorian shows, he trained Grogu shortly after Leia and before Ben.
Luke started training Ben when he was ten years old -- around 15 ABY; however, as learned in the sequel trilogy, Luke was reluctant to take Ben on as a student. Leia had to push him to do so. This indicates that something happened between 9 ABY and 15 ABY that made Luke hesitant to take on another student.
In fact, audiences have no evidence that Luke trained Grogu as part of his New Jedi Order alongside Ben and the others. This indicates that Grogu was either there the whole time and never referenced or something horrible happened to Grogu during his training, something that might have been foreshadowed in The Mandalorian and the sequel trilogy.
When Does Luke Fight Snoke?
One thing that happens shortly after adopting Grogu is that Luke fights the Supreme Commander of the First Order, Snoke. When Luke hesitated to train Ben, part of the reason for this hesitation was that he feared Snoke's influence on Ben. As learned in The Rise of Kylo Ren, Luke had encountered Snoke and left him scarred before training Ben, indicating the two encountered one another during Luke's travels.
What makes this more intriguing is how Grogu may be tied into Snoke's creation. Moff Gideon wanted to use Grogu's Force-enriched blood for genetic experimentation. One possibility is that Gideon is using Grogu's blood to create Snoke. If this is the case, Grogu being tied to Snoke's creation would force Luke to confront him. In The Mandalorian Season 2's finale, Gideon indicates he already has enough of Grogu's blood to complete the experiment, indicating there's a possibility that Snoke's creation has been ensured.
Does The Mandalorian Contradict The Sequel Trilogy?
While this Luke differs from the one seen in the sequel trilogy, The Mandalorian has yet to contradict anything established in that trilogy or any of the other expanded canon. Instead, it shows the beginnings of another long journey ahead of Luke, one that will lead to the reclusive Luke on Ahch-To years later.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on Disney+.