That Shocking Mandalorian Season 2 Moment Wasn't Always Meant To Happen

The second season of the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, was so jam-packed with memorable moments it's hard to keep track. From Rosario Dawson bringing the animated white lightsaber-wielding Jedi, Ahsoka Tano, to life, to Boba Fett claiming Jabba the Hutt's Tatooine palace as his own, or Grogu eating macarons, the show provided fans with a perfect mix of exciting action, great storytelling, and unexpected humor. The season was so successful that the streaming platform is preparing to give fans a plethora of new Star Wars shows in the coming years.

But one cameo couldn't help but overshadow any other moment from the season. The unexpected Luke Skywalker reveal in the season's finale — in which the seasoned Jedi effortlessly lightsabered his way through several Dark Troopers to rescue Grogu — made Star Wars fans ecstatic and prompted Mark Hamill himself to tweet about it. The actor wrote: "Sometimes the greatest gifts are the most unexpected and something you never realized you wanted until it was given."

But as it turns out, the moment wasn't only unexpected for Hamill and the fans. It was also a surprise to the show's creator Jon Favreau, who did not anticipate bringing Luke into the mix until he began writing it out.

In a recent interview with the Writers Guild of America, Mandalorian show-runner Jon Favreau was asked about Luke's unexpected appearance in the show. Had he planned to have Luke show up from the beginning? Favreau's answer: "No." Instead, he revealed that the story "unfolded" as he wrote it. He added that the show "inherits a great deal from existing Star Wars stories" so when he writes, he is always considering that context. "It became clear that, within the established continuity, certain things were likely to transpire."

The exact timeframe of the show wasn't exactly clear until the end of season 2. After seeing a younger, but well-trained Luke, we know it's soon after the events of Return Of The Jedi. But Favreau insists that, despite that most recent Star Wars films being set after The Mandalorian, it's not restricting him or executive producer and writer Dave Filoni. "We have a tremendous amount of freedom afforded to us because of the gap in time between the films," he said.

Luke's unexpected appearance in the show, as well the reaction from the fans, is a good reminder that letting events reveal themselves during the writing process and not planning too far ahead is sometimes the best way to go.