'Mandalorian' Darth Vader Easter egg makes the Season 2 finale even better

It's been long enough that we can talk about Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian freely, right? At this point, the spoiler moratorium is safely expired, which is a good thing because there's a pretty striking Easter Egg baked into Luke's big moment that makes the Season 2 finale even more epic than we thought.

Luke's big Mandalorian moment

As you likely remember, Luke showed up just in the nick of time to rescue Din Djarin, Grogu, and the rest of the gang after Moff Gideon's Dark Troopers seemingly had them cornered. Master Skywalker slices through an army of power-punching droids with ease before revealing himself to Mando, scooping up Baby Yoda, and making his exit.

It was a powerful way to end The Mandalorian Season 2 and kick off a new era of Star Wars storytelling as Disney+ prepares to launch multiple spinoffs anchored by a third Season of the Mando Show, but there's something you missed that makes Luke's cameo even better.

As redditor u/skywalkinondeezhatrz carefully illustrates, Luke's entrance in The Mandalorian almost perfectly mirrors Anakin's infamous "younglings scene" in The Revenge of the Sith. They both enter the scene cloaked in black with a lightsaber in hand, and they're both recorded by cameras and observed in action by another major character. However, when Anakin reaches the younglings he doesn't remove his hood, but when Luke finds Baby Yoda, he reveals his face.

Why this Mandalorian Easter egg matters

Obviously, Luke had to reveal his face for dramatic effect (we already know who Anakin is in Revenge of the Sith, but you might not have been sure which Jedi was slicing up Dark Troopers until you saw Mark Hamill's digitally de-aged face for yourself). But from a narrative perspective, Luke revealing his face means a lot. It immediately creates a contrast between father and son, between evil and good, and between shame and pride. In this moment, Luke is everything that Anakin wasn't when it arguably mattered most.

Luke showing his face may have also been hugely important from Grogu's perspective. For all we know, Baby Yoda was actually present at the moment that Anakin killed the younglings but somehow survived (though it's also possible he was rescued from the Jedi Temple long before Anakin became Darth Vader). If that's the case, Grogu might have been experiencing some terrifying flashbacks when Luke showed up, but by removing his hood, the younger Skywalker proved without a doubt that he was not his father.

The Mandalorian is streaming now on Disney+.