Despite several appearances of fan-favorite characters throughout the second season of The Mandalorian, the appearance of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was still a surprising and exciting moment for Star Wars fans. It turns out, that it was even a surprise for the cast who were present while the scene was being filmed.
In an interview with The Sith Council, Katee Sackhoff, who played the live-action version of Bo-Katan Kryze, talked about the filming of the big moment in the final episode, and how Luke’s identity was kept under wraps.
"I didn’t know until I saw it with you guys…There was an actor there with dot’s on his face."
When pressed on the idea that she had no idea that Luke would be making an appearance in the final episode, Sackhoff expanded on her statement, adding:
"I mean, kind of. But at the same time I thought to myself, “They would have let us know that.” You know, they said… Who did they say it was? I think Robin [Gadsby] knew who they said it was, but it was a complete red herring. So we didn’t know. I knew it was a Jedi. I knew it was an X-Wing. So you start to put things together, but you don’t know."
Luke Skywalker wasn’t the only appearance that excited fans in the second season of The Mandalorian. Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and even Sackhoff’s own character, Bo-Katan, were all popular characters from earlier installments in the Star Wars franchise. But it was Luke’s big moment that was kept under the tightest possible secrecy. Casting rumors for Ahsoka hit the internet months before the second season started airing, Disney and Lucasfilm managed to keep Mark Hamill’s involvement secret until the final episode was available. Gina Carano, who plays Cara Dune on the show, confirmed in an interview with Drunk 3P0 that Luke Skywalker wasn’t mentioned at all in the script for the final episode.
While the discussion surrounding the Luke Skywalker moment was a big part of Sackhoff’s interview, it certainly wasn’t the only thing the actress spoke about. Sackhoff spent over an hour on the podcast talking about her experiences with Star Wars, touching on her time voicing the animated version of Bo-Katan in The Clone Wars and getting to try on the character’s Mandalorian armor for the first time. While it’s not yet known if Bo-Katan (or Luke Skywalker for that matter) will appear in the next season of The Mandalorian, or any of the show’s upcoming spinoffs, it’s clear that Sackhoff has loved getting to play the character, so it wouldn’t be that surprising to see her don the helmet again in the near future.