The Mandalorian Season 2 finale special confirmed for Disney Plus

For those that don't know, The Mandalorian is set just five years after the events of 1983's Return of the Jedi.

As part of the recent announcement, Disney+ revealed a photo of Max Lloyd-Jones behind the scenes. The 30-year-old British actor served as the body double of Mark Hamill for the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. He was the physical portrait for Luke Skywalker on-set before some Hollywood magic was applied to digitally de-age Hamill.

It's been more than six months since the finale of season 2 aired back in December 2020. It served as a fitting end for a season that started with Din Djarin looking to reunite Grogu back with his kind.

Just as the duo and their allies found themselves backed into a corner, Luke swoops in to save the day. He then takes Grogu back with him to aid him in his Jedi training, but not before audiences were treated to an emotional farewell between the surrogate father-and-son duo that saw Din remove his helmet so that Grogu could see his physical face for the first time since the two of them met.

Luke's surprise cameo in the Season 2 finale was met with both criticism and applause. On one hand, fans loved seeing a younger Hamill in action, even if it was just a CGI version of himself. At the same time, critics felt that the showrunners should have just recast Luke as a different actor. Others pointed out that this was just unnecessary fan service to help appease those who took offense to the older Luke's decision to cut himself off from The Force in 2017's The Last Jedi.

Hamill, who recently shared his thoughts about a Star Wars sleeping bag, has been vocal against Luke's stance in The Last Jedi. He's gone as far as to thank the director of the episode, Peyton Reed, for giving him a chance to play Luke while he was "still a symbol of hope and optimism."

Now, we don't think that The Mandalorian Season 2 finale special is going to be changing anyone's mind. However, it does give Star Wars fans something to look forward to, with The Mandalorian Season 3 not expected to air until 2022.

The Mandalorian Season 2 finale special will drop on Disney+ on August 25.