Those who experienced the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian likely have plenty of thoughts ready to bounce around regarding the several unexpected surprises the episode threw at them. The episode (and indeed the entire season) had plenty of material for fans old and new alike to geek out over, so it was only a matter of time before someone like Mark Hamill came forward to add his enthusiasm to the fray. Huge spoilers follow for The Mandalorian season 2 finale.
Hamill had many words of praise for the finale and the show in general, but his main thoughts on the matter probably came as little surprise to those who had just seen the episode. Addressing his own cameo as Luke Skywalker (which wasn't even Hamill's first cameo in The Mandalorian) as well as the "real triumph" of keeping the spoiler a complete secret for the whole year, the Star Wars veteran tweeted out his reaction once the dust settled, saying "The fact that we were able to keep my involvement a secret for over a year with no leaks is nothing less than a miracle."
The appearance of Luke Skywalker had been speculated among fans as one of the possible Jedi to show up in response to Grogu's (Baby Yoda) call through The Force, but the wave of surprise that fell over audiences after his timely arrival showed that few actually counted on it happening. Viewers got to see the original trilogy hero in full Jedi mode, as he mowed through a platoon of Dark Troopers before revealing his digitally de-aged face to the show's dumbfounded characters, as well as the well-received villain Moff Gideon. He then beckoned Grogu to join him, most likely at his new Jedi Academy. It was fanservice in one of its most pure forms.
Hamill's fears of leaks were well-founded, particularly considering how other new additions to the season like Timothy Olyphant's guest star casting nearly all managed to permeate the fandom as soon as they happened. Even if they weren't necessarily confirmed, prominent additions like Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano and Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett quickly managed to find their way into conversations about the show well before the characters actually premiered. So Hamill's referral to the well-kept secret as a "miracle" certainly seems apt.
The Mandalorian has become a sort of meeting point for Star Wars fans of all generations. Its inclusion of canon characters and references from every era of the franchise seems tailor-made to draw in nostalgic viewers, and since it's so well-executed, it pulls off what might seem like wishful fanfiction in another context. Hamill himself has always been willing to genuinely engage with the fans, so his cameo as Luke seems to add that much more legitimacy to the whole production.
However things go after this, from The Mandalorian season 3 to the upcoming standalone spinoff The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars fans have plenty to look forward to. Come December of 2021, things are bound to get exciting in a galaxy far, far away.
Source: Mark Hamill|Twitter