The Mandalorian Was More Like Vader Than Luke Skywalker Was In The Finale
The Mandalorian season 2 finale, "Chapter 16: The Rescue," saw Din Djarin remove his helmet for Grogu, drawing parallels to Anakin Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker had a scene similar to a big Darth Vader moment in The Mandalorian season 2 finale, "Chapter 16: The Rescue," but it was Din Djarin who most echoed Anakin Skywalker in those closing moments. The Mandalorian season 2, episode 8 brought twists, triumphs, and tears as Mando and his assembled team - including Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Koska Reeves - were able to take back Grogu and bring down Moff Gideon. However, they still had to deal with the threat of the Dark Troopers, a battle they seemed fated to lose until the arrival of Luke Skywalker.
Arriving cloaked in a hood and with his green lightsaber in hand, Luke delivered one of his most powerful displays yet in any form of live-action Star Wars. As he laid waste to the Dark Troopers, it was impossible not to recall Darth Vader's own incredible hallway sequence in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with several visual parallels throughout. It was a thrilling moment that proved Luke is even more like Vader than he realized, since he is to the Empire what Vader was to the Rebels, but it wasn't the strongest comparison to be found in "The Rescue."
Following Luke's slaughtering of the Dark Troopers, he takes Grogu away to be trained as a Jedi, but not before Baby Yoda bids a heartfelt farewell to Mando. It's an affecting moment from the get-go, but it becomes even more emotional once Din removes his helmet, allowing Grogu to fully see and even touch his face. While Luke's scene may have visually mirrored Vader's, this sequence does so on an even deeper thematic level, calling back to Anakin Skywalker removing his Vader helmet in Return of the Jedi. In both cases, it is the father - or father figure - removing their mask so that they can look upon their son with their own eyes, letting them truly see their face for the first time as they part ways.
At its very core, Star Wars is about family; that has mostly been the Skywalkers, but The Mandalorian, for instance, shows it branching out, even as it brings Luke back. Din and Grogu may not be related, but he is nonetheless his father, and it's clear just how much he loves and wants to protect the Child, much like it was apparent in Return of the Jedi how much love Anakin had for Luke. Fathers and father figures are so key to the Star Wars galaxy because it's a generational tale, passing down legacy, powers, and expectations, but also the weight of failures and sins, which is what makes Anakin's redemption so powerful. Mando has not failed Grogu, but like Anakin, he realizes that his son has to grow beyond him - that he has already been saved by his child, who has allowed him to change and show sides of him he never expected, and now it's Baby Yoda's turn for something more that he himself cannot give.
Drawing all of this together is Luke himself, who was once the person Vader removed his helmet for and was told to leave, and now watches on as the Mandalorian does the same for Grogu so that he may take him away. Many years later, Luke will make his own sacrifices for the people he loves, again showing how these moments bring together many of Star Wars' central themes around family, love, and sacrifice. The Mandalorian has made some more surface level parallels between Din Djarin and Anakin Skywalker already -the former used the latter's spinning pilot trick from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, and both have referred to lightsabers as "laser swords" - but this goes further and connects them in a much more poignant, powerful way.