Anti-gravity’s Rainbow (The Mandalorian Season 2 finale)

There it is. That rusty, moonlight-gray X-wing gliding through the starry expanse. And at no better time, with super robot deathtroopers at the door, pounding away at a thick metal door that may as well be paper. Nothing to hide behind when they come in, either, nothing to discount the taunts from Moff Gideon.

It is a name both reverent and silly, silly just because the odds that he’d appear now in this corner of the galaxy, at this particular place, at this particular time, seem even greater than 3,720 to one. “Skywalker,” you say, feeling both omniscient and powerless over the proceedings.

And as you watch the gray hooded form slash its way through the ship, with forest green lightsaber acting like a torch and lighting the way, you wonder if it is indeed someone else, a new creation for this new pocket of the universe, but then scoff at the notion, for who else could it be?

And when he does announce himself, it seems almost unnecessary. He is back. Not having faded from a projected self atop an island cliff. But back at the height of his powers, not so long after converting his father back to the light side of the force.

Perhaps some of it feels unnatural, as seeing him here is different than having a younger Darth Vader appear on the scene (a la Rogue One) and requires at least a little bit of agreement between audience and creators- this isn’t the Skywalker you know in the flesh, but it’s close. Like a spark to a candle on a long winter’s night, an old star shining once again in a galaxy not so far away.