The season two finale of The Mandalorian delivered a huge surprise: Luke SkywalkerOpens in a new tab. The iconic Star Wars character appeared in “The Rescue” to, well, rescue Din Djarin, his allies, and GroguOpens in a new tab. The episode built up the character’s reveal. The mysterious figure arrived in a lone X-wing with an astromech in the back. He wore a black robe and wielded a green lightsaber. Then we watched the character, clearly one Luke Skywalker, handily dispatch Moff Gideon’s dark troopersOpens in a new tab in an epic hallway fight. It took a minute to process my excitement the first time I watched the episode. And while composer Ludwig Göransson did a gorgeous job with the music, YouTuber Abraham IgnacioOpens in a new tab, who goes by “A,” edited in some music that’s a little more recognizable.
We learned about this edit with John Williams music from Boing BoingOpens in a new tab and wow is it effective. Watch:
The music matches Luke’s fight scene pretty perfectly. It’s most familiar from the first trailer for The Rise of SkywalkerOpens in a new tab but it plays up elements of Star Wars‘ “Main Theme.” That’s Luke’s music. And then it all ends with “Binary Sunset.” That piece is technically Obi-Wan Kenobi’s theme. However, we mostly associate it with Luke anyway. Hearing it in the moment he comes face-to-face with Grogu works so well.
Here’s Göransson’s piece for Luke from the episode, titled “A Friend.”
Göransson talked to InsiderOpens in a new tab about the music and said, “I basically wrote a new theme for Luke there because I wanted the reveal to be a surprise, I didn’t want to hint at anything.” Totally understandable.
Lucasfilm
We don’t know when The Mandalorian‘s third season is coming to Disney+Opens in a new tab yet, but we do know it’s not soon enough.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of The Jedi Mind, available nowOpens in a new tab. Follow her on TwitterOpens in a new tab and InstagramOpens in a new tab.
