Because the last five years have been really hard to be an Original Trilogy SW fan. We've been beaten like a mistreated dog at every turn, and now when someone shows us the slightest bit of kindness, we're afraid to trust them.
That's what Mando was. It was literally offering a bone to a sad, beaten old dog...
I've gotten my hopes up too many times only to have them dashed on the rocks when it comes to this franchise. Seeing something like that, that seemed like it was setting up an amazing cameo for a competent Luke Skywalker in the prime of his powers....well, that's usually when the Disney Story Team likes to "subvert expectations" and pull the rug out from under us. Oh sure, it LOOKED like Luke was coming in there, but five years of Disney Star Wars taught us to expect a mean spirited twist right at the last moment...a reveal of ANYONE else. Most likely some nobody, or some Mary Sue like Rey....some fan fic character they wanna push on us.
I think everyone that didn't believe it was Luke until we saw his shiny CGI face was completely right in curbing our expectations, cause that's what happens when you're constantly beaten down over and over again and told you're a "bad fan" and "no longer needed."
This post absolutely captured my thinking. They whole time I was second guessing myself, everything about it screamed that it must be Luke but I almost couldn't believe that they would give us that after what had come before. As each tiny reveal brought us closer to the undeniable truth that it was Luke (the x-wing, the hood and cloak, the single lightsabre, the green blade, the single gloved hand, the return of the jedi belt, the lightsabre forms and movement of Luke and Anakin even right up to the point when Luke pulled down his hood with two hands the same way he did in Jabba's palace and revealed Hamill Luke underneath) I was still so ready for the fake-out that I was just flooded with relief when it was finally and irreversibly there on our screens. Of course those nerf-herders then smashed me in the feels whilst I was vulnerable haha with the Grogu and Din moments.
The Star Wars Theory Guy described it as soul healing and he is absolutely right from my certain point of view because that's literally how it felt to me (and I suspect many others). It is really embarrassing to admit but TLJ left me hollow, they took something from me with that movie and it was something that those idiots in charge couldn't understand. Luke as a character is more significant for a lot of Star Wars fans than they realise. For me he was always a symbol of overcoming adversity and failure, finding that inner strength and endurance to weather a storm, train hard, better yourself but still maintaining the values of love, friendship and sense of old fashioned right and wrong throughout it all. I recognised a lot of myself in young whiny Luke and whether consciously or subconsciously I've always drawn from the Luke 'character' to help me in difficult times. It's not called the 'Hero's Journey' for nothing and in some ways we all go on that same path in our lives (on a less dramatic stage hopefully) and we all have choices to make along the way.
I don't have religion and I don't think much of sports star, reality stars or celebrity so as I kid I looked for my heroes in fiction. KK, Rian and the Story Group, in their futile attempt to gain a following from a new generation decided to deconstruct the hero of the previous generation. And KK, you failed your highness, the new generation have so much choice and the MCU alone more than caters for anything that they might be looking for.
Favreau and Filoni must have understood the significance of the ST's collective failure. After seeing the Mandalorian it is impossible to seem them as anything but the same kid I was and I suspect many of us were. Those who dislike what was done with the ST (and this can apply to the PT as well) were the equivalent of lost little Grogu in the Mando story. We had been there for the Star Wars before the dark times but it was smashed before us and now we lay low hiding our love for the franchise lest we get hurt again (but we could still be roused to powerfully defend what we loved about it if the need arose). The empire / Disney still needed our blood / money and they sought to capture us and take it from us with soulless cash grabs, toys and tie-ins. But Favloni (through the cypher of Din) knew that this was not 'the way' and instead carried us through this journey of 16 episodes of healing (reminding us why we fell in love with Star Wars in the first place with echoes of the OT in season 1 and then the PT and TCW and rebels in season 2). Then at the eleventh hour when we all thought Disney's / KK's meddling hands would strike again they had Luke ****ing Skywalker in his prime rescue us. With Din removing his helmet, it almost doubled as them showing us that it is now they who are behind the corporate mask at LFL and who will be making the story decisions going forward. A little nod that we can go with it, trust it/Luke again, we and the franchise are in safe hands.
The Rescue and the Believer chapter titles don't just apply to the characters but they are also for us. Favloni and crew made us believers again and they rescued the franchise.
I also absolutely love that they made the father and son theme so central to their story again. It's special and refreshing to have media these days celebrate a father figure who would do anything for their son.
P.S. I know there are those of you (you know who you are and I respect you) who loved TLJ and who see the whole of Luke from that movie with his redemption and (I do think this) satisfying sacrifice. But I cannot get by the Luke as presented to us for the first 3/4s of the movie. This is my baggage (but perhaps the same for others) it just felt like a personal attack and belittling of my love for the OT hero's journey and that character and his values (as presented by the conclusion of ROTJ).
