Star Wars: 10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About The Mandalorian
7. A Plo Koon Swerve
Keeping a secret under wraps in order to elicit a suitably jaw-dropping response is nothing new for the Star Wars universe. But The Mandalorian Season 2's epic conclusion came with it perhaps even more secrecy than a certain Empire Strikes Back reveal.
Completely omitting the name "Luke Skywalker" from the script, those shooting the emotionally-charged sequence on the day were convinced that they were actually witnessing the stunning return of none other than Master Plo Koon thanks to the script including his name, concept art depicting the Jedi, and even a CGI rendering of Koon's head being placed on Luke in the now-iconic scene.
Always one step ahead, Dave Filoni was well aware that die-hards were wise to Koon being his favourite Jedi, so assumed that any leaks surrounding the seemingly-dead character arriving back on the scene would be accepted as fact; paving the way for the real zinger down the line.
Even Peyton Reed was under the impression Plo was about to show, with the director sharing the sort of reaction the majority of fans would've had on the development of ‘Are you being serious right now? Is this real? You’re bringing the guy back?’ when he learned of the news.