Thoughts not related to the post-credits scene:
I agree that the lack of a reunion scene between Din and Grogu was a disappointment. The goodbye scene had me in tears, but....it still felt like we needed to see that earlier scene. My feeling though is that they didn’t do it because if they had, that would have been the natural place for Din to take off his helmet, and they wanted it to be on the bridge. But...still.
I was totally shocked by them bringing in Luke. I figured characters from the original trilogy would be off limits, but I underestimated their commitment to a totally integrated universe. As soon as I saw the green lightsaber I knew who it was, but I didn’t realize until the end credits that it was a digitally de-aged Mark Hamill (or rather, Mark Hamill’s face pasted on another actor). My thoughts were like.....”oh wow, they really did bring in Luke? I wonder who they cast? Is it going to be Sebastian Stan after all? No, that’s not him, but wow, props for finding an actor who does look uncannily like Mark Hamill.” (In my defense, it was 4:00 am but still! 🤦🏻♀️)
The fight between Din and Gideon was no less awesome for the fact that we knew it was coming since Din got that beskar spear. I also loved the squad of women mowing down stormtroopers.....I would watch that spin-off. 😄
I’m intrigued by what this means for Din going forward, since he has the Darksaber now. I was kind of hoping that he would end up getting it, but I figured he wouldn’t since Bo-Katan is a character brought over from Clone Wars/Rebels.
Poor little Grogu looked kind of out of it when Din first brought him to the bridge, but he started perking up when the x-wing showed up. It was clear to me that he sensed Luke coming for him. But awwwww....Din and Grogu saying goodbye really did have me in tears.