Mark Hamill calls The Mandalorian's bombshell surprise cameo 'a triumph'

An iconic member of the Star Wars mythology made a surprise cameo in The Mandalorian's season two finale, released on Friday.

And Mark Hamill has called the herculean effort to keep it quiet 'nothing less than a miracle'.

Spoilers ahead...

A de-aged CGI version of Hamill's character Luke Skywalker pitched up to help Pedro Pascal's bounty hunter out of a tight spot.

Luke arrives as the outlook appears bleak, with Moff Gideon's (Gaincarlo Esposito) Dark Troopers descending on Mando and The Child, better known as Baby Yoda.

Read more: The Mandalorian episode The Rescue review

The Jedi master then lays waste to the troopers, before riding off into the sunset with The Child and R2-D2 to embark on some Jedi training.

Hamill first noted his 'appearance' in the show in a rather cute tweet on Friday.

He then added: “The fact that we were able to keep my involvement a secret for over a year with no leaks is nothing less than a miracle. A real triumph for spoiler-haters everywhere! #LooseLipsSinkStarships #STFU.”

Actor Max Lloyd Jones provided the physical representation of Skywalker, with the CGI face of the young Luke added later.

This has been the first major reference to one of the core characters of the original movies from show-runner Jon Favreau.

But it's not the first time that the movies have thrown in a CGI curveball, though such technological moves have been met with varying degrees of acceptance.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story features CGI versions of both Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin and Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia, though their appearances were criticised for landing firmly in the 'uncanny valley'.

Watch: The Mandalorian season two recap