Part of the promise of setting "Star Wars Rebels" in between the two trilogies was that we could see familiar characters during a period that we don't know much about.

R2-D2 and C-3PO were the first big cameos, but the latest episode featured a cameo by an iconic "Star Wars" character... Just not in the form you're familiar with.

The scene came near the beginning of the episode, as Ezra (he's the guy with bluish hair below) wandered into a market.

The older gentleman in the foreground is none other than... General Luke Skywalker.

How is that possible? At this point in the saga, the Luke we know shouldn't be any older than Ezra, right? So allow me to explain.

The cameo is a very geeky reference to "The Star Wars," the Dark Horse comic series based on George Lucas' original draft for the first movie. (The book is a very good read, and you can pick up the collection here.) In that version, General Luke Skywalker fills in the Ben Kenobi role, acting as a mentor to the young Annikin Starkiller.

And he looks like this...

See the resemblance now?

The cameo probably isn't anything more than an Easter egg for diehard fans, but it's nice to see the "Rebels" creators paying some service the "Star Wars" addicts out there.