Last week’s penultimate episode of The Book of Boba Fett concluded with a number of plot lines on the knife’s edge of a resolution:
- Grogu was given an ultimatum from Luke Skywalker: Choose the Jedi path or forsake his destiny and go with Din Djarin.
- Notorious bounty hunter Cade Bane showed up in Freetown/Mos Pelgo, gunned down Cobb Vanth, murdered his deputy, and declared Tatooine to be under control of the Pyke Syndicate.
- Speaking of the Pykes, they went full on mafia and blew up the Sanctuary cantina, likely killing Garsa Fwip in the process.
Oh, and in case you forgot…
- Boba Fett and Fennec Shand are about to go to war with the Pykes for control of Mos Espa. The other Tatooine crime lords have all agreed not to interfere in the conflict, but also refused to help (despite what the potential fallout could mean for them).
- Fett and Shand currently have Black Krrsantan, Din Djarin, the Mod Squad, two Gamorrean Guards, and a big ole rancor to back them up. They also might get some help from Cobb Vanth (if he’s not dead) and the people of Freetown (if they’re up to it), but that might still not be enough to defeat the Pykes.
- Fett & Co. also have the majordomo of Mayor Mok Shaiz in their custody. He claims that the mayor is offworld, but I think we all know that’s a load of poodoo.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore. The sequence of events has also been streamlined a bit for the sake of clarity.
Learning the Unknowns
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
The episode opens in Mos Espa with Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and the two leaders of the Mod Squad (Drash and Skad) standing in the bombed out husk of the Sanctuary. As Fett laments how things have escalated, they’re joined by Din Djarin, who says (without knowing what happened after he left Freetown) that Cobb Vanth is raising an army to help them. The price for their assistance will be to stop the spice trade through their lands.
When Fett agrees to their terms, Shand points out that stopping the spice trade will cut off a major source of revenue. Fett counters that Mos Espa can grow into a thriving city without profiting off a drug that hurts its people. He then asks Djarin if he’s confident that Vanth and his fighters will show up.
When the Mandalorian affirms that he is, Fett points out that they won’t stand a chance against the Pykes without their help.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
With that bit of civic integrity established, Fett then turns his attention to the upcoming battle. He suggests taking up a defensive position at the palace, but Drash and Skad shoot that idea down. Fett’s lair may provide better protection than the crumbling structure they’re standing in, but the pair refuse to leave the city and its people as the Pykes move in to occupy it.
Despite the strategic shortcomings of this strategy, Fett agrees and decides to stay put.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Over in Mos Eisley, the totally-not-offworld Mayor of Mos Espa complains to the Pyke Leader (who Fett met with pre-Tusken slaughter back in Chapter 3) about the Sanctuary bombing. They’re interrupted by Cad Bane, who assures them that Freetown won’t be an issue anymore.
When the mayor asks if Fett might receive assistance from the Tuskens, the Pyke Leader reveals that it was actually the Syndicate who slaughtered his adopted tribe. They also staged the attack’s aftermath so that it looked like the Kintan Striders were responsible, thus causing Fett to seek revenge by wiping them out.
*Side Note: Duh.
Cad Bane is impressed by this level of ruthlessness, but the Pyke Leader explains that it was simply good business since the Kintan Striders were charging them protection money.
The mayor then turns the conversation back towards Mos Espa, demanding that the Pykes dial down the use of force so that they don’t end up destroying his city. When the Pyke Leader counters that extreme force might be the only way to eliminate Fett, Cad Bane says he might know how to draw him out.
Foreign Homecoming
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Peli Motto is both surprised and extremely worried when an X-Wing fighter piloted by R2-D2 lands in her shop. She’s delighted, however, when the cockpit opens to reveal Grogu instead of a Republic operative looking to bust her for illegal business activities.
R2 tells her the child’s real name (which she isn’t a fan of) before asking where Din Djarin is. Motto informs the droid that he’s “on a job in Mos Espa.” R2 wants to reunite Grogu and Djarin as quickly as possible, but Motto is in no rush. Instead, she has her droids fetch the little guy some food and marvels over his new chainmail shirt.
*Side Note: Good choice, kid.
Broken Promises and Pieces
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The next day, Shand goes over recon and defensive positions as they wait for the Pykes to make their movie.
- The Gamorrean guards are posted in the Klatoonian‘s territory near the Mos Espa Starport.
- Krrsantan is standing guard in the Trandoshan‘s territory near city hall (which seems like the perfect recipe for unwanted conflict, but whatever).
- The Mod Squad is patrolling the the Aqualish‘s territory in the worker district.
Since all the crime families previously told Fett they would remain neutral, this gives them three vantage points to track when and where the rest of the Pyke forces enter the city. Once the Freetown fighters get there, they’ll be able to direct their forces into one area, giving them a much better chance of beating the Syndicate.
Unfortunately, Shand’s assertion that no one will be able to sneak up on them is blown out of the water when 8D8 announces that Cad Bane is standing outside.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Fett steps out and tells his former mentor that if he’s looking for work, he’s too late. Bane responds that he’s actually there to negotiate on behalf of the Pyke Syndicate.
When Fett refuses to play ball on account of the Pykes being “gutless murderers,” Bane laughs and accuses him of being a hypocrite. He also informs him that the people of Freetown won’t be joining his ranks. Bane then notices Shand and Djarin taking up positions and reveals that he has shooters behind him, as well.
As the tensions continue to rise, Bane tells his former pupil that further conflict can be avoided if he simply agrees to let the Pykes run their spice dealing operations in Mos Espa. Fett refuses, insisting that he’ll only negotiate with the leader of the Syndicate. Bane responds by revealing that the Pykes were the ones who actually killed his Tusken tribe before duping him into believing it was the work of a speeder bike gang.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Despite having a helmet on over his face, Fett becomes visibly angry/distraught. Shand notices her partner’s change in demeanor and warns him to stand down. Bane, on the other hand, decides that they should settle things right then with a shoot out.
Fett looks like he’s about to oblige, but Shand talks him down, insisting that they need to adjust their strategy now that the Freetown forces won’t be arriving. Fett stands down and sends Cad Bane to tell his boss that there will be no negotiations.
After Bane leaves, the majordomo runs out to compliment Fett on his restraint. He also attempts to offer some strategic advice, but gets immediately shot down. The brief moment of levity is interrupted by a call from the Mod Squad, who report that something odd is going down in the worker district.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Sure enough, things are not on the up and up. Despite the Aqualish crime family’s agreement to remain neutral, a group of them pull out hidden weapons and begin firing on the Mods. At the same time, Krrsantan is swarmed by Trandoshans while the two Gamorrean Guards are sent over a cliff to their deaths by the Klatoonians.
It appears the peace treaty was actually a trap.
After extracting info from the majordomo, Fett sends Shand to Mos Eisley to see if she can pull off a solo assassination mission against the Pyke and crime family leadership. On the way there, she stops by the worker district and saves the Mod Squad before telling them to rally at the Sanctuary.
This Is The Way
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As the Pykes move into position on the Sanctuary, Fett expresses his belief that they have little to no chance of survival. He then suggests that Djarin leave and save himself, but the Mandalorian refuses to go back on his pledge to help — even if it means they both fall in battle.
Just as the pair are about to make a heroic last stand, the majordomo offers to use his fancy book learnin’ skills to negotiate a surrender with the Pykes. Surprisingly, Fett agrees and writes his terms down his on a tablet, which the majordomo takes outside. Upon reading it, however, he’s shocked to discover that Fett actually demands that the Pykes lay down their arms and leave the planet.
The majordomo barely has time to piss his pants when Fett and Djarin come flying out from the Sanctuary, blasting Pykes left and right from the air.
*Side Note: This strategy could have really helped during Fett and Shand’s fight with the Order of the Night Wind back in Chapter 1.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
This fight goes on for a while…AND IT’S AWESOME. Both Mandalorians utilize some of their best moves and tricks, including a great moment when Fett adds a little flair to the use of his knee rockets.
Despite this valiant/heroic effort, they’re unable to keep up with the Pykes’ overwhelming numbers. Thankfully, salvation arrives in the form of an armored speeder with the Freetown barkeeper (Taanti) and a group of fighters in tow. They take out enough Pykes to allow Djarin and Fett to take cover with them behind the vehicle. During a brief lull in the fight, Taanti explains that they had to help after their marshal was gunned down in cold blood.
The group is soon joined by the Mod Squad, who abandon their Jolly Rancher mopeds and take cover behind the speeder. Moments later, Krrsantan announces his presence (and his survival of the Trandoshan assault) with a mighty roar. He then proceeds to kick all types of Pyke ass, but is badly injured in the process.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Fett calls out to Djarin for cover and rushes into the middle of the fire fight, putting his own life on the line to rescue someone who only days earlier had tried to kill him. He pulls Krrsantan to cover and promises his new ally a long soak in his bacta tank when this is all over.
Meanwhile, the Pyke forces suddenly begin to retreat. The Mod Squad and Freetowners begin to cheer, but their celebration is cut short when a pair of Scorpenek droids appear and begin lumbering toward them.
*Side Note: Although these devastating machines showed up in prequel concept art and Legends continuity, this is their first official canon appearance. If Legends continuity remains true, however, then these things were one of the Separatist‘s best ground units during the Clone Wars.
And yes, they totally look like Hunter Killer Tanks from the Terminator franchise.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
The Scorpeneks activate their deflector shields, which repel all blaster fire and even Boba Fett’s jetpack missile. The machines then begin firing on Fett & Co.’s position, forcing them to retreat.
Fett and Djarin try to take down the Scorpeneks themselves, but not even the Darksaber is able to penetrate their shields. Krrsantan actually makes some progress by trying to bust through the shield with his brass knuckles (buffeted by his already metal enhanced real knuckles), but ends up getting slammed into a nearby wall. He appears to be done for when a trio of Pykes come running toward him, but finds enough strength to take them down with an assist from Drash and Skad.
Meanwhile, Fett tells Djarin to distract one of the Scorpeneks while he goes to get reinforcements. Djarin has no idea what “reinforcements” Fett is referring to, but does it all the same. His job is made much easier when one of the Scorpeneks begins chasing the Freetowners and Mods down a city street.
Din’s own dash for safety is interrupted when Peli Motto shows up in a droid piloted rickshaw. She’s barely able to greet him when the Mandalorian frantically screams at her to turn around. She doesn’t understand what he’s saying at first, but quickly gets the idea when the Scorpenek that was pursuing him rounds the corner.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Djarin hops on the back of the rickshaw, leading to a chase that looks like the one from The French Connection compared to what we saw in Chapter 3.
The scene gets even better when Djarin and Grogu are officially reunited. I’m normally a bit cynical about sappy stuff in Star Wars, but I can’t deny feeling a small lump in my throat when Baby Yoda force leapt toward the Mandalorian to give him a hug.
I mean, seriously…how can your heart not melt watching this?
// TBOBF SPOILERS
UNFOLLOW ME RIGHT NOW THIS IS THE ONLY THING I WILL TALK ABOUT TILL THE REST OF MY LIFE pic.twitter.com/TPez380fo3
— sadie (@bisexualdjarin) February 9, 2022
Unfortunately, their tender moment is cut short when Grogu attempts to make the rickshaw droid go faster via the force. He ends up making the droid short circuit instead, causing them to crash and spill onto the ground. Djarin manages to catch Grogu, but he still falls directly in the path of the Scorpenek.
Meanwhile, the Mods and Freetowners are forced to take cover in one of the few remaining buildings that offers them any protection. Drash decides that their best bet is to find a sniper position and take out as many of the Pykes as they can while Fett and Djarin figure out a way to take down the Scorpeneks. She trades guns with Taanti and goes with one of the Freetowners (Jo) to find/secure a spot.
All of this drama comes to a screeching halt when a loud roar fills the air followed by the rumble of gigantic footsteps.
King Kong Ain’t Got Poodoo On Me
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Boba Fett rides in on his rancor to give us the moment we’ve all been waiting for — and it’s even better than we could have hoped. The beast pounces on the closest Scorpenek, compressing its deflector shield and forcing the machine to buckle. Djarin sees that the Scorpenek’s shields are failing and tells Grogu to stay put before slicing through them with the Darksaber.
The Scorpenek manages to score a hit on the rancor, but Djarin counters by cutting off one of its gun turrets. The machine tosses Djarin to the ground and attempts to impale him, but is stopped when Grogu uses the force to rip out one of its leg bolts. Before the Scorpenek can recover, Fett’s Rancor leaps over and gathers up the mangled droid in its arm.
At its master’s command (which also serves as a nice Episode III easter egg), the rancor rips the Scorpenek apart.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
With that bit of awesomeness completed, Fett directs the Rancor to the other Scorpenek. The machine is flanked by Pykes, but they’re easily picked off by Jo and Drash after the pair find a good sniping position.
With nothing between it and its target, the rancor goes to town on the Scorpenek, tossing it around like a poorly made robot toy from CVS. The droid gets in a couple good licks, but ends up getting impaled with its own gun turret and thrown halfway across town.
Realizing that the tides are shifting out of their favor, the remaining Pykes attempt to retreat. Djarin tells the fighters to pursue them. Peli Motto joins in and ends up finding the majordomo, who she instructs to stay behind her as she and the others blast their way forward.
Meanwhile, a few of the Pykes decide to try and make a stand against the rancor. As you likely guessed/predicted, it does not go well for them.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
The good vibes end when Cad Bane shows up and blasts the rancor with his wrist flame throwers, causing the beast to toss Fett and run away.
While this admittedly doesn’t make much sense (the creature roared in triumph at the fiery explosion that happened right on its torso when it destroyed the first Scorpenek), it does set up a cool standoff between Boba Fett and Cad Bane.
Bane discusses their shared past, which if you’ve watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars will make complete sense. But even if you haven’t, it’s not hard to parse out that another one of the Star Wars franchise’s great Student vs. Teacher showdowns is about to take place.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Bane ends up being the quicker draw and badly injures Fett. He then taunts his former pupil a bit before getting ready to teach him a final lesson: Look out only for yourself.
As Bane prepares to cap this thought off with a kill, Fett regains the upper hand with a gigantic dose of irony in the form of his Tusken gaffi stick, which he uses to neutralize and put down Cad Bane once and for all.
It’s a very cool and extremely powerful moment — especially for fans of the Clone Wars. It also barely has time to breathe before we see that Fett’s rancor has gone into a berserker rage and is rampaging through the city. The Mod Squad and Freetowners decide that the best way to deal with this is to begin shooting at the creature, which predictably makes it even more scared/angry.
Din Djarin finally gets all of them to stop firing, but not before the beast decides to do its best King Kong impression and climb a nearby tower.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Djarin attempts to fly over and wrangle the creature only to end up having his armor (and a well-time wrist flame blast) barely save him from becoming a snack. The creature retaliates by tossing the Mandalorian to the ground before jumping down to cause even more damage.
As Peli Motto and the majordomo scream in fear, Grogu waddles into the beast’s path and puts himself between it and his adopted father. He then reaches out with the force, using everything he has to make the rancor become calm and go to sleep.
That would have been cool enough, but the exhausted little force wielder kicks things up a notch by cuddling next to the rancor and falling asleep, as well.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
Meanwhile, Shand infiltrates the Pyke Leader’s base of operations and reminds us why she’s one of the best assassins in the galaxy. After gunning down all the crime family leaders, she hangs the mayor before sneaking up behind the Pyke Leader to stab him in the back.
Rebuild and Reflect
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Sometime later, Fett and Shand tour Mos Espa as they rebuild from the recent conflict. The people are grateful and friendly, but he’s unable to fully enjoy his victory due to lingering pain from the injuries he suffered dueling Cad Bane. Shand tells Fett that he should spend some time in the bacta tank, but he reminds her that someone else is currently using it.
*Side Note: We’ll obviously find out who that is here in a bit.
Fett then wonders if they are even suited to be benevolent rulers instead of cold blooded assassins. This time, it’s Shand who shows a softer side, implying that if they don’t rule these people, then someone who doesn’t care about them will instead.
Before things can get too introspective, the pair meet up with Krrsantan and the Mod Squad and have a friendly conversation. We then pan up into space, where Grogu manages to annoy his dad enough that he finally agrees to take their new ship for a high speed joyride.
In a mid credits sequence, we see that Cobb Vanth is in Fett’s bacta tank and being tended to by the mod doctor/artist who previously worked on Shand.
The Verdict
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Was the episode perfect? No, but it was still a whole lot of fun.
From a pure spectacle standpoint, it’s hard to beat getting to see a live action rancor go completely crazy like that. In addition to some gorgeous special effects, the fight with the Scorpeneks was incredibly well paced and choreographed. Maybe I should have known that the rancor was going to win, but I actually found myself worried for the creature’s well being on multiple occasions.
Then you have Cad Bane, who looked even better than last episode. Thankfully, the joy of seeing him in live action didn’t stop at great make up and prosthetic work. We also got some superb character moments and a near perfect ending to his arc. After all the clones he killed, it ended up being Jango Fett‘s son who killed him — and with a weapon he got from joining a tribe instead of only looking out for himself.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
I’ve already mentioned how incredible Din Djarin and Boba Fett’s aerial fight sequence was. Aside from the choreography and special effects, it was greatly enhanced by how the heroes struggle to survive. In an episode where the good guys were a bit too bullet proof (especially Black Krrsantan), seeing some real stakes in a firefight was much appreciated.
On the character side of things, I unabashedly loved the moment between Din Djarin and Grogu. Maybe I’m just getting too soft in my old age, but I like to think it was also set up extremely well starting with the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian and the last two episodes of this series.
I once again found myself enjoying Peli Motto’s presence. What I did not expect was to actually enjoy having the majordomo around, as well — especially when he and Motto were together. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d really like to see this pair on screen again soon.
The team up we didn’t know we needed (The Book of Boba Fett/Disney+)
As far as the story goes…it was fine. The conclusion was probably a bit too neat/simplistic, but that’s a little easier to accept when you consider the incredible spectacle that got us there.
You could definitely argue that there shouldn’t be so many characters walking off into the sunset at the end of story that clearly wanted to be a mafia crime drama. Aside from Garsa Fwip and the Gamorrean Guards (R.I.P.) there wasn’t much loss in a tale that should have been filled with it. In fact, the worst tragedy we ever saw took place in the past with only a brief knife twist from it in the present.
But at the end of the day, the simple narrative allowed us to have some thrilling Star Wars moments that just about anyone could enjoy. It also made sure to keep some tantalizing threads open as we head toward the third season of The Mandalorian.
Will we also get a second season of The Book of Boba Fett? Maybe. After this episode, I think most of us would be happy to see it happen.
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