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'The Book of Boba Fett' gets hijacked by a 'Star Wars' fan favorite in an Easter egg filled catch-up
Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett feels more like a different show that we've come to love.
If you were hoping to catch up with Boba Fett in Chapter 5 of the series that has his name in the title, then you’re out of luck. The talented Mr. Fett does not appear in the episode at all. While the end of the episode does connect to him, Temuera Morrison is not in the episode. He gets top billing anyway, and rightfully so.
Instead, the latest installment catches us up on what is happening with another character from the streaming Disney+ Star Wars world. We were given a hint that this character would show up at the end of Chapter 4, but we didn’t expect him to dominate in the way that he did. We’re not complaining, we’re just surprised.
***WARNING: From this point forward, there will be major spoilers for Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett. If you have not watched yet, then jetpack out of here.***
The title said The Book of Boba Fett, but come on, this was an episode of The Mandalorian. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) took over the story, and only the appearance of Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) at the end that tied things back to the actual show we’re watching.
So, what happened in Season 2.5 of The Mandalorian, aka “The Return of the Mandalorian”? A lot, and all of it was fallout from the last time that we saw our main Mando. He arrives on a space station fresh off leaving Grogu with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and chops the head off of a mark after giving his usual warning: “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” That head is being brought in cold.
Instead of taking another job, he locates the new den of the Armorer (Emily Swallow) who has survived along with Paz Vizsla. Mando still has the Darksaber (which he used to cut up the gang in the opening) as well as the beskar spear. The Armorer tells him some Darksaber history that fans of Star Wars Rebels already know: it was forged 1,000 years ago by Tarre Vizsla, a Mandalorian who was also a Jedi.
She also tells him that if the Darksaber is not won in combat, then Mandalore will be “laid to waste and its people scattered to the four winds.” She makes him an offer to join their covert as they rebuild, and he does. This lasts for a span of roughly five minutes.
The Armorer doesn’t approve of the beskar spear, and reforges it into something for a foundling. Mando obviously wants it made into something for Grogu, though we don’t see exactly what the new item is yet. While it is being made, Mando asks about Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), who was longing to recover the Darksaber herself when we last saw her. The Armorer describes her as a “cautionary tale” and says that because the weapon was given to her (and not won by creed), Mandalore suffered.
Sabine Wren giving her the Darksaber in Star Wars Rebels was truly a bad idea it turns out, as the Armorer blames the “Night of a Thousand Tears” and the Great Purge on this curse. A flashback shows us some of those events, with the Empire bombing what looks like Mandalore's Capital City of Sundari.
Mando trains with the Armorer until Paz Vizsla decides that he wants the Darksaber; it belongs to his house after all. He duels Mando for it, and Mando barely comes out on top. The Armorer then asks them both if they’ve ever removed their helmets (or have had them removed), and Paz says no. Mando is honest and says yes. We’ve seen him with the helmet off at least three times.
Because they all abide by the creed of the “Children of the Watch” (a group that Bo-Katan spat on in last season of The Mandalorian), this is not good. The Armorer says that Djarin is no longer a Mandalorian, and that the only path for redemption is “in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore.” They’ve all been destroyed, but as she says, “this is the way.” Too.. much... fun.
This could be Mando’s next quest, but first he’s off to Tatooine to check in with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) about a new ship that he asked her to find for him. She has not found him another Razor Crest, she has instead found the remnants of an N-1 Naboo Starfighter. She talks a reluctant Mando into rebuilding it. Because it is pre-Empire, it’ll be off the grid. They get some parts from Jawa scavengers, and Peli lets Mando know that she used to date one of them. “Furry,” is the word she keeps repeating. After an insane amount of tech-talk, the ship is ready, and Mando takes off in it.
This episode of The Book of Boba Fett proceeded to feature the Mandalorian flying through Beggar’s Canyon in a Naboo Starfighter that was rebuilt by Amy Sedaris.
After trying it out in space and having a run-in with New Republic officer Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) Mando lands and tells Peli that the ship is “wizard.” Peli tells him that a friend of his came by, and it turns out she’s still there. Fennec pops up, following through on the musical riff that we heard last week when she talked about buying muscle for Boba’s upcoming struggles. She says that Boba would really appreciate the help, and Mando says he’ll do it on the house. First though, he has to “pay a visit to a little friend.”
Speak Freely
-The station where we spend the first part of the episode looks a lot like Ringo Vinda from Season 6 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
-Following the events of Season 2 of The Mandalorian, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) was taken in for interrogation by the New Republic.
-The giant “mythosaur” gets another reference, but is said by the Armorer to “only exist in legends.” We’ll see if that’s true.
-When training Mando, the Armorer counts in Mando’a. “Solus, T’ad, Ehn, Cuir” translates to “one, two, three, four.”
-Boba Fett line of the week: nothing. He wasn’t in the episode.
-The reason Mando really does need a ship of his own is clear when he has to fly commercial, and is hilariously forced to check every little weapon and device that he has on him.
-We love seeing the BD model droid in live-action, based off of the design of BD-1 from the game Jedi: Fallen Order. One of them has joined Peli Motto’s increasing stable of characters.
-Peli Motto line of the episode: “No skin off my dip-swap.” She also makes reference to Fathiers, the horse-like creatures seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
-She also knows about all of the Pyke activity of late, and about how law enforcement won’t go near them. This does tie into the main Boba storyline a bit.
-Fans of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace were probably in heaven here, with so much N-1 action as well as the returning flock of pit droids.
-What happens now? Does Mando go and visit Grogu while we stay on Tatooine, or does Fennec and Boba Fett go with him? Always in motion is the future, but Dave Filoni wrote Chapter 6.
The Book of Boba Fett streams on Disney+ every Wednesday. This is the way.
