How does 'The Book of Boba Fett' Episode 6 fit into the larger timeline of Star Wars' Skywalker Saga?

Bad things are happening on Tatooine, but that's not where our hearts are right now. They aren't in the desert, they are in a forest. Chapter 6 of The Book of Boba Fett continued to sideline the titular character, but after what happened in the episode itself, we don't even care. We love Boba Fett, we love Temuera Morrison, and we love this series. We also love the Skywalker Saga, and this latest episode unexpectedly became a part of it. 

The scenes in question have almost nothing to do with the actual story of The Book of Boba Fett, at least not yet. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) is involved though, and if you watched Chapter 5 of this series, then you know who he wanted to go and visit. He followed through, and that's where the big Star Wars connections came in. 

***WARNING: From this point forward, there will be spoilers for Chapter 6 of The Book of Boba Fett. If you have not watched yet, then jetpack out of here.***

Mando goes to see Grogu on a gorgeous forest planet. Grogu, as we know, is now training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Thus it was that Chapter 6 of a show that has the name "Boba Fett" in the title brought Luke Skywalker back into Star Wars, and began to tell the real story of him building his brand new Jedi School.  When Mando arrives, some "ant-droids" are in the middle of the school's construction. The structure looks a lot like one of the stone huts that we see on Ahch-To in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. 

As we said, Luke is training Grogu. He's using all of the tools that we've come to know and love: there's a training remote on hand, he has Grogu in a backpack, he paraphrases Yoda, and he talks about balance. We get another talk about the Force, with Luke saying, "The wide world exists in balance. Feel the force all around you. Through the force you will find balance as well." 

Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is there too, saying that she is a "friend of the family." She shares one scene with Luke, and she remarks that Luke is like his father. This makes it clear that Luke and Ahsoka know each other, and that they've likely had some interesting conversations. Though Ahsoka refused to train Grogu, Luke has agreed to do so. Grogu won't just be another one of Luke's padawans; we find out that he is the first. Whether he continues to be the first is up to Grogu himself. 

Photo: Lucasfilm

In terms of the larger Skywalker Saga, the connections are huge. Ahsoka and Luke knowing each other is big, as is the fact that she does not stay at his Temple. She isn't interested in helping him, she has other things to do. Luke is making choices that she herself would not make, as she is still worried about Grogu's attachments. Luke is concerned over this as well, so he gives Grogu a major choice to make at the end of the episode. He can choose the armor that Din Djarin brought as a gift, or he can choose a lightsaber. He can go with his attachments, or he can choose the path of the Jedi. It's one or the other, there's no middle ground. 

The lightsaber on offer here isn't just any lightsaber, either. It's the lightsaber of Yoda himself, lost in the Senate chambers during Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. We don't know how Luke ended up with it, but we now know that it wasn't lost forever. This isn't the only Revenge of the Sith connection in the episode, either. Luke causes Grogu to have a flashback through the force at one point, and we see the sacking of the Jedi Temple through Grogu's eyes. He was there. 

The big question concerning Luke's new Jedi School is when Ben Solo, aka the future Kylo Ren, will show up. Timeline specificity varies, but Ben is still very young at this point. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Leia's talk about how she wanted Ben to train with Luke makes it sound like he did not grow up on whatever forested planet this is. Grogu, whether he stays or goes, came before Ben Solo did. 

Other students will probably come before Ben Solo as well. Aside from the Ahsoka/Skywalker connections, Grogu being present in the Temple during Order 66, and Yoda's lightsaber history, the main connection to the Skywalker Saga here is the start of the school itself. We're seeing it being built, and we're also seeing Luke's first attempt at training it's first (possible) student.

Grogu may end up being the first student at the school, but he's not necessarily the first person that Luke has ever trained. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lets us know that Leia Organa (Carrie FIsher) trained with Luke, but also that she stopped doing so when she sensed that it would lead to the death of her son. Did this happen before the events of this episode, or afterwards? We're guessing that Luke has been training Leia for a few years, but we'd say that her putting an end to her training hasn't happened yet. That would likely go hand in hand with sending Ben to train with Luke, which hasn't happened yet either.

Will more connections to the larger saga happen? It'll depend on the choices of Grogu for now, but even if Grogu picks the armor and goes back to his Mando Dad, we've seen the foundations of what Luke builds. The growth of this Temple and Luke's roster of students (which will eventually include Ben Solo) could be seen somewhere else, and we know now that it doesn't matter what the show is called. The Skywalker Saga is going to jump up on you no matter the show's title. It's still Star Wars. 

As for the planet itself? We don't get a name, but it looks a little bit like Ajan Kloss from The Rise of Skywalker. If that planet was the location of Luke's school, then the movie doesn't tell us. It's entirely possible that this is only Luke's first attempt at a school, and that all of the Ben Solo drama happens on a different world in a different building that different ant-droids build. 

Despite the location, despite the timelines, and despite many Jedi plates spinning in the air, we saw Luke training his first "official" student (who may not remain his student for long) and his first attempt at building a Temple. These are major Skywalker moments, and they came to us... in the Boba Fett show. 

But we're not complaining. 

The Book of Boba Fett streams on Disney+ every Wednesday.