The Book of Boba Fett

 

Everyone's favorite bounty hunter from the 80's is back.Well technically he returned in the Mandalorian's season 2 when he tracked down Din Djarin and Grogu to Tython. As recapped in my blog post on Mando, Fett reclaims his beskar armor and even aids Din Djarin with his quest to determine the location of Moff Gideon's cruiser after Grogu is abducted. They successfully rescue Grogu and Grogu unites with Luke Skywalker. The end of the season sees Fett returning to Tatooine with Fennec Shand and taking Jabba's throne from Jabba's Major Domo Bib Fortuna.

The Book of Boba Fett starts off by recounting the events leading up to the Mando episode. We get the back story of how Boba escapes from the Sarlacc Pit after the events in ROTJ, how he loses his armor, and how he is subsequently rescued by a tribe of Tusken Raiders. Boba learns that being in a tribe has its benefits. His time with his Tusken family drastically alters his beliefs. The series also explores his relationship with Fennec and explains why Fennec becomes his partner and co-conspirator. 

Flash forward to the current day and Boba is now the daimyo, or underworld crime boss. He goes into town to collect protection money only to be disrespected and even attacked. All signs point to the Hutt's. However after confronting the Hutt's, and avoiding getting killed by another bounty hunter  Black Krysantan, he discovers that he is dealing with a different entity altogether. The mysterious organization even massacres his Tusken family after he successfully helps them to deal with the spice train that uses the Tusken territory as a major route. He soon finds out that it is the Pike Syndicate. This powerful illegal spice trade organization even manages to turn the local trandoshans and others against Boba and his allies. He enlist the help of Din Djarin. It is at this point that we get what fans call Mandalorian's season 2.5.

We follow Din on a mission as he seeks out the Armorer to mold an armor for Grogu out of the beskar spear, which he acquired after assisting Ahsoka Tano. He also finds out about the Darksabre history from her. Turns out that there was a Mandalorian Jedi named Tarre Vizsla. He is then challenged to a duel for the rights to the sabre by the heavily Armored Mandalorian Paz Vizsla, who happens to be a descendant of the house of Vizsla. He emerges victorious, but is excommunicated from the Creed when the Armorer discovers that he had removed his helmet in order to save Grogu. Bereft of his ship, he travels back to Tatooine to seek out Pelli Motto who has a new 'Razor Crest' for him. Turns out she has a souped up N1 Naboo Starfighter. Initial reluctance turns to pure joy when he gets to test out his new ships capabilities.

Fennec pays Din a visit at Pelli's docking bay on behalf of Boba to enlist his help in the upcoming battle and Din agrees to help for free. But he has something to attend to first. He then departs to see Grogu. His rational is that Grogu is a Mandalorian foundling and therefore should receive his foundling armor. It's only with Ahsoka's persuasion that he decides not to interfere with Grogu's Jedi training. We get a fantastic montage of Master Luke, in his prime training his new padawan, reminiscent of Luke's training on Dagobah with Master Yoda. Luke tells Grogu about Master Yoda and even introduces Grogu to the training remote Ben Kenobi used all those moons ago on the Falcon. It is also revealed later that Luke offered Grogu a choice between Yoda's lighsabre, or Din's gift. He chooses the latter.

Meanwhile Din is back on Tatooine and joins up with Boba and his allies to make a stand against the Pike Syndicate. He visits his old friend Cobb Vanth and Mos Pelgo, now known as Freetown. The people of Freetown only agree to help after the Pike Syndicate sends Cad Bane to gun down their sheriff. They stand their ground at the town square and get hammered from all sides by fully Armored scorponok droidekas. The tide is only turned when Boba uses his gift from the Hutt's, a baby rancor. In a final showdown with his old nemesis Cad Bane, Boba finally triumphs by using the skills he acquired from his time with the Tusken family.

Overall I had no issues with the series like some of the hard-core fans. In fact I quite enjoyed the story arc. I loved the chemistry between the leads. Temuera Morisson is Boba Fett. He brings a certain gravitas to the role. I especially love how he infuses his Maori heritage into the role.Ming Na Wen is also incredible as Fennec Shand. She brings the intensity and physicality to the role. My only gripe was the mod crew and their brightly colored Power Rangers inspired Vespa's. They seemed out of place on Tatooine.