Alasdair Stuart takes a short but necessary detour from our recaps of The Mandalorian to cover The Book of Boba Fett…

Essentially The Mandalorian Season 2.5, The Book of Boba Fett picks up on that mid-credit scene from Season 2. Boba Fett escapes from the Sarlacc but is horribly injured. Near death he’s stripped of his armour by Jawas and captured by Tusken Raiders. He slowly heals, and earns their respect when he saves one of their children. We see all this in flashback as, in the present, Fett and Shand fight to maintain their control of Jabba’s territories.

Their fight is with the Hutt Twins, two of Jabba’s cousins, who attack them via various proxies. One notable asset is Krrsantan, the legendary Wookie bounty hunter who Fett battles to a standstill. In flashback we see Fett steal speeder bikes and teach the Tuskens how to use them to raid a spice train and be formally accepted into the tribe.

Fett is asked to stop a group of cyborg water thieves and discovers they’re actually local teenagers who have no job. He employs them and has the water-monger they were stealing from lower his prices.

In flashback we see the gang Fett and the Tuskens stole from retaliate by butchering the entire tribe. In the present, Krrsantan infiltrates the palace, tries to kill Fett but is captured. Embarrassed and outmanoeuvred, the twins claim they’re leaving Tatooine. They leave Fett a Rancor, which he tames such as it becomes clear the are invading Mos Espa.

In flashbacks we see Fett meet Shand, wounded, in the desert and saves her life in return for her help. The two fight their way into Jabba’s Palace and discover Fett’s armour was taken from the Sarlacc, which they fight and kill in a nifty Tentacled Pit Monster vs Ship action scene.

In the present Fett hires Krrsantan. This entire show is essentially a veteran freelancer hiring local talent and trying to clean up his industry and in that regard it’s great.

Fett throws a banquet for the other crime bosses and asks for their help against the Pykes, a gang making serious in-roads into their territories. They refuse but agree to remain neutral.

Realising they need reinforcements, Shand recruits Din, who is on world trying out an old N-1 starfighter to replace the ship Moff Gideon destroyed. Prior to this, we see Din reveal he took his helmet off, battle a contender for the Mandalorian throne (which he does not want but he holds the Darksaber so has no choice) and be functionally exiled from his people. After a very funny cameo from Carson Teva, he accepts the ship and is recruited by Fennec for the coming battle.

In Mos Pelgo, Cobb Vanth is shot by Cad Bane, an infamous hired gun in the employ of the Pykes. Din visits Grogu, training with Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka tells Din that Grogu will be distracted by his presence and Din chooses not to visit him, instead giving Ahsoka the Beskar tunic he was delivering as a gift.

After Luke helps Grogu remember the night of Order 66, when he was rescued by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, Luke gives his pupil a choice. Take Din’s chain mail and leave, or take Yoda’s lightsaber and begin to train as a Jedi in earnest.

Grogu makes his choice and R2-D2 flies him to Tatooine. At the same time Bane and the Pykes confront Din, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand where the truth comes out that the Pykes were responsible for the murder of Fett’s clan. A raging battle breaks out on the streets of Mos Espa. The citizens that Din, Shand and Fett have aided all arrive to help out. The tide is turned when Grogu destroys one of the two Scorpenek droids the Pykes are using and Fett, riding his Rancor, destroys the other. Fett kills Bane with his Tusken Raider weapon and peace is restored to Mos Espa. Din and Grogu leave, and as the series closes we see Cobb Vanth being healed from his wounds in the bacta tank Fett has spent time in, with the mod artist that saved Fennec Shand standing by.

 

All seasons of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are streaming on Disney +