(Warning! Spoilers for Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett follow.)
Storylines of the sixth episode of The Book of Boba Fett didn’t seem to relate to the overall storylines of the show.
And I don’t care.
Sometimes, entertainment becomes more than entertainment. That was my experience seeing the person after whom I named my son, Luke Skywalker, be a Jedi Master, and in seeing the shot of him and Ahsoka Tano — fellow family in different ways of the central figure of the Skywalker saga and main heroes from two different eras of the great mythology — together for the first time.
And in this world of crossover events in television, does that figure greatly into the future of entertainment?
Even if that’s not the case, I mostly love the seven episodes of Boba Fett. So here are 38 takeaways from the season, in no particular order.
1) People wondered if Luke Skywalker would be re-cast. Instead, Mark Hamill apparently played the hero again.
According to the end credits of the show’s sixth episode, Hamill played Luke. (Given that but that Scott Lang seems to have been stunt double (he was credited as “stunt double – Jedi”) and that Graham Hamilton appears to have been the performance artist (he was credited as “performance artist – Jedi”), it’s probable that Hamill provided Luke’s voice and it was de-aged.) This comes after people clamored for Sebastian Stan to play Luke. However, most of those people probably have wanted Stan because they thought that Hamill was done playing Luke (which is understandable, since Hamill said he was retiring from the character).
2) Has any other studio ever made animation characters live-action characters like Lucasfilm has, or at least done it so often?
Upon my recollection and some research, I don’t think so. This practice began back in 1980 when Boba appeared in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back after appearing in the Star Wars Holiday Special a year-and-a-half earlier. It started in force when Saw Gerrera from Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 5 appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Now we’ve seen it continue in Boba Fett with the appearance of Cad Bane – and Ahsoka was in the sixth episode after the character made her live-action debut 14 months earlier in The Mandalorian season 2.
3) It was surprising that Din Djarin was in Boba Fett, let alone that Luke and Grogu would return at least so soon
Especially since it was publicly known that The Mandalorian season 3 was a go, I didn’t expect its main character to appear in a different show in Boba Fett. And since Grogu exited the show with Luke at the end of The Mandalorian season 2, I figured he certainly wouldn’t return to the screen at least this soon. Since Luke only made a cameo in The Mandalorian for a purpose (in starting his Jedi academy) that didn’t have to do with the storylines of The Mandalorian, I didn’t think about him re-appearing.
4) A big step forward in digitally changing faces
Luke’s face was even more accurate than it was when seen 14 months earlier in the finale of The Mandalorian season 2. I wonder how much an artist with the online persona “Shamook” had to do with that. Shamook is the YouTuber who Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic hired after he improved upon Luke’s face, as seen in The Mandalorian. I’m sure Lucasfilm hired Shamook to, in general, help optimize the deployment of the machine learning and artificial intelligence in which ILM has invested. But since he caught Lucasfilm’s eye because of his improvements to Luke specifically, it is reasonable to think that the studio involved him in digitally changing the character’s face this time around.
5) A cheapening of the moment that ended The Mandalorian season 2
I love the characters of Grogu and Din, but bringing them back together within, at the very most, the same year in the story from when they said goodbye cheapens the moment of their departure and all the emotions that accompanied it on both sides of the screen in the finale of The Mandalorian season 2. The cheapening is at such a high degree that I’ve thought about why Lucasfilm brought the two characters back together. They did greatly help with the franchise’s success after fans were frustrated with Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – and when Lucasfilm needed The Mandalorian to succeed since the studio was starting to regularly produce Star Wars productions for Disney+. Perhaps the studio and Disney are looking to come as close as possible to ensure success.
6) Disney seems to have catered to fans
Star Wars fans didn’t like that name of The Child (AKA “baby Yoda”) is Grogu. The character Peli Motto expresses that she doesn’t like the name. And when Boba and Cad are seemingly about to face off, Cad says, “We’re doing this. Right here. Right now.” Fans could have said the exact same thing at seeing the fan-favorite characters square off.
7) Tatooine as the wild west of Star Wars
It seems like Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, and the Boba Fett showrunners took the desert of Tatooine, considered the desert of the Old American West, and then tied them together through aspects like gunfights, Freetown seeming like an Old West town, and its marshal, Cobb Vanth, being like an Old West sheriff.
8) Luke and Grogu are in the same location as where Ben Solo destroyed Luke’s Jedi academy
Lucasfilm has confirmed that the temple audiences saw ant droids building in Boba Fett is the same one that was “mostly rubble and flame” in The Last Jedi. That means that the Jedi Master and Padawan (and for a time, Ahsoka and Din) were in the same place as where Ben Solo destroyed Luke’s Jedi Academy and presumably in the same place where Luke built it.
It would be amazing if we got more in film or streaming about the academy at risk of sounding greedy. We probably will, given that Lucasfilm has not named this planet, and given that at least the upcoming Ahsoka show may show more in this vein. But if we don’t, at least we’ve got the start and end of the academy.
9) Luke and Ahsoka together
Fans have wanted to see them together, and I also thought that would be tremendous ever since the prospect – and the prospect of them telling each other about Anakin Skywalker and Vader – was brought to my attention. Have they had that conversation? I would imagine that Filoni & Co. will show audiences that if they bring the two beloved heroes together again. (Filoni was non-committal through Ahsoka, but you wonder if they will re-connect at least given Ahsoka and if he wants to delight fans largely through surprise.)
My mouth may have dropped open when I saw them together in the same shot for the first time. There was the son and apprentice of the legendary character together. It actually happened.
Will they get into a romantic pairing? I know it may seem far-fetched, but I wonder why Luke asked Ahsoka if he would see her again. That could possibly be just because they would have a connection due to their shared connection to and experiences with Anakin/Vader.
10) There have been two musical motifs and a theme for Boba Fett now (and they’re all excellent)
John Williams created a motif for Boba for The Empire Strikes Back. Then Ludwig Goransson made one for the character for The Mandalorian. (Technically, they were each a “leitmotif.”) Then he created a theme for Boba for Boba Fett.
While I wondered why Lucasfilm didn’t use Williams’ motif in The Mandalorian and why the studio didn’t have Goransson develop a theme for Boba Fett that was much more like the motif he created for The Mandalorian, at least they’re all good.
11) Much of Boba Fett was very much The Mandalorian
In this era of television crossovers, perhaps this is just the future of TV, but it was notable that the fifth episode entirely centered around Din. Boba wasn’t even in it. And then the sixth and seventh episodes were very much about Din and Grogu. However, as it was great to have them back, I’m not complaining, except for the effect of their reunion cheapening the end of The Mandalorian season 2. In fact, I was tremendously excited when Din first appeared on-camera in the fifth episode and when he says “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold” shortly thereafter.
12) It was awesome that the saying “I am Boba Fett” from the Star Wars Holiday Special was incorporated into Boba Fett
And Temuera Morrison says it like how it’s heard in the special.
13) It was cool to see that Fennec Shand is a cyborg since that explains how she is alive after dying in The Mandalorian
Maul. General Grievous. Vader. Many others.
And now, Fennec Shand. She joins elite company.
(And Ming-Na Wen, the actress of Fennec, said in a promotional video that Fennec died.)
14) If the Sarlacc must die, at least it was in a cool way
A seismic charge took out the beast, though it seems that the Sarlacc probably would have died another due to other reasons given events in the Star Wars: Aftermath book trilogy.
15) Boba didn’t pounce initially when it came to getting the Firespray back – though he should have
Because how many ships owned by someone else stay at a residence for five years?
16) The return of characters, groups or things from other Star Wars stories was welcome
Besides the return of characters like Luke, Ahsoka, R2-D2, Din, Grogu, and Cad, the return of the Pykes and an N-1 Naboo starfighter were welcome.
17) Individuals enhancing their bodies through cybernetics makes sense
After all, it was 28 years since Vader was saved by cybernetics, and longer for Grievous and Maul.
18) Ming-Na Wen didn’t act well
Wen is obviously a great actress, given that she voiced Mulan in the classic film. However, I was often dismayed by how she tried to convey expressions and reactions.
19) Other Star Wars actors playing protagonists have done better at carrying their productions than Temuera Morrison did
Morrison wasn’t bad at playing Boba, necessarily. And it’s probably not even fair to say he can’t carry a lead role in Star Wars, given that other actors who have been in those positions are among the best actors in the world (e.g., Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman). But given those performances, my expectations for what Morrison would do with Boba were high.
20) The multi-colored speeder bikes looked out of place
They reminded me of the multi-colored Power Rangers. Power Rangers are great, but Boba Fett isn’t a Power Rangers show. That said, I don’t see the problem with the chase scene involving the bikes and the majordomo to Mos Espa Mayor Mok Shaiz.
21) It was great to see new footage of young Boba
Daniel Logan played young Boba for 2002’s Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. His appearance when he played the role seems to have been resurrected in Boba Fett. See immediately below.
22) Boba struggling in the Sarlacc was interesting
Since Boba getting eaten by the Sarlacc is so legendary in Star Wars, it was notable to see him in the wake of that incident.
23) When Boba was in a tree early in the season, was he reliving his worst traumas?
No doubt, he’s had them.
24) What was the meaning of boy Boba seeing the Firespray fly above Kamino?
Was this showing that Boba had difficulties with his father, Jango Fett, leaving him behind? Or something else?
25) Did Boba need to present the branch to the Sand People to gain full acceptance by them?
It seemed so. I just don’t know why.
26) Boba’s message that the Sand People are natives of Tatooine seems to be a parallel reminder that Indigenous people are the natives of America and of other countries
It’s an important message since, at least in America, Native Americans have been unfairly treated for generations as people seem to forget that Native Americans were on the land of the current-day United States first. For example, I recall recent news that Utah State University has recognized “that USU’s facilities across the state reside on the lands of Indigenous peoples,” according to the university. Such people being the natives of America should also be an essential consideration in debates regarding managing federal lands.
27) That there are many tribes of Tusken Raiders is an important reminder that Native Americans and other peoples have distinctions even among themselves
Further, even each individual is unique from anybody else.
28) Tatooine used to be covered by oceans
This made me think about how the 30,000-year-old Lake Bonneville used to cover a lot of the western half of Utah and parts of Nevada and Idaho in the U.S. I’m glad that this history of Tatooine actually parallels what has happened in real life.
29) The Sand People learning how to ride speeder bikes shows their capability of being a more advanced people
Since we are used to Sand People being primitive, it was different, at first, to see them on speeder bikes.
30) Pods with water in them were just barely below the surface of Tatooine’s sand?
Convenient, and it makes it, so Tatooine doesn’t seem to be as much of a challenge of a place to live.
31) Cad Bane’s entrance was riveting
The whole setup Rodrigez, director of the Boba Fett episode where Cad first appears, gave him when he was about to duel Cobb was tremendous. It took a while for his eyes to be revealed from under his hat. (I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Rodriguez and filmmakers milked the moment for all they could, knowing of fan anticipation for a live-action debut by the character.) But it was OK, and many knew who it was even when his silhouette was first shown.
32) Cad Bane is dead (until he isn’t)
I couldn’t believe it following an intriguing duel between him and Boba. But as Inverse said, “As far as Star Wars fans are concerned, Cad Bane is dead until the exact moment he isn’t anymore.”
33) Of rancors, Wookiees, and Hutts
It was enjoyable to see a rancor be returned to the lair of what used to be Jabba the Hutt’s palace, more Hutts and the Wookiee most involved in a story since Chewbacca. Seeing the rancor’s rampage in the season finale was enjoyable. The presence of the Hutt twins felt so Star Wars. The Wookiee, Black Krrsantan, was fortunate to receive Boba’s mercy. (And it is cool to see the widow of Chewie actor Peter Mayhew, Angie Mayhew, give her endorsement to Black Krrsantan Carey Jones.)
34) Boba’s escape from the Sarlacc was basically as imagined
Audiences see many interesting things in the first episode of Boba Fett. A big one is Boba escaping the Sarlacc! How his escape would look like was something I wondered about growing up. (For me, how it looked in terms of Fett emerging from the sands of the Dune Sea was almost entirely how I envisioned it!)
35) It was a cool connection for Boba’s reliving of memories to be connected to his Sarlacc experience
It makes sense that being in the process of being digested by the beast would mean that you would need to undergo some recovery. Boba recovered from that and other injuries in a bacta tank, where he relived the memories.
36) Beggar’s Canyon, a reference from Luke, being part of the podrace course on which Anakin drove
It’s cool that the Beggar’s Canyon that Luke references in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is part of the podrace course on which his father Anakin drove. While that means that father and son’s homes were close to each other despite there being a variety of places on Tatooine in which to live, I’d rather have the connection than not.
37) Grogu recalls Order 66
One beautiful thing about the lifespan of species of Star Wars characters spanning across eras of the mythology is that you can get connections from one era to another. We saw this in a beautiful way when Grogu thinks back about the massacre on the Jedi temple on Coruscant as a result of Order 66. It was incredible to see such a nod to Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, it also confirmed that Grogu had to endure that experience. (Ahsoka tells Din in the 13th episode of The Mandalorian that Grogu was raised in the temple and that someone took him from there as the Empire seized power.)
38) Luke training Grogu
The Jedi training droid was enough. But then Luke was even doing flips like he did when training under Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, while carrying another member of Yoda’s species on his back, as Luke did with Yoda, when Luke wasn’t telling Grogu about Yoda.
George Lucas thought Grogu needed to get enough training. Yes, Mr. Lucas — if even for moments like those, you are right.
For more on The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars, check back to That Hashtag Show.