In “The Book of Boba Fett” recap, Fett runs into some familiar faces when attempting to secure his new criminal empire before flashing back to his time with the Tusken raiders…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Two episodes into “The Book of Boba Fett” and we’ve learned far more about the character’s past than what his intentions are for the future.
Now it’s entirely possible that the multitude of flashback scenes — the majority of the latest episode took place in the past — will then inform the present where Boba Fett is attempting to take over a criminal empire once owned and operated by the vile Jabba the Hutt.
Last week saw Fett ascend to his throne and accept tribute from some of his new subjects only to get ambushed outside a cantina where he had to fight for his life while battling a group of assassins. Fett survived and made his way back to the bacta tank that’s been helping him rest and recover from a multitude of injuries suffered over the years — not to mention the initial digestion he endured while sitting in the stomach of the sarlacc at the bottom of the Great Pit of Carkoon.
Once again, the majority of the episode was spent in flashbacks that showed how Fett escaped being digested over 1,000 years and then got captured by a group of Tusken raiders, who he eventually befriended after saving one of their children by killing a sand creature.
The latest episode starts to reveal some of the threats standing against Fett as he attempts to monopolize his power on Tatooine while once again taking a trip back through time to see how he became an even bigger part of the Tusken tribe that saved him from certain death.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of “The Book of Boba Fett”…
Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine
Following last week’s assassination attempt, Fennec Shand returns to the palace with a prisoner in tow while her boss Boba Fett finishes recovering in the bacta tank. Back on his throne, Fett tries to question the assassin to find out who sent him but the killer remains silent.
The droid working for Fett informs him that the assassin is a member of The Order of the Night Wind — an exclusive kill-for-hire group and he will never talk no matter how much torture he suffers through. While Fennec is unimpressed — she thinks his employers are overpaying for a name brand — she does have an idea that might finally get him to talk.
Fennec decides to drop him down to the Rancor pit and as soon as the giant gate starts to open, the assassin pleads for his life and reveals that he was sent by Mok Shaiz — the mayor of Mos Espa, who refused to pay tribute to Fett and instead asked for a tribute paid back to him. When Fett refused, his majordomo said that he may receive a less than friendly response from the mayor so it makes sense that the assassins came from him.
From there, Fett and Shand along with their Gamorrean guards arrive at the Mayor’s office to question him about his role in the assassination attempt. After forcing their way past a receptionist, Fett barges his way into meet with Mayor Mok Shaiz, who is an Ithorian — the strange alien race previously seen at the Mos Eisley cantina back in “Star Wars: A New Hope.”
Fett accuses Mok Shaiz of sending the assassin after him to which the mayor responds by having the captured killer shot by one of his guards. Mok Shaiz then informs Fett that the Order of the Night Wind is not allowed to operate outside of Hutt space and he did a great service to the people of Mos Espa by capturing the assassin.
Of course, Mok Shaiz could just be covering his own tracks in order for the assassin not to be traced back to him. He then gives Fett a reward for capturing the assassin, to which the new daimyo of Tatooine informs him that he’s no longer a bounty hunter but he’ll take the money as tribute that the mayor should have paid him in the first place.
Mok Shaiz then offers Fett one more piece of advice as another kind of tribute — he informs the new daimyo that running a family is more complicated than bounty hunting and then telling him he should probably visit the Sanctuary run by Garsa Fwip for more answers.
Fett and his group then return to the Sanctuary — the same bar in Mos Espa that paid tribute to him last week — except this time Garsa Fwip isn’t nearly as inviting to him. She tells him that the Twins — a brother-sister duo from the infamous Hutt family — have arrived from Nal Hutta to lay claim to the territory that once belonged to their cousin Jabba.
Moments later an ominous drum beat rings out through the Sanctuary, which forces the band to stop playing and the patrons to go dead silent. Recognizing that the drumming means that a litter is arriving, Fett and Shand head outside to meet with the Twins from the Hutt family.
The litter — a giant platform that carries the slug like creatures surrounded by servants — arrives at the Sanctuary with all of the people of Mos Espa suddenly cowering in fear.
The Twins announce themselves while saying that all that once belonged to Jabba now belongs to them. From the shadows steps a fearsome looking Wookie carrying a rather large rifle as he stares down Boba Fett.
This Wookie appears to be Black Krrsantan — a character from the “Star Wars” comic books, who was initially trained as a ferocious gladiator before eventually becoming one of the most skilled bounty hunters in the entire galaxy. In canon, Black Krrsantan was actually hired out alongside Boba Fett by Jabba the Hutt to Darth Vader when he was seeking out his son, Luke Skywalker, and an agent of the emperor after the events in “A New Hope.” He also once engaged in a fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi while carrying out orders from Jabba but ended up with a giant scar on his head from the lightsaber that cut him down while battling with the Jedi master.
Fett clearly recognizes Black Krrsantan and then counters the Twins by telling them that he killed Bib Fortuna — Jabba’s majordomo that took over for him after he died during the events in “Return of the Jedi” — and now he has usurped the entire kingdom.
When the sister Twin suggests killing Fett, he replies that’s exactly what they’ll have to do if the Hutts want to take over his territory. The brother Fett says bloodshed is bad for business and they’ll settle this matter on another day before telling the new Daimyo of Mos Espa that he should sleep lightly.
As they leave, Fennec reminds Fett that these are members of the Hutt family and they’ll need permission to kill them — but permission from whom?
We know that there are large crime syndicates across the galaxy including Crimson Dawn, which was once operated by former Sith apprentice Darth Maul and eventually led by Qi’ra — the character played by “Game of Thrones” favorite Emilia Clarke in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” So it’s entirely possible that more of these crime syndicates will eventually show up in the series, although the slow pace to actually propel the story forward doesn’t seem to leave a whole lot of room for overall development but we’ll see if that changes in the coming weeks.
After the encounter with the Twins, Fett returns to the palace where he once again jumps in a bacta tank for renewal, which then shifts him back into a dream about his past.
The flashback returns Fett to his time with the Tusken tribe that eventually befriended him after he killed a sand creature. At this point, Fett has been welcomed as a guest of the tribe and one of the warriors is teaching him how to battle with the Gaderffii stick — the traditional hand-to-hand combat weapon of the Tusken raiders.
As he attempts to master using the weapon, the entire Tusken tribe go into a panic when a shadowy ship appears on the horizon. A moment later, a large train begins tearing through the Tusken territory with guards blasting away at them from the windows of the ship.
Many Tuskens are killed during the attack, which apparently happens every time this train rolls through this particular territory.
After helping the Tusken’s burn their dead as part of a ceremony, he spots a gang of riders on speeders tear through the desert and he gets an idea about how he can help stop this train from attacking these people every time it comes through the area.
After following the Sons of Anarchy Tatooine chapter — actually it appears these particular Nikto riders are wearing a symbol similar to those markings on the moisture farm ransacked by thieves in last week’s episode — to Tosche Station, Fett finds his way inside where he discovers the riders are hassling a local couple trying to enjoy a drink.
First off, yes this is Tosche Station — the place where Luke Skywalker famously wanted to go get some power converters. Second, the couple are Laze Loneozner and Camie Marstrap, who actually appeared in a deleted scene from “Star Wars: A New Hope” when Luke visits Tosche Station and meets up with them along with Biggs Darklighter, who tells them that he’s leaving Tatooine to join the rebellion against the Empire. Laze and Camie’s appearance is definitely a deep, deep cut for only the most rabid “Star Wars” fan.
Anyways, Fett cuts down and defeats the Nikto riders and manages to protect Laze and Camie along the way before having a drink and then stealing the speeders belonging to the gang.
He returns to the Tusken village with the intention of teaching them how to ride the speeders in order to orchestrate an attack on the train that will finally stop them from being attacked. While it definitely takes time and patience to help the Tusken’s learn how to ride, Fett eventually gets his group of fighters who can drive the speeders as they plot an attack on the train the next time it passes through the territory.
After being signaled that the train is approaching, Fett and the other riders mount the speeders and head towards the speeding locomotive. The fight ends up with several Tuskens being shot or killed but they entire group are eventually able to overpower the train conductor — a nasty droid that just keeps speeding up the train at any sign of danger — and Fett discovers that the people inside are from the Pyke syndicate — another criminal organization known for harvesting and dealing in a special spice that’s mined from Kessel.
The Pykes previously appeared in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in the mines where Chewbacca was being held prisoner before he was freed by Han Solo.
This time around, Fett offers them a warning that this entire territory now belongs to the Tuskens and the Pykes will pay a toll to drive through the Dune Sea (between the mention of spice and the Dune Sea, it would appear that Frank Herbert is owed a mighty big thanks by the entire “Star Wars” community).
He also promises them protection as they walk back to the local port as their lives are spared under the condition that they now pay the Tuskens in order to travel through their territory.
Returning victorious to the Tusken village, Fett is celebrated with a gift from the leader of the tribe — a little lizard that jumps up his nose and embeds into his brain, which then takes the former bounty hunter on a hallucinogenic trip that involves him flashing back to his time in the sarlacc as well as when he picked up the helmet that belonged to his dead father, Jango Fett.
Fett eventually gets wrapped up by a tree during his fever dream before returning to the Tusken village with a large branch in his hands. The tribe leader removes the lizard from his head and then takes the branch from his hands as he’s led into a tent where Fett is fitted for traditional Tusken robes to match the rest of the people in that clan.
After he’s dressed, Fett is then taken to a blacksmith of sorts who helps him cut up that rather large branch and create his own gaderffii staff, which is eventually molded in metal and forged in the fires to finish building the final weapon. With that, Fett has now been granted full entry into the Tusken tribe as he now wears their clothes and brandishes the weapon of those people.
The ceremony ends with Fett engaging in a traditional Tusken dance around a fire as he’s officially welcomed as one of them.
That’s where the episode ends and it’s clear that these flashbacks are going to begin to explain why Fett eventually left the Tusken tribe, saved Fennec Shand, got mixed up with Din Djarin on “The Mandalorian” and then returned to take over Jabba’s crime empire on Tatooine. It seems entirely possible that Fett is taking over Jabba’s empire in order to return much of Tatooine to some of its native inhabitants — namely the Tuskens currently living like nomads in the desert.
There will be plenty more to explain and hopefully some additional storytelling in the present and future when “The Book of Boba Fett” returns next Wednesday on Disney+!
