In “The Book of Boba Fett” finale recap, Fett prepares to make a final stand against the Pyke Syndicate while Mando has a visitor find him on Tatooine…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
After two episodes where he didn’t even appear in his own series, Boba Fett made his triumph return for an action packed finale to wrap up “The Book of Boba Fett” on Disney+.
Last week’s episode centered primarily around Mando traveling to visit the planet where Luke Skywalker was starting to training young Grogu as he prepared to build his new Jedi academy. Despite his best efforts, Luke found that Grogu was incredibly distracted because he still longed to be reunited with The Mandalorian.
The episode ended with Luke offering the little guy a choice — he could take Master Yoda’s lightsaber, learn how to use the Force and become a Jedi or he could wear the Beskar armor made for him by the Mandalorian and return to Din Djarin’s side.
As for what was happening back on Tatooine — Mando did attempt to secure some help for Boba Fett in the coming war with the Pyke Syndicate after reaching out to Marshal Cobb Vanth in Freetown. Just when it looked like Mando found an army to join the fight, Cad Bane — an infamous bounty hunter from “Star Wars” history — arrived and dispatched Vanth to ensure the Pyke Syndicate would outnumber Fett’s forces for whatever battle was yet to come.
Now as the finale begins, Boba Fett is attempting to maintain control over his new empire as the Pyke Syndicate prepares to launch one final attack with the future of Tatooine on the line.
With that said, let’s recap the season (or perhaps series) finale of “The Book of Boba Fett”…
Chapter 7: In The Name of Honor
Following two episodes that largely served as a preview to “The Mandalorian” season 3, Boba Fett actually returned to his own series this week while surveying the carnage at The Sanctuary after the Pyke Syndicate laid waste to one of Mos Espa’s favorite watering holes. Looking at the destruction, Fett realized that war had already landed on his doorstep and there was little time to prepare for the attack that would surely be launched by the Pykes.
Fett does receive what he believes is some good news when Mando returns to inform him that Cobb Vanth and the people of Freetown (previously known as Mos Pelgo) would support his campaign against the Pyke Syndicate. With the Pyke Syndicate outnumbering them, Fett knows these reinforcements are necessary or they’ll never survive.
For now, Fett wants to retreat to Jabba’s former palace, which gives them the best protection against the Pyke Syndicate but the Mods suggest making a stand inside the ruins of the Sanctuary. They believe that the people of Mos Espa need protection and that’s why Fett should make his stand right there.
Now it might seem like a noble suggestion but in reality it was rather ridiculous because all the Mods did by suggestion The Sanctuary as the home base for the upcoming battle was put everybody in Mos Espa in harm’s way. Apparently, the Mods really like the idea of collateral damage — and by the end of this episode there’s plenty of it.
Meanwhile, Cad Bane — the terrifying bounty hunter that saw thousands of “Star Wars” fans nerdgasm all at once when he arrived last week — returns to the leadership from the Pyke Syndicate to inform them that Marshal Cobb Vanth won’t be lending a hand to Boba Fett after all.
Cad Bane made sure of that when he shot Vanth dead in the streets and then warned the people of Freetown to stay out of the way of the Pyke Syndicate and the spice trade and no further retribution would be carried out against them.
Back in Mos Eisley, Peli Motto is tending to her shop when she gets a visit from a random X-wing fighter being piloted by R2-D2. Inside, Grogu is waiting to greet her because it appears he made his choice and decided to return to Mando rather than stay with Luke Skywalker and become a Jedi.
While this might seem like the more popular choice among fans — everybody was really sad when it looked like Baby Yoda might not return — it does sort of negate almost everything that happened in the first two seasons of “The Mandalorian.” The entire time Grogu was with Mando, he was in constant danger from the remnants of the Empire who wanted to somehow use his blood and presumably his Force sensitivity to then create a whole new clone army.
Mando then spent the whole second season trying to find Grogu’s home world or at least turn him over to a Jedi so he would finally be protected. Now essentially two episodes later, Grogu is back with Mando and his time spent with Luke Skywalker is already over.
Regardless, Peli Motto feeds Grogu some worms for dinner while remarking at his terrible name — something else almost every “Star Wars” fan complained about when that was first revealed.
Before Mando can be reunited with Grogu, he first has to go through some battle planning with Fennec Shand, who has set up Boba Fett’s forces at strategic points throughout the city to strike first whenever the Pyke reinforcements arrive on Tatooine.
In the midst of the planning, Boba Fett receives a visitor outside of The Sanctuary.
Cad Bane has arrived to offer Boba Fett an ultimatum that will save everybody a whole lot of bloodshed — all he has to do is allow the Pyke Syndicate to continue running spice through Tatooine and everybody walks away whole. But Fett has past experiences with Cad Bane and it appears none of them have been all that good and he doesn’t really want to deal with the bounty hunter.
Instead, he says he’ll only negotiate with the head of the Pyke Syndicate but Cad Bane wonders why he’d be willing to speak to them, especially after they orchestrated the slaughter of the Tusken Raiders who took him in and made Fett part of their tribe.
Fett has believed all along that it was the Nikto riders that he attacked who returned for retribution and wiped out the entire Tusken camp where he called home. Now after learning about the Pyke Syndicate’s involvement — something you’d have to imagine he contemplated previously — Fett is ready to finish this fight right now.
Of course this was Cad Bane’s plan the entire time — to goad Boba Fett into a gun battle in the street that he couldn’t possibly win.
Thankfully, Fennec Shand talks Fett back from the ledge and he tells Cad Bane that negotiations are over. The Pyke Syndicate needs to leave Tatooine or else.
Cade Bane turns to leave but then Fett gets a call from his Mods telling him that something feels off as they patrol the streets around Mos Espa. Moments later, a coordinated attack begins as the other crime families from around the planet break their word with Fett and begin going after his troops.
The Mods are assaulted, the Gamorrean guards are killed and Black Krrsantan is overwhelmed by a number of Trandoshans. As all this is happening, the rest of the Pyke army arrives at the Sanctuary, which means Fett and Mando are completely outgunned and outnumbered, especially now that the people of Freetown aren’t coming to serve as reinforcements.
Fennec Shand leaves to go help the rest of Fett’s troops while leaving her boss and Mando to prepare for the inevitable fight at The Sanctuary.
Fett gives Mando the chance to abandon ship and get out of here before he gets killed alongside everybody else but he refuses to leave. Mando vowed to help Fett and he won’t leave until the job is finished or they’re both dead.
Mando offers to help Fett escape but he also will not leave because he says the people of Mos Espa are counting on him. Considering he’s been just about the most ineffective crime boss in the history of crime bosses, it’s not clear why Boba Fett believes he’s the city’s savior but either way he’s convinced that’s the case.
As the prepare to fight to the death, Mayor Mok Shaiz’s former majordomo offers to help them negotiate a truce with the Pykes because this was apparently one of his former duties when he was working within the Mos Espa government. After Fett writes down his “offer,” the majordomo heads outside to read it aloud to the Pykes but he’s stunned after realizing that his new boss told the syndicate that he would give them absolutely nothing.
That’s when Boba Fett and Mando launch an attack of their own after using their jet packs to come screaming in from the sky rather than out the front door of The Sanctuary.
Fett and Mando are holding their own for quite some time as their Beskar armor protects them from taking any serious damage but over time it’s clear that the Pyke Syndicate just has too many men. Eventually, Fett and Mando know they will fall.
That’s when several Pyke soldiers are killed and a caravan filled with fighters from Freetown arrives to lend a helping hand. It seems they decided to join the fight after watching Cad Bane gun down their beloved Marshal in the middle of the street.
As for Fennec Shand, she’s able to help the Mods survive an attack while informing them to head back to the Sanctuary where Fett is fortifying his position.
Thanks to the people of Freetown arriving, the fight starts to turn to Fett’s favor and he’s even more surprised when Black Krrsantan returns — banged up and injured but still alive and more than capable of killing a whole lot of people.
The Pyke soldiers are eventually gunned down but before everyone can truly celebrate, Mando spots the next wave of the attack and this one is going to be far, far worse.
Several Scorpenek droids arrive with plenty of firepower and nearly impenetrable shields that can’t be cracked with normal blaster fire. Now it’s unclear why neither Mando or Fett thought to perhaps go get one of their ships to take out the droids — perhaps out of fear of the collateral damage that might be caused by firing directly down into the city but then again there’s already plenty of carnage happening anyways.
Regardless, Fett and the rest of his troops try to battle back against the Scorpeneks but they are completely outmatched. Mando can’t even cut through the shields with the Darksaber, which means they are really in trouble now.
With little hope of survival, Fett tells Mando to distract the Scorpenek droids so he can escape and get more reinforcements. Mando isn’t sure how he’s got any friends left at this point willing to help but Fett promises he’ll return.
So Mando does his job and distracts the droids while Fett flies away on his jetpack.
While Mando runs and guns through the streets with the Scorpenek chasing him, he ends up meeting Peli Motto, who has gone there to find him and present him with a surprise. Before they can have any kind of conversation, the Scorpeneks catch up and Mando hitches a ride on the back of Peli Motto’s droid-driven rickshaw.
As he fires away trying to stay ahead of the Scorpenek, Pelli Motto reveals why she came to find him in the first place — and that’s when Grogu pops up from under a blanket and jumps into Mando’s arms. He’s overjoyed to see the little guy and he’s even happier to see Grogu wearing the chainmail shirt made for him out of Beskar.
Their cute reunion is cut short, however, after the Scorpeneks catch up to them and the droid rickshaw is destroyed. Mando manages to catch Grogu in midair before they come crashing back down to the ground but it appears they will soon die together as the attack droids bear down on them both.
Before any more shots are fired, a loud roar is heard from the distance and a moment later the Rancor appears after climbing over several building — and Boba Fett is riding on its back.
The Rancor ends up fighting and destroying a Scorpenek while disabling the shields of another one, which allows Mando to slip inside and use his Darksaber to cut it down even further. Still, the Scorpenek isn’t done yet and it comes after Mando — until Grogu emerges from a nearby hiding spot and he uses the Force to rip a part of the droid’s leg out so it crumbles and falls before being able to attack Din Djarin.
A second later, the Rancor grabs the other Scorpenek and rips it to shreds just like the other one.
The Rancor then makes short work of the rest of the Pyke Syndicate troops including when he ate one like a snack. The rest of Fett’s troops help vanquish the remaining Pykes and it appears the battle has been won.
Well at least until Cad Bane makes his ominous return.
The bounty hunter uses his flamethrower to scare and repel the Rancor, who tosses Fett to the ground as it runs away to safety. Fett is then left to defend himself in a showdown with Cad Bane.
In a one-on-one fight, Cad Bane knows that Fett is no match for him and he proves it in a rather quick battle as he guns down the Daimyo of Mos Espa with just a couple of shots. Fett is still protected by his armor but he’s hurt and on the ground where Cad Bane has him trapped.
Cad Bane rips off Fett’s helmet and mocks him for bothering to care for these people, which caused him to sacrifice his best weapon — the power of self-preservation. Just before Cad Bane guns him down, Fett manages one last trick to survive as he blocks the shot with his armor and the retrieves the Gaderffii stick from his back.
He uses it to knock down Cad Bane before disarming him with another swipe of his Tusken weapon. Cad Bane makes one last attempt with his flamethrower but Fett moves out of the way before bringing the Gaderffii stick down, stabbing the Duros bounty hunter in the chest.
Fett walks away but of course a monitor on Cad Bane’s chest is still pulsing, which likely means he will survive this attack and return to haunt the galaxy another day.
As for the rest of Fett’s troops, they are left dealing with an angry and scared Rancor, who soon turns on them after they decide opening fire on the animal is the best solution to get him down from a high perch on a building. Mando attempts to intervene but nearly becomes the Rancor’s dinner if not for the Beskar helmet saving his life.
Mando gets tossed to the ground but then Grogu once again decides to lend a helping hand.
He emerges in front of the gigantic beast with his hand extended and the Rancor roars but doesn’t attack. A few seconds later, the Rancor essentially stares down at little Grogu before eventually settling on the ground where it falls asleep.
It seems Grogu definitely learned some Jedi tricks from Luke Skywalker before leaving him to return to Tatooine. Grogu then decides he also needs a nap so he curls up next to the Rancor because they’ve both had a very long day.
As for the rest of the Pyke Syndicate — they are informed that the battle against Fett and his troops is all but lost and they are nearly defeated. The Pykes are ready to just leave the planet, which infuriates the crime bosses from Tatooine who backed them in the fight against Fett.
Before any of them can do much of anything, shots ring out through the building and a rope drops down that eventually hangs Mayor Mok Shaiz.
Finally, Fennec Shand reveals herself before taking out the final Pyke boss to help Boba Fett declare victory over the Pyke Syndicate.
Despite teases since early in the series, the Pyke Syndicate really did turn out to be the big bad this season with no signs of Crimson Dawn or its leader Qi’ra, which seemed like a possibility when the show first started. Either way, the Pykes have been defeated and Boba Fett has secured his position as the Daimyo of Mos Espa.
Finally, Boba Fett walks through the streets with Fennec Shand by his side — they’ve won the battle and now the people are bowing to them and presenting them with presents as gratitude. After all this fighting, Fett actually remarks that they’re not cut out for this but Fennec Shand reminds him that Mos Espa is better off under their control than anybody else.
Now considering Fett never actually started any kind of criminal empire after killing Bib Fortuna, it’s not exactly clear what he’s doing for these people or why they need him so desperately. Considering he’s against fear or intimidation as a tactic as his rule as leader, Fett is just about the most ineffective criminal in history and judging by his actions all season long, he’s not exactly trying to rob or steal from anybody either.
That only makes the culmination of this series that much more confusing but it was really cool to see Fett ride a Rancor and get into a duel with Cad Bane so there’s that at least.
His walk ends with a reunion alongside the Mods and Black Krrsantan, who have stuck around to help Fett put Mos Espa back together and get everything back up and running now that his control over the region has been secured.
As for Mando, he flies away in his Naboo starship with Grogu sitting in the droid port just as so many predicted would happen when this ship first appeared last week. Grogu looks happier than ever now that he’s been reunited with Mando and he’s even got his favorite toy back — the nob shifted from the now destroyed Razor Crest.
Grogu begins tapping on the glass, which serves as a sign to Mando that the little guy wants something and after telling him no a few times, he finally concedes. Mando then punches them into hyperdrive as the kick into light speed and Grogu smiles wide as they tear through the galaxy together.
The episode ends but then there’s a post credits scene which features Cobb Vanth recovering in Boba Fett’s bacta tank, which means the Marshal of Freetown was nearly dead but not quite expired. As Cobb Vanth recovers, he’s also being watched over by the same Mod doctor who helped to save Fennec Shand’s life after she was nearly killed.
Judging by this scene, Cobb Vanth will return new and improved in one of the many upcoming “Star Wars” series headed to Disney+.
Overall, “The Book of Boba Fett” had a lot of fun moments including some character returns or introductions that felt like a “Star Wars” dream come true but overall the show still lacked direction, especially when attempting to figure out what exactly Fett was trying to accomplish when he took over Jabba the Hutt’s former territory.
Maybe Fett will return in a different “Star Wars” series and his control over Mos Espa will play a vital part in some future story. For now, let’s just admit that the two best episodes were essentially “The Mandalorian” season 3 prequel installments as we all get very excited for that show to return in late 2022.
