In “The Book of Boba Fett” recap, Fett starts to gather his forces in preparation for war while remembering how he first encountered Fennec Shand…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It’s not entirely clear if the flashbacks featured throughout “The Book of Boba Fett” are completed but the latest episode seemed to unite the past timelines for the former bounty hunter almost up to the moment when we first saw him again during an appearance in “The Mandalorian.”
The limited “Star Wars” spinoff series has really lived in two world in every episode with part focused on Fett’s life after escaping from the sarlacc pit during the events in “Return of the Jedi” and then his attempts to secure a power base on Tatooine after taking over Jabba the Hutt’s territory.
By all accounts the two timelines have now converged — unless there’s more space adventures to be had with Fett and Fennec Shand — but it appears the oncoming war with the Pyke syndicate will dominate the final few episodes.
This week shows how Fett first encountered Fennec Shand and nursed her back to health while also attempting to retrieve his ship with the problematic name from inside Jabba’s palace. In the present day storyline, Fett decides he needs to add a little bit more muscle to his own criminal empire and that may eventually lead to a reunion with a character who wears a very similar helmet to the man now sitting on Jabba’s throne.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of “The Book of Boba Fett”…
Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm
The episode begins yet again with Boba Fett recovering inside the bacta tank — at this point he’s just living there at least based on this series so far — and that once again allows him time to remember his past.
Following the slaughter of the Tusken raiders who invited him into their tribe, Fett is now riding a Bantha around Tatooine in a mission to return to Jabba the Hutt’s palace in order to retrieve his ship — previously known as the Slave-1 — and now for obvious reasons for that particular name, he calls his Firespray starship.
After peaking down into the place from a nearby perch, Fett realizes that there are far too many guards for him to handle in order to get inside and take back his ship so he waits for another day. While camping out in the sands and sharing a dinner with his Bantha, Fett sees some lights flashing in the distance, which alerts him to a fire fight happening nearby.
This is the moment when Fett comes upon Fennec Shand’s fallen body after she was shot and killed by The Mandalorian himself Din Djarin and rookie bounty hunter Toro Calican. Fett’s first appearance in “The Mandalorian” was just his feet stepping into frame after Fennec Shand had been killed and this essentially reaffirms that initial appearance except this time we see what happens next.
Rather than leaving her for dead, Fett carries Fennec on the back of his Bantha to a mod shop where a techno-surgeon can save her life by fitting the assassin with droid parts. Not all that different than Luke Skywalker receiving a robot hand after his was severed during the events in “The Empire Strikes Back.”
The techno surgeon is able to repair the damage done to Fennec by replacing her midsection with some droid parts, which fetches him a handsome reward from Boba Fett.
Back out the desert, Fennec wakes up, surprised to be alive and even more shocked to see the new robotic parts that managed to save her life. Fett explains how he took her to a mod-parlor outside Mos Eisley in order to fix her up from the gut shot she suffered when battling Din Djarin and Toro Calican.
He introduces himself as Boba Fett, which she assumes can’t be true because Fennec knows he’s supposed to be dead. Fett admits he did perish in the guts of the almighty sarlacc but he somehow survived before being nursed back to health by the Sand people.
Not only that but Fett explains how the Tuskens welcomed him into their tribe and he attempted to help them, which eventually led to their slaughter at the hands of Nikto speeder riders. Fennec immediately questions that bit of information because she doesn’t buy that Nikto riders could out duel Tusken raiders, which once again leads to the assumption that it was the Pyke syndicate who was responsible for the slaughter of Fett’s only friends.
Meanwhile, Fett immediately recognizes her as Master Assassin Fennec Shand of the Mid Rim, which she believes has her marked for death because she’s likely worth more dead than alive to all the people attempting to hunt her down throughout the galaxy. Fett then explains that he doesn’t want money in exchange for her life — he wants her help in order to retrieve his ship from Jabba’s palace.
Fennec agrees to assist him in order to pay back her debt, which leads the two of them to Jabba’s palace where they begin scouting out the security to eventually get inside to find his ship.
Thanks to a probe provided by Fennec, they are able to map out the entire structure and all of the guards inside, which gives the pair the proper route to get into the palace undetected while attempting to avoid all of the guards and other villainous scum hanging around under Bib Fortuna’s watchful eye.
After getting into the palace through a sewer grate and then popping up in the kitchen, Fett and Fennec are forced to dispatch a few droids before making their way deeper into the complex.
As quiet as they’re attempting to be, Fett and Fennec eventually have to battle a number of guards at the palace including several Gamorreans and Trandoshans before eventually getting inside the ship to try and make an escape. While getting out of the palace is a perilous adventure, Fett eventually breaks free and flies out into the night sky, far away from Jabba the Hutt’s former residence.
After flying away, Fett tells Fennec that her debt to him is paid and he offers to drop her off wherever she wants to go because he’s got more than a few scores to settle. Rather than leaving, Fennec decides to go along for the ride.
The next stop are those Nikto riders and Boba Fett gets his revenge by destroying each and every one of them by blasting away at them from inside his ship. After that, Fett returns to the sarclacc pit in order to retrieve his armor that he believes was left inside.
Now at the start of the series, Fett escapes the sarlacc because his beskar armor could not be digested by the creature, which then allowed him to break free and crawl out of the pit. He woke up as Jawas were stealing his armor but perhaps Fett just doesn’t remember that moment even though his flashback from the bacta tank clearly showed that particular moment.
Either way, Fett first attempts to peer down into the sarlacc from inside his ship but that nearly leads to the entire thing being sucked down into the pit after tentacles rise up and grab at the Firespray starship. Fennec is eventually able to drop a bomb down the pit that destroys the sarlacc once and for all.
Fett then goes spelunking down the guts of the great beast in an attempt to retrieve his armor but he finds nothing inside except a destructive stomach acid that begins to eat away at his clothes. Of course we know that Fett eventually finds his armor that the Jawas traded to Cobb Vanth but at this point in the storyline, he’s still without his signature suit.
Later that night over a fire and some dinner, Fett asks Fennec if she would like to join him as he prepares to kill Bib Fortuna and take over Jabba’s former territory on Tatooine. The way he sees it, bounty hunting was far more dangerous, especially with idiots like Jabba always putting him in harm’s way.
Now Fett wants to create his own empire and he needs help to do it.
Fennec isn’t interested at first because she values her freedom but Fett tells her that he’ll give her something more valuable than all the credits she could make as an assassin. He offers her loyalty and a vow to give his life in order to protect her. Fett also promises to cut Fennec into his profits as he plans to create this new empire that they will run together.
Fennec believes that his time with the Tuskens has made Fett soft but he counters by explaining that it made him strong. Fett knows that there’s no surviving without somebody to watch his back because everybody needs a tribe.
Once again this is slightly confusing based on Fett’s appearance in “The Mandalorian” because when Fennec Shand returned she stated that she was serving him as a blood oath for saving her life, which was true while she helped him retrieve his ship from Jabba’s palace but then she was released from that obligation. Either way, Fennec has obviously pledged herself to Fett’s cause, which leads to him once again waking up the bacta tank fresh off this latest batch of memories.
Upon waking, Fett is told that he is now fully healed, which may mean there won’t be any further flashbacks this season.
Following last week’s episode where Fett discovered that Mayor Mok Shaiz had invited the Pyke syndicate to take over the criminal empire on Tatooine, he’s now preparing for a battle against them while also attempting to maintain order throughout Mos Espa.
Fennec tells him that the Mods — the new name for Fett’s half-droid, half-human teenage biker gang — are combing the streets to keep an eye out for the Mayor’s return but he still wants to show his face around town to ensure everybody knows the new daimyo is watching.
After putting on his armor, Fett heads out to the Sanctuary where Black Krrsantan is currently having a drink and looking rather angry at the Trandoshans gambling and winning money at a nearby game. Seething with animosity, Black Krrsantan eventually gets up from his seat and attacks the Trandoshans — the same race of aliens that enslaved many Wookies on his home planet of Kashyyyk.
Clearly, Black Krrsantan still has some issues with the Trandoshans as he tears them apart before finally snatching the last one into the air when Garsa Fwip attempts to intercede. She pays him compliments and tells “Santo” that she will wipe his bill clean if he frees the Trandoshan but it’s clear Black Krrsantan would rather satiate his blood lust rather than save a few credits.
So he rips off the Trandoshan’s arm before tossing him to the floor, which earns a smirk from Fett as he appreciates Garsa Fwip’s attempt to play peacemaker even if she failed.
Fett then follows Black Krrsantan out into the street where he calls to the Wookie and proposes a new job that will keep him occupied. Why Fett didn’t make this same offer when first releasing Black Krrsantan after holding him as prisoner is unclear but now it seems like he’s going to add the former gladiator champion to his menagerie of warriors.
Back at the palace, Fett meets with the leaders from the other crime families on Tatooine, who once served as captains under Jabba the Hutt. He remarks how all of them attempted to take over Jabba’s territory but failed once Bib Fortuna ascended to the throne.
Now Boba Fett has killed Bib Fortuna and usurped his kingdom but now the Pyke syndicate is arriving on Tatooine and that serves as a serious threat. When one of the captains questions why couldn’t any one of them just kill Fett and take over in his place, a hungry Rancor from just underneath the dinner table roars and sticks his claws through the floor.
A not so subtle reminder that Boba Fett is beginning to amass the kind of power that no one should question, especially not these crime bosses.
But the same captain can’t help but note that the Pyke syndicate aren’t coming for them — they are only seeking to take Jabba’s old territory away from Boba Fett. So why should they sacrifice their resources in order to fight a war that doesn’t really involve them?
So Fett counters by offering to fight this war alone but only if the other crime families agree to stay out of the battle. They all agree before leaving the palace, which once again puts Fett on his own to prepare for a war against a very powerful group in the Pyke syndicate.
While Fennec questions if he can trust the former Hutt captains, Fett knows that as much as they might want to stab him in the back, their own self-interest will guide their decisions. He knows whether they want to admit it or not that the Pyke syndicate will eventually force them out as well while attempting to take over the entire planet of Tatooine.
For now, Fett trusts that none of them will betray him.
The bigger problem he faces is that the Pyke syndicate are arriving in greater and greater waves, which means the fight will begin soon enough and he’s simply outnumbered. Fett needs more muscle to back him up and Fennec remarks that credits will buy him plenty of support and she knows just where to find it.
At that moment, the theme from “The Mandalorian” plays in the background, which seems to hint at Din Djarin making an appearance in “The Book of Boba Fett” to help his old friend in this fight against the Pyke syndicate. There have been rumors since the very start of the series that Mando would play some part in Boba Fett’s attempts to create his own criminal empire on Tatooine and now it appears this will lead to his return.
“The Book of Boba Fett” will return with a new episode next Wednesday on Disney+
