In “The Book of Boba Fett,” The Mandalorian reappears after the events that saw him hand Grogu over to Luke Skywalker before eventually returning to Tatooine…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
If there’s one thing that was made abundantly clear in the fifth episode of “The Book of Boba Fett,” it’s that we’ve all been missing “The Mandalorian” and it was good to have him back.
After teasing the arrival of Din Djarin aka Mando last week when Boba Fett mentioned hiring some new muscle to back him up on Tatooine, the fifth chapter in a seven chapter series spent an entire episode catching up with Mando before finally reconnecting him with his old pals Fett and Fennec Shand.
While “The Book of Boba Fett” has been an enjoyable series, there have been more than a few lulls in action and the motivation driving Fett to become the new daimyo in Tatooine still hasn’t been made abundantly clear plus the flashbacks got a little tiresome at times. That said, Mando’s return was a fantastic spinoff in the middle of the season while also getting just about every “Star Wars” fan excited for the third season of that series later this year.
That said, Mando spent this entire episode trying to reconnect with his friends from the Children of the Watch — the ultra-religious sect of Mandalorians he followed on Nevarro — before eventually returning to Tatooine to seek out a replacement for his destroyed Razor Crest, which then led to his reunion with old friends.
So let’s get into our recap for the latest episode of “The Book of Boba Fett”…
Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian
The sound of “The Mandalorian” music closed out last week’s episode of “The Book of Boba Fett” and the latest installment wasted no time reintroducing Mando — for the first time without Grogu aka Baby Yoda, after he handed over the little guy to Luke Skywalker for training in the ways of becoming a Jedi. It seems since becoming a loner again, Mando has returned to bounty hunting and he’s arrived at a shady butcher shop to look for a Klatooinian who owes his employer some money.
The Klatooinian named Kaba Baiz tries to throw Mando off the scent by telling him he’s got the wrong guy but when the bounty hunter provides a hologram image to identify him, he’s got no escape. Mando tells him that he can be delivered warm or cold, the decision is up to him.
Of course, Kaba Baiz doesn’t want to give up so easily and he’s quickly defended by his fellow Klatooinians, who attack Mando, but they will soon regret that decision after he brandishes the fearsome Darksaber and begins cutting them down one by one. There’s only one problem — Mando still isn’t all that skilled when it comes to using a lightsaber so at one point, he actually manages to slice open his own leg before dispatching the last Klatooinians.
Finally, Mando deals with Kaba Baiz by decapitating him and taking the head along as the prize to present to his boss for payment. He also quickly disarms the other Klatooinians in the butcher shop by telling them there’s a stack of New Republic credits in there for the taking.
They quickly part ways to let Mando pass and he exist with Kaba Baiz’s head in tow.
From there, Mando arrives at an unknown destination where he delivers the head to his employer, who is speaking Huttese (the native language of the Hutts on the planet Nal Hutta). Mando turns down a dinner invitation as well as payment in exchange for information that his employer can provide to him.
Once he receives the information, Mando drops the head on the table and heads out to his next stop, which is where the employer was sending him.
After entering through a secret door marked with Mandalorian symbols, Din Djarin descends into a small space port where he’s finally reunited with his fellow Children of the Watch. This marks the return of the Armorer — who built Mando’s suit of beskar — and Paz Vizsla, the only other surviving member of the group after the others were killed back on Navarro while trying to save Mando. Of course, Mando is apologetic for what happened while thanking his friends for saving him back in season 1.
After Paz tends to Mando’s wound, the bounty hunter presents the Darksaber to the Armorer along with word that he delivered Grogu into the arms of a Jedi, which means his mission is complete. He’s now free to return to the cause alongside the other members of the Children of the Watch.
Before he can get back to work, however, Mando first has to receive a history lesson from the Armorer after she discovers that he’s won the Darksaber in battle before handing over Moff Gideon to the New Republic to stand trial for his many crimes.
The Armorer asks Mando if he understands the significance of the Darksaber and he replies that the wielder of the weapon is said to be the leader and savior of Mandalore. That’s true only if the Darksaber is captured in combat and the Creed states that the warrior will then defeat 20 men and all of Mandalore will follow him or her. Sadly, if the Darksaber is merely handed over to a recipient, then a great curse will be cast on that person and that same fate will befall the entire planet of Mandalore.
She then explains to Mando about the origins of the Darksaber as it was created by a man named Tarre Vizsla, who was both Mandolorian and a Jedi. The Armorer then questions Mando about the beskar spear he also carries and he explains that it was a gift from Ahsoka Tano after he helped her to defeat Morgan Elsbeth on the planet Corvus as she was seeking information about the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn — another Empire era villain with deep ties throughout the “Star Wars” universe.
The Armorer tells Mando that a beskar spear can do more than just stop a lightsaber — it can also pierce beskar armor, which puts all Mandalorians at risk. So Mando requests that she melt down the spear and create armor out of the extra beskar they’ve been granted.
She asks what kind of armor to make and he responds for something that would fit a foundling — he intends to give this armor to Grogu when he seems him again. While the Armorer warns him that Jedi by religion maintain no attachments once they’ve entered that sacred order, Mando reminds her that those kinds of familial bonds are part of the Creed they follow and he must reunite with Grogu.
She agrees and begins forging some new armor for Grogu.
As he waits for the job to be completed, Mando asks The Armorer if she’s familiar with Bo-Katan Kryze — the leader of the Nite Owls, who he encountered throughout season 2 in “The Mandalorian.” While Bo-Katan believes she’s meant to lead Mandalore back to glory, which is why she was seeking out Moff Gideon and the Darksaber in the first place, The Armorer has a much different opinion on her.
According to The Armorer, it was Bo-Katan who was gifted the Darksaber by her friend Sabine Wren as she was declared the new leader of Mandalore thanks in large part to her blood ties to her sister and former ruler, Satine (who herself was overthrown by the former Sith apprentice Darth Maul).
But because Bo-Katan did not obtain the Darksaber by defeating her opponent in battle, it cast that great curse upon Mandalore, which came in the form of the Empire raining down fire upon the entire planet. The Armorer described the tragedy that fell upon their home planet because she believes Bo-Katan lost her way and the Empire destroyed everything they held dear during the Great Purge and the Night of a Thousand Tears, which marked the launch of the attack on Mandalore.
Thousands upon thousands of Mandalorians were killed but the Children of the Watch survived because they were camped out on the nearby moon of Concordia. Now the Armorer believes the only way Mandalore can ever be whole again is through the Creed followed by this particular sect. But it will take time and a lot of effort, which is what the Armorer is attempting to build with her coalition inside the Children of the Watch so they can eventually return to Mandalore.
After creating what looks like chainmail armor for Grogu, the Armorer begins training Mando so he can learn how to use the Darksaber.
Unfortunately, Mando is far from mastering a weapon made for Jedis and she explains that he’s trying to hard to force his hand rather than allowing the Darksaber to guide him. Mando is struggling to understand how to use the Darksaber as he continues to train alongside the Armorer.
When the session is completed, Paz Vizsla emerges from the shadows and asks if perhaps the Darksaber would be better served in somebody else’s hands — namely his.
As you can tell by the name, Paz Vizsla is a direct descendent of Tarre Vizsla, who forged the Darksaber in the first place. He wants the weapon to return to his family so he challenges Mando to a battle for the Darksaber. Mando agrees and the fight begins.
While it might seem like a remarkably bad idea to have two of the three remaining members of the Children of the Watch fight each other in a potentially deadly battle, Mando still gives Paz his chance to win the Darksaber. At one point, Paz even manages to disarm Mando and use the Darksaber against him but he struggles just as much to wield the powerful weapon.
Eventually, Mando gets the upper hand and puts a knife to Paz’s throat, which forces the Armorer to call a stop to the battle. With that, Mando remains the champion and true owner of the Darksaber but he’s got bigger problems to deal with after the Armorer then asks him if he’s continued to follow the Creed in their absence — most importantly, has he removed his helmet at any time?
Remember, this particular religious sect believes it’s against their Creed to remove their helmets in the presence of anybody else.
Rather than lie, Mando comes clean and tells the Armorer that he has removed his helmet, which leads to his immediate ex-communication from the sect. The only way Mando can regain entry is to bathe himself in the living waters in the mines beneath Mandalore.
Sadly those mines were destroyed when the Empire laid waste to the planet, which means Mando has been booted out of his order until he can find away to return to Mandalore and find those buried mines. Perhaps that will serve as part of the story in “The Mandalorian” season 4 as he attempts to rejoin the Children of the Watch.
Either way, Mando is cast out, which means his next stop is a commercial liner that’s headed for Tatooine.
Along the way, Mando sees a Rodian child sitting in front of him, which only reminds him more and more about Grogu.
After finally landing on Tatooine, Mando makes his way to the workshop in Mos Eisley that belongs to Peli Motto — the mechanic surrounded by droids, who helped fix up the Razor Crest and even served as a babysitter for Grogu in the past.
It seems Peli Motto reached out to Mando about a replacement ship for the Razor Crest, which was destroyed by Moff Gideon’s forces back in “The Mandalorian” season 2.
The only problem is Peli Motto doesn’t have another Razor Crest — she is starting to restore a Naboo N-1 starfighter — the ship from the planet Naboo that first appeared in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” Of course, Naboo was the home world to Queen Padme Amidala, who is the mother to Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.
While this isn’t another Razor Crest ship, Peli Motto tells Mando that this is even better because these N-1 starfighters are much faster and because they come from the pre-Empire era, these ships don’t have any identifying markers, which means he can skate through New Republic stops without ever revealing himself.
Following a lot of work to put the ship back together, which comes along with some more parts provided by the local Jawas, Mando finally has his new ride finished.
Side note — Peli Motto casually mentions that she used to date a Jawa and they are very hairy creatures underneath those robes. For some reason, that just sounds equal parts disturbing and utterly fascinating.
Anyways — Mando finally gets the chance to fire up the ship and take the N-1 starfighter out for a little spin across Tatooine. Mando plots his course through familiar terrain — the same area where a young Anakin Skywalker used to engage in pod races while still serving as a slave alongside his mother. Mando even tests his new ship’s maneuverability while darting through Beggar’s Canyon — a place near and dear to Luke Skywalker’s heart.
Mando then decides to take the N-1 starfighter up into space to see how it handles there — and he flies around doing tricks near the cruiser that provided him transport to the planet, which is where the little Rodian child watches him spinning and doing tricks from the window. Mando’s trick flying soon catches the attention of a pair of X-wing fighters patrolling the area and they stop him for coming way too close to the commercial cruiser.
One of the X-wing pilots who stops him is Captain Carson Teva — the same member of the New Republic who once helped Mando escape ice spiders on Maldo Kreis and eventually landed on Nevarro where he attempted to recruit Cara Dune to return to work after she left the Rebellion following the fall of the Empire. That was supposed to serve as the first teaser for a spinoff series called “Rangers of the New Republic” but those plans were scrapped after Gina Carano was fired from “The Mandalorian.”
Either way, Captain Teva attempts to get Mando to send over his call signals, which he obviously doesn’t have so rather than allow the New Republic pilots to take control of his ship, he just blasts off into hyperspace without warming up his hyperdrive. That’s another cool feature of this N-1 starfighter, which makes Mando like it even more.
After escaping the New Republic pilots, who have no interest in giving chase because that would just create a whole lot of paperwork for them, Mando returns to Mos Eisley where he credits Peli Motto with a job well done. Once he lands, Peli Motto tells him that he has a visitor and that’s when Mando is reunited with Fennec Shand, who has come to ask him to help Boba Fett with a problem he has on the planet.
She tells him the job pays well but Mando refuses the money instead offering to help out his friend Boba Fett as a favor but first he has to pay a visit to a little friend.
It would appear that Mando plans to take that beskar armor to Grogu before returning to Tatooine to help Boba Fett with his ongoing war against the Pyke syndicate as he attempts to seize full control over his Tatooine criminal empire. It remains to be seen if Mando reuniting with Grogu will be featured in one of the final two episodes of the season or if perhaps the part-time bounty hunter will just return for the finale to help Boba Fett in what will surely be the biggest battle of the season.
Either way, Mando’s return was a welcome sight and honestly the best episode of the season even though Boba Fett never even appeared. He’ll surely get back to work next week when “The Book of Boba Fett” returns on Disney+ for a brand new episode.
