While as much as I enjoy seeing Boba Fett with the Tusken Raiders, I was hoping there would be more of a balance between the present and the past. I thought it was a good episode, that had some amazing moments; but as a canon junkie I was hoping for the story in the present to move forward more than it did. With all of that negativity out of the way, the flashback in this episode was awesome; not only did it show us more of Tusken culture and delivering bad ass action. The flashback took up a majority of the episode, but it was a worthwhile detour in that we were treated to a great story. I want the present to matter, but after two episodes I find myself more enraptured by the flashbacks. The episode delivered a surprise in the form of an appearance by Black Krrsantan a Wookie bounty hunter. It was a very short appearance, but a very exciting one as we might be heading towards a fight between Boba and Black Krrsantan. It was the first non-comic book appearance by Black Krrsantan, and I wonder if this could lead to an appearance by Doctor Aphra.
In my review of Chapter One I said that I thought the episode was fantastic, and the series has breathed new life into Star Wars. The tone of the show through two episodes has been consistent, we are seeing the transformation from Boba Fett the bounty hunter into Boba Fett the Daimyo. The world that is being built out of this show is starting to feel very rich, there seems to be a lot of thought being put into expanding and deepening our understanding of Tattooine. Fans of Star Wars can appreciate how The Book of Boba Fett is adding to the story of Tattooine, Boba Fett, Tusken Raiders and now the Hutts. It makes sense that the show will have the Hutts as characters, and I hope we get more of the Hutts in future episodes. We spend so much time with Boba in the first two episodes, but we have to know why he wants to be the Daimyo. I am sure we will get answers as to what is motivating Boba, and until then we can just keep enjoying the story as it is unfolding.
'THE TRIBES OF TATOOINE' RECAP
The episode starts with Fennec bringing the lone surviving assassin back to Jabba's palace so he can be interrogated. We learn that the assassin is part of the Order of the Night Wind, and that he will not talk; Fennec then drops him into the Rancor pit. In the Rancor pit the assassin becomes scared and says that the mayor ordered the hit, Luke killed the Rancor, so the pit is empty, but the assassin did not know this. Boba and Fennec take the assassin with them to confront the mayor about assassination attempt. The mayor has the assassin killed by his guards, and he tells Boba that the Order of the Night Wing are not allowed to operate outside of Hutt-controlled space. The mayor gives Boba a bounty for the assassin which Boba says is the tribute the mayor owes him. The mayor tells Boba his tribute is advice; running a family is more complicated than bounty hunting and that Boba should go to Garsa's sanctuary. Boba follows the advice, and at Garsa's sanctuary they learn that twins (Hutts) are on Tattooine to lay claim to their cousin's holdings. There are drumbeats coming from outside, on the street a litter is carried forth holding two the twins. They tell Boba that with Jabba dead all that belonged to him now belongs to them; Boba disagrees and from the back of the litter appears Black Krrsantan who stares at Boba. Boba insults Black Krrsantan, and then tells the twins they will need to kill him if they want his territory. The twins say that now is not the time for bloodshed, and they depart.
Boba is back in the bacta tank, and he is dreaming of his past again, he is still with the Tuskens, but now he is free of his bonds, and he is being trained to fight using their staff. A distant sound reveals that a hover train is coming, the Tuskens go for cover, the train's occupants start firing at the Tuskens killing and wounding a bunch of them. Boba is angered at the loss of life, so he tells the Chief that he will take a staff and a rifle, and he will return the next morning to stop the train. Boba saw speeder bikes pass in the night, and he follows the bikes to a small cantina where he finds the bike riders badly treating the other occupants of the cantina. Boba beats up the riders, and he then takes the speeder bikes back to the Tusken camp. Boba then begins training the Tuskens on how to ride the bikes; he also begins forming a plan on how to stop the train. Boba is going to arrange an attack using the bikes to approach the train while shooters in the distant fire on the gunners inside the train. Boba and his team make it aboard the train with some difficulty, and they begin making their way to the front of the train via the roof. They meet heavy resistance, until a Tusken (the one who was training Boba at the beginning of the flashback) crashes the speeder into the side of the train and enters the train car. The Tusken inside the train starts taking out the occupants until Boba and his team are left unchallenged. Boba makes his way to the train engine where the driver (a droid) jumps out of the window; Boba is able to stop the train. Boba then has the remaining occupants brought before him. The occupants are part of the Pyke Syndicate, they are carrying spice; Boba tells the leader that he will let them live, but they must deliver a message that future train trips will need to pay the Tuskens to drive through their territory.
Boba is with the chief who relays some history of the Tusken people, since the oceans dried up the tribes have stayed hidden, and some have resorted to killing. Boba says they shouldn't have to hide, they are warriors, and they know every grain of sand in the dune sea. The chief gives Boba a gift, it is a small lizard which the chief says will guide him. The lizard crawls up Boba's nose, and the chief elaborates saying the lizard will guide him from inside his head. Boba goes on a journey (a real and spiritual one) where he sees visions of his past. Boba sees a lone tree, and when he approaches it, the tree uses its trunks to grab Boba (like in the Sarlacc pit). Boba sees more visions from his past, and he eventually breaks free of the tree by breaking one of the trunks. Boba then makes it back to the Tusken camp with the tree branch he broke off. The lizard leaves his head now that the job is done, and the Tuskens the clothe Boba in their robes. Boba is then brought to a place where he is showed how to turn the branch into a staff of his own. Boba now garbed with their clothes and armed with a staff of his own is now a full member of the Tusken people. Boba starts showing off his skill during a campfire, the other Tuskens join him in this show of their fighting technique (similar to a war dance) as the episode ends.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHAPTER 2
The flashback in this episode was very powerful, and it felt like it was making a commentary on colonization. Maybe I am reading too much into the episode, but I do feel there are definite parallels to the colonization of Africa and America in this episode. I feel a sense of impending dread for the Tusken Raiders, everything has gone so well for them since Boba has arrived, and I wonder when disaster will strike. My feeling is based on the fact that Boba seems happy with the Tuskens, so something must push him to move on and go after his armor. Maybe part of his journey with the Tuskens will be for him to discover who he really is, and that might be why he goes after the armor. The episode also gave us more on the Pykes, not only do they look really cool (better than in Solo), but I feel they will appear again in the Star Wars universe. This episode introduced us to a bunch of new characters, and it feels like they are setting the table for a war in the underworld of Tattooine. The train attack was so cool, it made me think of Solo, but it also felt like a Western film. I was listening to The Geek Buddies podcast, and they mentioned that in the old west stagecoaches would fire on Native Indians. When they mentioned that on the podcast, and Boba's referencing of the land belonging to the Tuskens gives the series Tusken arc added depth. The Tuskens have been depicted as savages throughout Star Wars until now, and that is how the colonizers viewed the indigenous people of the lands they were colonizing. The thoughtful exploring of those themes has kept me interested, and if they keep it up, I think The Book of Boba Fett will go down as one of the best Star Wars releases.
The first two episodes have been tying together the story of Boba and his father Jango, during his dream journey we saw more of Jango. In The Clone Wars, we saw a Boba that young and angry, a Boba that blamed the Jedi for his father's death. I feel Boba has gained perspective since then, falling into the Sarlacc pit has made him revisit his ways. The Boba we are seeing on this show has a distinctively different outlook on life, he is no longer out for himself. Boba could have left the Tuskens, and rejoined the galaxy; but instead, he has patiently learned their ways. Boba has helped the Tuskens, the old Boba would have left them behind long ago. I am curious if we will see why he has changed, the character we have seen up until his appearance on The Mandalorian was always more self-involved. Boba's transformation from amoral bounty hunter into an honorable and moral guy who is trying to leave the bounty hunter persona behind him. They have made Boba a character that is someone who we can cheer for, but I wonder if the cold-hearted bounty hunter is still in there somewhere. I will be curious if we see the old Boba Fett return at some point, will he be pushed into action by the Hutts.
I do not really know what to expect from the show going forward, the past and present storylines are leading somewhere, and I have no idea where. Knowing as little about the show as possible has made watching each episode feel unique because I do not have an idea of what is happening next. Normally when it is something to do with Star Wars Marvel or DC, I am all over it, but this show kind of snuck up on me. There were hardly any trailers (most seemed to only have material from episode 1), and there were no Star Wars events where they had Favreau, Rodriguez and Filoni to spill the beans. I have theories, and those theories are not very detailed or elaborate. We know the storyline in the past will lead to his appearance in season two of The Mandalorian, but how he gets there is still a mystery. Since I mentioned colonization earlier, I will continue on that theme. The Sand People are seemingly described to be the native species to Tattooine, and the off-worlders came and kicked them into the dune seas where they have been left to live a nomadic existence. The Tusken Raiders went from cruel and scary monsters of the original and prequel trilogies to the more nuanced version we are seeing here. I have no idea how the past storyline will impact the present storyline; they are tied together in a way I have yet to discern.
I really enjoyed The Tribes of Tattooine, and I believe while The Mandalorian had a lot of really cool things about it The Book of Boba Fett is a better show. The Mandalorian is bigger, and it has more of an impact on Star Wars canon, but not all of its episodes are good. The Book of Boba Fett has the potential to deliver a smaller story that has a more solid emotional core, and I am all for that type of storytelling. I am going to give chapter three a 9/10, from the epic train heist to the spiritual journey Boba goes on this episode delivered an emotionally compelling story. In a sense I could imagine where this could have been the end of the season, his journey to become a member of the Tusken Raiders is now complete by the end. There is obviously going to be an issue with the twins, and I am looking forward to what Boba will need to do to stay as the Daimyo. The present storyline appears to be only at the beginning, but the past story is nearing its end. If Boba is going to want to keep his position as Daimyo, he will need to fight for it, and he will need to better than he has been up to this point. From what I have seen in the first two episodes it appears that Boba and Fennec are outmatched. The twins appear to have a lot more resources at their disposal than Boba does, and I wonder if his need for allies will lead him to reaching out to Mando and Bo-Katan.
Thank you for reading my review of chapter two, and I am sorry for the delay in getting this up. I will get review of chapter three up shortly after I can watch the episode and be prepared for my review of the first three episode of Peacemaker.
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