Something To Love: The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 2

Now that is more like it.

It has been quite refreshing to see so many people in this community united to rain down praise on Chapter 2 of The Book of Boba Fett. Last week’s pilot episode was a fun ride that showed a ton of potential for the future of the series, but there were aspects that I felt were lacking compared to the episode’s main strengths. Chapter 2 on the other hand, might go down as an all-time great episode of Star Wars television. This episode seemingly established the way Boba’s story will be told throughout the series, going between his past and present as we see how his time with the Tusken Raiders influenced his current viewpoint on the universe as he struggles to fall into his new role as the Daimyo of Mos Espa. To be fully transparent I have not had much time to focus on writing this past week, hence the late article, but the content of this episode still has yet to leave my head close to a week after first viewing it.

Here is what I loved about Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine

*THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT SPOILERS AHEAD*

A New Threat to Boba's Rule

While both stories told in this episode were sensational, the crime lord aspects continue to be what gets me the most excited about the future of the series. The episode begins with an interrogation of the assassin that attacked Boba and Fennec in the first episode, who reveals he was hired by Mos Espa’s mayor. After a tense confrontation with the mayor, who hints that Boba is not seeing the bigger picture, we are greeted with the arrival of twin Hutts, cousins of the late-Jabba, who lay claim to Boba’s throne. As he continues to embrace his new role and identity, he is instantly treated with a massive threat to his rule. The Hutts clearly do not take Boba’s rule seriously, believing it to belong to the Hutt Empire, not who took the place of a lame duck ruler like Bib Fortuna. In these first two episodes, we have seen Boba attempt to rule in a different way compared to those before him, shedding away elements of power that the Hutts displayed for decades to make himself seem on equal ground with the citizens of Tatooine, and we see all these elements of power and pomp and circumstance thrown back in his face as the Hutts arrive carried on a litter, surrounded by servants playing drums to announce their arrival. This territorial war that seems to be coming between Boba and the Hutt Twins has me very intrigued, especially for one reason in particular….

Connections to the Greater Canon

The arrival of an intimidating Wookiee bounty hunter under the employment of the Hutt Twins had my entire Twitter timeline exploding in joy and excitement. Not just because he looks incredibly cool and is a downright scary challenge for our protagonist, but because of what he represents for characters from the greater canon of the universe once again making their way into live-action properties. Black Krrsantan, the Wookiee in question that got everyone talking, is a character that originated in the Star Wars comics, being a staple in the underworld stories told in that medium, and having history with characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Doctor Aphra, and most importantly to this story, Boba Fett himself. The two at the time were the top bounty hunters under Jabba’s employment, and now Krrsantan is the prime weapon at the Hutt Twins disposal. I cannot wait to see Boba and Black Krrsantan go at it over the course of this season. However, Black Krrsantan’s appearance wasn’t even the only connection to the other aspects of canon that got me excited as a hardcore fan. Boba and the Tusken Raiders raid a train operated by the Pyke Syndicate, which has made many appearances in the animated shows, as well as in Solo. When Boba travels to Tosche Station to confront a speeder bike gang, two of the patrons are Camie and Fixer, friends of Luke Skywalker that appeared in deleted scenes in A New Hope during Luke’s time on Tatooine. What I loved about these appearances is they did not distract from the main story or feel like forced fanservice, their inclusions made sense, acting as nods that the hardcore fans that are deep into all of canon will appreciate while not confusing those that only watch the live-action projects, and also included other crime syndicates into the story that may play a role in Boba’s reign on Tatooine in the future.

Boba Finding A New Identity Through the Tusken Raiders

The story of Boba and the Tusken Raiders was a storytelling masterclass. Now accepted into their tribe, Boba begins to find who he is after escaping the sarlacc, as well as us getting our best glimpse at the culture of the Tusken Raiders that has ever graced our screens. Before The Mandalorian, Tuskens were depicted as mute monsters that terrorized the Tatooine people, and infamously were victims of Anakin’s rage in Attack of the Clones after the death of his mother. However, these shows have given the Tuskens character, personality and life that has made them the Tatooine equivalent of real-world Indigenous tribes. We grow to care about several different Tuskens over the course of the episode, specifically the awesome Warrior Tusken that stole the entire episode during the train heist scene, and all of these Tuskens have a role in Boba finding a new version of himself. After the Pykes terrorize the Tuskens with their spice train, Boba trains them to ride speeder bikes in a very fun montage, and the train heist in itself was just great fun to watch. Star Wars really has a thing for super fun and engaging train battles, doesn’t it? Once they stop the train, Boba is shown the way to his own rebirth through an incredible visually-trippy sequence, seeing visions of his past and present, and is fully initiated into the tribe, building his own gaderffii stick and being draped in the tribal robes we see him in during his reappearance in The Mandalorian. The closing shot of Boba and the Tuskens dancing by the fire was a beautiful, all-time great closing shot for the franchise and has stuck with me since I saw the episode. I described the flashback story of this episode once it finished airing as “the Dances with Wolves or Little Big Man of Star Wars” and I still stand by that. It was a story of a man finding himself, a celebration of life and culture, and some of the finest Star Wars I have seen in quite some time.

Hope you loved the episode as much as I did and continue to enjoy this new series! Check back very soon to see what I loved about Chapter 3!