Redemption

“Chapter 2” of the Book of Boba Fett starts to take steps in the right direction.

Star+Wars+official+poster+of+Fennec+Shand.

Photo courtesy of starwars.com

Star Wars official poster of Fennec Shand.

Charlee Sharack, Reporter

The first five minutes of the second chapter were better than “Chapter 1.” After that, it truly felt like Star Wars. 

It starts out right after the assassination attempt on Boba Fett’s life. Fennec Shand takes the assassin back to Jabba’s Palace, and Fett attempts to determine who hired him. The assassin refuses to speak and in complete lack of patience Shand drops an assassin down the Rancor pit. I loved this scene because it shows the intelligence of Fennec. She is the perfect example of working smarter and not harder which shows her strength. It was one of the best things that they could have done. Fett is trying to make a name for himself as the new crime lord of Tatooine, so there are times that he has to be ruthless and the type of character that the original films depicted him as. He has to gain the respect and fear that Jabba the Hutt once had. 

They take the assassin to Mayor Mok Shaiz after he admits that he was the one who had hired the assassins. While Shaiz refutes the claim and kills the assassin, he leaves Fett with some advice as a tribute. 

“Running a family is more complicated than bounty hunting,”  Mayor Shaiz said.

It is most likely that he didn’t literally mean running a family; he is referring to being a crime lord. Bounty hunting only requires flying solo, but being a crime lord requires many people operating under you. The Hutts were able to do it because they were a family, and there were so many of them. For one person, like Boba, it is more complicated than it may seem. 

Boba responds with comments stating that he isn’t a bounty hunter anymore, and he is constantly trying to wipe away that title. He possibly wants to start fresh after what happens later in the episode with his dream sequence. Personally, I feel like, in Boba’s mind, the title of Bounty Hunter now has this negative connotation to it. There hasn’t been a spoken reason for why he wanted to become the new crime lord of the region. Still, I feel that it has to do with his growing relationship with the Tusken Raiders that saved him last episode. 

He arrives at the Sanctuary to meet Garsa Fwip, a successful casino businesswoman. He goes to meet her based on the information that the mayor provided Fett with. After a short meeting, he is faced with the rumors that the cousins of Jabba the Hutt (The Twins) have laid claim that Jabba’s Palace belongs to them, thus meaning they are taking over the role that Fett has recently gained. The Hutts were carried in while Boba and Fennec walked on their own two feet. This symbolizes the power and rank that the Hutts have compared to Feet. The entire town seemed to become silent in fear when they entered the scene, compared to Fett at the beginning of the scene being stared at more through curiosity and possibly respect over fear. To threaten Fett and Shand, The Twins bring out a Wookiee. While fans love the original Wookiee “Chewbacca,” this wookiee seems quite the opposite. He is dressed in gladiator-style armor and is a giant. I haven’t seen this character in any shows or movies, but after doing some research, it looks like he has been seen in comics. The wookiee’s name is Krrsantan. I hope to see this Wookiee bounty hunter in more episodes in the series. 

After the day’s events, Fett goes back to his bacta tank to help heal himself. While the bacta tank is used for injuries, Fett wasn’t physically injured during the day. This leads me to believe that he also feels the need to heal himself mentally. When audiences see Boba in the bacta tank, we can sense that there will be a dream sequence coming. 

I think that the dream half of the episode revealed more about Boba than any other show or movie has previously. 

Boba starts to become accepted within the Tusken Raiders. He is genuinely respectful to the indigenous people. There were some scenes of him wanting to learn how they fight. There’s been no plan for escape, which shows that he owes them to save his life. He takes responsibility and shows respect for the Raiders, which sets him apart from every other bounty hunter. Most of the time, they work alone, and they get in and out and do not care about who gets hurt. He genuinely cares about the people and shows kindness towards them. This is a character that has grown over the years. In the “Clone Wars” TV show, Boba was just a kid, but he showed so much hate and aggression, even then. He was ruthless, so what changed? 

A train controlled by the Pyke Syndicate passes by and attacks the Raiders in a scene. For those who don’t know, the Pikes are spice traders that disperse drugs around the universe and one of the significant crime rings in the Star Wars Universe. Later that night, Boba sees bikers and asks for permission to leave for the night. My first thought was that he would try to make a run for it and leave. Still, instead of just taking a speeder bike and leaving, he went inside. He took down the bikers that were terrorizing Toshie Station. This was a great fight scene, and while watching the scene, Temuera Morrison incorporates Maori facial expressions. This was a great way of adding his culture and who he is as a person into his character. 

In his respect to Tuskens, he takes the speeder bikes back to them and then teaches them how to prepare for the train’s next arrival so they can stop it. He takes it upon himself to teach them what he can so they can survive, like how they have been teaching him to survive with the tribe. Next, the train comes, and with the help of Fett, they take down the train and come face to face with the Pykes. With Fett acting as a liaison for the Raiders, he tells the Pykes that they need to pay them when they want to travel across their lands. 

The Raiders give him a lizard that guides him as an act of kindness and thanks. The lizard goes into his nose and leads him through a trip. He sees a sea of water and a tree. He is encased by the tree as he sees visions of when he was a child on Kamino. He is carrying a large branch from the tree when he entirely comes to. I immediately realized that it would be the weapon that the Raiders use. Fett goes to carve the weapon. At the end of the episode, the tribe does a ritual that officially incorporates him into the tribe. 

I loved the end of the episode because of the respect that Boba has for the native people. I hope to see in later episodes that he has come to power in Tatooine to protect the Tusken Raiders. 

Overall, the storyline of the episode was fantastic. I think it opens up a massive door for the next 5 episodes. 

This episode definitely improved on the CGI. The different species looked real, and to me, that is what makes Star Wars so great. Even though the stories, races, and planets aren’t real, LucasFilms makes it feel the opposite. Within the next few episodes, it could compete with The Mandolorian. 

In the end, the little details brought the story altogether. 

I rate this 5/5 Bobas 🙂

 

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