The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1 – Episode 6, continues to expertly show the crossover potential of the Mando-verse, so if you can see past the show’s title, it’s nothing short of a treat for the Star Wars faithful.
Head on down below to check out our full episode breakdown featuring easter eggs, Star Wars references, cameos, and key plot moments that may shine light on where the Mando-verse is going next.
Easter Eggs, References, Cameos
Hey now fans of The Book of Star Wars world building, it’s time to breakdown another lore packed episode of what used to be Boba’s show, but who really cares at this point considering the wealth of characters and prime moments that this series is now contributing to the Mando-verse.
Let’s get to recapping all of the eggs, Star Wars references, cameos, and key moments found in From the Desert Comes a Stranger.
Bear with me here people, because why a lot of these eggs and references seem overly obvious to hardcore fans of Star Wars and the Mando-verse, you never know who is watching, so I’m going to cover some really obvious moments.
Such is the case with the return of Cobb Vanth, a character first created for Star Wars novels who then debuted in live action in Mando S2. It’s good to see him back so soon, and he’s even in a moisture vaporator field as a bonus egg/reference.
Up next in the more obvious references we have our little dude R2 playing Defense for Luke and Ahsoka. I guess the subtle reference is that R2 is on the planet Luke is building his academy on, which we see coming to fruition in our next spotlight moment, the construction of the first temple on Luke’s campus.
I found the first training bit between Luke and Grogu to be reminiscent of Luke’s own training with Yoda in which he was constantly being distracted by his thoughts. While Grogu is distracted by his belly here, we soon learn that his thoughts, like Luke’s at one time, are focused on his friend, the Mandalorian.
I think we can also say that Luke’s lifting of the frogs was a nod to when Yoda wowed him as a padawn lifting his X-Wing. Think scale, Grogu is tiny, so this exhibition is still impressive for his little world view.
While taking their force enhanced stroll Luke drops a famous Yoda quote on Grogu of Size Matters not, a lesson Luke learned early on with his own Master.
The look at Order 66 from Grogu’s eyes is probably this episodes best reference moment as it included a look at the 501st’s destruction and the death of 3 jedi. I swear the one in the middle looked just like Nick Gillard’s Cin Drallig, but for continuity’s sake it can’t be as he died at the hands of Anakin Skywalker, but the resemblance was uncanny to say the least.
I have much more to say about Ahsoka and Luke together in the key moments breakdown, but in terms of references, you had to love her line on being an old friend of the family while talking to Din.
She also gave us a padawan drop while discussing how Grogu should be classified now.
How about Luke using his old blue backpack to carry Grogu around just like he did in Empire to carry Yoda around. Hell, we even got a similar trail run, complete with a flip and tree climbing.
Luke wasn’t done rehashing Yoda lessons to grogu, because when he’s teaching him to jump he uses a spin on Yoda’s Do or do not, their is no try line by telling Grogu, Don’t try, do.
Luke didn’t only use teachings and lessons from Yoda though as he broke out the training remote that Obi-Wan used on him for his first lesson, and just like himself, it blasted the little guy to get him focused on the lesson.
Once the action returned back to Tatooine we got a look at some Skiffs at Jabba’s palace, the same style used to try and kill Luke, Han, and Chewie over the Great Pit of Carkoon, which we now know is no longer so great thanks to a seismic charge to its face.
How about these hillbilly ass Jawas strapping the Krayt Dragon skull from Mando S2 on their crawler as a ridiculously large hood ornament.
Hell, even the citizens of Mos Pelgos are using its bones for IKEA like home decor, so no scrap truly went wasted from the slaying of that beast.
While the deputy was short lived, I would like to report that he was played by JJ Dashnaw, who also serves as the Series’ Stunt Coordinator.
The whole conversation of the name change for Mos Pelgos to Freetown is a nod to the Aftermath novel in which the town also swapped between being called Pelgos and Freetown.
I was mistaken in naming the Order 66 callback as this episode’s best reference, because that clearly belongs to the live action debut of Cad Freaking Bane and the return of Corey Burton as his voice. Now that is wizard.
And to round out this episode’s eggs and references, we learn that Luke has Yoda’s lightsaber and is offering it up to Grogu via a very difficult choice that I’ll touch upon in the key moments breakdown.
Key Moments and Speculations
Speaking of which, let’s get on with those key moments and you subbing to the channel if you haven’t already done so.
Fans of Star Wars lore, in particular the Jedi and Luke’s journey as a Master, and yes I guess he is technically a Master at this point because Ahsoka refers to him as Master Luke, but titles aside, we got to see the beginnings of what will become Luke’s Jedi Academy, the one we see destroyed in the Sequel trilogy. The circle is now complete as we see it being built and then ultimately destroyed decades later.
Like I mentioned earlier, seeing Grogu’s training was a treat, but the moments we got were also very purposeful in their mirroring of Luke’s own training by Yoda, so I loved how from the get go it was made clear that Grogu was distracted by his feelings, Just like Luke was on Dagobah. Be it hunger, or his bond with Mando, the little guy clearly couldn’t focus the way Luke wanted him too.
Oh, and you have to absolutely love the fact that Luke force walked Grogu while providing Yoda-like lessons as they strolled.
Seeing Order 66 play out from Grogu’s perspective is something I hope we get more of, at least how he escaped and who may have helped him, so this flashback was a good start. It appears he was in his pram and that troopers were headed right for him, so it’ll be interesting to see if more of these visions of the past will be explored to show a bit more on how he escaped, but also why he or potentially his rescuer ended up essentially mind wiping him to help him forget or bury his connection to the force.
Luke even said to Ahsoka that he feels Grogu is simply remembering more of his past training and connection to the Force than Luke is actually teaching him in the present, so it’d be great to see why and how he buried his past life as a padawan at the Coruscant temple to survive all the way into the New Republic era.
This episode definitely made me emotional more than once, both in terms of pure Star Wars fan excitement and giddiness at seeing all of these iconic characters in a 40-minute time span, but also for the sadness certain moments provided, such as when Din realized the best thing for Grogu was to not see him face-to-face. That was rough, and the feels only got more intense when Grogu reached out with his hand as he saw the N-1 pull off.
Like Ahsoka told Luke, their bond just may be too strong for Grogu to follow the archaic ways of the Jedi when it comes to attachment. Is clear that Luke hasn’t quite learned yet that the old ways of the Jedi are what ultimately led to the hubris of its masters during the Galactic republic, and the destruction of the order, so while he may be a Master, he too still has lots to learn, and we know that lesson will be costly thanks to how he ends up in the Sequels.
If a single moment had to be identified as the most key in this episode, it would have to be Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker working together and talking about his father. I mean my goodness, what a piece of lore to behold. She even busts out the So much like your Father line when Luke was questioning if Grogu’s heart was fully committed to his Jedi training.
Anakin drops aside, seeing Luke with what we have to recognize as his de facto big sister and wondering about what conversations they may have had prior to this point in the timeline, is what I live for as a Star Wars fan. One can only hope that Luke’s line, which was similar to his father’s when he left Schmi, of potentially seeing Ahsoka again, does pay off either in the Ahsoka series or Mando, because who doesn’t want to see these two together either fighting side-by-side, or even in a flashback discussing the fall and then redemption of Anakin Skywalker, a key figure in both of their lives.
People moments like this is what the Mando-verse allows for and is being built for, so enough of the bitching and moaning on who’s show this content should belong to because of its title. Anything we see from here on out that is set in the Mando-verse timeline is just that, another piece of this new world building puzzle that Jon and Dave kicked off in Mando Season 1. Let the process play out over the various planned shows, they all have a purpose and we are seeing the early fruits of how crossovers between the flagship series of the Mando-verse only make the Star Wars lore stronger and feeling more connected across eras than ever before.
Ok, I’m off the soap box so back to the key moments breakdown which continues with the notion that Mando is always good for relying on his old contacts to get new jobs done. It was great to see him go right back to Cobb Vanth for help, even though they’re technically square. It plays to his beliefs in loyalty and solidarity, and while Cobb seemed hesitant, I think it was pretty clear before the duel that he was leaning towards helping Mando to help Boba. If anything we got more character development for Cobb and the city of Freetown, so thank you Mando for reaching out to your old pal the Marshal.
It’s too bad the Marshal didn’t commit right away, which may have kept Mando in town a bit longer to assist with the arrival of Cad Bane in live action. His whole introduction was flawless and spot on for the character. Everything from seeing a lone figure in a duster and cowboy hat to his patented face hiding head tilt before the red eyes reveal was brilliant to say the least. Dave has once again pulled off bringing an animated character to live action with perfection, and by having Cad directly in opposition to Boba, so much so he called out his work for the Empire and called him cold blooded, that the once shot for The Clone Wars showdown between Fett and Bane is now inevitable.
Bad Batch gave fans hope that the scrapped duel from Clone Wars would one day be canonized, and after his debut today, our hopes are seemingly going to be fulfilled, and I know it’ll be an iconic moment that fans of both characters will explode if they see in live action.
The only other aspect of this duel to take note of is that Cad refers to the nefarious forces on Tatooine as THE Syndicate, and no mention of the Pykes, so there’s still a great chance that they’re not the Syndicate he’s referring to and that he is directly working for the ultimate big bad of the series, Crimson Dawn.
As sad as it was to see, and I’m not sure how she could have survived the Pyke bombing, I mean the camtono IED was directly behind her when it exploded, but the apparent death of Garsa Fwip and attack on one of Boba’s establishments is the true beginning of the War that has been teased since episode 4, so it was good, in a sad way, RIP Garsa if you did indeed perish, to see the party get started.
Finally, there’s only one way to describe Luke’s choice to Grogu, and that is brutal. I mean the guy is forcing Grogu to choose between his family and the Jedi, which is the same choice that ended up screwing up his Dad, and a similar one that he was presented with on Dagobah when he had a vision of his friends in danger.
We know Luke ultimately learns that the ways of the Jedi may have been their undoing and that attachment may not be such a bad thing, but that clearly hasn’t happened yet. He’s stubbornly stuck in the old ways and making the same mistakes his Masters made on him. You would think through his own experiences of rushing off to save his friends would have softened him a bit and would have allowed him to let Grogu choose both, but that’s not the case. Unless this is a test to see if Grogu would make the right choice, which as fans we would think for Luke would be to protect his friends, resulting in Luke giving him both gifts, it does seem like Luke is playing hardball and will let the little guy walk if he chooses to.
This decision will have a great impact on Star Wars lore moving forward, because Luke is either going to stop training Grogu, and therefore give up his first ever student to remain committed to the archaic Jedi philosophies that resulted in its destruction, or he will begin to understand how attachments may not be such a bad thing for Jedi after all. Knowing how things go with his academy it’s safe to say he will remain ignorant, but you never know. Maybe he remembers his own attachments and lets the little guy leave with both gifts and an option to return, just like Yoda allowed for Luke after he spurned his own master’s warning on the dangers of attachment.
What can I say my friends, besides now this is Star Wars world building! I mean what more could you really ask for out of new live action Star Wars? If you can get beyond the fact that this particular series is titled after Boba Fett, it should be clear that Jon and Dave are already paying off on the shared universe concept for the Mando-verse and its crossover content potential.
What we’ve witnessed over the past two episode of Book is nothing short of Star Wars magic, so please let go of your hate and just soak this series in for what it is meant to be, which is just another piece in the Mando-verse puzzle, which is shaping up to be some of the best Star Wars storytelling across all three eras of the franchise. Oh, and Boba is a real character now too, so even before this series ends next week, I’m declaring it a certified winner and must-see TV for the Star Wars faithful.
Make sure to tune into the next episode of the Star Wars Time Show in which myself and my co-host Nick will fully breakdown The Passenger and give our thoughts on it as a whole.
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